Customer Rating: 
Summary: A good, if tired, story and dancing worth watching again
Comment: This is an enjoyable movie. The actors all do a very good job -- no small feat considering some of the leads are dancers and not actors -- and of course, the dancing is all it's cracked up to be. The plot is mildly engaging, even though it's thoroughly predictable and has been done over and over. Sometimes characters seemed to change too quickly and do things that were out of character; but plot isn't really what this movie is about. This is a dancing film with a very simple conflict story thrown in -- the kind that usually drives low-brow sports comedies, of underdog team against a dynasty, and two members of those teams having a personal grudge.
Honestly, I didn't start off enjoying this film. I'm not hip enough to keep up with the gangsta dance battle that takes place at the beginning of the film, especially the way the camera was jerking around; I had a hard time distinguishing between dancers, etc. and was not anywhere near familiar enough with the dancing to have any kind of sense for who was better or why. But I did end up liking (not loving) the film by the end. And I do appreciate artistically the way the director deftly changed the whole look and mood of the movie from the dangerous street dancing in the opening's gangland LA to the more peaceful intensity of the rest of the movie's Georgia college setting. It helped lend a sense of repressed danger to Columbus Short's lead character that made the threats of his frat-boy enemies seem disingenuous.
Short, by the way, turns in a quiet performance in the most critical role that really glues the film together.
To summarize, this film is worth a look as a rental. Whether or not you want to own it would depend on how much you enjoy the dancing sequences.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simp kultur
Comment: Well, at least the kids aren't shooting each other and killing people. They form little gangs that dance against each other like the dancers in Michael Jackson's "Beat It". It's a positive step for black youth culture that a film be about black, or urban, youths... Ohh wait a second. Man,__Nevermind__ .I SWEAR TO GOD -- just as I was typing this out on my computer, just NOW, it got to the part where they beat each other up and dude has a gun and kills somebody. Oh well.
(I know, I know, you should see an entire film before "reviewing" it, but I was too inspired by all the fabulous dancing. I felt the spirit of the music in me. And I'm white!)
I have nothing to say now. When will the madness end?!! When we will stop killing each other with guns?! I hope that one day dumb, hormonally challenged kids will resolve conflicts and relieve their fustrations by "stomping yards", not shooting guns. No offense, but hopehully with better music and dance moves cause dat shiz is cheeezy yo. Yall kids might not rememba, but back in like tha 80s there wuz these break dancin' movies called "Breakin'" or somethan and this ain't much cooler.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Stomp the Yard" A Film of Life-Affirming Power and Beauty
Comment:
Director Sylvain White's STOMP THE YARD may not strike many as an ideal movie for the family to gather around and watch during holidays or other special occasions but it actually is because holidays are about reaping the benefits of tradition and this movie is about that too. It's not so clear at the film's beginning whether we're watching a violent video game or a demonstration of directorial genius. The distinction, however, soon becomes obvious and the genius apparent.
The mesmerizing opening dance scenes come across a lot like video gladiator battle sequences. These give way to the urban realism of a more brutal --and fatal-- L.A. gang clash after the not-so-lethal dance battle. DJ, played pitch perfectly by Columbus Short, loses his brother Duron (singer Chris Brown does an impressive job in this role) to a bullet in the clash and life as DJ knows it then comes to a screeching halt.
After a brief time in jail, he leaves the West Coast for Georgia, where he moves in with his aunt and uncle, then enrolls in college. It seems like the perfect strategy for rebuilding your life but DJ has problems with the idea that he's living his brother's dream of going to college and that his own is not all that definite. Perhaps among the most under-appreciated gifted actors of his generation, Harry Lennix gives one of the strongest performances of his career as the no-nonsense-taking uncle who pulls DJ out of his self-pitying funk. Their relationship proves to be one of tough-love and mutual respect. It also provides a rare glimpse into how black male relatives often function as surrogate fathers to youth whose biological fathers for whatever reason are nowhere to be seen.
The move from West Coast to Georgia might appear coincidental but in fact it is crucial to this film because DJ's move takes him out of a region of the country where historically black institutions like Clark University and Tuskegee Institute do not exist, and into one where their presence and legacy remains strong. The move to Georgia turns into an inner journey to his ancestral beginnings where ultimately he discovers the strength and integrity needed to cope with the grief over his brother's death and move forward with a vision for his own life.
Once he becomes a student at Truth University, DJ initially demonstrates the same kind of arrogance and self-absorption that got him into conflicts back in L.A. But he also discovers the world of stepping, both a new form of dance for him and a cultural tradition going back to the establishment of the first black Greek Letter fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s during the Harlem Renaissance. He becomes determined to help his chosen fraternity, Theta Nu Theta, end a seven-year long losing streak against their rivals Mu Gamma Xi, and to win the heart of co-ed April Palmer (played beautifully by Megan Good). His efforts take him through an inspiring rites of passage during which he learns a great deal about his ancestral legacies and the advantages of sometimes working as part of a team rather than thinking only of himself.
The culminating dance competitions in Stomp the Yard have to be seen to be believed and rank among the best in cinema history. Ultimately, this film is one that stands alongside "You've Been Served," "Drumline," and others that accentuate the life-affirming power and beauty of many African-American college traditions. In the process, it confirms and celebrates that same potential in all human beings.
by Author-Poet Aberjhani
author of The Bridge of Silver Wings (Songs of the Angelic Gaze)
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bad movie
Comment: I wanted to give this a try even though I wasn't sure what it was about. Very disapointed in the movie. Bad acting, bad story, bad dancing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: After watching this film, I had to immediately watch it again!
Comment: I loved this movie and it was a surprise to me. Yes, the story's typical. Heck, the whole movie was to highlight the dancing. So what? The story was very well done and the characters show immense growth. DJ goes from "all about me" to a "team" player, even swallowing his pride to do so. April went from an insecure girl who was just hanging on to 'big man on campus' to please others to a woman who made her own choices for herself. And Grant, the nemesis of the movie was consistently shown up for his underhanded and too controlling ways.
The dancing/stepping was awesome and a beautifully primal example of the fullness of being alive. The beats were all culturally significant and hinted at the old spirituals of days gone by. In a sense they spoke to the same strengths of the people.
Columbus Short was really an amazing dancer. I'd watch him again and again.
I think that even though this story was about African Americans and the dances were predominantly from that culture, the story and the moral of the story transcends any race. It's about respecting each other, about love, about teamwork and about being your best.
I give this movie a full five stars for it's entertainment value, it's moral and mostly the wonderful dancing.
Summary: A good, if tired, story and dancing worth watching again
Comment: This is an enjoyable movie. The actors all do a very good job -- no small feat considering some of the leads are dancers and not actors -- and of course, the dancing is all it's cracked up to be. The plot is mildly engaging, even though it's thoroughly predictable and has been done over and over. Sometimes characters seemed to change too quickly and do things that were out of character; but plot isn't really what this movie is about. This is a dancing film with a very simple conflict story thrown in -- the kind that usually drives low-brow sports comedies, of underdog team against a dynasty, and two members of those teams having a personal grudge.
Honestly, I didn't start off enjoying this film. I'm not hip enough to keep up with the gangsta dance battle that takes place at the beginning of the film, especially the way the camera was jerking around; I had a hard time distinguishing between dancers, etc. and was not anywhere near familiar enough with the dancing to have any kind of sense for who was better or why. But I did end up liking (not loving) the film by the end. And I do appreciate artistically the way the director deftly changed the whole look and mood of the movie from the dangerous street dancing in the opening's gangland LA to the more peaceful intensity of the rest of the movie's Georgia college setting. It helped lend a sense of repressed danger to Columbus Short's lead character that made the threats of his frat-boy enemies seem disingenuous.
Short, by the way, turns in a quiet performance in the most critical role that really glues the film together.
To summarize, this film is worth a look as a rental. Whether or not you want to own it would depend on how much you enjoy the dancing sequences.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simp kultur
Comment: Well, at least the kids aren't shooting each other and killing people. They form little gangs that dance against each other like the dancers in Michael Jackson's "Beat It". It's a positive step for black youth culture that a film be about black, or urban, youths... Ohh wait a second. Man,__Nevermind__ .I SWEAR TO GOD -- just as I was typing this out on my computer, just NOW, it got to the part where they beat each other up and dude has a gun and kills somebody. Oh well.
(I know, I know, you should see an entire film before "reviewing" it, but I was too inspired by all the fabulous dancing. I felt the spirit of the music in me. And I'm white!)
I have nothing to say now. When will the madness end?!! When we will stop killing each other with guns?! I hope that one day dumb, hormonally challenged kids will resolve conflicts and relieve their fustrations by "stomping yards", not shooting guns. No offense, but hopehully with better music and dance moves cause dat shiz is cheeezy yo. Yall kids might not rememba, but back in like tha 80s there wuz these break dancin' movies called "Breakin'" or somethan and this ain't much cooler.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Stomp the Yard" A Film of Life-Affirming Power and Beauty
Comment:
Director Sylvain White's STOMP THE YARD may not strike many as an ideal movie for the family to gather around and watch during holidays or other special occasions but it actually is because holidays are about reaping the benefits of tradition and this movie is about that too. It's not so clear at the film's beginning whether we're watching a violent video game or a demonstration of directorial genius. The distinction, however, soon becomes obvious and the genius apparent.
The mesmerizing opening dance scenes come across a lot like video gladiator battle sequences. These give way to the urban realism of a more brutal --and fatal-- L.A. gang clash after the not-so-lethal dance battle. DJ, played pitch perfectly by Columbus Short, loses his brother Duron (singer Chris Brown does an impressive job in this role) to a bullet in the clash and life as DJ knows it then comes to a screeching halt.
After a brief time in jail, he leaves the West Coast for Georgia, where he moves in with his aunt and uncle, then enrolls in college. It seems like the perfect strategy for rebuilding your life but DJ has problems with the idea that he's living his brother's dream of going to college and that his own is not all that definite. Perhaps among the most under-appreciated gifted actors of his generation, Harry Lennix gives one of the strongest performances of his career as the no-nonsense-taking uncle who pulls DJ out of his self-pitying funk. Their relationship proves to be one of tough-love and mutual respect. It also provides a rare glimpse into how black male relatives often function as surrogate fathers to youth whose biological fathers for whatever reason are nowhere to be seen.
The move from West Coast to Georgia might appear coincidental but in fact it is crucial to this film because DJ's move takes him out of a region of the country where historically black institutions like Clark University and Tuskegee Institute do not exist, and into one where their presence and legacy remains strong. The move to Georgia turns into an inner journey to his ancestral beginnings where ultimately he discovers the strength and integrity needed to cope with the grief over his brother's death and move forward with a vision for his own life.
Once he becomes a student at Truth University, DJ initially demonstrates the same kind of arrogance and self-absorption that got him into conflicts back in L.A. But he also discovers the world of stepping, both a new form of dance for him and a cultural tradition going back to the establishment of the first black Greek Letter fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s during the Harlem Renaissance. He becomes determined to help his chosen fraternity, Theta Nu Theta, end a seven-year long losing streak against their rivals Mu Gamma Xi, and to win the heart of co-ed April Palmer (played beautifully by Megan Good). His efforts take him through an inspiring rites of passage during which he learns a great deal about his ancestral legacies and the advantages of sometimes working as part of a team rather than thinking only of himself.
The culminating dance competitions in Stomp the Yard have to be seen to be believed and rank among the best in cinema history. Ultimately, this film is one that stands alongside "You've Been Served," "Drumline," and others that accentuate the life-affirming power and beauty of many African-American college traditions. In the process, it confirms and celebrates that same potential in all human beings.
by Author-Poet Aberjhani
author of The Bridge of Silver Wings (Songs of the Angelic Gaze)
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bad movie
Comment: I wanted to give this a try even though I wasn't sure what it was about. Very disapointed in the movie. Bad acting, bad story, bad dancing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: After watching this film, I had to immediately watch it again!
Comment: I loved this movie and it was a surprise to me. Yes, the story's typical. Heck, the whole movie was to highlight the dancing. So what? The story was very well done and the characters show immense growth. DJ goes from "all about me" to a "team" player, even swallowing his pride to do so. April went from an insecure girl who was just hanging on to 'big man on campus' to please others to a woman who made her own choices for herself. And Grant, the nemesis of the movie was consistently shown up for his underhanded and too controlling ways.
The dancing/stepping was awesome and a beautifully primal example of the fullness of being alive. The beats were all culturally significant and hinted at the old spirituals of days gone by. In a sense they spoke to the same strengths of the people.
Columbus Short was really an amazing dancer. I'd watch him again and again.
I think that even though this story was about African Americans and the dances were predominantly from that culture, the story and the moral of the story transcends any race. It's about respecting each other, about love, about teamwork and about being your best.
I give this movie a full five stars for it's entertainment value, it's moral and mostly the wonderful dancing.