Stomp the Yard (2007)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

So what if this is clichéd, so what if it's a combination of 2 different movies (which I disagree). This is one of the first black film I can sit back and watch that does not have any cursing, sex, a lot of violence etc. Is it so hard for black people to accept being seen in a different light? Are we as black people not tired of the violent, unintelligent and downright stupid characters we are cast to play in movies? This movie is damn good (if I may so) and I will say that because I can safely sit down with my kids and watch it without have to skip over anything. All you haters out there, let us see you do something better without the expletives, sex scenes etc.. I love the quote at the end, that was a nice touch.

Alright let's get this straight...last night my girlfriend actually got me to see this movie that was ''SOOOOOOOO BRILLIANT SO FUN AND SOO GOOD'' ...So Damn !! I just watched it, who actually would refuse to see a movie that someone tells you is good...well Don't DO IT, just don't watch stomp the yard ...first of all, the plot is very easy to figure out, and by easy I mean like 10 minutes after you pushed the start movie button... You see this black guy who always danced and stuff..his cousin gets killed by some white ass guy who had been defeated in a break dance competition ...(omg wtf, it's like killing someone for having lost at chest ....eeew...) and after that the black guy doesn't want to dance anymore but you actually know he will, only by the title of this piece of garbage...So after that, the main character called DJ goes to a new city a new school, you know a really really original introduction to a movie... So it's really easy to know at the beginning that DJ is gonna be the leader of a break dance team, he's gonna have to defeat a rival break dance team, Screw the other team's captain girl, and make his cousin special move to win the competition... I know I only bitched at the movie, but it his hard to describe how bad it is... SO I will only tell you what was good, the main title and the ending credits.... for anything else... the acting is bad, the plot is bad, the main story is bad, it deserve minus 1000000, it's almost worst than Paris Hilton's the hottie and the nottie... don't rent this, don't watch this just act like you've never heard of it....

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 and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

Don't know what those guys were smoking when they rated this movie with a 1. I would have given it a 9 but because of those numbskull's I gave it a 10. I would love to get the soundtrack and looking forward to getting it on DVD. Great movie with awesome dancing. I don't see what was so bad about it, there was good acting, good dancing, good directing, decent script. This movie deserves a lot of credit for its genre, and my favorite part of the movie, which was the soundtrack, especially walk it out, and that scene with the song, so please see this movie and don't trust bad advertising at stupid people rating when they don't know sh*t about what there rating.