Band Camp was the first of the American Pie series that I actually sat down and watched all of, but I'd seen parts of the others, and as a marching band member of many years, I've heard all the jokes more times than I can even count.
There's nothing I can say in my review about the quality of the movie that hasn't already been said, but I wanted to express my appreciation for this movie's experimentation with the idea (I wouldn't call it anything more) that band kids maybe aren't so bad. The lessons Stifler's brother learns about "bandies" (I think they called them in the movie) and about his brother's attitude are what I remember from this movie. Also, the bands used in the movie are actually all members of the prestigious Riverside Community College marching band, and the music was arranged by a brass arranger for Drum Corps International. Granted, I have been to band camp and it is still 95% nothing like the band camp presented in the movie, but it's also not completely off. Yes, I have been to band camp. Yes, we got drunk, but not in crazy sno-cone parties where everybody took their shirts off. No, this movie was not a cinematic masterpiece. But it is slightly more grounded in reality than its predecessors.
There's nothing I can say in my review about the quality of the movie that hasn't already been said, but I wanted to express my appreciation for this movie's experimentation with the idea (I wouldn't call it anything more) that band kids maybe aren't so bad. The lessons Stifler's brother learns about "bandies" (I think they called them in the movie) and about his brother's attitude are what I remember from this movie. Also, the bands used in the movie are actually all members of the prestigious Riverside Community College marching band, and the music was arranged by a brass arranger for Drum Corps International. Granted, I have been to band camp and it is still 95% nothing like the band camp presented in the movie, but it's also not completely off. Yes, I have been to band camp. Yes, we got drunk, but not in crazy sno-cone parties where everybody took their shirts off. No, this movie was not a cinematic masterpiece. But it is slightly more grounded in reality than its predecessors.