Plot: What’s it about?
Truth University is a prestigious college, not the kind of place DJ (Columbus Short) ever imagined he would wind up at. His interests fall more on the side of dance, not academics, but his past landed him in hot water. His brother was murdered when a dance battle between rival gangs turned violent. As DJ tried to cope with the intense loss, his uncle (Harry Lennix) gave him a chance to get his life back on the right track. As soon as he is on campus, DJ feels out of place, since many of the other students are upper class and come from such a different background. But on the bright side, he quickly meets the beautiful April (Meagan Good) and romance seems to be in the cards. Then he learns about “stepping,” a tradition at the school where the fraternities engage in elaborate dance battles to determine who rules the school. But can DJ keep all these things in order and make the turn to improve his life, or will he buckle under the pressure?
So we had a movie about underground fight clubs, now we have a movie about underground dance battles? I’ve seen You Got Served and while it was outlandish, it was also fast paced and never took itself too seriously. Stomp the Yard however, seems to think the hilarious concept of dance battles holds in depth dramatic potential, which of course it doesn’t. I laughed throughout at how clueless the filmmakers were, to try to use such a comedic element as the driving force behind some kind of drama. The cultural messages are as subtle as a hammer to the temple, from the stay in school mantra to the racial issues, none of which are effective thanks to the director’s ham handed approach. I’m sure some will find Stomp the Yard uplifting and that works for them, but I think most will find it to be a total disappointment. This is perfect fodder for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 reunion, but aside from that, I can’t recommend this one.
Video: How does it look?
Stomp the Yard is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. As expected, the movie looks terrific and much better than the standard DVD edition. The image is bright and sharp, with a lot of depth and subtle details to dazzle the eyes. The sharpness falls and colors wash out a little in the darker scenes, though the image still looks as good, if not better than a high end DVD transfer. But outside of the darker scenes, this is a crisp and vivid presentation, one that is a pleasure to watch. A few flaws aside, we have a very good presentation and I think fans will be pleased here.
Audio: How does it sound?
An uncompressed PCM 5.1 option is on deck and this movie is all about dance battles, so the surrounds do have their hands full here. The musical soundtrack is the kind you’d expect, so deep bass is present often and the beats sound really good here, very impressive. When the music dies down however, the mix reverts to a dialogue driven melodrama, so the surrounds go silent and we’re left with a flat presence. Thankfully, music is a huge ingredient here and that means the audio is usually up to tricks, so your ears will be pleased with this track. This disc also includes a TrueHD 5.1 option, a French language track, and subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Thai, Portuguese, and Korean.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I hated this movie, so it was torture to have listen to this audio commentary track. Such a serious tone, as if the film was curing some fatal illness, just too much. I hate tracks where filmmakers are oblivious to how bad their movies are and this is a classic example of that. For those of you who love the dance battles, a couple of extended sequences can be viewed. You can also check out a look behind the scenes, some deleted scenes, and a reel of outtakes.
