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Stomp the Yard | 
| Director: Sylvain White
Actors: Columbus Short, Meagan Good, Ne-yo, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Brian J. White
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
This item is no longer available
Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 12347
Genre: African American Cinema
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 115 Minutes
ASIN: B000T48CRU
Theatrical Release Date: January 11, 2007
Release Date: October 16, 2007
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| Synopsis:
DJ (Columbus Short), an amazing underground street dancer, hasn’t been in college for a day before he’s entranced by a lovely co-ed, April (Meagan Good).Working as a gardener to pay the bills, DJ doesn’t fit in with the wealthier students around campus, but one thing does catch his attention – the rival fraternity competitions known as “stepping.” With April’s help, DJ learns about the legacy and heritage behind the fraternities and decides to join up. Now part of an official step group, DJ must balance rehearsals, work, and school, while at the same time winning the heart of the girl of his dreams. With the National Step Championship drawing closer, DJ must learn to stop dancing as an individual, and to start stepping as part of a team. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
Some people seriously need to stop sipping on hatred. May 24, 2007
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada)
20 out of 26 found this review helpful
The story might be predictable...but the stomping is amazing. The big standout in the film is of course Columbus Short as a lead actor. Though he has many dancing and television credits on his resume, this film marks his first turn in a lead film role--and it is the perfect opportunity. Short is an above-average talent who possesses the kind of charm and screen presence that could make him a leading man for his generation. He plays the part of D.J., a teen-age dancer who battles competitively in Los Angeles until tragedy strikes. Eventually, he is sent by his mother to live in Atlanta with his uncle and aunt, who have helped him enroll in the historically Black Truth University. While D.J. takes classes and works at Truth, he is drawn to the culture of stepping at Black fraternities. He soon finds a way to mesh his talents with his new environment, while also pursuing a new love interest, April (Meagan Goode). Against the odds, D.J.--young, talented and arrogant-- is drawn into the competition of his life.
After watching this you will come to fine out that some musicians such as Ne-Yo and Chris Brown can be actors too. They both provided some comical relief and some pretty good acting I thought that "Stomp the Yard" was a good movie. Very entertaining, and the dancing was remarkable, but it had a deep inner message to go with it... for young and old alike! There is so much talent in our young African Americans but at times directed in the wrong direction. What was also likable and quite inspiring, is a scene in which the main character visits an honorary hall, filled with various pictures of national African-American figures affiliated with many well-known fraternities. Some of the people shown? Esther Rolle, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and Martin Luther King, to name a few. This scene really gave me a sense of pride when I saw it, and a respect for the leaders of the past.
Though the electric dance routines give this movie its vibrant energy. It may not be representative of what happens on Black campuses or inside Black fraternities but it offers nuance about the campus stepping culture--new school versus old school, traditional versus styles influenced by hip hop and break dancing. I appreciate "Stomp the Yard" for trying to show a well-known culture in a respected community, but it might not go as deep as you might expect it to be other than that it's a good movie.
Dance 5, Story 3 May 20, 2007
Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
STOMP THE YARD comes as a pleasant surprise to those of us who have yet to be introduced to 'stepping' - a sport/dance form that is not break dancing, not hip-hop, not modern dance, not clogging, not ballet, but instead is an exhilarating display of rhythm, physical dexterity, and creative choreography that makes this little film well worth watching.
The story is minimal and hackneyed and serves basically as an outline for the dance performances. DJ (the enormously talented dancer/actor Columbus Short) is sent from Los Angeles to Atlanta's Truth University after his conviction for street brawling, a fight in which his brother (Chris Brown) was killed. Once on campus DJ is works for his uncle as a gardener and is soon courted for his step dance skills by two rival fraternities. One fraternity gains DJ's attention and he pledges. Of course there is the requisite love conflict (the beautiful Meagan Good as April), who just happens to be the girlfriend of the rival fraternity step leader (Darrin Henson), and the usual undercurrent of familial dichotomies between DJ's humble background and April's influential father bring the tension to the front: the result is DJ's triumphant performance in the annual stepping competition between the two fraternities. The ending is predictable but sensitive and with a message.
The real star of the film is the magnificently choreographed and executed dancing, performed by the actual cast members. Director Sylvain White and his choreographers center their attention on the big sequences and the result is very fine entertainment. In addition to the gifted Columbus Short and Darrin Henson the cast includes such fine actor/dancers as Brian J. White, Ne-Yo, Laz Alonzo, Oliver Ryan Best, Richmond Duain Martyn, Justin Hires, and many others. It is difficult to resist the excitement of the commitment of this fine cast to the introduction of step dancing to the public at large. So much talent! Grady Harp, May 07
 unimpressive dance film June 20, 2007
Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
10 out of 28 found this review helpful
"Stomp the Yard" is a film that exists solely for its dancing. All else is mere filler. That includes the plot, which revolves around a young L.A. street dancer named D.J. (Columbus Short) who enrolls in Atlanta's Truth University and immediately finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two fraternities specializing in what is called competitive "stomp" dancing. The film also chronicles the lovelorn lad's near-stalker-like efforts to woo April (Meagan Good), the provost's beautiful daughter, despite the fact that she is already going out with a self-centered, super creep of a boyfriend (Darrin Dewitt Henson), who also happens to be one of the leaders of a rival fraternity.
Although the plot complications are relatively straightforward and easy to follow, you just might want to keep a "street slang-to-English" dictionary handy to help you through some of the dialogue. Unfortunately, the predictability of the storyline and the triteness of the romantic entanglements pretty much vitiate the attractive novelty of the context and setting.
That pretty much leaves just the dancing, which isn't all that terrific, actually, thanks to the frenetic, hurdy-gurdy quality of the editing, which breaks up the movements and prevents the dancers from establishing a smooth-flowing rhythm and style. We see their dance routines only in fragmented bits and pieces, a technique that does little justice to the vision and hard work of the performers, who clearly possess an impressive store of untapped energy and talent. At least that's more than can be said for the acting, which ranges in quality from the merely passable to the distressingly amateurish.
There are moments of inspirational racial pride sprinkled in among the melodrama and dance sequences, but they are quickly swept away by the contrivances and cliches that ultimately inundate the film.
Stomp on over to the refund counter.
This Movie Reminds Me Of Something May 21, 2007
Keith A. Jones (Philadelphia PA)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
It's a terrible experience when someone close to you passes and it's even rougher when it's your baby brother. After dancing in a battle and winning a hat full of money Dj "Columbus Short", his brother "Chris Brown" and his team beat the wrong team this time. While walking home in a dark alley the other team jumped them to get their money back but bad turns to worst and DJ's brother is shot and killed. DJ is sent to live with his Uncle and aunt in Atlanta and is expected to go to college. When he arrives on campus he sees some things he's never seen before like fraternities and stepping and it's all downhill from there. During this film DJ learns things that boys need to learn to become men especially love and even gets to do what he loves most while he's there. He ends up becoming a major key to one frat in dieing need of something fresh.
The first time I saw the preview for "Stomp the Yard" I automatically thought, "Wow, the stepping version of Drumline" but at the same time I felt it would be pretty good. Though this movie does resemble Drumline the story differs a bit. The first being "Darrin Henson" (Soul Food the series) who is a good actor but a dancer and choreographer first and I would say a better choreographer than actor since he probably makes more money off of it. Of course the others being "Chris Brown" and "Columbus Short", most of the cast are dancers acting unlike "Drumline" where Nick Cannon was an actor who had to learn how to play the drums. Even the two frats remind you of "Drumline" one frat has an old school style and hasn't won in 7 years and the other has a grimey aggressive new shchool that never loses.
Darrin played his character well and though Chris Brown wasn't in there that long he did ok but Columbus Short danced better than he acted and it took a little from the movie. He didn't show the same feeling and emotion in his acting as he did in his dancing. You can see this in the film when he loosens up when he dances and then starts to get really tight when he goes back to acting. There was only one big problem I had with "Stomp the Yard", the first being how the story is told. In the middle of the movie when DJ is pledging to get into a fraternity his pledging is basically skipped and he's in.
The stepping and overall choreography is amazing and gets better towards the end of the film. The acting was cool as well as the story but still the dancing outshines them. The history told in this movie makes me proud and gives the movie that extra something. It would've been really cool though if they shined a little more light on where stepping came from and why it's so important in black colleges today. Overall this is a very good movie that was made very well but I have to say that I think women will enjoy this more than guys, when you see it you'll know what I mean.
Good dancing, Poor Fraternity movie January 24, 2007
Kurupt (chicago)
8 out of 17 found this review helpful
I was taken to see this movie by a female friend of mine. I didn't know anything about the movie except that there would be stepping in it and a fraternity story tied into it. So of course I expected to see a movie that was right along the lines of school daze. Totally wrong!!!!! Stomp the yard should have been named You got served 2 or drumline 2 because it was more focused on dancing than on Frat life and stepping. The average age in the movie theater was around 14 years of age so this movie really wasn't geared toward a 30 year black greek. When stepping was shown, (which wasn't a lot of the movie) the scenes were decent. I was more impressed with the B-Boy dance scenes when the actors were break dancing. I made sure to ask some friends of mine that are in other frats (alphas, ques) what they thought of the movie and they all felt the same as me. The movie did not show the positive aspects of the frat (community service, mentoring) and only made it look like frats are about partying and dancing. For an outsider looking in you will probably think that this movie is great. But if you know anything about frats or you are in a frat/sorority you most likely won't like it. Yo! to the NUPES!
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