American Pie Presents Band Camp: Unrated DVD Review:

Do we really need another American Pie film? If it were a film that was an actual sequel with the original characters, rather than a predictable spin-off with only a few of the smaller characters remaining, I might have said yes. I can just picture the guys from the three popular sex comedies, now grown with jobs and families. Perhaps Jim would have a baby and the title could be “American Family”. Half of what made the trilogy great was the characters and how we began to care for them through each sequel. Band Camp takes us back to the level that the first film was at, and it doesn’t have the controversy that helped make American Pie successful in the first place. My guess is that we will not be seeing any sequels with these characters.

One of the best sources for humor in the American Pie series was Seann William Scott’s Stifler character. It makes sense that this would be recreated in Band Camp. It seems that Stifler had a younger brother, Matt Stifler, played by Tad Hilgenbrinck who does have a remarkable resemblance to Scott. If only that were enough to keep this film afloat, but unfortunately there is something missing from Band Camp and it ends up seeming like a cheap replica.

Band Camp brings us back to the high school where it all started, at the end of Matt Stifler’s junior year. When a prank against the seniors ends up embarrassing the entire band, Matt is sent to band camp in efforts to get him to befriend his victims. These victims include an old childhood friend of Matt, Elyse, who now runs the school band. Matt predictably starts falling for her and changing his ways, but not until he has already set in motion plans to videotape band campers as they have scandalous escapades with each other. Matt is forced to decide between being cool his senior year and respecting Elyse and her passion for music.

The sentimental endings have been perfected by the American Pie series more than any other sex comedy, and Band Camp is no different. All of the sexy stuff happens rather continuously until the last twenty minutes when Matt grows a heart and changes his ways. It still works as well as the other films, but since these characters have not been around as long, it is nearly impossible for there to be as much weight upon anything they do.

The humor of Band Camp is funny, but Hilgenbrinck doesn’t come anywhere close to Scott as a Stifler. Mostly the advertisements seem to be playing up the sex element in the film, even more so than the original films. This is also somewhat deceptive. Even though it is unrated and seems to have a great deal of sex, there are actually only a few scenes which will excite fans. The unrated special features will also likely disappoint any overly eager fans.

Special features on this DVD seem mostly to be put together with cast members in charge, which gives the featurettes a home video feel, almost as if we are really brought into the family unit which is created on-set. These featurettes include the Band Camp Dirty Diary, some behind the scenes footage. There is also Band Camp’s Dirty Secrets, which is an on-set tour given by actors Rachel Veltri and Angela Little. There is also a ridiculous music video, some decent deleted scenes and a few fun bloopers. The unrated special features include an interview with Rachel Veltri and Angela Little about sexual issues, and a love lesson from former adult film star Ginger Lynn, with the help of a bunch of fruit.



Ryan Izay