A new kid in town assembles a fledgling rock band -- together, they achieve their dreams and compete against the best in the biggest event of the year, a battle of the bands.
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
School's out for summer and the East High Wildcats are ready to make it the time of their lives after landing jobs in a wealthy country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family.
In order to learn how to be responsible, two wealthy teen sisters are forced to work in the family business by their exasperated father. When company funds goes missing, it's up to the girls to save the day.
At a music camp for gifted teens, a popular teen idol overhears a girl singing and sets out to find who the talented voice belongs to. What he doesn't know is that the girl is actually a camp kitchen worker with a fear of being heard.
Five high school kids, Olivia, Wendall, Stella, Charlie, and "Mo", meet in detention and start a band based off the lemonade vending machine outside the detention room.
Cyrano De Bergerac meets Cinderella. Over-worked, harried and terrified of being put back in foster care, 17 year old Katie (Lucy Hale) does her stepmother and step-siblings' bidding ... See full summary »
Jessica Olsen was expecting a normal trip to California with her family to visit her grandma. However, she agrees to join her older sister to find the famous pop star, Christopher Wilde.
As Hannah Montana's popularity begins to take over her life, Miley Stewart, on the urging from her father takes a trip to her hometown of Crowley Corners, Tennessee to get some perspective on what matters in life the most.
A 16 year old girl prepares a list of 16 wishes for 8 years, hoping they will come true on her 16th birthday. A fairy comes to give her 16 candles that make the 16 wishes come true. Her ... See full summary »
Director:
Peter DeLuise
Stars:
Debby Ryan,
Jean-Luc Bilodeau,
Anna Mae Wills
Mitchie can't wait to return to camp rock so that she and love-interest Shane can spend the summer making music and having fun with their friends and band mates. But when a rival camp, Camp... See full summary »
Will centers on a high school outcast and a popular girl who form an unlikely bond through their shared love of music. Assembling a like-minded crew of misfits, the friends form a rock group and perform in the battle of the bands competition at their school. Written by
anonymous
When Glory Dogs is first performing near the beginning of the movie, Will asks Sa5m how big Bandslam is at the school, and she says "Texas high school football big". The lead singer of Glory Dogs is played by Scott Porter who played a Texas high school quarterback on Friday Night Lights (2006). See more »
Goofs
In the opening shots when he's making his "It's Monday Morning" entry to David Bowie, there's a closeup of his hands on the keyboard and his watch reads, 1:30. See more »
Quotes
Will Burton:
So, how big is this whole bandslam thing around here?
Sa5m:
Texas high school football big.
See more »
For the first time this year, a teen film actually appeals to teens. It's painfully routed in fantasy, a trend most adolescent movies tend to follow, but with interesting characters and a hip soundtrack, the target audience is likely to be thoroughly entertained. Formulaic at times but unpredictable at others, Bandslam isn't as unique as it is well-timed. Amidst the really sour teen flicks popping up in theaters, this is less immature, more comedic and generally more fun.
Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) trudges through high school life in Cincinnati at a school he describes as Guantanamo with a lunch period. It's Novocain for the soul, providing him a constant source of boredom and bullying. His mother Karen (Lisa Kudrow) brings him great news that they're going to move to New Jersey, and although he feels that his classmates will provide much of the same old annoyances, at least it will be a chance to start fresh as an unknown.
At Martin Van Buren High, he quickly attaches himself to a quiet, dark and mysterious girl named Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens) - the 5 is silent. He also discovers that the cafeteria is used for live band performances and to support the local group the Glory Dogs, led by Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter), a singer/guitarist who is too cool (and too old) for school. Glory Dogs enters every year into the Bandslam competition, a battle-of-the-bands contest that awards the winner with a $10,000 record deal. Ex-Glory Dogs singer Charlotte Banks (Alyson Michalka) discovers that Will has an uncommon knowledge of music and uses him to jumpstart another band to compete in Bandslam, courageously going head-to-head against the school favorite. With his new career as a band manager, the confusing advances by Charlotte (a bound-to-be-trouble blonde with her own Wikipedia page who refuses to answer "Why" questions), and his occasionally overbearing mother, will young Burton have time for Sa5m, the girl he really likes? It seems that teen dramedies always get carried away with pure fantasy, most notable when the dorky lead character immediately makes friends with the two hottest girls in school. In similar fashion to School of Rock, he also luckily unites several of the most talented musicians in the state to somehow work together and form an amazingly original band in which everyone has mastered improvisation and spontaneity. Anyone who's actually been through high school will probably wonder where exactly miracles like this take place. Fortunately, although the reality is slim, Bandslam employs enough humor and drama to keep things interesting, along with a good twist at the end and naturally catchy music. It's a film that may not boast the most original premise, but at least teens won't be disappointed in the entertainment value, even if they have to look past the mild PG rating. It's certainly a level more realistic than the High School Musicals.
Mike Massie
16 of 24 people found this review helpful.
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For the first time this year, a teen film actually appeals to teens. It's painfully routed in fantasy, a trend most adolescent movies tend to follow, but with interesting characters and a hip soundtrack, the target audience is likely to be thoroughly entertained. Formulaic at times but unpredictable at others, Bandslam isn't as unique as it is well-timed. Amidst the really sour teen flicks popping up in theaters, this is less immature, more comedic and generally more fun.
Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) trudges through high school life in Cincinnati at a school he describes as Guantanamo with a lunch period. It's Novocain for the soul, providing him a constant source of boredom and bullying. His mother Karen (Lisa Kudrow) brings him great news that they're going to move to New Jersey, and although he feels that his classmates will provide much of the same old annoyances, at least it will be a chance to start fresh as an unknown.
At Martin Van Buren High, he quickly attaches himself to a quiet, dark and mysterious girl named Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens) - the 5 is silent. He also discovers that the cafeteria is used for live band performances and to support the local group the Glory Dogs, led by Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter), a singer/guitarist who is too cool (and too old) for school. Glory Dogs enters every year into the Bandslam competition, a battle-of-the-bands contest that awards the winner with a $10,000 record deal. Ex-Glory Dogs singer Charlotte Banks (Alyson Michalka) discovers that Will has an uncommon knowledge of music and uses him to jumpstart another band to compete in Bandslam, courageously going head-to-head against the school favorite. With his new career as a band manager, the confusing advances by Charlotte (a bound-to-be-trouble blonde with her own Wikipedia page who refuses to answer "Why" questions), and his occasionally overbearing mother, will young Burton have time for Sa5m, the girl he really likes? It seems that teen dramedies always get carried away with pure fantasy, most notable when the dorky lead character immediately makes friends with the two hottest girls in school. In similar fashion to School of Rock, he also luckily unites several of the most talented musicians in the state to somehow work together and form an amazingly original band in which everyone has mastered improvisation and spontaneity. Anyone who's actually been through high school will probably wonder where exactly miracles like this take place. Fortunately, although the reality is slim, Bandslam employs enough humor and drama to keep things interesting, along with a good twist at the end and naturally catchy music. It's a film that may not boast the most original premise, but at least teens won't be disappointed in the entertainment value, even if they have to look past the mild PG rating. It's certainly a level more realistic than the High School Musicals.