nbbaiyuchen
I like musicals, but I don't know if that was really a good way to present this material. That, and only one of the numbers really grabbed me. I will say that the stomp competition sequence was well choreographed and executed though. The performances are good, and you can see Lee's innovations and techniques getting better and better, but the film is a little weak structurally and leaves a few too many loose ends. However, it is entertaining, and makes some important contributions cinematically (but most culturally and socially) It's not too bad i think. I admire Spike's efforts, Spike Lee's Version of college life was real, funny, and I could relate to this film.
MisterWhiplash
School Daze isn't something that is exclusive to those who went to all-black colleges, despite what some other commenters have said on IMDb. Coming from an average state school, there's still nothing *big* in the movie that comes from specifically being all-black, as there are many things like fraternities/sororities, male and female camaraderie, sex, fashion, insults, sports and rituals in general that are common to any college experience. Spike Lee captures that, when he's at his best here, very well. If you *did* go to an all-black college ala Lee's alma mater Moorehouse, then I'm sure it will have more relevance. But in general, Lee's made a solid, technically wild college comedy/musical/drama, with some major missteps.There are some messages thrown about in School Daze, mostly around sexism, not so much racism (there's barely a white person to be seen in the film so it's not really an issue to deal with per-say), but they're all used in relativity with the story and characters, which is good. We're given Mission college, an all-black college down south, where classes are pretty much moot and everything revolves around cliques of various sorts: the Greek frat, which Half-Pint (Spike Lee) is trying to join, and his cousin Dap (Fishburne) who definitely is not and is defiant against a lot of things on campus, which nearly get him expelled. There are also the jigaboo's and the wannabes, two sets of girls on campus who are certainly opposed (as we see, brilliantly, in one of the better musical numbers).While Lee's plot isn't always connected together, there's so much that works when he keeps the dialog moving along. He has a great sense of the characters, the BS that binds guys together and how the rhythm of a conversation with these 18-22 year olds goes, and about the ambivalence between the opposing sexes, leading up to the dramatic climax. Even most of the actors, close to all of them their first time in a Lee joint (Esposito, Davis, Bill Nunn), are terrific when given the chance showing off how absurd and, in retrospect in life, abstract all of this becomes. What keeps it down from being a lot better- and, sadly, what makes it look a lot more like an exercise in style (which, granted, was Lee's first movie with a budget above 100 grand and for a studio)- are the padded musical performances, and specifically those that don't contribute anything to the story. The first sequence is dynamite as the actresses all perform in an energetic performance about the differences between the sororities. After that, it's more or less (more for the one scene with the singer intercut with the sex) just filler that is shot well but empty.Nevertheless, School Daze shows a filmmaker ready and hungry behind the lens to try and do things and show us bits and pieces of life that haven't been much in American movies, and at best it's riveting and entertaining. For this it's commendable, but it's also a stepping stone for Do the Right Thing. 7.5/10
jenjen29204
When this movie first came out I was six years old. From then on I would see it from time to time, but wasn't aware of what School Daze was about. Until I decided to go to an HBCU,then I knew exactly what the meaning of this movie was all about. If you have never attended an HBCU, you can't get the full effect of what this movie is saying. This movie gives you just enough of an HBCU. School Daze is special to me because it was filmed in the AUC, where I attended Dear ol Morris Brown College. This is one out of two of my favorite black college movies, Drumline is my other favorite black college movie which was also filmed in the AUC and which I was apart of.
