Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

American Pie Presents: Band Camp Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 17, 2020

There's one line from the American Pie franchise that's so shocking, so beloved, so revered, so quotable, so timeless, so, well, American Pie that even in a franchise known for its spawned theatrical and direct-to-video entries that it stands out for paving the way for its own movie. "This one time, at band camp..." and everyone knows the rest. The folks behind the franchise have crafted an entire 90-minute story and built up significant franchise lore from a single sentence, taking audience inside the frivolity and fraternization that is band camp. It's everything one expects from a Pie movie: it's vulgar, it's sexy, it's sophomoric, it's even a bit stupid. But the question is whether franchise fans will swallow it down or spit it up in disgust.

So happy to-ge-ther!

When Steve Stifler’s younger brother Matt (Tad Hilgenbrinck) pulls a serious prank on the school band that ruins graduation, the school retaliates by forcing him take part in band camp...or else his life will essentially be cancelled. But rather than see it as punishment, he sees it as an opportunity. Band camp students have sex 24/7, he hears. So he gleefully heads that way, armed with hundreds of dollars of spy equipment, and proceeds to take advantage of a target-rich environment, filming girls in showers and playing very easy to get with the ladies. He watches everyone around him landing a girlfriend except for him, and matters are only complicated when his rival from school, Elyse Houston (Arielle Kebbel), turns out to be one of the band leaders. As his antics only humiliate him further and his prospects dwindle, he has no choice but to try and get back in Elyse’s good graces and make something of his time at band camp beyond just a series of pranks and hormonal discharges.

Hormonal hijinks and the practical joke tit-for-tat merry-go-round highlight Band Camp. When Matt isn't setting up spy cams to capture videos of naked girls in the shower (which are seen with frequency on his laptop screen), he's doing something with his privates, whether getting stuck in an instrument or replacing sunscreen with his semen. So, yeah, it's probably not fit for family movie night. Everything is defined and influenced by and performed for sex or crude sexual humor. Which makes it a perfectly viable American Pie film, even as part of the spinoff "Presents" line rather than a main series entry. It's pretty much on the money on terms of delivering on audience expectations, which could reasonably lead one to call the movie a "success."

But while the movie hits all the right notes in terms of style and story, technical execution is a little lacking. It always feels like the movie was built around the gags rather than vice-versa. It's slow and quickly grows stale as the back-and-forth gags grow tiresome and repetitive, not so much predictable in terms of the details in how they all unfold but certainly in knowing that something sex related is coming. All the movie really has to offer is the effort to top one gross-out gag with another, because the rest of the story -- Matt's transformation, his growing relationship with Elyse -- is even more transparent and unsurprising than the movie's parade of bare breasts, sexual hijinks, and sexualized musical instruments. Once the narrative crudities are introduced and the characters are established, the movie becomes as predictable as the day, the flute, the whatever is long. The acting is lacking, too. Tad Hilgenbrinck teeters on insufferable, not so much because he's a poor actor but because he's charged with carrying a one-note character who even in growth shows little depth and is given precious few opportunities to stretch beyond the sophomoric silliness that defines the character. Eugene Levy returns in a limited role and does his thing well enough, and the troupe of actors all look good and play otherwise vacuous parts well enough.

American Pie Presents: Band Camp Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

American Pie Presents: Band Camp looks fairly good in the aggregate. While there's a very mild look of filtering, with grain a little harsher, not quite so naturally organic as it should be, the processing is not fully detrimental to the image. There remains a decent feel for the filmic origins; it's just more processed than is ideal. Details are stout. The picture showcases good essential skin and clothing textures, wooden accents around the dormitory, and natural vegetation around camp's exteriors. Colors lack nuance and finesse but core tones are pleasantly dense and contrast is fairly natural. Whether various clothing tones, natural greenery, or the blonde woods inside the dorms, there's a fair level of stability and accuracy in play. Blacks are good enough, as are skin tones. There are some errant pops and speckles seen throughout but little evidence of encode troubles.

American Pie Presents: Band Camp Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

American Pie Presents: Band Camp marches onto Blu-ray with a robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track's big highlight involves band music, which is consistently immersive with impressive stage saturation that puts the listener right in the middle of the instruments. Clarity is quite good, too, throughout the entire instrumental spectrum, from top end highs to bottom end lows. The track is otherwise fairly straightforward, offering some occasional atmospheric engagement while some crude bodily function sound effects get the point across. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized. It flows naturally from a front-center position.

American Pie Presents: Band Camp Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of American Pie Presents: Band Camp contains several supplements, all of which must be accessed in-film from the "pop up" menu which also offers the option to toggle subtitles on and off. There is no "top menu." Pressing that remote button simply restarts the movie. It also includes "additional material not included in the original release" and presents at a runtime of 1:34:13; there is no option to play the original version. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Outtakes (1080p upscaled, window box, 4:17): A gag reel, essentially.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p upscaled, window box, 11:51): A collection of scenes with no identifying markers.
• Band Camp Dirty Diary (1080i upscaled, 4x3, 17:24): On set and sit-down interviews with the cast.
• Poolside with the Playmates (1080i upscaled, 4x3, 3:02): Rachel Veltri and Angela Little answer some empty questions from the film's Ernie Kaplowitz.
• Band Camp's Dirty Secrets (1080i upscaled, 4x3, 5:36): Rachel Veltri and Angela Little tour the set.
• Rover Cam Uncut! (1080p upscaled, 4x3, 14:40): Ernie Kaplowitz talks into the bot's camera and the audience is shown some extra footage featuring various character moments.
• Music Video (1080p upscaled, 4x3, 1:33): "Band Camp Girls."
• Unrated Love Lessons with Ginger Lynn (1080p upscaled, window box, 10:57): The actress who plays Nurse Sanders shares some sex tips via Ernie's robot cam.

American Pie Presents: Band Camp Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

American Pie Presents: Band Camp delivers serviceable, sexualized humor in classic American Pie fashion. It works in that context but forget anything else of interest or value. Universal's Blu-ray delivers more than adequate video and audio and brings with it a handful of extras. Recommended to franchise fans.