The Movie: The first time I saw trailers for this movie, I was struck by a wave of disbelief. Being a former band geek (and indeed, co-captain of my high school's drumline) myself, I wanted to see just how they were going to try to make band "cool". When I received the DVD from Netflix, I was fully prepared for the cheesiest hip-hop kid from the big city brings soul to a lifeless band with his wacky ways teen movie (a la Bring It On), but fortunately, Drumline turned out to be a bit more sophisticated than that.

No, this movie isn't going to keep you riveted to your seat with its gripping plot and fantastic acting... Orlando Jones gave a pretty darned flat performance as the serious band director -- maybe not exactly the right guy for the job, but Drumline did keep me entertained for the duration of the film, and the performance sections were pretty darned cool. Some of the band-politics had me wondering if it was really like that in some of these bands... and actually, I'm going to have to say that I guess it probably gets pretty close sometimes!

So if you're looking for a teen-movie type deal, but slightly more on the serious side, or you're a former band geek wanting to relive your glory days, or you just want to see some impressive marching band performances shot and edited in an interesting way, or you're just looking to kill a couple of hours, Drumline could be right for you!

The DVD: There are separate widescreen and pan and scan versions of this film on DVD, so make sure you get the one you want! I of course am reviewing the widescreen version. The anamorphic transfer was nice and bright, with great color, though at times it exhibited some artifacting that may (or may not) have been from some sort of digital sharpening. The audio on this disc is what really blew me away though. A combination of pristine clarity and gut busting punch, with some smooth mixing put me right in the middle of all the action added great impact to the performance sections especially. Crank it up, it'll blow you away!

This disc has a good deal of special features, including audio commentary, a bunch of deleted scenes (with optional director's commentary), a couple of music videos, and a making-of documentary. Overall, a fine presentation on DVD for this movie.