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IMDbPro

Bandslam

  • 20092009
  • PGPG
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
15K
YOUR RATING
Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, and Aly Michalka in Bandslam (2009)
An outcast (Connell) bonds with the popular girl on campus (Michalka) over their shared love of music, and together they decide to form a rock group and enter their school's upcoming battle of the bands competition.
Play trailer2:30
8 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Family
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
15K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Todd Graff
  • Writers
    • Josh A. Cagan(screenplay)
    • Todd Graff(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Aly Michalka
    • Vanessa Hudgens
    • Gaelan Connell
Top credits
  • Director
    • Todd Graff
  • Writers
    • Josh A. Cagan(screenplay)
    • Todd Graff(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Aly Michalka
    • Vanessa Hudgens
    • Gaelan Connell
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 49User reviews
    • 74Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos8

    Bandslam
    Trailer 2:30
    Bandslam
    Fraggle Rock: Rock On!: Season 1
    Trailer 0:33
    Fraggle Rock: Rock On!: Season 1
    Bandslam -- "The Music"
    Clip 1:15
    Bandslam -- "The Music"
    Bandslam -- "NYC Trip"
    Clip 1:45
    Bandslam -- "NYC Trip"
    Bandslam -- "The 5 Is Silent"
    Featurette 1:24
    Bandslam -- "The 5 Is Silent"
    Bandslam -- "CBGBs"
    Featurette 1:58
    Bandslam -- "CBGBs"
    Bandslam -- "Will"
    Featurette 1:51
    Bandslam -- "Will"
    Bandslam -- Battle of the Bands
    Featurette 2:07
    Bandslam -- Battle of the Bands

    Photos110

    Gaelan Connell, Ryan Donowho, Vanessa Hudgens, Aly Michalka, Charlie Saxton, and Tim Jo in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, and Aly Michalka in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, and Aly Michalka in Bandslam (2009)
    Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka in Bandslam (2009)
    Lisa Kudrow, Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka, and Tim Jo in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka, and Scott Porter in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell, Ryan Donowho, and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)
    Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens in Bandslam (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Aly Michalka
    Aly Michalka
    • Charlotte
    Vanessa Hudgens
    Vanessa Hudgens
    • Sa5m
    Gaelan Connell
    Gaelan Connell
    • Will
    Scott Porter
    Scott Porter
    • Ben Wheatly
    Ryan Donowho
    Ryan Donowho
    • Basher
    Charlie Saxton
    Charlie Saxton
    • Bug
    Lisa Kudrow
    Lisa Kudrow
    • Karen
    Tim Jo
    Tim Jo
    • Omar
    Elvy
    Elvy
    • Irene (Cello)
    • (as Elvy Yost)
    Lisa Chung
    • Kim Lee (Keyboards)
    J.W. Wright
    • Dylan Dyer (Glory Dogs Guitar)
    • (as J.W. Wright II)
    Blair Bomar
    Blair Bomar
    • Megan
    Casey Williams
    Casey Williams
    • Ms. Wittenberg
    Maggie Maye
    Maggie Maye
    • Kyra 17-1
    Jennifer Blair
    Jennifer Blair
    • Kyra's Friend
    Zach Thatcher
    Zach Thatcher
    • Kid Talking About Miles
    Derek Cox-Berg
    Derek Cox-Berg
    • Rapping Boy 1
    Matt Hensarling
    • Rapping Boy 2
    • Director
      • Todd Graff
    • Writers
      • Josh A. Cagan(screenplay) (story)
      • Todd Graff(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      David Bowie agreed to take part in the film because he's a fan of director Todd Graff's previous film Camp (2003).
    • Goofs
      When Will first meets Sa5m in the high school cafeteria, Sa5m writes her name on a notebook of lined paper. A close up shows plain paper. The next frame is again showing lined paper.
    • Quotes

      Will Burton: I think if you tried signaling, people would honk less.

      Charlotte Banksasks: They don't need to know my business.

      Will Burton: ...It's not really a privacy issue.

    • Connections
      Referenced in I Hate Everything: the Search for the Worst: Smosh: The Movie (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      Rebel Rebel
      Written and Performed by David Bowie

      Courtesy of RZO Music

    User reviews49

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    School of not
    This high school musical movie actually contains one of HSM's stars, Vanessa Hudgens, plus Lisa Kudrow as the single mother of the protag, Will Burton (Gaelen Connell), who is delighted when his mom finds a way to take them to live in a new place, Lodi, New Jersey. He was more then ready for a change. In one of the chatty emails to David Bowie that provide the narration, he calls his old high school "Guantanamo with lunch breaks." What happens at the new school? Will gets lucky. Real lucky. He gets paired off with Vanessa Hudgens in a class, and they become a couple. A former Alpha Female called Charlotte (junior prom queen, head cheerleader), played by Alyson Michalka, finds out Will has an encyclopedic musical knowledge and recruits him to meld her garage band into one that can beat the high school's reigning Glory Dogs and win the tri-state (NY, NY, CN) "bandslam." One obvious motive is that she wants to beat the Glory Dogs to trounce its lead singer, Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter), because he is her snotty former boyfriend. Aside from Ben, a generic model of testosterone overconfidence, Graff (mostly) steers clear of high school stereotypes.

    This sets up a trajectory for the film that's like an older kids' version of Richard Linklater's 'School of Rock,' but Gaelen Connell is no Jack Black and the pathway to the big event isn't as cute -- or as climactic. That was one of Black's triumphs, but on the other hand Connell himself is way cuter than Jack Black, whose closest lookalike is the base guitarist, a Flea imitator who calls himself Bug (Charlie Saxton). Resembling young Tom Hanks or maybe John Cusack, with a weak chin, a sweet little smile, a mini Afro and a wrinkled brow, you can almost believe Connell's Will might actually be in the constant company of the school's hottest chicks. Not quite. He's not as articulate and soulful as Cusack, and not as edgey and dark as Christian Slater was in 'Heathers' or 'Pump Up the Volume.' But then Hudgens isn't the shiny, prefab girlfriend of Zac Efron this time. Au contraire. She gets to be the dark one. She calls herself Sa5m ("the 5 is silent"), wears dark clothes, and she reads all the time, even when Will's trying to kiss her.

    When you think of Eighties youth classics like those two Slater was in, Bandslam looks generic. We'll just never relive that great Eighties youth movie moment or see the likes of the late, great John Hughes again. But when you compare Bandslam to 'High School Musical,' you realize this is not the kind of movie that you pan. It deserves encouragement. The screenplay by Graff and Josh A. Cagan is packed with inessential cuteness and never takes its dark moments seriously enough -- even though it pushes them too hard. The music Will leads the band into is bland -- and loud. There's none of the joy in rock frenzy that Jack Black comically evokes. Maybe Wil's expertise -- his celebratory (and still pretty touching) visit to the ruins of CGMG, where punk began -- may seem more a reflection of the 50ish director than a teenager. But none of that matters enough to maul this movie, unless you're desperate to show how musically hip you are. The cast is just too appealing and the action is just too much fun to write them off.

    When Will reshapes the band by adding brass and an Asian girl classical keyboardist (Lisa Chung) and an elphin-spouting nerdy girl cellist (Elvy Yost) and a boy drummer called Basher (Ryan Donowho) whose majors are machine shop and anger management, if feels like he's bringing something to life (however silly the music), and Jack Black was just a puppet master. It's also good that Kudrow really seems like a single mom trying not to get too much in the way of her son's new life but still protective and sometimes forgetting herself and making him a friend, or as he says "doing that thing of talking to me like I'm Oprah." Sometimes Todd Graff's perky cuteness seems pretty real. Connell has been compared to a Michael Cera "without the sweetness." "Thank you Shia LaBeouf and Michael Cera" is something Connell has actually said, "for paving the way for someone like me to be the leading guy in a movie." But Connell is Connell. LaBeouf would be a lead weight here, and Cera would swamp the movie with his indie quirkiness. The best thing about Connell is he's not a scene stealer: he's a catalyst. He makes this movie built around him an ensemble picture, and everybody looks pretty good.
    helpful•21
    9
    • Chris Knipp
    • Aug 20, 2009

    FAQ3

    • Is "Bandslam" based on a book?
    • Is Vanessa Hudgens' character named "Sam" or "Sa5m"?
    • What song is playing when Will takes Sa5m around the city?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 14, 2009 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official site
      • Official site (France)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Rock On
    • Filming locations
      • Austin Studios - 1901 E. 51st Street, Austin, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Summit Entertainment
      • Walden Media
      • Goldsmith-Thomas Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $20,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,210,988
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,231,273
      • Aug 16, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $12,225,023
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1
      • 2.39 : 1

    Related news

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