Product Details

• Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union, Clare Kramer
• Directors: Peyton Reed
• Writers: Jessica Bendinger
• Producers: Armyan Bernstein, Caitlin Scanlon, Jessica Bendinger, Marc Abraham, Max Wong
• Format: PAL
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (300 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000057X1V
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,390 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bring It On" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sunny, happy Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) is the new leader of the Toros, the cheerleading squad of Rancho Carne, an affluent San Diego high school that has lousy football players but one hell of a cheerleading team. National champions, they're the ones who bring in the bodies to the football games with their award-winning moves and sassy grace, and they're poised to take their sixth national cheer title. Torrance's new reign as cheer queen, though, is cut short when she discovers that her snotty, duplicitous forerunner was regularly stealing routines from the East Compton Clovers, the hip-hop influenced cheerleaders of a poor inner city school, and passing them off as the original work of the Toros. Scrambling to come up with a new routine for the Toros--and do the right thing by giving the Clovers their due--Torrance butts heads with the proud and understandably wary Isis (Gabrielle Union), the leader of the Clovers, who wants nothing to do with a rich blond white girl, but does want to get her squad to the championships. Problem is, only one team can take home the national title. Who's it gonna be?

An unexpected box-office hit in the late summer of 2000, Bring It On is a smart, snappy teen comedy that bristles with good cheer (literally) and lively, down-to-earth characters. The story may be fairly predictable (who's going to win the big championship?), but director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger have fleshed out their characters with formidable strength and provided them with sharp dialogue. Dunst is a radiant comedian, projecting warmth, determination, sincerity, and a sublime airheadedness, and Union is an impressive dancer and counterpart to Dunst, matching her admirably despite her limited onscreen time. An excellent young supporting cast rounds out the film, most notably Eliza Dushku (Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jesse Bradford (Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill) as siblings new to Rancho Carne, who become Torrance's best friend and potential new boyfriend, respectively. All in all, a pleasantly surprising and intelligent teen movie. Don't miss the opening sequence, a hilarious send-up of all those high school cheerleading routines you had to sit through at boring pep rallies. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker

A hyperkinetic teen movie that flirts with some interesting ideas about race, hip-hop, and the overblown world of competitive cheering but decides to smile and high-kick instead. The pert-mouthed Kirsten Dunst, captain of a successful suburban California squad, is crushed when she discovers that her team's sultry dance routines were stolen from an all-black squad from East Compton-a form of whitewashing that has a long tradition, from Pat Boone to Vanilla Ice. Without a satisfying showdown, the film merely bounces along with a series of peppy but pointless scenes of young actresses dancing in halter tops. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the cutest teen comedies ever made, March 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Bring It on [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you want to laugh and enjoy yourself, I recommend Bring It On. With a superb cast, catchy lines, and a fully developed plot, this movie is great! Kirsten Dunst stars as Torrance Shipman, the ditzy but loveable high school senior who is newly elected team captain of her high school cheerleading team. But when a replacement cheerleader, Missy Pantone, walks in to the Toros' cheerleading squad (hilariously portrayed by Eliza Dushku), she shows Torrance that the team's cheers are ripped off from the East Compton Clovers, and you can believe that the Clovers are fed up with the stealing. Torrance, horrified that her cheerleading career has been a fake, makes an effort to be original, but the result is a humiliating performance at a competition. Torrance is comforted by love interest Cliff Pantone (played by hottie Jesse Bradford), Missy's REALLY cute twin brother, and a romance begins. As the movie leads up to the UCA Nationals competition, the Clovers and Toros fight for the win. Who will it be? Well you better watch it for yourself. Bring It On is a refreshing change from the immature sick sex movies (i.e. American Pie?) and it instead is fresh, bright, witty, and very funny. I recommend Bring It On to anyone. Hey, even my dad enjoyed it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VERY CHEER WORTHY!!! :), April 21, 2001

By 

Lauren (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bring It On (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

This is a GREAT movie, especially for teenagers ~ but I think all ages would enjoy it! It has a little bit of everything; cheerleading, romance, comedy, etc. The story stars the talented Kirsten Dunst as newley crowned captain of the schools cheerleading squad. Everything is cool except she just found out the former captain has been ripping off another school's cheers and passing them off as theirs; and thats just the beginning of her problems!! The DVD is awesome - you can watch it three different ways: 1) regular widescreen 2) with director's commentary 3) widescreen w/trivia about the actresses, cheerleading, and little tidbits about the making of "Bring it on" all through out the movie. On top of that they have tons of deleted AND extended scenes, a never before seen car wash scene w/ Kirsten and the other cheerleaders in bikinis, the music video "As If" from Blaque and some clips of Kirsten and Eliza Dushku from the Wardrobe & Make up tests! If you thought that was a lot, they also threw in a documentary "THE MAKING OF BRING IT ON" w/ exclusive interviews from Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Union, Blaque and more! Only thing is I wish there was more of the group BLAQUE in the movie ~ they hardly had any speaking parts! For all you cheerleaders, you'll LOVE the cheers all the different squads perform through out the movie. Lindsay Sloane from the WB's "Grosse Pointe" has a small but great part of the former cheerleading captain who stole all the cheers~!! This is one of the nicest DVD's out there; it'll keep you amused for hours!!! A+++++++++

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rah, Rah, Rah!, March 5, 2001

By 

S. Schell (Mason, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bring It on [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A surprise hit whose profit substantially elapsed its $10 million budget, "Bring It On" boasted little and earned a lot. Awash with several unknown faces and a few familiar ones, it attained delighted reviews from critics and audiences alike and already has a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy (Kirsten Dunst). Who knew that a story about cheerleading would've produced such fascination among the young American populace?

The bubble-gummy tale starts with the torch being passed from former captain Big Red to squeaky-clean senior Torrance Shipman (Dunst), instating the beginning of her reign as the head of her cheerleading squad at Rancho Carne High School. The very first day she is instructing the Toros, a squad member breaks half the limbs in her body and is off the team. Since she is a woman short of a Toro entourage, Torrance holds auditions to fill the vacancy and it is here that she meets tough-talking gymnast Missy Pantone (Dushku). Despite the discrepancy from fellow Toros Courtney and Whitney (great duo of airheads), Torrance decides to recruit her and tracks Missy down to her residence to convince her that being a cheerleader is a lot more than just screaming at aloof patrons from the sidelines - it's a whole different perspective. Once Missy is drafted, the Toros begin their first practice but they receive a dismayed reaction from their new member. Baffled by why she is so displeased with their routine, Torrance demands answers and Missy shows her the ugly truth - every cheer the Toros have won their championships with is stolen material. The mountain of trophies they possess really belongs to an inner-city squad called the East Compton Clovers and they are one...-off bunch of broads. Many an opportunity to be discovered has been taken from them thanks to Big Red's faithful filching and now the Clovers have a new captain - she's the most intolerant of them all. With the National Championship just around the corner, Torrance is rapt with the task of composing a completely new routine and by her college boyfriend's recommendation hires a patronizing and insulting choreographer named Sparky. Three weeks later, they are humiliated at a competition when they discover Sparky's routine has also been given to six other competing squads. Upon that debasing experience, Torrance is immediately geared for some rigorous labor and the Toros embark on the creation of a cheerleading oeuvre that they can truly call their own.

This is director Peyton Reed's first major directing debut as he has done mostly TV work in his career. His few projects consist of Comedy Central's "Upright Citizens Brigade" and a string of short-lived shows. Reed may be a novice but there is considerable experience in his female-dominated cast. Kirsten Dunst is an actress who has significantly grown over the years, not only physically but also career-wise. She was impressive as the doll-like Claudia in "Interview With The Vampire" and has furthered impressed in recent flicks such as "The Virgin Suicides" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous". She is beautiful and bankable and will be around for a long time. Up and comers include the striking Eliza Dushku (an inductee of E! Online's renowned "Sizzlin' Sixteen" list), her big break as Arnold Schwarzenegger's rebellious daughter in "True Lies" and Gabrielle Union as Isis, the Clover's strong-headed captain. There is a delectable performance from Jesse Bradford as Cliff, Missy's brother and Torrance's love interest. Even Cody McMains is wickedly entertaining as Torrance's obnoxious little brother Justin.

Jessica Bendinger's screenplay is surprisingly clever and mature for a movie about something as trifling as competitive cheerleading and the majority of her characters are witty and engaging. There are a lot of cute quips here and there, a good example being when an opposing team at a late night football game lifts their skirts to reveal the spiteful phrase "You suck" emblazoned on their tushes. Not one to back down, the Toros smartly retort with, "That's all right/that's okay/you're gonna pump our gas someday!" And who can forget the hilarious reference to Wanda Holloway, the Texas cheerleader-murdering mom who was immortalized in a made-for-TV movie starring Holly Hunter.

On the whole, "Bring It On" is a highly enjoyable romp into the superficiality of a high school extramural and it brings out the best in every one of its players. Be prepared to "cheer" for joy on finding such an elusive gem of a film.