Customer Reviews

Throw It Down - The Classic Drum Corps Movie

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If you don't know drum corps, "Throw It Down" will serve as a compelling introduction to the physical and emotional rigors of this very demanding avocation. If you already know or participate in the activity, this documentary will help friends and family understand what you endured and see the activity more clearly.

Seeing what these college-age kids do all summer -- learn, practice and perform an 11 to 12-minute show -- is the ostentible "frame" of the film. But that only scratches the surface of what makes the film so compelling. It graphically illustrates why the activity requires mental and physical strength, even as it asks its participants to try to achieve perfection in what is essentially an artistic expression of music and dance. Part of the appeal of the film is that it shows not only how hard they work on the football field, but that the season is mostly spent catching 40 winks on cramped bus seats before crashing on gymnasium floors in the early hours of the morning and then rising to start another exhausting day of practice and performance.

The Bluecoats, of Canton, Ohio, prove to be an interesting choice to craft the film around because they have never won the Drum Corps International Finals. Their hard work, dedication and endurance of fatigue and injuries, are made all the more compelling when you learn they are striving to finish among the top five corps, and they all know they will not "win" the competition on the night of the DCI finals. Viewers come away from the film experience realizing there are no "losers" in drum corps because their effort has tested their character and left them all with a strong sense of family, one trying to achieve greatness.

Although few Americans really understand drum corps (it is almost completely off the radar of the "hippest" music-lovers in the nation's cities), "Throw It Down" may change that. It's not an exaggeration to say "Throw It Down" captures something essential about the American spirit. It makes you proud to be part of a country that asks young people to make this kind of commitment to an ideal.

Throw it down is for drum corps nuts and people who wish to understand what it takes to perform. It is an excellent video. Learning how a DCI Drum Corps puts itself together is entertaining and thought provoking.
Well worth an evening

As a current marching member of the Bluecoats, and having seen a rough cut of the film during its production, I can say that it very accurately portrays much of what the whole Drum Corps experience is about. Everyone sees what we do out on the field during a show, but very few know what we experience during winter camps, rehearsal blocks, 8 hour bus rides in the middle of the night, and early mornings spent on a gym floor. This films gives an amazing glimpse into that aspect of our journey, and also portrays the love and sense of family we all come to feel toward each other as we push through this incredibly intense experience, together, to reach a common goal. Its a perfect way for people to find out what drum corps life is like, off the field, especially for those who know little about the activity.

Great dvd...my son in law loved it and wants me to watch it. It was delivered on time and just as promised. It was a great Christmas gift.

Having shown this to my junior Corps in the UK they are begining to understand and appreciate how much hard work goes into making a show come alive. I would recommend this to any director or instructor of a youth marching band or drum corps.

WOW!!!!! All I can say is WOW!!!! I'm a huge DCI fan and I loved watching every minute of this show. Never really realize how many people audition for so few spots in the corps Coats, you have my respect and my BBBBBLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE whenever you perform!