Want personalized picks that fit your family?
Set preferences to see our top age-appropriate picks for your kids.
American Pie Presents: Band Camp
Common Sense says
- R
- 2005
- 95 minutes
Parents say
Kids say
Searching for streaming and purchasing options ...
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Get it now on
Searching for streaming and purchasing options ...
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that American Pie Presents: Band Camp is a 2005 teen sex comedy. To the point of utter tedium, this installment from the American Pie franchise is filled with as much profanity, sex-themed sight gags, and crass humor as cinematically possible without being a straight-up pornographic movie. Ironically enough, there's very little nudity -- brief male and female nudity. The lead character uses "f--k" in almost every line of dialogue, attempts sex with an oboe, masturbates into a bottle of sunscreen so that his archrivals will use it and smear his semen on their faces and chests, and makes plenty of sexist remarks as well as the occasional homophobic one-liner. Lots of teen drinking and drunkenness. While the movie does make a half-hearted attempt to show that a character who has behaved like the worst dude-bro frat-brah in history is capable of change, by the time this potential is suggested, viewers are long past caring, assuming they ever did in the first place. While clearly marketed to teen boys, it really shouldn't be viewed by anyone.
Stay up to date on new reviews.
User Reviews
- Parents say
- Kids say
There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What's the story?
In AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS: BAND CAMP, Matt Stifler wants to prove himself worthy of working with his older brother Steve in the business of making porn movies by making hidden-camera sex tapes similar to Girls Gone Wild. But after a prank on the high school band in which he puts pepper spray on the mouthpieces of all the instruments goes horribly awry and culminates in him getting caught with his pants down trying to get pepper spray off his crotch region, Stifler is forced to make things right by attending band camp. Initially displeased with this punishment, Stifler tries to make the best of it by scheming to make hidden-camera sex tapes, believing that "band geeks" probably have the weirdest sex. After alienating everyone attending band camp, Stifler tries to change his crass and obnoxious ways, especially when he begins to fall for Elyse, the drum major of the band and someone Matt grew up with. But as he starts to make friends in the band and even begins to enjoy the experience, cheerleader friends arrive on the scene, wondering if Matt has betrayed his jock clique by fraternizing with members of the marching band. Stifler must decide if he wants to follow in his older brother's quasi-legendary footsteps or be his own bro, drop his act, and grow up.
Is it any good?
This is about what one would expect from a movie in this tired franchise. There are endless crass one-liners from sex-obsessed teens, teens found in compromising positions with unlikely sexual aids, phallo-centric sight gags, and basically as many horny hijinx as the producers could put into this movie without it being a straight-up porn film. And once again, Eugene Levy sticks around to be the befuddled adult who enters at just the wrong/right time and fails at relating to these teens today and their desires for sexual congress. It's a trite formula that was already falling flat by the time this was released straight to DVD in 2005, and it's now a formula best left to the past.
Furthermore, for all its self-aware vulgarity and gross-out humor, American Pie Presents: Band Camp is incredibly boring and unfunny. While the teen sex comedies of the 1980s weren't exactly enlightened either, there was at least a sense of silliness, of ridiculous puns and exaggerated conflicts and ridiculous authority figures. This lacks any semblance of wit or genuine creativity. The only remotely amusing scene is when drum major Elyse (played by Arielle Kebbel) breaks into a pitch-perfect imitation of Stifler that's so spot-on, she could have probably played that role as well. But that's over and done within five seconds, and for the remaining hour thirty, it's a waste of time.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about sex in movies. How is sex and sexuality used not only in the movies themselves, but also to sell and market movies?
How does American Pie Presents: Band Camp compare with other teen sex comedies of the past and present?
How is bullying shown and addressed in this movie? Are there consequences for bullying? Are there consequences for any misbehavior?
Movie details
- On DVD or streaming: December 26, 2005
- Cast: Tad Hilgenbrink, Arielle Kebbel, Eugene Levy
- Director: Steve Rash
- Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: High School, Misfits and Underdogs
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: Sexual content/nudity, crude humor and language.
Themes & Topics
Browse titles with similar subject matter.
For kids who love teen titles
Our editors recommend
Top advice and articles
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.