30 years later, “School Daze” still has relevance in today’s world and sure, there are things that were relevant to that era and may not mean so much today (even Spike Lee has a little fun with this in the audio commentary), but I found “School Daze” to be an entertaining, forward thinking film that inspired many people but also open a lot of eyes as well to issues that mattered then and also matter today.Â
TITLE: School Daze – 30th Anniversary
YEAR OF FILM: 1988
DURATION: 120 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:88:1 Aspect Ratio, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Mono DTS-HD MA, Spanish Stereo DTS-HD MA, Spanish Mono, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French and Spanish
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: R
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2018
Directed by Spike Lee
Written by Spike Lee
Producer: Spike Lee
Co-Produced: Loretha C. Jones, Monty Ross
Executive Producer: Grace Blake
Music by Bill Lee
Cinematography by Ernest R. Dickerson
Edited by Barry Alexander Brown
Casting by Robi Reed
Production Design by Wynn Thomas
Art Decoration by Allan Trumpler
Set Decoration bLynn Wolverton-Parker
Costume Design by Ruth E. Carter
Starring:
Laurence Fishburne as Dap
Giancarlo Esposito as Julian
Tisha Campbell as Jane Toussaint
Kyme as Rachel Meadows
Joe Seneca as President McPherson
Ellen Holly as Odrie McPherson
Kadeem Hardison as Edge
Art Evans as Cedar Cloud
Ossie Davis as Coach Odom
Jasmine Guy as Dina
Bill Nunn as Grady
James Bond III as Monroe
Brandford Marsalis as Jordan
Eric Payne as Booker T.
Spike Lee as Half-Pint
Celebrate 30 years of iconic filmmaker Spike Lee’s music-filled, offbeat comedy that takes an unforgettable look at black college life. Amidst gala coronations, football, fraternities, parades and parties, the students of Mission College find themselves caught up in romance and relationships, rituals and rivalries during one outrageous homecoming weekend. With dynamic music, including EU’s hit “Da Butt,” and dance numbers choreographed by Otis Sallid (Fame), Lee successfully challenges viewpoints about self-identity and self-esteem in this original and unforgettable musical comedy.
Back in 1988, Spike Lee released his second feature film titled “School Daze”, a musical comedy drama film which starred Laurence Fishburn, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy.
Based on Spike Lee’s experiences at HBCU (Historically black college and universities) institutions such as Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Spelman College, Morris Brown College and Clark Atlanta University. And focusing on fraternity and sorority members clashing with each other and touched upon issues regarding colorism (discrimination related to skin tone), hair texture and more that were concerns among the African-American community.
The film would launch the careers of numerous actors but also became the spark that would lead to “The Cosby Show” spin-off, “A Different World” starring Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Jasmine Guy about life attending an HBCU. And many other cast members from the film would appear on the show.
The film was inspirational to many African Americans, especially for Spike Lee who wrote and directed the film and wanted to get a message across.
The film would go on to make over $14 million in the box office and would raise the consciousness of Americans to Spike Lee who would create most successful films in his oeuvre three years later titled “Do the Right Thing”, which earned Spike Lee an Academy Award nomination for “Best Original Screenplay” and in 1999, was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” in its first year of eligibility by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
While “School Daze” may be a film which the director was still in the process of learning and trying to get along with his fellow actors, there was no doubt that Spike Lee had significant challenges during the making of the film. Especially as officials at three HBCU’s where the film was shot, to stop filming on the campus because the college Board of Directors were concerned of his portrayal of HBCU in the film.
And with 30-years having passed, “School Daze – 30th Anniversary” will be released on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
“School Daze” revolves around two groups. One is led by Vaughn “Dap” Dunlap (portrayed by Laurence Fishburn) who is a politically active Black American student who attends Mission College in Atlanta.
Dap tends to run anti-apartheid demonstrations and encourages students and school administrators to divest from South Africa.
As he and his friends protest, they are confronted by another group, lead by Julian Eaves (portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito), the Dean Big Brother Almighty of Gamma Phi Gamma Fraternity, Incorporated.   They are seen by Dap’s group as “wannabees” and many of the members are lighter-skinned Black Americans who oppose Dap’s activism, saying they are Blacks born and raised in America, not Africa.
As both groups don’t get along, the same with Gamma Phi Gamma’s sorority, Gamma Rays who are also light-skinned, wear contact lenses and have straight hair and often clash with non-Greek black co-eds who are darker.
Meanwhile, Dap’s younger cousin Darrell (portrayed by Spike Lee) a.k.a. “Half-Pint” is trying to become a Gamma pledge.
VIDEO:
“School Daze” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). Picture quality is good, with some scenes looking a bit aged more than others. But there is a good amount of grain and the film looks a lot better than it’s DVD counterpart when it comes to colors and color vibrancy.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“School Daze” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and French Mono DTS-HD MA, Spanish DTS-HD MA, Spanish Mono. Dialogue and musical soundtrack are crystal clear through the front channels.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“School Daze – 30th Anniversary” comes with:
- Spike Lee Commentary – The original DVD commentary from “School Daze” by Spike Lee.
- Cast Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Tisha Campbell-Martin, Kadeem Hardison, Rusty Cundieff, Bill Nunn and Darryl M. Bell.
- Anniversary of School Daze Q&A with the Cast & Crew – (33:16) From the African Film Critics Association “School Daze” Q&A with director/writer/actor Spike Lee, casting director Robi Reed, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Kadeem Hardison.
- Birth of a Nation – (24:08) The cast and crew talk about the Black College experience and what the film meant to the cast.
- College Daze – (18:38) Spike Lee and cast talk about the making of the film and memories making “School Daze”.
- Making a Mark – (21:02) The real-life issues featured on the film.
- “Be One” music video by Phyllis Hyman
- “Da Butt” music video by EU
- “Be Alone Tonight” – Artists: The Rays (Tisha Campbell, Jasmine Guy, Paula Brown and Angela Ali)
EXTRAS:
“School Daze – 30th Anniversary” comes with a slipcover.
“School Daze” is a film I grew up watching when I was a teenager and at the time, and the film showcased African American life at a college which I’ve only seen before on “The Cosby Show” spin-off, “A Different World”.
I was a big fan of the TV show and for me, it was fascinating to see a show showcasing African-Americans attending HBCU’s and seeing African-American college students, it was all brand new for American viewers to see on television.
“School Daze” is a film that tackles a variety of real-life subjects from the college life, fraternity hazing but the message was primarily the discord between African Americans. In one of the most memorable scenes, we see Laurence Fishburn’s character Dap and the other college students that hang out with him confront Samuel L. Jackson’s character and his friends about Black people who feel they are better because they are educated. And Jackson’s character telling them that despite the fact they are college students, makes them no different from other Black people because of how society views them and that they are all on the same boat.
We also see colorization, prejudice between light-skinned African Americans with straight hair and contacts vs. dark-skinned African Americans. It’s a conversation that often comes up among different ethnicities, I know how that feels as I’m darker skinned, while my brother is very light in terms of skin color and we are often treated differently.
But there were numerous other topics in the film that I felt was interesting to see Spike Lee showing the public and you learn even more about his intentions and also what happened behind-the-scenes of the making of “School Daze”. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who doesn’t know, but the special features are definitely required viewing because I was surprised to learn about what went on behind-the-scenes but also what gave Spike Lee the motivation to make “School Daze”.
The Blu-ray release has a more recent special feature but many of the special features are from the original DVD release. Picture quality is good and lossless audio was also very good with no hint of major hissing or anything problematic.
Overall, 30 years later, “School Daze” still has relevance in today’s world and sure, there are things that were relevant to that era and may not mean so much today (even Spike Lee has a little fun with this in the audio commentary), but I found “School Daze” to be an entertaining, forward thinking film that inspired many people but also open a lot of eyes as well to issues that mattered then and also matter today.
