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Battle of the Year: The Dream Team

also known as “Planet B Boy”
MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for language and some rude behavior.
Moral Rating: not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Teens Adults
Genre: Music Dance Drama 3D
Length:
Year of Release: 2013
USA Release: September 20, 2013 (wide—1,800+ theaters)
DVD: December 10, 2013
Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Picturesclick photos to ENLARGE
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures

self-control / self-discipline

break dancing / b-boy crew

dancing in the Bible

music in the Bible

Battle of the Year (BOTY) International Championships

Featuring Josh Peck
Josh HollowayDerrek
Chris Brown
Laz Alonso … Dante
Terrence Jenkins
Caity Lotz … Stacy
Luis Rosado … Bambino
Weronika Rosati … Jolene
Ivan ’Flipz’ Velez … Flipz
Jesse Erwin … James
Steve Terada … Sight
David Kim … Dante’s Bodyguard
Giovanni V. Giusti … Art Director
Alex Martin … Punk
Natalya Oliver … Hip Hop Executive
Sawandi Wilson
Marcus Nel-Jamal Hamm … Dante’s Bodyguard
Jérôme Gaspard … Punk
Director Benson Lee
Producer Contrafilm
Beau Flynn … producer
Glenn S. Gainor … executive producer
Amy Lo … producer
Tripp Vinson … producer
Distributor Screen GemsScreen Gems, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

“The world is watching.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “‘Battle of the Year’ is the Olympics of break dancing, a tournament held every year that attracts all the best teams from around the world, but the Americans haven’t won in fifteen years. Los Angeles Hip Hop mogul and former B-Boy Dante (Alonso) wants to put the country that started the Sport back on top. He enlists his hard-luck friend Blake (Holloway), who was a championship basketball coach, to coach his team. Armed with the theory that the right coach can make any team champions, they assemble a Dream Team of all the best b-boys across the country. With only three months until Battle of the Year, Blake has to use every tactic he knows to get twelve talented individuals to come together as a team if they’re going to bring the Trophy back to America where it started. Inspired by the actual World championship held yearly in France and the award-winning documentary, ‘Planet B Boy,’ the film is about an all-star American b-boy crew training to compete in France at the Battle of the Year (BOTY) International Championships. After a decade of defeat, the crew and their coach must go up against the best and greatest b-boys in the world: the Koreans, the Russians and the French who have dominated the original American dance form for the last 10 years.”

Volunteer reviewer needed for this movie

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


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Movie Critics
…The young dancers’ undeniable skill and athleticism is squandered in this formulaic, overly familiar dance movie. …
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
…The miracle of the new 3-D dance film “Battle of the Year” is how it can be so relentlessly boring while there is so much frenetic activity on screen. Despite the break-dance spins and disorienting strobe lights in the performance scenes, the movie feels sluggish throughout. …
Miriam Bale, The New York Times
…You may find your head spinning at this film (and not in a good way)… The 3-D is a pain, and the excitable editing, slo-mo and speeded-up action frustrate attempts to watch the athleticism on display…
Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
…Dance dud… stumbles with too many heartfelt speeches and not nearly enough dancing. …
Rafer Guzmán, Newsday
…More prevailing than the flailing arms and legs of the American b-boys trying to reassert their world dominance is the treacle that's made of their underdog chutzpah and interpersonal dramas. …
Ed Gonzalez, Slant magazine
…Even as teen dance films go, this one is clumsy, miscast, lazy and cliched. …
Scott Bowles, USA Today
…cliché-ridden dialogue and a predictable plot offering the flimsiest framework on which to hang the dance scenes' feats of incredible athleticism and artistry…
Annlee Ellingson, Los Angeles Times
…dance pic is fatally frontloaded with endless training montages, awfully written, indifferently acted drama, sports-film platitudes and jaw-dropping product placements. …
Andrew Barker, Variety

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