I pray that racism isn't the reason this film has such a low rating on here.I'm a black college student who used to be in a white fraternity and this film is actually fairly accurate to the ideas those organizations promote.The acting is stellar, Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Champbell, and Spike Lee steal the show but as much effort is put into almost every supporting role.The cinematography is done pretty well, not flawless but as a film buff I appreciated it. The music is awesome and keeps you engaged, it really serves as a nice break for the more dramatic scenes.The storyline is overall about finding yourself in college which is a very difficult task and even more difficult now in the age of social media.The only complaint I had about this film is that the actors don't really look like college students, but it's minuscule in comparison to the film's themes.I would recommend this film, but the primary audience is adults and I would keep high school students away from this film unless they're exceptionally mature for their age.Go into School Daze with an open mind and be prepared for a powerful film that sticks in your mind well after your initial viewing.

School Daze isn't something that is exclusive to those who went to all-black colleges, despite what some other commenters have said on IMDb. Coming from an average state school, there's still nothing *big* in the movie that comes from specifically being all-black, as there are many things like fraternities/sororities, male and female camaraderie, sex, fashion, insults, sports and rituals in general that are common to any college experience. Spike Lee captures that, when he's at his best here, very well. If you *did* go to an all-black college ala Lee's alma mater Moorehouse, then I'm sure it will have more relevance. But in general, Lee's made a solid, technically wild college comedy/musical/drama, with some major missteps.There are some messages thrown about in School Daze, mostly around sexism, not so much racism (there's barely a white person to be seen in the film so it's not really an issue to deal with per-say), but they're all used in relativity with the story and characters, which is good. We're given Mission college, an all-black college down south, where classes are pretty much moot and everything revolves around cliques of various sorts: the Greek frat, which Half-Pint (Spike Lee) is trying to join, and his cousin Dap (Fishburne) who definitely is not and is defiant against a lot of things on campus, which nearly get him expelled. There are also the jigaboo's and the wannabes, two sets of girls on campus who are certainly opposed (as we see, brilliantly, in one of the better musical numbers).While Lee's plot isn't always connected together, there's so much that works when he keeps the dialog moving along. He has a great sense of the characters, the BS that binds guys together and how the rhythm of a conversation with these 18-22 year olds goes, and about the ambivalence between the opposing sexes, leading up to the dramatic climax. Even most of the actors, close to all of them their first time in a Lee joint (Esposito, Davis, Bill Nunn), are terrific when given the chance showing off how absurd and, in retrospect in life, abstract all of this becomes. What keeps it down from being a lot better- and, sadly, what makes it look a lot more like an exercise in style (which, granted, was Lee's first movie with a budget above 100 grand and for a studio)- are the padded musical performances, and specifically those that don't contribute anything to the story. The first sequence is dynamite as the actresses all perform in an energetic performance about the differences between the sororities. After that, it's more or less (more for the one scene with the singer intercut with the sex) just filler that is shot well but empty.Nevertheless, School Daze shows a filmmaker ready and hungry behind the lens to try and do things and show us bits and pieces of life that haven't been much in American movies, and at best it's riveting and entertaining. For this it's commendable, but it's also a stepping stone for Do the Right Thing. 7.5/10

I watched School Daze for the first time on July 25, 2006. I must say even though it does despite some of the frats and sororities it is a very good movie. because I am apart of an sorority and the jig a boos and the wanna bees act just like my sorority and another one the way the fight. and I really like the movie and I was very powerful in the message it was trying to put out. that the Historical black college people do need to wake up. and I really wish that an updated version could be done because I really think that HBCS have really come along way. and especially with the none hazing policies that are issued for the Greek letter organizations keep a lot of hazing out of the schools which gives them bad reps.

This film dealt with a lot of inner conflicts that African-Americans where unwilling to deal with at the time. Class struggles, light skinned vs. dark skinned and greeks vs. non-greeks. I just purchased it on DVD, but I remember seeing this film when it first came out in February of 1988 and it is just as powerful and entertaining now as it was then. It's amazing to look at this film now and see all of the actors who went on to successful careers afterwards, like Laurence(then Larry) Fishburne, Tisha Campbell, Giancarlo Esposito, Roger Guenveur Smith, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Darryl Bell, Rusty Cundieff(director of "Tales From The Hood"), Bill Nunn, Branford Marsalis, and of course I can't forget Samuel L. Jackson. Three years after this film came out a cousin from Seattle came to visit, I showed him this film and he was surprised to discover that there were actually historically black colleges and universities(HBCU's) in this country. He later attended Southern University here in Baton Rouge. That was the effect this film had and continues to have on young African-Americans and their views of HBCU's.