How To Watch The Bring It On Movies In Order

After a fall-off in popularity (and quality) throughout much of the 1990s, teen-skewing comedies were suddenly all the rage in Hollywood again at the turn of the millennium. The “Pygmalion”-inspired “She’s All That” kicked off the craze, which included such highs as “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Dick,” and more lows than I care to remember (e.g. “Boys and Girls,” “Whatever It Takes,” and “Down to You”). These films were quite clearly the offspring of John Hughes’ 1980s classics, but they could rarely come close to the mix of insouciance and sentimentality that made his films snap. They also weren’t very funny, which didn’t help.

The best film of this brief renaissance by far was Peyton Reed’s “Bring It On,” which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. Working from a spiky-sexy-hilarious screenplay by Jessica Bendinger, Reed’s movie kicks off with an exuberant opening cheer routine and never loses an ounce of zip on its way to a thrilling cheerleading competition between the Toros and the Clovers. Powered by a spot-on cast and an irreverent attitude that time and again wins over people who thought they’d never sit through a film in this subgenre (including Roger Ebert, who hailed “Bring It On” as “The ‘Citizen Kane of cheerleader movies”), there’s a reason why it’s become a modern, highly quotable teen classic.

Meanwhile, its robust $91 million worldwide box office (on a $11 million budget) is the reason why there are, to date, six sequels.

If you’re new to the “Bring It On” franchise, a seven-movie binge might feel like a daunting prospect. It needn’t be. Let me give you some pointers on how to approach the series.

“Bring It On” was released in 2000, while the latest installment debuted in 2022. That’s a remarkably long run that spans DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming. How should you attack this 24-year-old franchise? Like so:

• “Bring It On” (2000)
• “Bring It On Again” (2004)
• “Bring It On: All or Nothing” (2006)
• “Bring It On: In It to Win It” (2007)
• “Bring It On: Fight to the Finish” (2009)
• “Bring It On: Worldwide Cheersmack” (2017)
• “Bring It On: Cheer or Die” (2022)

You also may be curious about “Bring It On: The Musical.” If it happens to be showing in your area when you’re working your way through the movies, you should absolutely check it out. Hopefully, the performers can handle the rigors of the high-flying choreography while knocking out the tunes written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt, with lyrics by Amanda Green. It’s a blast when done right.

Even if there were prequels to “Bring It On,” I’d still recommend that you start with the OG. We trot out the “lightning in a bottle” phrase too frequently, but it totally applies to Reed’s movie. The cast is stacked, with star Kirsten Dunst at the top of her smart-sassy game. She’s matched by Eliza Dushku as her new cheermate (a transfer who’s only cheerleading because the school has no gymnastics team) and Gabriel Union as the squad leader of the Clovers. Aside from being a genuinely uproarious comedy (with a scene-stealing supporting turn from the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Ian Roberts as a pill-popping parody of Bob Fosse), the central dilemma of “Bring It On” winds up being a sharp commentary on white privilege and, in this AI-addled age, the joy of human creativity.

As for the sequels, don’t let the lack of numbers in the titles throw you: There’s no continuity here, so you can watch in whichever order you please. I recommend going chronologically if only because you’ll get to watch the evolution of digital cinema as you dive into each standalone chronicle in the cheerleader wars. You’ll also get to see some stars before they were stars, like Hayden Panettiere and Solange Knowles-Smith in “Bring It On: All or Nothing” and Ashley Benson in “Bring It On: In It to Win It.”

Considering that the series is healthy enough to keep spawning DTV titles, is it possible Universal might take a crack at a remake somewhere down the line? Or maybe a legacyquel that brings back some combination of Dunst, Dushku, and Union to coach a new generation of Toros and Clovers (something Union has hinted might be possible)? If so, I’ll be back to readjust this order (because I have a feeling a direct sequel would need to be watched prior to six unrelated follow-ups).