Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie
Review: The movie Swing Kids takes place during the late 1930's in Hamburg, Germany. Swing Kids is about friendship and beliefs. Peter, a main character, is forced to join the Hitler Youth after getting caught dancing to swing music. Thomas, a friend of Peter, is also forced to join the Hitler Youth. Thomas starts believing the things he is told about the Jews and other types of people unlike Peter. Swing Kids is a thrilling yet serious all together great movie.
What I liked about Swing Kids is the music. It is upbeat and fun. Another thing I liked was the dancing. It was lively and interesting to watch. I really thought the movie was great.
What I didn't like about the movie is how someone could turn against a good friend. In this movie Thomas turns against his friend Peter. In this case, Thomas started believing every thing he heard but Peter didn't. This created a conflict in the movie. I also did not like how the movie ended. It left you just hanging there trying to figure out what will happen next. Personally, I think it could have ended showing what happens to Peter. Other than these two situations I liked the movie.
The connection between The Diary of Anne Frank and Swing Kids is that they are both times when Hitler is in Power. A difference between the two is in The Diary of Anne Frank the play is about Jewish families in hiding. Swing Kids is about the Nazi Youth, in the eyes of a Nazi. These are the connections between Swing Kids and The Diary of Anne Frank. If you like to learn more about this time period in two different view points, then I would like to recommend both of these movies. They are both great and they give a great view of what happened during that time.
Rating:
Summary: The Dancing is Great...
Review: I have to admit that I have been bit by the jitterbug, so any movie with dancing is great. After I first started lindy hopping I went out and rented this movie and watched it about 4 times in a row. The good thing is that this movie is actually good. Yes, I have heard people say that the plot is pretty dumb--"Who would go to a concentration camp for dancing?" That may be true, but I think the real point was that he was standing up for something that he believed in. I can't say that it is my favorite movie of all times, but I am buying the dvd..it is worth it just for the dancing if nothing else!
Rating: 
Summary: Classic tale of dystopic vision
Review: On the surface this film is a fun filled heart-wrencher that examines the lives of a group of young Germans when Hitler and the Nazis come into power. On a lower level, subconcious even, it harkens to classic dystopian themes, individual dislikes system that is in place, individual mock embraces system, system discovers this, system wins in the end.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: ... Excellent movie, fascinating actors, outstanding music, brilliant dancing-scenes, swell atmophere!
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Movie about the Swing-Jugend (Swing Youth)
Review: I found this movie while flipping through the channels one day at home, and I was instantly transfixed. As a history major in college, I can usually pick out some historical inaccuracies pretty fast; however, there are few in this movie. In fact, I have written a factual paper about the Swing-Jugend in Germany, and it practically mirrors what the movie has to say. At the time, Jewish persecution was on the rise but they were not yet being exterminated in gas chambers, so their muted appearance in the movie is actually quite true. Most Germans at the time were quite indifferent towards the Jews and their fate (sad, but true). As for what the Swing-Jugend were rebelling against - they were rebelling against Hitler, authority in general (don't we all go through that phase?), even racism at times. Jews and half-Jews were accepted into the Swing-Jugend, and they were rarely accepted elsewhere. They weren't so much anti-fascist as they were anti-political. All of this is shown in the movie. And yes, some of them were taken prisoner and send to concentration camps or the war front (although it was much more likely to be sent to a concentration camp for ideological enemies, rather than the front...but there are some isolated cases to that fact). All in all, I would say that this movie is excellent for anyone who wants to learn and understand more about the Swing-Jugend, some of the most over-looked individuals who were persecuted during the Nazi regime.
Rating: 
Summary: FOR SWING DANCERS ONLY
Review: All modern Lindy Hoppers and jitterbugs owe a lot to "Swing Kids." The fact it was even made forshadowed the interest of modern youth in the culture of great music, style, class, and dancing. But the movie is, alas, TERRIBLE. Horrible. period. Yes, the fashion is great, yes, there is a cast of some of the best American and British actors on film. Yes, it has an amazing soundtrack. But the second half of the film goes so incredibly down hill it makes the entire film pointlesss by the end. The lead, Peter, decides his answer to the nazis is not to try to save Jews or join the French Underground, but instead, to go and get caught and sent to a work camp. That'll show them. So the entire hour and a half you've spent caring tfor the character is flushed down the drain. Other than that, there are a dozen errors and almost comical blunders. Many of the lines are stilted, and a comical part of Kenneth's dinner scenes is how often he lifts a wine glass to punctuate his lines. It happens many times.
Props, however, to the writer, who developed Bale's character based on the general ideology of the Pre-War victom German people, which is very well acted, and which, after you see the film five or six times, you notice how well the character developes due to his isolation, better than most we see in films. You probably do not want to watch the movie five or six times.
However, this film DID inspire me to take on what has been one of the greatest gifts of my life; 1940's Lindy Hop swing dancing, and so, even if I tell you it's a terrible movie, that does by no means claim that it can not give you something very powerful. I've owned two copies myself.SIX DEGREES: Bale and Kenneth Bragnagh are in this film, just like "Henry V", seven years prior. Kennith and Robert Sean Leaonard the same year as SWING KIDS produced "Much Ado About Nothing" Who introduced who to whom?
Rating:
Summary: Sing, Sing, Sing (with the swing)
Review: Sing Kids is one of my favorite movie of 1993!. The Lindy Hop and Jitterbug are great! Robert Sean Leonard are great as well as Christian Bale. The Big Band Swing are killer-diller!. The original version of Sing,Slng,Sing are performed by Benny Goodman are 8 minutes long and the new version of this same song are rearranged by the state of the art wall to wall in Dolby Surround Stereo. I hope Swing Kids will be release in DVD in the future. Oh, by the way! I hope the DVD has Director's Cut (longer version that the scene wasnot shown in theatre.)For example: like the danceing lesson between Peter(Robert Sean Leonard) and Evey(Tushka Bergen)is has been cut due before release the film. I can't wait to see on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but its heart is in the right place
Review: I'm sure film purists will probably turn up their noses at this movie - the acting isn't perfect, and the dialogue occasionally leaves something to be desired. But this is a movie that is worth seeing - not exactly a fun popcorn movie, but one that works to pass the time and, at the same time, trigger some thinking. I believe the movie does its best work in portraying the all-pervasive nature of the Nazi party and the corresponding youth movement. In the end, you wonder that anybody had the courage to resist, when it was so much easier to keep your head down and follow along with the crowd. The swing music adds a fun element, and I'm pondering picking up the soundtrack for the great music. As for Kenneth Branagh, I heard that this was the one movie he regrets making. Regret soulless pieces of garbage like Wild, Wild West, Mr. Branagh, and not movies that, at the very least, made the attempt at being something more.
Rating:
Summary: From a true swing kid
Review: I L-O-V-E LOVE this movie. No, it's not the best movie in the world, but it's my fave. So is swing music (check out the soundtrack!) I'm trying to join the swing dance club at the public high school, that's how much I love swing. Try this movie out, you'll cry, but it's great!
ps I'm really 15, but i have a 12-year-old mentality
Rating:
Summary: Great Depiction of WW2 Germany
Review: This movie is really great! It is a shame that it isn't available everywhere. I watched it in my history class last year. Before that time I had never heard of it, but after seeing it I really liked it. It gives a great depiction of Germany during WW2. I am going to become a history teacher and this is one movie that I am going to show to my students. Maybe by that time more people will see this movie and more places will have it available.
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