Dan1863Sickles I remember seeing the trailer for this movie in 1993 and sitting in the theater slack-jawed. As another reviewer said, it looked like "GREASE With Swastikas." Or more accurately, it's HOGAN'S HEROES meets THE BREAKFAST CLUB, with Kenneth Branagh as Colonel Klink. In any case, watching the trailer, I was shocked by the sheer tastelessness of the whole concept, and I avoided the film like the plague.Many years later, I rented the film from the library, and was surprised to find that it's . . . really not that bad. The music is amazing, the dancing is great, and a lot of the teen friendships and heartbreak are surprisingly touching. What sinks the movie is that the director Thomas Carter can't edit and never settles on a single story line to follow. There's too much going on, and moments of danger and terror are buried under endless scenes of squabbling and teenage silliness. Some performances are brilliant. Christian Bales steals every scene he's in, going from being a great guy and the ideal best friend to being a terrifying Nazi informer. He's playing the same part Marcus Boyd played in BEN HUR, only he's much, much, better at it. The only problem is, Robert Sean Leonard is no Charlton Heston! He just looks weak through most of the movie, and when he hits the dance floor alone in the epic finale he just looks like a boy on the verge of an epileptic fit. You can't jitterbug your way out of Germany, son!On the far side of brilliant, Kenneth Branagh is unquestionably the world's least menacing Nazi. What's next, Hugh Grant as Heinrich Himmler? Branagh's flabby face and tired physique give the impression of a guy nursing a pint in some pub, not a brutal killer and master manipulator. It's really pathetic that Christian Bales is half his age and ten times more deadly!One final note: Tushka Bergen was perfectly cast and stunning as Evie. The trailer makes it look like she's a major love interest in the film, but you only see about five minutes of her in the movie. Did I mention that Thomas Carter doesn't know how to edit?

eli-stuc I very much liked the fact that this movie is not just one of the many that show the historical facts of that period and the general effects on the population, which just to be clear is very right and honorable for a film. Instead this one has the credit of showing the effects of Nazism, intended more as a social movement rather than a political one, on the daily life of "normal people", and overall on friendship. We can observe the relationship between Thomas and Peter slowly change throughout the movie, slowly but inexorably. That is the point of the film, to show how it is possible that one can change his behavior without even realizing it, and become someone they've always hated, just following aligning to an ideology. Another important aspect of human nature which is brought up in the movie is the selfishness that rises when someone doesn't feel safe; it's the case of Thomas, who starts to not care anymore about his friend Arvid and attacks him just because he's been taught so and he knows that, doing so, he will be in a safe place. Peter, on the other side, at a point realizes he can't take it anymore and he reacts and heads upstream, whatever this choice may involve. This movie shows perfectly how ideologies work from an intimate perspective, and it also represents a wake-up call for people to open their eyes and think about what is really important and valuable in life.

TxMike Taking the biblical reference, in this story we have a Peter "The Rock" and a "Doubting" Thomas. It is 1930s Germany and the teenagers have latched onto banned music, "swing" music, much of it by Jewish-American musicians like Benny Goodman. But Germany also wants its young men to become members of Hitler's Jugen (HJ) as a way of preparing them to become Nazis when they grow up.The nominal lead character is Robert Sean Leonard as Peter Müller. But the best performance here is by Christian Bale as his close friend Thomas Berger. They are part of the larger group of "swing kids" who gather to play swing music and dance. A risky activity at this time.The core of the story centers upon Peter who recognizes the evil of the Nazi propaganda, and resists it, while Thomas resists at first but eventually is swayed. The two friends increasingly are at odds, culminating in a fight near the end.This is both an entertaining movie, even though it involves a very serious subject, and also a historically significant one, as it relates to the Nazi doctrine. I suppose, looking at it now, it was the severe viewpoints, the "supremacy of the race", that got more and more Germans to turn against it and resist. As well as most of the rest of the world.

czarinaanya I watched this movie for the first time last night. A History buff, I had never heard about the "swing kids" movement in Germany, but when my friend handed me the DVD at the library and I read the back, I instantly saw that this film could be right up my alley. I also must confess...I'm a big Robert Sean Leonard fan. I was introduced to him in House, and also love "Much Ado." I saw Dead Poet's society but was very disappointed in the ending, because I felt RSL's "suicide" ruined the whole story. Anyway.. I was not disappointed in this movie. I loved watching the dance scenes, I loved the slow development of Leonard's character.. I loved the struggles, the very human struggle between survival and standing up for what you believe in. I don't know what else to say, I just loved the story. It inspired me. The ending made me choke up. Beautiful, Inspirational story..