Swing Girls (2004)
スウィングガールズ
Comedy, Music • 1h 45m
Overview
A group of delinquent high school girls form a band when they accidentally poison their school's brass band and have to replace them.
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi
Cast: Juri Ueno, Yuta Hiraoka, Shihori Kanjiya, Yuika Motokariya, Yukari Toyoshima, Naoto Takenaka, Nagisa Abe, Noriko Eguchi, Hana Kino, Fumiyo Kohinata, Fumiko Mizuta, Madoka Matsuda, Naomi Nishida, Mutsuko Sakura, Miho Shiraishi, Issey Takahashi, Masaaki Takarai, Yoji Tanaka, Kei Tani, Eri Watanabe, Asuka Yamaguchi, Kōko Mori, Hidekazu Mashima, Yuu Tokui, Chise Nakamura, Seiji Fukushi, Tadashi Sakata, Kana Sekine, Masae Nemoto, Mutsumi Kanazaki, Misa Nagashima, Eri Maehara, Natsuki Nakazawa, Mayuko Iwasa, Rina Kaneko, Masashi Mikami, Mari Hayashida, Koji Ohkura, Daikichi Sugawara, Jiro Sato, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Kazumasa Tanimoto, Yuko Takeda, Yuji Ogata, Tatsumi Natsuko
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion NTSC DVD overall. The 4K restoration's track is denoised and sounds muffled, but has a few of moments where it edges out in detail
Audio analysis between the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, BFI Blu-ray and Toho 4K Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion NTSC DVD overall. The 4K restoration's track is denoised and sounds muffled, but has a few of moments where it edges out in detail
Audio analysis between the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, BFI Blu-ray and Toho 4K Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion 4K Blu-ray: intact grain compared to Toho/BFI UHDs' DNR'd master
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is good, derived from the 1995 Criterion LaserDisc (which would be minimally better due to its lack of filtering) see blah-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion 4K Blu-ray: intact grain compared to Toho/BFI UHDs' DNR'd master
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is good, derived from the 1995 Criterion LaserDisc (which would be minimally better due to its lack of filtering) see blah-ray
Director: Ishirō Honda
Director: Ishirō Honda
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Directors: Shinji Higuchi & Hideaki Anno
US Toho 4K Blu-ray > France 4K Blu-ray > Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray caps
BR members also compared subtitles and placement and the US contains the original burnt-in subs compared to the France and UK 4Ks.
Toho/GKIDS US 4K Blu-ray has a new English dub, different from the old Funi US Blu-ray
Directors: Shinji Higuchi & Hideaki Anno
US Toho 4K Blu-ray > France 4K Blu-ray > Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray caps
BR members also compared subtitles and placement and the US contains the original burnt-in subs compared to the France and UK 4Ks.
Toho/GKIDS US 4K Blu-ray has a new English dub, different from the old Funi US Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray for video or Criterion Blu-ray for subtitles
BFI 4K Blu-ray, see detailed review However Criterion has better subtitles
Old BFI Blu-ray > Criterion Blu-ray > BFI 4K Blu-ray > Toho Blu-ray See DonaldMcDonald's post
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray for video or Criterion Blu-ray for subtitles
BFI 4K Blu-ray, see detailed review However Criterion has better subtitles
Old BFI Blu-ray > Criterion Blu-ray > BFI 4K Blu-ray > Toho Blu-ray See DonaldMcDonald's post
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Edit History
3/24/2026
Format
Added
1080p Blu-ray
Added
1080p Blu-ray
Additional Info
Added
Toho Blu-ray does not have a Title Menu, but there are English Subtitles available in the pop-up menu.
Added
Toho Blu-ray does not have a Title Menu, but there are English Subtitles available in the pop-up menu.
Blu-ray.com
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Swing-Girls/28579/#Releases
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Swing-Girls/28579/#Releases
DVDBeaver
Added
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews44/swing_girls_blu-ray.htm
Added
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews44/swing_girls_blu-ray.htm
