Dying to Belong (1997) Online

The star power of falling child stars Jenna Von Oy and Mark Paul Gosselaar breakthrough and shine through this disturbing film. "Dying to Belong" also stars Spoiler alert: Hillary Swank. Both Swank and Von Oy both play two college freshman looking to pledge a sorority house in hopes of achieving popularity and climbing the social ladder. Gosselaar along with Swank work with each other at the school's newspaper. Goselaar digs up information after one student was rumored to have been hazed and found dead after a rush pledge prank went completely array. Not to ruin anymore of the story for anyone who finds this movie Ondemand. "Dying to Belong" can possibly be found on Lifetime channel every once in a great while. Sarah Chalke(currently in Scrubs, and feature Roseanne alum) brings extra zing to this nail bitter. Sit back on the couch and get the chips queso dip and all the snacks out. This movie teaches us that sororities and frats are not worth dying to be apart of. And it is also a funny movie to poke fun at for the horrendous clothes fashion

Better than average made-for-TV drama. Of course there is the obligatory candy coating, but then the subject matter slips into somewhere real dark. College freshmen Lisa(Hilary Swank)and her friend Shelby(Jenna von Oy)have their hearts set on pledging to a sorority; the same Lisa's mother(Isabella Hofmann) pledged. Lisa gets a job with the school paper and meets Steven(Mark-Paul Gosselaar). Lisa and Shelby are asked to perform degrading tasks during "hell week"; Lisa is told of a young woman that disappeared during the pledge hazing week. She sees first hand how that rumor could actually be true. When Shelby falls from a campus clock tower to her death; Lisa and Steve work together to find out the truth behind the "accident" and show how dangerous hazing really is in spite of what college authorities say. Other cast members: Sarah Chalke, Jennifer Warren, Amanda Wilmshurst, Melissa Pace and Michael Flynn.

I am the first to admit I like TV movies if they are done well. This is a TV movie that was perhaps on the pure level of ACTING absolutely tops-the cast was all around very very good in their roles and that was the major plus of the film.

However- as a movie I just didn't think this was done all that well. Throughout, Most of the film you kind of know whats gonna happen even before it happens(is there anyone who didn't know who the vicitm was gonna be?) Also, seeing the pain these girls went through to belong-to fit in-was brutal and unpleasant and for nothing because the plot didn't go anywhere except into the predictable.

Also is it me or was Hilary Swank VERY OBVIOUSLY not college looking? Hilary Swank is a beautiful woman and a talented actress-but looked older then someone starting college. I mean the whole premise was tough to swallow.

Everyone has their own ideas about what makes a movie good-I did watch this movie to completion but I didn't feel even as I watched it that I was watching anything very well done or good, except the acting which I will concede, as this movie's fans suggest WAS much better then the typical TV movie. But as far as the movie in general I would only give it about a five. Just didn't do it for me.

Something made me tape this film when it came on TV. I hadn't seen any previews, been told about it or anything. All I knew about it was what it said in the TV guide.. and I must admit, that didn't make it sound appealing. But I'm glad I did tape it, because this is an excellent movie.

But how bad could a movie which stars the girl from "Sometimes They Come Back Again", the guy from "Saved By The Bell", and the pregnant girl who stole Matt's car in an episode of "7th Heaven" be anyway!?!

I recommend this movie to anyone.

Spoilers Dying to Belong is about a girl in her freshman year of college whose best friend is killed during hazing. She investigates whether it was really an accident or if there is something more sinister going on. This is an OK film, not as good as some of the comment on here say ("Best TV movie ever" is a gross exaggeration), but decent all the same. The acting is good, for the most part, the girl playing Kim over acted her way through every scene, making her part in the ending too obvious. Speaking of the ending, it was a little too predictable, not because of the writing but because of the direction. The way we see it, a girl is on the roof of a church or something being told that she'll win "Best Pledge" if she hangs a banner. We then see her friend on the ground realising she's disappeared, then the girl falling. This means the audience already knows she was forced onto the roof, which means the next 45 minutes of what's supposed to be tense is actually less exciting than the start of the film. Still, its worth watching, 7/10

This is one of my favorite tv movies. It keeps you guessing from start to finish. It is about one girls struggle to find the truth when her best friend dies under mysterious circumstances. She sacrificies her friends and her reputation to discover the truth. Hilary Swank is phenomenal as usual and great performances were also done by Jenna, Sarah and Tracy! I recommend this movie to everyone!!

This is a very good movie I just happened to see on a cable channel once. I found that I recognized so many faces from 80's television (Saved By The Bell, Roseanne, Blossom), yet the actors filled the character roles perfectly. I'm not sure if this is a correct portrayal of hazing on campuses or the power of sororities and fraternities, but it made for an enjoyable picture. I was very surprised to find that a made for cable movie was so great. I highly recommend it to anyone interested.

I am a HUGE fan of TV movies, and "Dying to Belong" has to be one of my favorites. The movie is about college hazing. Hilary Swank's character investigates the death of her friend,played by Jenna Von Oy, which she thinks is more than an accident. Jenna Von Oy was great and Mark Paul Gosselar and Sarah Chalke play great supporting roles! If this movie comes on again, don't miss it!

This movie is ridiculous. The writing is horrible and the story is completely unbelievable. I especially love when the cops just happen to waiting for the girl that has the pot planted in her car. Then, I love how her mother and her are leaving the police station, and the mother says 'good thing they let you off with a warning this time." Oh, yes...I forgot, they always do that when you're arrested for possession. Get real. The girls in this story are fake as well. I mean, the girl that played Becky in the later years of Roseanne, she couldn't act if her life depended on it. Same goes for saved by the bell boy...Mark Paul whatever his name is. He should definitely stick to comedy and nothing else. The worst thing about this movie, besides all the acting, is the fact that it's so terribly fake. Things don't happen the way they did in the movie, and the plot holes were big enough to drive an army of mac trucks thru. 1/10

I would have to say that this movie is, hands down, the greatest TV movie ever. And I can see from some of your comments out there that I'm not alone in thinking that. The budding relationship between Mark-Paul Gosselar and Hillary Swank is brought along very well, and the two actors pull it off convincingly. I'll pick this movie over any football game!

I never actually saw this movie in its fullness, but what I saw impressed me. It had a great teenage cast headed by heartthrob Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Hilary Swank of The Next Karate Kid and Buffy,The Vampire Slayer (the movie) fame did an exceptional job. I don't really like Jenna Von Oy but she was good in her short amount of film. Can't wait to see this movie in its fullness.

This movie has the same thematic than Wolfe's book : a girl's experience in campus life, and particularly about what happens outside the studies… The focus is the fraternity. I never know this kind of membership but this opportunity for parties, booze is shared by both medias and i'm sure this grand ceremony with pledges, robes, ceremony is actually accurate as it seems totally American… Hilary is totally convincing as this new student and she is all the more excellent than she is one of the kind : it's really someone else compared to the lascivious, no clothes, no brain blondes whom we are fed usually. The mystery surrounding the real activities of this female fraternity is thrilling. However, the edit misleads totally the content : from the start, you expect to find paranormal, devilish motives and there are hints for that and at the end, it's just criminal fact. So it's a bit disappointing and i have the feeling to have been cheated !

One of Hilary Swanks first films, she does a fair job as student Lisa who joins a fraternity in her first year of college. What she doesn't know, is that the members of the fraternity mean girls and the story unwinds after her friend dies during a hazing incident which is propagated by the bad members of the frat. Lisa is torn between keeping fraternity secrets and doing the right thing, by telling investigators what she knows. Her boyfriend (Paul Michael Gossaler) tries to aid her in telling investigators about the activities of the frat, but he runs into problems which prevent him from helping. In the end of course Lisa does the right thing and the girls are implicated, but getting there is an edge of your seat ride, with a lot of predictability.

Yes, I came from my university's greek system, but that isn't the reason I think this made-for-TV flick was total crap. The whole thing is just stupid overall. I can assure you that no men are allowed in the sorority house rooms, aside from the atrium/living room, at any time. Trust me, I was your average college guy who would have LOVED to have seen the rest of the house but it flat out wasn't allowed. Not only that, but the alcohol in the house would have resulted in a chapter shutdown. I've seen it happen and it's not a pretty sight. The glaring stupidity that makes the movie look unrealistic is the ridiculous part where the cops just happen to be waiting for the girl who has marijuana planted in her car. Amazing how sorority girls got the stuff so easily. Not only that, but she is just let off with a warning??!!?!?!?!? What the hell is that? They let off DRUG POSSESSION SUSPECTS with a WARNING?!?!?!?!? Was this flick made in Fantasyland?

This was the worst portrayal of college life since Higher Learning. Anyone who recommends watching a stupid made-for-TV movie before "allowing" their college-aged (and therefore legally adult) children to join an organization needs to find a more credible source. This was as much like my college as Saved By the Bell was like my high school.

I absolutely loved this movie. It has an all-star cast. The multi-faceted story of a girl entering a college, joining a sorority, and jumping into a relationship is so typical of what happens to many girls around that age. I found it helpful as I was on my way to college when I first viewed this film.

10/10

This movie was probably one of the most inaccurate portrayals of sorority life ever put on television. I don't know if it's just one of those wild Hollywood imaginations or some sick person who came up with this idea for a movie. It certainly is scandalous, thrilling, creepy or what-have-you, but it does not in any way reflect sorority life at all.

The folks in Hollywood (and some regular citizens) seem to have this idea that sorority members are either elitist snobs, airhead bimbos, the town tramps or vindictive, cruel and spiteful people. Nonsense!

There are very strict guidelines for how sorority members are to behave and conduct themselves both socially and academically -- rules that are set by the sororities' national headquarters and the schools at which they are affiliated. Alcohol is prohibited on sorority property. Boyfriends are not permitted in the back of the house (where the bedrooms are). The importance of academic excellence and community service are also greatly stressed. Activities that are deemed unbecoming of a person in a sorority (i.e. public intoxication, posing for Playboy, etc.) can be and often are grounds for expulsion. In short, most if not all of the sororities at U.S. colleges try to ensure that their members are academically, morally and socially well-rounded and responsible citizens. Many powerful, successful and famous women have been part of sorority life during their college years.

I was in college when this movie first aired and the president of my sorority along with all of the other sorority and fraternity presidents on campus called the local NBC affiliate that was airing the movie to complain. Because of that phone call, the station sent out a reporter who interviewed these upstanding, responsible young people and gave them a chance to show that the movie was totally inaccurate and a slap in the face to all of the well-rounded people who have been part of the Greek system on college campuses all over the country.

**SPOILERS** Pros: Hot actresses (Sarah Chalke looks in this), nice looking campus that actually look well-kept, and... uh lemme think, Oh yeah A good flick to make fun of while plastered with friends.

Cons: Bad camera-work that give it a 70s-like look to it, A plot twist that makes no sense, music that repeated itself over and over and over and OVER and OVER and OVER, unrealistic in parts, etc.

DYING TO BELONG(1997) 3 out of 10: This movie features a nice cast for the time, is a good (in more ways than one)look at the actresses Hilary Swank before her days as a Hollywood star and Sarah Chalke before being a regular on the show Scrubs, and also shows that sometimes film music needs variety.

As for where the film goes wrong, I suppose I'll start with the music first. Three songs does not a versatile soundtrack make. This is one of the distractions of the movie as well; you wonder of the filmmakers has an obsession with this song and decided to shamelessly plug it all over the film. You'll know which one I'm talking about pretty early on in the movie/ There is one other song with the title of the movie in the lyrics, but no one will know or care about it, but it gets played about in three different scenes. The budget problems show here.

I realize that this isn't Oscar-worthy material here, but some of the dialogue could've needed some work. That guy from Saved By The Bell looked horribly miscast as a bookworm reporter for the school newspaper who takes his job to seriously. Of course, who would've thought that he becomes the boyfriend/informant of Hilary Swank, and help to unravel the evil fraternity's harsh atmosphere and habitual Satan-worship. Speaking of that, I found the whole cloak and candles bit to be cheesy beyond belief. Don't get me started on the like spoken by Hilary Swank's mom which went something like, "Don't ever let me tell you how to live or you can slap me. (Sobbing)" Or something close to that.

Now onto the plot. On first watch, the college-wide cover-ups of the death which led up to event like the reporter getting hooked me, and make me actually think that it was somewhat decent. But then, near the end Sarah's character tells Hilary that her friend falling was indeed and accident, leaving the viewer bewildered as to most of the antics the frat did in order to cover up the "accident". This is of course accepted as fact. If the movie was supposed to show how smooth that they lie, the movie did a bad job of conveying this.

If it's on TV than go for it, and rent only if you are bored, don't have basic cable or dish, and like to laugh at these sorts of campy movies.

Does anyone know where i can get hold of the track that is played throughout this great film, with the lyrics "Dying to belong". I have no idea what the song is called or who sings it :( but i love it!!! I don't have the film so I'm unable to view the credits. So can anyone help??

I Loved this film, Mark is gorgeous in it!! And not just his looks, he makes a great boyfriend. This film really shows the struggles of moving away from home for the first time and going off to university. I don't know if universities in America are as they are portrayed in this film, but i found it interesting to find out all about hazing, and how far people would take it, also what people are willing to do just to fit in. plus it is also a good love story!

Oh my gosh, all I have to say about this film, even though it had a suprisingly good and thrilling plot for a tv movie, is how gorgeous does Mark-Paul Gosselaar (a.k.a. Zack Morris from the teen tv show 'Saved By The Bell'-the original and best!) look?????!!!!! Phwoar!!!! I'd watch this again and again just to see him wearing those glasses even if it had been a bad film. He looks much better with dark hair (although I did still have a crush on him years ago as the blonde 'Tom Cruise' Zack Morris!!). But honestly, it's actually quite good and definitely worth watching even if you don't want to gaze at the lovely Mark-Paul!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be put off and leave it too long; you'll regret it if you don't watch 'Dying To Belong'!!!!!!! (sorry I know that's really cheesy but I couldn't resist!!!) jill-70 :-)