Going into a Mamoru Oshii movie you're going to get two important things:
1.Amazing visuals
2.Semi boring philosophical chat
Like any other Oshii movie, Sky Crawlers has both. With the likes of Macross Zero and Frontier along with Yukikaze, plane combat is hardly done outside the realm of giant mechs. Not just any type of plane combat, but combat that hearkens back to the old World War II footage you'd see if you flipped on the History Channel. You have plane to plane dog fights, but with real pilots behind the controls. The film doesn't seem like it has heart upon your first initial viewing, but it's obvious that there is a distinct underlying message waiting to be unraveled like in so many of Oshii's works.
It's hard to talk about the plot without really giving the whole "twist" of the movie away, so I'll try to side step around it. The visuals, especially a specific scene in which an enemy craft is shot down are amazing. The little "bobbing" up and down into and out of the water gave me goose bumps. The characters are also incredibly likable, especially Tokino, a fellow pilot and Kannami's friend. He almost gives off the "Goose" to Kannami's "Maverick" vibe if you get where I'm coming from. It's often him that steps in during key moments for comic relief and even gets Kannami a night of fun with "Fuko".
I'm usually pretty dense when it comes to romance, but I'd put up some good money that Fuko and Kusumi are high class "ladies of the night". Tip toeing around the relationship between Kannami himself and his superior, Kusanagi, is a minefield all in itself. Some might not like Kusanagi at first, especially since the design and attitude might come off as cold. But she has amazing back story to her, especially during and after a game of bowling. The movie has a good level of atmosphere in it, from a run down "fighter town" diner to a nondescript fridge that houses oh so many beers...
Still the thing that surprised me the most was the voice acting. Like Blood The Last Vampire you get a mix of English and Japanese. Thankfully the English is really well done and fits in seamlessly. It does tend to pop up kind of randomly though, from news reports to in air combat. Music is handled by the amazing Kenji Kawai as usual for Oshii films. Perhaps I'm culturally insensitive but I'm not a big fan of the "GITS chanting music" as some might call it. Thankfully it only pops up a few times here and there. Kawai's orchestral pieces really capture the attitude and feel of the movie well, including Ayaka's haunting movie theme.
Without spoiling too much, the movie really is a learning experience that might leave some hollow at the end of it. I know I was half expecting a heroic "hero of the day" moment, but if you take the time to fully understand what Oshii is trying to tell you, it will seem depressingly satisfying. Relationships and sex are handled with maturity, no punches are pulled with the themes, and with limited babel this is a highly recommended watch.
1.Amazing visuals
2.Semi boring philosophical chat
Like any other Oshii movie, Sky Crawlers has both. With the likes of Macross Zero and Frontier along with Yukikaze, plane combat is hardly done outside the realm of giant mechs. Not just any type of plane combat, but combat that hearkens back to the old World War II footage you'd see if you flipped on the History Channel. You have plane to plane dog fights, but with real pilots behind the controls. The film doesn't seem like it has heart upon your first initial viewing, but it's obvious that there is a distinct underlying message waiting to be unraveled like in so many of Oshii's works.
It's hard to talk about the plot without really giving the whole "twist" of the movie away, so I'll try to side step around it. The visuals, especially a specific scene in which an enemy craft is shot down are amazing. The little "bobbing" up and down into and out of the water gave me goose bumps. The characters are also incredibly likable, especially Tokino, a fellow pilot and Kannami's friend. He almost gives off the "Goose" to Kannami's "Maverick" vibe if you get where I'm coming from. It's often him that steps in during key moments for comic relief and even gets Kannami a night of fun with "Fuko".
I'm usually pretty dense when it comes to romance, but I'd put up some good money that Fuko and Kusumi are high class "ladies of the night". Tip toeing around the relationship between Kannami himself and his superior, Kusanagi, is a minefield all in itself. Some might not like Kusanagi at first, especially since the design and attitude might come off as cold. But she has amazing back story to her, especially during and after a game of bowling. The movie has a good level of atmosphere in it, from a run down "fighter town" diner to a nondescript fridge that houses oh so many beers...
Still the thing that surprised me the most was the voice acting. Like Blood The Last Vampire you get a mix of English and Japanese. Thankfully the English is really well done and fits in seamlessly. It does tend to pop up kind of randomly though, from news reports to in air combat. Music is handled by the amazing Kenji Kawai as usual for Oshii films. Perhaps I'm culturally insensitive but I'm not a big fan of the "GITS chanting music" as some might call it. Thankfully it only pops up a few times here and there. Kawai's orchestral pieces really capture the attitude and feel of the movie well, including Ayaka's haunting movie theme.
Without spoiling too much, the movie really is a learning experience that might leave some hollow at the end of it. I know I was half expecting a heroic "hero of the day" moment, but if you take the time to fully understand what Oshii is trying to tell you, it will seem depressingly satisfying. Relationships and sex are handled with maturity, no punches are pulled with the themes, and with limited babel this is a highly recommended watch.
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