The Sky Crawlers

The skies are their everything – a mother and a father, love and hate, life and death. And they are the "Kildren" – eternally young pilot/killer-children created to operate fighter planes and wage an endless war for the amusement of adults who lead a “normal life” in bogus peace.

Their world – reminiscent of Europe from the WWII period and run by big, shady corporations – is conceived by Hiroshi Mori in the first book of the same name which chronologically presents the ending of a five-novel saga. According to the original author, it is not easy to adapt, yet one gets the impression that both ... Oshii and his screenwriter Chihiro Itō (who debuted with a wonderful, yet cheesily titled melodrama Crying Out Love in the Center of the World) have no difficulties.

Deliberately (some might say, lethargically) paced, this philosophical "fantasy" mirrors our own frustrating reality of trial and error, as it explores the themes of conflicts, memories, perception, identity and maturing (yet never aging). A masterful blend of the experienced direction, distinctive, somewhat "austere" character design, photorealistic CGI animation and Kawai’s quietly hypnotic score results in a striking piece of art which is both an eye-candy and a soul-food.

Deprived of joy, the characters are treated as if they were made of flesh and blood, not of lines and colors, as their existential anxiety and dilemmas evoke an atmosphere of spellbinding melancholy and hushed mystery. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the dogfight at the beginning – even though it is not the only action sequence, "The Sky Crawlers" takes more of a contemplative approach and demands an audience’s patience.

I was sitting on the couch, scrolling through the limited selections of netflix when I rolled across The Sky Crawlers. I recognized Oshii's name under Director, and figured, "Ghost was good, maybe this will be too."

*Shrug* Wasn't as impressed as I was with GITS.

The story was moderately interesting, and the notion of "Kildren" (those who never grow up and only die in battle) was sort of neat, and it seemed like the filmmakers were toying with the psychology of being one of these kildren, never really felt resolved or even deep. The character's glass of selfishness and with a lemon-squeeze of crazy was more than ... anything - boring.

However! The one bit I thoroughly enjoyed in this movie was the silence, and I think this is Oshii's strength. There was more story told in the silence between the characters than there was in their dialogue, and this hard to do in normal acting, let alone in animation, and I think Oshii really nailed the emotion in this movie using nothing by ambient noises through what seemed like most of the film. It's the only reason why I'd re-watch this movie.

The air sequences were entertaining, but short. As an action junkie, this was severely disappointing, but in arguing for the movie, it wasn't the point. The real message of the film had to do with the kildren, and whether or not maturing should be an option for some one who never ages.

It's worth a sit down, simply because it's Oshii, but don't expect Ghost in the Shell quality.

The movie is made for chilled people, you'll want to take it slow. There's nothing here but boringly designed conversations, and as the characters cannot compensate for the plot well. In regards, it's not very dynamic and does not represent the life of a fighter pilot. Instead, the curators seemed to used weary characters where it forces the viewer to engage connections. But it just doesn't work, they are bland in the first place. The point of the characters. When I watched the show, all I did was thin out for most of the time with no information.

The expressions of the characters has no ... real sophistication, bad personality and a bullshit plot. This anime doesn't know how to use characters to tie with the story. I guess it's all in the "spirit" or some shit.

You can't appreciate the art when there's no good story and no good character. I'm western and i don't deceive myself into thinking how sophisticated you need it to be. It's overall mediocre, i enjoyed half of it for the combat and the rest had no purpose.

The Sky Crawlers - a movie recommended by a friend who really knows a lot about anime, so I thought I should give it a try.
To be fair, I can understand anyone who says that this movie is kind of boring because after all, this movie is more about what doesn´t happen than about what does happen.

As always, I don´t want to tell you anything about the story and the characters and in this case I think it´s very important, because it´s this innocent first impression after watching the movie that made me write this review. Not knowing anything about this movie and therefore ... not expecting anything is the best way to enjoy it, at least that´s what I think.

Because this movie feels so empty you have no chance but to fill it with your own thoughts and for that purpose The Sky Crawlers gives you a lot of empty space.

Talking about emptyness, that´s what the whole movie is about, empty people in an empty environment, the lack of emotions ( up to a certain point ), even missing camera movements and the choice of colours, everything in this movie seems to support this empty feeling you get while watching.

Even if something happens it´s just barely mentioned, no matter how cruel or sad and after mentioning it the movie gives you, by just doing nothing, enough time to make up your own mind.
This makes the movie somewhat interactive because it gives you barely enought information to know whats going on, the rest is up to you.

The Sky Crawlers truly is a unique movie because it does everything in it´s own slow, dull and somehow depressing way , while throwing psychological, social and ethical problems at you but without telling you what to think about them. Like I said, it´s easy to misunderstand this movie but if you watch this movie while thinking about the topics given to you by it, I´m quite sure that you will be satisfied and mesmerzied.

Sometimes I wonder if it's just me. There are a few highly praised, fairly popular titles that for some reason I watch and just do not feel it. Sky Crawlers is sadly on the short list. I had actually forgotten that I'd watched this.

I don't understand how an air combat story can't be interesting to me. It came off as slow and I'm not even sure how I managed to stay awake to the end. And that ending came out of nowhere.

I felt cheated. Like I had missed something along the way, but I don't remember seeing ... anything that would have led to that conclusion. The movie just pulled it out of it's own exhaust.

Oshii directed it too, so it has the "Walking" montage. You know what I mean, the drawn out, unexciting, space filler where we watch someone not do anything to move the story along, over no dialogue or action at all. I don't know why he does that but in this case it was just dragging the story down.

Sorry folks, can't recommend this one, avoid it.

Make no mistake, this movie is a Mamoru Oshii jizz-fest. I could make a drinking game out of all the Oshii tropes present in this movie.

This movie is slow. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that this would be boring for people but I think the pacing isn't an issue. I think more people will have an issue with the cryptic ass scripting. They don't explain anything until very late which caused a lot of confusion early on.

This movie would have been much better with a little more exposition at the start. Have my mans talk some world stuff with the ... little girl and expand upon it later where needed. Maybe more scenes with Kusanagi and Kannami showing this deep relationship.

Also... The ending kinda sucks. It all felt very... Pointless because of it. Like none of that mattered. Kusanagi was right in the scene with the gun.

Also can we talk about how weird it is that 2 of the characters in this movie have names that directly link to Oshii With Jinro and Kusanagi??? Like he didn't make these characters. They were in the novel! That's insanely coincidental!

In the world of The Sky Crawlers, there is a painful romance between two immortal beings. Used as tools and weapons, they are experiments used by their government to fight an endless war. Even if they die they’ll be cloned back to life and lose that life’s memory. At the center is the longest survivor who feels she has lived for too long.

They don’t know how many times they’ve died and been brought back, though once they realize what’s happening some lose meaning in their lives. How many have they killed? How many times have they died? Their miserable state is subconsciously reflected on their ... drones like, apathetic personalities. Some reach such a dreadful mental state, they start asking to be killed by the other Kildred. Some look for a better way.

And the cycle of reincarnation continues.

Tokino is the only one that makes the best of it and who tries to enjoy life. The tragic reality is that he is, who knows what number clone of himself and the reality just hasn’t sinked in yet. All his friends are going to die in the war eventually, and so is this version of him. I’m sure he knew by the end if not the beginning.

Midori is the one who realized what is happening and who finds horror in it all. Her struggle for the truth made her feel worthless, as she tries to help make sense of it all with the rest. Her eternal fate as a tool of war to live and die endlessly broke her down as she tried to share this with the others and struggle to cope.

And the cycle of reincarnation continues.

(This will be a political analysis from here.)

The Sky Crawlers is a film that at most important, tells you what you need to know with brutal honesty, that war and humans are inseparable. The rest is up to interpretation as a lot of what is happening is mysterious, and not directly answered to the viewers. What is the importance, necessity, and horror of war? To what, to those that just see it as their job to become hired killers. Ironically, politicians use war to give the illusion of peace. The people start to believe that if other countries are in a disastrously violent state, and if they can be fooled enough to believe that they have it better where they are. As a result, they will be made to believe there is peace where they are. Their governments believe more so, however, that as long as there is war, there can be profit, not peace. War is a profitable business where the dollar has more value to them than a person. Because in their eyes, war must always happen, they must prop up an undefeatable enemy. To do this, they must train people on the other side, and use the media to maybe parade them at first, but then to vilify them and turn them into powerful enemies, which justifies the invasion.

It is true that war has brought about heroes and change for mankind. Some say it gives meaning and life to some, though really, it’s misery and destruction for most. Take a look at my rotten country called America where politicians like to point fingers at other countries to make people think it’s peaceful and great here when there’s yet another mass shooting that results from the degenerate, and trigger-happy culture that has tainted the minds of the young. It’s because of these morality twisting institutions of media, education, and others. Everything is backwards; most of what we’ve come to believe is a lie.

As The Sky Crawlers play out it’s beautiul and intense aerial combats and Kusanagi’s analysis of warfare, The viewers can see that war is the most devastating form of violence. When this world ends it won’t be ended by muggers in the street. It will be ended by highly educated people using weapons developed by highly educated people, law-abiding people, people with little fair-haired kids, house on the corner, professors in colleges. Because these are the people who do what? Make the bombs, make the weapons, make the missiles, and all of these kinds of things. And yet we will not study these people as perhaps possessing some genes for violence. Is there a gene for psyche violence? The kind of violence you do to a people’s mind when you destroy their culture, their history, destroy their self-esteem, and the other kinds of things?

I think what is even more interesting is the fact that the most devastating violence is perpetrated by your average law-abiding citizen. By our good Christian citizens. What does the army want to recruit? Nice American people. Christian boys. Law-abiding boys. High school graduates. People with clean records. Because they are the most conducive to making into killers. They make the best killers. Why? They’ve been trained to submit to authority only without thinking. They’ve shown by their clean records that they’re not rebels, so if the officer says “Take that hill,” off they will go, it doesn’t matter what the point is. They’re used to bowing to authority and following authority unthinkingly. They have been trained into conformity. They’ve been trained to respond to patriotic music, so you play the music and beat the drums and off they march to war; it doesn’t matter what it is for.

They have been trained to believe that as Americans or whatever nationality, they are morally superior to their enemies, and that their enemies are less human than they. And therefore you can use their very religion as the key to getting them to kill by designating the other people as pagans; nonbelievers. It is under the banner of religion and patriotism that most of the killing and death in the world has occurred.

The Sky Crawlers explores war, but Mamuro Oshii also offers hope. Don’t escape or run away from a miserable existence, live and find a way to change things. See reality for what it is, not what you want it to be. Dare to struggle and dare to win. If you don’t dare struggle, you don’t deserve to win. Theory without practice is irrelevant. The situation can improve you are willing to fight for it. Though you go down the same road in life, look carefully and you’ll see things you never saw before. The scenery doesn’t stay the same.

"𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩?"

A heartbreaking relationship between two immortal beings,
Soaring highest in the skies above,
Falling to the deepest pits of love,
Used as mere tools and weapons in an everlasting warfare,
In the world of The Sky Crawlers.

Ones who have seen Ghost in the shell would agree that most animated movies don't have Oshii's obsessiveness or precise pacing, and his technique of joining a narrative late and ending it early might be confusing to others. You might find the movie to be a captivating, impressive, and thought-provoking experience, though, provided you're willing to meet it halfway. I ... on the other hand watched it in a more or less lazy-hungryish mood.

Mamuro Oshii explores war in The Sky Crawlers, but he also gives optimism. Shows what it's like to be an NPC. Instead of fleeing or running away from a horrible life, continuing to live and trying to fix it is what recognizes reality for what it is rather than what you wish it were. Even if you travel the same path in life, if you look closely, you'll notice things you've never noticed before. The surrounding landscape changes continuously and the details are now oblivious.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝟰/𝟱
𝗔𝗿𝘁: 𝟰.𝟱/𝟱 (𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀)
𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝟰/𝟱
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: 𝟰.𝟱/𝟱
𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝟮.𝟱/𝟱
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹: 𝟰/𝟱

- Deliberately slow pacing.
- Bleak tone.
- Visually driven with little dialogue.
- Lots of questions raised, little answered.
- Needs patience.

★★☆☆

Sky Crawlers is a slow film. It can easily be mistaken for being boring, but there’s a very fine line between a slow film that’s boring and a slow that lets you stew in its world, in its mood, and in its subtle details.

I went into Sky Crawlers without seeing any trailers or reading summaries. I think that’s the best way to enjoy entertainment. I won’t lie. This can easily bore many people. I found myself struggling to stay focused because the film’s pacing is so deliberately ... slow. But that’s what I like about it.

There’s very little dialogue. There isn’t heaps of exposition. You’re thrown into the film with almost no clue of where or what year it’s taking place in. That’s a bold move because I’m so used to having other shows or films spoon feed you the exposition in the beginning. You’re left struggling to piece together what’s going on.

There’s a lot of subtle emotion and it’s done visually. For example, there’s a scene where a young woman comes into a male character’s sleeping quarter while he’s gone. She then kneels over and lays her torso on the bed and gently rubs her face into the sheets with a sad look on her face. My description sounds silly, but it really got across that she misses or is fond of the male character in some way. It’s rare for anime to simply let the visuals convey the scene when ironically anime is all about visuals.

What I like most about Sky Crawlers is the atmosphere. There are many scenes are that somber. There’s a quiet, distant feel to everything. It could be a character looking into the distance, it could be two characters sitting in an empty restaurant drinking. It’s this gloominess that the film invokes that I really enjoyed.

The film doesn’t tell you anything. There are so many questions that it raises but never seems to answer. What this place? Who are these people? What’s going on? Couple this with its deliberately slow pace and bleak tone, it’s a tough film to watch—let alone enjoy. But I without a doubt liked it, and it’s going to stay with me. Do I think it’s actually good? Not necessarily but it’s certainly unique. I probably wouldn’t re-watch it, though, but I do think as whole it’s a refreshing watch some a typical TV or film that shoves everything in your face.

I want to rate this higher, but I can't in good faith because its unconventional in its qualities. But I will say that if you're patient and looking for something different then try this.

Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers, adapted from a series of novels by Hiroshi Mori, is the director's seventh animated feature-film. It follows Yuuichi Kannami, an eternally-young fighter-ace, assigned to Area 262 following the death of three of their pilots. The plane Yuuichi is given seems puzzlingly unscathed, and the fate of its previous occupant serves to drive the plot forward. At the centre of this mystery is his similarly stunted Commanding Officer, Suito Kusanagi, with whom Yuuichi quickly develops a bond.

While this search for answers is fairly entertaining, It does not dominate the movie, which instead focuses on establishing the world and characters, and ... exploring the chemistry between them, much like Oshii's most seminal work, Ghost in the Shell. Unfortunately, The Sky Crawlers is not a movie that particularly deserves this same deliberate and pondering pace. While Production IG's 2D background work is predictably stunning, the same cannot be said for the characters that inhabit this world, as their design and voice acting is oddly flat, lifeless, and uninspired. One could argue that this complements the movie thematically, but it certainly makes for a difficult watch during the fairly uneventful first ninety minutes.

Similarly, the setting, a relatively empty airfield surrounded by open space, allows little room for cinematic exploration, and Oshii's typically-wide landscape shots feel more grating than artful. This incompatible dichotomy of styles continues in the eponymous skies, with Polygon Pictures' CGI planes clashing violently with the hand-drawn world they occupy; in stark contrast to the expertly blended animation of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, The Sky Crawlers can sometimes feel like the cruel result of two entirely different productions coming together, and the transition between them is exceptionally jarring. The 2D characters often seem clumsily superimposed onto a 3D scenario, or vice versa, and the landscapes conjured up by our two animation houses are alike in name only. While each half of the film is technically impressive, the awkward marriage of the two only serves to cheapen them both. A rather flaccid Kenji Kawai score accompanies.

Audiovisual criticism aside, The Sky Crawlers does tell an interesting story, and eventually, manages to inject some humanity and accessibility into its lifeless protagonists. Despite the insultingly contrived exposition of the final act, its message is subtle, relevant, and incisive, and does in-part redeem an otherwise unremarkable film.

I wrote the following review a while ago (see below dashed line). When I decided to repost it here, I skimmed through other reviews. I was surprised. Not one review had any mention of the anime industry in it.

I have always felt that people attribute things to stories and their creators that are not really present. Much of the brilliance of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, for example, comes from a near infinite ambiguity that allows AP English teachers to draw myriad conclusions that probably had nothing to do with the author's thoughts when he wrote it. That doesn't mean ... it wasn't brilliant to begin with. That doesn't mean that the author didn't mean some, or even most of the things that people see in it. People will find things if they are looking, even when they aren't there, and the best creators take advantage of that.

What do you think of something that never really matures, never changes, and only dies if something else kills it? I'm not talking about the elf of every fantasy story since Tolkien. I'm talking about anime.

It has been ages since I watched Sky Crawlers, so I have forgotten most of what I was thinking at the time. Still, I would like to convey the gist as best I can from memory: Sky Crawlers is an allegory for the failure of the anime industry.

Maybe I'm giving it too much credit. Maybe not. In either case, the movie shows us endless repetition. In essence, we see an immature product that utterly lacks change, except when some outside force effects the end of an existing member. Is this not the embodiment of the industry's failures? We have seen what amounts to the same product remade every year. For the most part, said product is juvenile. For the most part, specific variants of the product only die out when profiting from them becomes completely infeasible, or when (perhaps due to closures) no one remains who makes that variant.

Of course, this doesn't address the principle problem, which is that people actually want the same old crap over and over again. They complain about things being the same, but whenever something new and different comes along, people hate it. I have seen it many times, both with anime and with other products. Only comfortable, familiar products are consumed in worthwhile quantity. Anime creators have no incentive to change.

That's enough of my rambling. Here's my review.

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Sky Crawlers is thoughtful and well made. Its visuals are brilliant. It's one of very few anime that are worth watching in 1080p. It's also dead boring.

Okay, so it probably isn't entirely fair for me to say that. I enjoyed it, but I have to say: not everything Mamoru Oshii does is a masterpiece. In fact, I think his crap/quality ratio is about average. His best stuff, Talking Head for example, is the kind of thing you can argue about endlessly. Sky Crawlers succeeds on that count, but the real question is: will you want to? The average viewer will lose interest five minutes in.

The Sky Crawlers is a prime example of a show that feels like the creators are trying way too hard. It's a magnificent production. It also largely fails to be fun. As amazing as Sky Crawlers may be, it ultimately fails in its job as entertainment.

Sky Crawlers is one of those anime that makes you stop and think. On the outside it looks like a World War II film like Battle of Brittan, it has the same fill. The art was very good and detailed, I believe the crew went to Europe and scouted actual locations. The thing that I really liked about this movie is that it makes you think one thing is happening when in reality something far different and maybe a little sinister is going on behind what you can see. If you have the time and like good fighter movies or just ... like sci-fi it is worth checking out.

The story revolve around a group of people who fly aircrafts.
*THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS READ IT ONLY AFTER WATCHING THE ANIME!*

Well I will start with the best, THE ART. Superb will be shrunken to the size of a microbe when compared to the wonderful animation art and style of this movie.
The moment you jump into the movie is the moment you will see one of the most unforgeable scenes ever, the aircraft and the fighting were out of this world, the 3D and the 2D graphic combination is amazing, AWESOME in other word. but all good thing must end and the moment you get to ... see the characters talk walk and etc you will be disgust, but after a while you will start to enjoy it(though you may not believe this at first). anyway at the end of the day it was one of the best art I have ever seen in any movie.
10/10 -must see-

SPOILERS AHEAD***

Story: Average. anyone who find it amazing and wonderful had probably never read or watched any seinen mangas or animes before watching this anime. the concept of loops is a well known thing in lots of mangas and animes and while The Sky Crawler may have used this concept to a very impressive extend there are better animes and mangas out there with the same concept which are superb in many way to this movie. the other half of the story, the pilots and their life in the camp and in the battlefield was also very nice and realistic. also all the concept that were applied in the movie were very enjoyable in there own ways. so even though the whole concept wasn't so original it deserve a 8/10 for being fairly enjoyable. :}

Sound: nothing much to say here, it was nice and the dubbers were nice and the background sounds were nice and that was nice and so on~
Average but nice 7/10

Character: well I really enjoy the unique character, they were interesting and each one of them have their unique past story and habits ~ the interactions between characters was also very interesting and unique, because even though most of the characters look like children they interact in many adult's ways.
the most enjoyable part of the characters is the human-like feeling that you get from each of them~ even though most of the reaction and the action which they make are filled with apathy you can really see lots of emotion behind those reactions which is an amazing point for such a short movie. 8.9/10

Enjoyment: the worst point in this movie, There is no critic-point no drama everything is plain most of the time, and although the story goes on it just feels boring. I enjoyed lots of point in this movie but the boredom that I felt in those 2 hour cant be missed. 5.9/10 *yawn*

one thing I must add and say is that the fighting in the movie amazed me,probably the best thing I got from watching it. although it wasn't much, the tricks and the ideas which are shown in those fight are very unique and special and probably the closest thing to real air-fight.

"If people don't get to see actual deaths and misery on the news, peace can't be maintained"

Sky Crawlers is another cold, contemplative Mamoru Oshii movie, and like the ones before, it's pretty great.

The anime is set in an universe where our world is at relative peace, while rival corporations employ fighter pilots to engage in combat, supplanting the societal need for large scale military conflicts. Our protagonist, Yuuichi Kanami, is one of such pilots.

Arriving at Rostock Corporation's Area 262 after 3 of its fighters were downed by a rival ace named "Teacher", Kanami is greeted by his new comrades, the base's mechanic and the ... Chief of Operations, Mizuki Kisanagi. The plot progresses as we learn more about her and discover the existence of the mysterious Kildren, seemingly immortal artificial soldiers. Kannami also learns more about the man he replaced, and what it means to have been brought to pilot his old fighter.

Contemplating the nature of war and order isn't something new to Oshii's body of work, (I.E. his Patlabor duology, the Kerberos series) however Sky Crawlers takes this common motif to a much more subdued environment, replacing the dense near-future urban landscapes with hangars and regular establishments closer to the 20th century than anything. The mechanical design is appropriately close to WW2- era machinery and vehicles as well.

These machines are brought to life by Polygon Pictures' CGI, which is unsurprisingly competent but not nearly as interlaced with the 2d animation as in their earlier collaboration with Oshii and Production IG, Ghost in the Shell Innocence.

The 2d animation itself is another thing. I was not a fan of it, as I'm not a fan of the character designs (to put it mildly) and how they would move outside of zoom-ins. Again, previous Oshii/IG films did it much better.

The backgrounds are very well done, and arguably the most important part of Sky Crawler's aesthetic. The sky looks beautiful, and the interiors are extremely detailed and tight.

Kenji Kawai's score is good. The movie asks for a subtle piece, and he delivers. The main theme plays more than once during the movie, solidifying the point about cycles the narrative makes.

As for the narrative itself, Sky Crawlers is cryptic and slowly paced. The mysteries are up to the viewer to piece together, as characters hint at possibilities and mew information through their mostly apathetic dialogue.
The characters themselves aren't very... vivid. As they shouldn't be. The themes they bring up and represent sustain the narrative perfectly well, as everything eventually drives the main point home: "War" is both a neverending reality and a profitable and necessary spectacle for the masses. The only escape for those involved is death. But that doesn't mean hope can't shine through this bleak realization.

In conclusion, Sky Crawlers is both technically competent and thematically rich, and shows a mature Oshii masterfully tying everything together. It's a shame this movie is obscured by the absolute monoliths that compose the rest of Mamoru Oshii's filmography, but it certainly deserves your attention.

Chop 50 minutes off, and this movie becomes a 9/10 without question.

Mamoru Oshii is egregiously hit-or-miss when it comes to the pacing of his movies. Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell manage to hold my attention no problem. Kerberos: Stray Dog, Patlabor, and Sky Crawlers on the other hand just dragged on and on and on.

There's a great story in here, decent animation, good sound effects, passable voicework, thoughtful character development, and an interesting setting to delve into. Plenty of subtlety to look out for and churn over. Just wish it didn't take as long to get to those great moments. You'll be rewarded for ... sticking through the slow bits, don't worry. I really enjoyed the story and I do recommend it for those of you with patience or a fast forward button. I only wish Oshii were more consistent on this issue.

Anyone who abridges this down to a watchable runtime has my appreciation.

I saw this movie for the first time when I was maybe 13. Throughout that two-hour experience, literally all I could remember was that scene in the backseat of the car... and melting into my couch for what felt like at least 3 hours, just waiting for it to finally end. This was a movie I've always wanted to revisit, because I've definitely made an effort to better appreciate this kind of quieter, subtly beautiful storytelling as I've gotten older. But even now, I'm not sure I can recommend this one wholeheartedly.

Make no mistake, it's stunningly beautiful to look at. And the music in ... this movie has made me want to go track down everything else Kenji Kawai has ever worked on. But the storytelling leaves something to be desired. If I hadn't read the summary on here ahead of time, I fear I'd still only have a vague idea of what exactly the Kildren were, how they came about, why and what they were fighting... I just needed a little more of a balance. I can appreciate the time spent showing us the monotony and hopelessness of their existence... But we're literally 20 minutes from the end before any sort of conflict with those story points are really brought up. It's a huge exaggeration for the summary to describe Kannami as "endeavoring" to understand their situation, because he really couldn't seem to care less. There are maybe three scenes in the entire movie where any of the important characters show any emotion at all.

It's an interesting idea... but the way it's presented in this movie is just really fucking boring. And personally, I just can't get past that.

Summary rating: This is a hidden masterpiece that might be opaque for viewers. It may require multiple viewings to fully understand the story arc and character motivations.

That being said, this is not a story for those who prefer fast pace, anger symbols and rolling on the floor embarrassment.
* Pacing is Ghibli Studio like with pauses for characters to think and react.
* Beautiful and realistic artwork, creates moods very well
* The main characters are slowly revealed in depth
* Aviation flying and combat are realistic and can be ... very edge-of-seat.
* Takes about 20 minutes to emotionally hook ... IMO, by design for the arc

This story reminds me of:
* 86 ... parallel but different story. IMO this is a more complete story
* Kuzo no Honkai ... painful to watch but fantastic story arc and characters
* Ergo Proxy ... things are not what they seem. Multiple viewings required
* Inception ... full of mystery and rewarding to think about

Only complaints:
* to much initial foretelling

This movie isn't for everyone; personally, in fact, I consider it the anti-film. In the sense that it is a dull, pessimistic, slow film that most would define as boring. The protagonists are apathetic and do nothing to change their situation within the film. Furthermore, every key moment, every twist or revelation is greeted coldly. Plus, the action scenes, especially for a war film, are very few. Essentially the anti-film. But that couldn't further from the truth. This is not the anti-film, this is the film. An absolutely incredible experience that will take your breath away and leave you speechless.

The story is about the Kildren, ... these boys created artificially and incapable of dying or aging who are sent to a battlefield to fight a "fake" war between two multinationals. War that takes place in a world of peace but whose aim is precisely to maintain peace and not to make man forget the horrors of war as well as to entertain them. In essence, the Kildren are cannon fodder sent to die and somehow resurrected only to be killed again and again and again... A sad and dark plot, very philosophical and profound. Narrated in a masterful way with ideas such as making each plot twist arrive in the most anti-climatic way possible, absolutely brilliant.

The characters are all expressionless, emotionless, unaware of the truth about their existence and they don't make you feel the slightest apathy for them as they are simple puppets built and manipulated by the strongest. Yuichi, the protagonist, is the exact opposite of a protagonist. Instead of fighting to find out who he is or where he comes from, he simply exists. He exists and is a puppet like the others. Only in the ending does he try to redeem himself with an extreme gesture and this leaves a glimmer of light which, in my opinion, is destroyed by the true ending in the post-credit scene. The characters, however, work. Their apathy and unawareness mixes perfectly with the sad and dark tones of the film. They involved me much more than many other characters in many other anime where, in theory, the characters are the strong point.

The animation is absolutely brilliant, visually it's one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever seen. A perfect use of CGI with the animations of the flying combats which are the flagship of an incredible technical sector. The tones and atmospheres are muted, making everything even more unique. Oshii does a masterful job of directing with some excellent ideas, such as using the subjective view for some scenes during the flying combats. The soundtrack is wonderful with the absolutely perfect main theme which, with its sweet tones, clashes with the atmosphere of the film but which, in reality, hides a lot of melancholy.

Must-watch for any fan of animated films, I can't believe there's so little talk about it. Do yourself a favor and watch one of the most atypical yet brilliant works ever.