More than anything else, The Wind Rises is probably the best film I've ever seen for describing the joy and wonder of flight. Seriously, the anticipation of preparing an aircraft to take off, the awe as it leaps into the sky - this movie nails that damn near perfectly. If you're into planes whatsoever that alone should be a good enough reason to watch it.
And, of course, being a Ghibli film, the animation, music, aesthetic and cinematography are on point - I feel like that's to be expected viewing a film from this studio. And, while some people had misgivings about the plot, I would argue it's a well execute slow-burn with interesting themes - without getting into it too heavily.
And just being a great portrayal of the joy of aviation isn't enough, attention to detail with the actual plane sections of the film were super impressive. Most of the aircraft in the film (save for Jirou's dreams) are real planes that flew. Jirou, Count Caproni, Dr. Junkers and many of the other people and planes mentioned are all real - hell, Hans (the weird German dude at the bar) is lifted from the book Der Zauberberg. The techniques (flush riveting) are spot on and you can even see Jinou referencing NACA wing shapes - NACA being the predecessor to NASA and credited with numerous aviation advances during the interwar and WW2 eras.
Overall, I think this a great film. It has some shortcomings but there's a lot to chew on, both visually and thematically, plus there's the added benefit of it being a wonderful aviation film if you're into that. I'd say give it a look and don't be put off by the run time unless you really can't do longer films.
