Directed by: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shôsuke Tanihara
I watched this movie because my girlfriend… was out to get me. I’m pretty sure. She said she liked it, but the whole time she was making fun of it… I think this was another Speed Racer sort of idea, except not so action-packed. Not even close.
Okay, I’m going to tell you what this movie’s about, but it’s going to pretty much “spoil” the whole thing for you (spoil is in quotes because this movie is boring and whatever I say is going to make it sound way more interesting than it actually is). In the not-so-distant future, war has been outgrown by the general populace, but it’s still necessary, and private corporations keep war going all the time to keep anyone else from needing to make real war. For some reason, all this war is done via WWI biplane dogfights, and all the pilots are immortal (ish) clones of some sort. That’s the reveal.
Really, most of the movie is about character staring blankly (not even at each other, off into the distance), and occasionally saying things that may or may not have anything to do with the situation. In this respect, this movie is indie as fuck. However, despite the fact that I absolutely loathe the plot, there are some really, REALLY well done CGI sequences. Basically all the stuff involving planes flying around shooting each other is done via CGI, and it’s amazing. Just… amazing. It’s so impressive, I have no words for it. Unfortunately, it takes more than a few cool-looking sequences to make a good movie, and in the end, it’s just not really worth it. Because it’s SO BORING AND STUPID.
But yeah, great CGI. I can’t stress that enough. I hope the guys who did the CGI had nothing to do with the story, or else we’ll never see it outside of stupid shit like The Sky Crawlers.
Films in Boxes 
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