Title:

Sky Crawlers

Label:

Manga Entertainment

Certificate:

12

Discs:

1

Running time:

121 mins approx plus extras

Video:

Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1

Sound DVD:

English 5.1/2.0, Japanese 5.1/2.0

Sound Blu-Ray:

English DTS-HD /2.0, Japanese DTS-HD /2.0

Subtitles:

English

Release date:

31st May 2010

DVD RRP:

£19.99 - Amazon - Play

Blu-ray RRP:

£24.99 - Amazon - Play

Brief synopsis:

Based on the first of five best selling novels set in a possible here & now and brought to the big screen by visionary director Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell:Innocence)Oshii, Sky Crawlers tells the story of a group of eternally young fighter pilots destined to spend what remains of their short lives locked in a never-ending aerial war fought in the skies over an alternate version of Europe. Over time some of these youngsters – collectively known as “Kildren” who do not age and will not die unless killed in battle - begin to realise that their own vague memories of childhood or even the facts about their own existences that they have always held as the truth may not be as reliable as they thought. But is there really any need to reconcile your past or to attempt to “grow up” and face the future when every day may be your last?

Comments:

Over the years there are a number of things those who’ve experienced Director Mamoru Oshii’s works have come to expect:

One: There’ll be a whole host of stunning visuals, grandiose set pieces and some of the best cutting edge 3D CGI integration that Japan has to offer. Plus the music will be pretty good too;

Two: There’ll be a completely incomprehensible plot and meandering storyline with more questions left unanswered than a nuclear physics mid-term taken 8am the morning after a three-day bender;

Three: There’ll probably be a Bassett hound in it somewhere.

…And this movie ticks all three of those boxes… and then goes and ticks box number two a couple more times for good measure.

So, let’s deal with box number one. The visuals are very impressive. If there was film that just cried out to either be seen on the big screen or purchased on Blu-ray then this is one of them. The sheer attention to detail utilised in the design, animation and colouring of the of the inanimate objects such as planes and vehicles as well as the building s and other structures is superb and many of the shots of the land-scapes – and sky-scapes –are simply breathtaking. Add to this the effort put into the character movements and the seamless 3D CGI integration and you can see why both the Director and production company (Production I G) get the amount of respect that they do. The only downside I can see animation wise is that the character designs are somewhat flat, bland and unfortunately rather uninteresting.

The music for this film’s provided by Kenji Kawai who’s probably best know for his work on Oshii‘s two Ghost in the Shell outings but, unlike his previous works with this director, this time his score has a heavy European influence though there is still the occasional hint of the traditional Japanese slipping through.

The Japanese language track is quite impressive; even more so when you take into account that most of the characters are voiced by stars of Japanese stage and screen rather than by professional voice actors. Also, in keeping with the setting of what appears to be mid/late 20th century Europe - not only do many of the characters have to continually switch between Japanese and generally passable English - much of the background noise from TV’s, radio etc isn’t just in English, but in properly accented British English, which can come as a bit of a surprise when first heard smack in the middle of an anime movie. Unfortunately there’s not much I can say about the dub track though as the screener disc I received was only supplied with the Japanese language track.

So, onto box number two. While I’ll agree Sky Crawlers is a visually stunning film – and yes it’s won more awards than you can shake a stick at – but it’s just not the most engrossing thing I’ve ever seen.. not even close. In fact it’s not even the most engrossing thing that Oshii‘s put out and boy, has he put out some right old arse-numbing movies over the years. For the most part it’s hard to figure what this film’s actually about. The plot’s so slow and languid that it just seems to shuffle from one scene to the next with very little urgency. Perhaps the scriptwriters were trying to bring home the point that for most fighter pilots, 90% of their life is just about killing time whilst waiting for that 10% that is the “killing time”. The trouble is that even the stunningly beautiful dogfights - of which there are nowhere near enough - just aren’t enough to pull the audience to the edge of their seats.

The “big secret” isn’t that much of a secret, especially not to the audience as it’s written on the promo material and the back of the DVD case – they’re clones OK? Clones designed to live a very short lifespan of flying and fighting to the death. We know it from the get-go - they’re taking their sweet time figuring it out and once they do figure it out they’re designed to pretty much forget all about it so they’ve at least got an excuse for their apathy - the audience however end up not caring because the characters just aren’t that interesting and it’s pretty damn hard for us to care about someone that doesn’t care about themselves. Are they really “living their lives to the full as every day may be their last”? I think not, amigos. All they seem to do is do some navel gazing, smoke some cigarettes, drink some beer and sit around reading the paper or staring out of the window. Whoa there you party animals. If that’s what they think passes for living it up in then they can keep it.

So if this film about dog fighting pilots doesn’t have a whole lot of dog fighting going on, or even piloting in general… what does it have? Well it seems to mainly be about the short-term relationships created between the clones and those around them – fellow clone or otherwise - and general events that occur while the pilots are assigned to a particular base. There is a “big reveal” about what the opposing nations are really up to but that’s not so much as “revealed” as spread thinly around the film in tiny bits and pieces for the audience to pick up on as you go. There are hints of works such as 1984 with people needing wars and a target for their aggression in their lives in order to remain at peace, which worryingly seems to be slipping over into our real lives. But, let’s face it; war is fast becoming both both profitable and entertaining.

While never stated outright the antagonists of this movie seem to be modelled somewhat WWII US forces – always a popular catch-all enemy for the Japanese media - and flying something akin to a P51 Mustang or it’s contemporaries. The protagonists however, the “European Confederation” seem to be based on a mixture of WWII European and Japanese forces flying what looks very much like a Japanese WWII fighter – the Shinbusen - which in reality never actually left the prototype stage. The setting appears to be a rural late 20th century Europe with a certain amount of post war Americana mixed with British café-racer styling seeping through at times.

Ultimately it’s a good concept which opens up a whole new world for exploring, psychological issues to be wrestled with and aerial battles to be fought... it’s just shame that the scriptwriters decided not to play with any of it. But, perhaps that’s what the four other books in the series were supposed to be doing because the big screen adaptation of this first one certainly wasn’t

And finally, tick-box number three, Yes, there’s a Bassett hound in it. Sadly though it’s about the most emotionally engaging character in the whole film.

Extras:

The DVD version ships with an interview with the Director and some trailers while the Blu-ray version has the same plus a pair of “making of” featurettes.

Sky Crawlers will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray from most high streets and online retailers from 31st May 2010 with the usual discounts available for those who hunt around. It’s worth mentioning that Play are currently offering a “combi-pack” comprised of both the DVD and Blu-ray versions for the same price as the Blu-ray version alone.