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Posted

Great visuals, especially the landscapes look like painted background art from the anime.

Here's a video of Oshii playing the Wii game & some nice gameplay at the end:

http://sky-crawlers.namco-ch.net/asx/trailer_500k.asx

The background music remind me of AC3. Though the female pilots have changed a bit since Rena Hirose.

http://sky-crawlers.namco-ch.net/index2.html

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
Judging by the cockpit panel and silhouette of the aircraft in the trailer, I'd say the alternate timeline would be somewhere around late 1945 or 1946-ish. The aircraft silhouette looked like that for the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden

Did the Allies tested the Shinden after the war ended ? How did it fare against Allied fighters of that time ?

Posted

The aircraft is undoubtedly based on the Shinden, but a somewhat upgraded one, rather like how a Spitfire Mk. XXII was practically a different aircraft to the Mk. I, though still sharing some of the classic line.

The same goes for the "Mustang-a-like"; to me it looks like a Ta. 152 crossed with a Mustang.

Posted
The same goes for the "Mustang-a-like"; to me it looks like a Ta. 152 crossed with a Mustang.

I'd rather call it "Wulf-a-like" :)

Didn't Space Cruiser Yamato also have a fighter design based on the FW-190?

Posted (edited)
I'd rather call it "Wulf-a-like" :)

Didn't Space Cruiser Yamato also have a fighter design based on the FW-190?

That was Captain Harlock.

I say the Sky Rai is a mix between FW190 and P-75

Edited by TSP
Posted
I'd rather call it "Wulf-a-like" :)

Yes, probably more accurate - I first saw the design a little while ago and was going from memory; I revisited the design after posting that and yes, it does have more of a FW about it - or, as I say, a Ta. 152.

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
Posted (edited)

Japanese Blu-Ray and DVD release is set for the 25th of Febuary 2009. The price for the limited edition box set is kind of nerd appropriate. Only 41000 Yen (43050Yen incl. Tax) !!! Not bad for a Blu-Ray box set with only 1 feature presentation and the Kotobukiya pre-painted display model (4800Yen) in 1/72 scale.

http://sky.crawlers.jp/tsushin/news/2009225-dvdbluray.html

Edited by TSP
  • 2 months later...
Posted

got to watch it. Oshii seems to have reigned in his musings somewhat but I think it was still needless distracting. Animation was okay, weak for a theatrical but okay for an OAV or for a really well produced TV show.

Aerial battle stuff was fun, the dog fights anyways, the larger battle got a little confusing I thought as to what the principle characters were doing and where.

Lots of trademark Oshii stuff here, the dog, the music box, big unblinking grey eyes.

If you're into Oshii, you'll like it, if you're not... well, it's more of the same, boring self indulgent musings punctuated by violence.

Posted
If you're into Oshii, you'll like it, if you're not... well, it's more of the same, boring self indulgent musings punctuated by violence.

I don't exactly like oshii...but i like fighter jets. :D

A friend told me that the total fighter pr0n in the whole film is less than 15 mins though. :(

And the thing that struck him most is the awesome engine noises. :lol: Otherwise its pretty dry. Can't wait for srts to be released.

  • 2 months later...
Posted

FYI

I picked up the DVD at Wal-mart today. I will check it out tonight. :)

I think it's so cool that I can get something like this at Wal-mart of all places. Shows how far the progress of anime distribution has come. I remember the days where I'd be lucky to find something like this as a bootleg fan dubbed VHS tape for rent at the local comic shop.

Posted

I watched it (subbed) a couple months back and liked it a lot. Gave my thoughts on it in the "current anime" thread.

Posted (edited)
Worth it or not? Thinking about picking up the DVD.

Graham

If you seen Ghost in the Shell 2, you know what to expect more or less. Slow pacing with a thoughtful/cryptic story. Even if you don't like it too much, the really great--but short and sparse--dogfights inbetween makes up for it I guess. If you can find a Blu-Ray for it, it looks great in hi-def.

Edited by shiroikaze
Posted
Worth it or not? Thinking about picking up the DVD.

Graham

Definitely worth Netflixing, don't know about buying it though.

Posted
If you seen Ghost in the Shell 2, you know what to expect more or less. Slow pacing with a thoughtful/cryptic story. Even if you don't like it too much, the really great--but short and sparse--dogfights inbetween makes up for it I guess. If you can find a Blu-Ray for it, it looks great in hi-def.

I would second that motion. I enjoyed it even if it was slow paced, but I expected as much given who the director is. As you say, if you've watched Ghost in the Shell 1 or 2, or Patlabor 2 for that matter, you know what to expect. Although I would say the the flying scenes were evenly spaced throughout whereas Patlabor 2 had very little action. The setting is an air base so you have interruptions throughout where they have to scramble, etc.

The animation quality is top notch. I liked the feel of it with the WWII era nostalgia. It was almost as if technology only progressed a little bit after WWII. The aircraft is more advanced than any WWII aircraft, but there is no jet technology.

The dogfight scenes were awesome and I thought the story was interesting. It's hard to recommend a buy for the DVD as it is really a matter of personal preference. I bought the DVD and I didn't regret it. But, you have some people that absolutely hated the first Ghost in the Shell, and I thought it was really good.

Posted

Finally had a chance to see this. Oshii has toned down a bit, but I think instead he's gone with even more silence... not that that's bad, since I actually like the way the movie is set up.

The dogfights were pretty good. I don't think they needed to be drawn out affairs. The last dogfight was the best and had the most impact. After watching it a few times and thinking about it a bit, it makes sense why

the last dogfight ended the way it did.

Posted

I'll be honest, the art didn't mesh with crap, and the movie was boring as sin. I wouldn't even bother recommending it for a storyline that went NO WHERE until the end.

Posted
I'll be honest, the art didn't mesh with crap, and the movie was boring as sin. I wouldn't even bother recommending it for a storyline that went NO WHERE until the end.

Wow, I was thinking of getting this one on DVD. Its thats boring?? :unsure:

Posted
Wow, I was thinking of getting this one on DVD. Its thats boring?? unsure.gif

There's a scene where you see a guy spend about 2 minutes folding a piece of paper, maybe 3 or so times.

There are maybe 4 characters or more that are a complete waste of time and animation and yet they even received lines.

You wouldn't of even known these characters are "Teens" as they put it without it brought up a few times and never really explained until 3/4ths thru the film.

You don't even really have a clear understanding on who the enemy is or why there is even a war going on, you just know there is.

The enemy has an ace pilot, you see him maybe 4 times for 30 seconds each, but all you see is his plane, you don't know ANYTHING about him or why he's even really appearing...well you know why but it's discussed for like 10 minutes and it's garbage dialogue.

There's even a segment where 3 characters go fin bowling.......BOWLING!!! And they stand there for a good while and wait for their balls to return to them.......WASTE.

There are a lot of moments where they speak english so I found it useless to even put on the dub track.

And again, the animation of the characters and most of the environment around them is 2D while the planes are VERY well drawn out in 3D and "life like"...sort of what I had issues with on Macross Zero. The CG is very good, but doesn't mesh too well with the 2D. However didn't have that problem from Frontier cause while it was CG'ed it was cel shaded.

Again, boring animation, boring and almost non existent plot, characters are not driven to do squat but waste your time. I could pretty much sum up all the bull crap in the 2 hours i wasted in 30 seconds but I wont even bother.

Posted (edited)
There's a scene where you see a guy spend about 2 minutes folding a piece of paper, maybe 3 or so times.

There are maybe 4 characters or more that are a complete waste of time and animation and yet they even received lines.

You wouldn't of even known these characters are "Teens" as they put it without it brought up a few times and never really explained until 3/4ths thru the film.

You don't even really have a clear understanding on who the enemy is or why there is even a war going on, you just know there is.

The enemy has an ace pilot, you see him maybe 4 times for 30 seconds each, but all you see is his plane, you don't know ANYTHING about him or why he's even really appearing...well you know why but it's discussed for like 10 minutes and it's garbage dialogue.

There's even a segment where 3 characters go fin bowling.......BOWLING!!! And they stand there for a good while and wait for their balls to return to them.......WASTE.

There are a lot of moments where they speak english so I found it useless to even put on the dub track.

And again, the animation of the characters and most of the environment around them is 2D while the planes are VERY well drawn out in 3D and "life like"...sort of what I had issues with on Macross Zero. The CG is very good, but doesn't mesh too well with the 2D. However didn't have that problem from Frontier cause while it was CG'ed it was cel shaded.

Again, boring animation, boring and almost non existent plot, characters are not driven to do squat but waste your time. I could pretty much sum up all the bull crap in the 2 hours i wasted in 30 seconds but I wont even bother.

Just to provide a counterpoint.

There is significance behind the newspaper folding. It's not 2 minutes, he only takes less than a minute to fold the newspaper, but he folds it in a very specific way.

Towards the latter half of the movie another character folds it in the exact same way. That sequence was meant to clue the audience in on the possibility that most of them are actually clones of someone else.

The enemy has an ace pilot that you never see, yes. However, if you sit down and think about everything they talk about in the movie,

plus the newspaper folding, and the broken matches

then it becomes very obvious WHY you don't need to know anything about him, because

you already know more than you need to about him.

Heck, just look at that very last dogfight, Kannami

is blown away by the exact same maneuver he uses in his very first dogfight.

Those are the only two scenes in the whole movie served up on slow mo... that's already a big enough hint.

Yes, the bowling scene is slow... but I think it's very symbolic of how Kannami and Kusanagi don't have much to look forward to in life, living life without a spark so to speak, whereas Tokino is more of a live-in-the-here-and-now type.

So while some people wouldn't waste money on the DVD, I would actually spend the money to get a blu-ray of this.

EDIT: So I'm a loser and went back to watch the bowling scene. Kannami has the skill and performs well, but has nothing really to live for. Kusanagi has simply stopped caring and hence doesn't even get a strike. Tokino is still full of youthful exuberance, gets a strike, and is overjoyed by it.

Edited by Akilae
Posted

I think by now people should know what they're going to get with Oshii. If you think his movies are thoughtful and philosophically interesting then you'll enjoy sky crawlers. If you think his movies are boring and little more than his intellectual masturbation translated into film, then you won't like sky crawlers.

Posted

I watched this movie a couple of days ago, I hadn't much hope about it (got bored of Innocence just 15 minutes into the film and thus was hessitant about watching another Oshii movie).

But I liked it, the history hooked me (even if I suspected they were

all clones

from the very beginning).

Make sure to watch the extra scene after the final credits.

Posted

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but obviously at least one person here didn't.

Rent it/Netflix it, see for yourself, then decide whether or not you want to buy it.

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