[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by lubczyk

If you want intelligent, Read War and Peace, not watch this. Don't try to pass off a couple instances of probable symbolizes and a pacifist message as intelligent. Just because one can commit their thoughts to audio, text or film does not make it intelligent.

Intelligent and philosophical are two things the Sky Crawlers is not.

Spoiler for My Thoughts:

This film's praises make the same mistake as Hollywood does - Just because a movie has a message does not make it intelligent. This movie is not intelligent. It just states it's message of "War is bad and is endless" without any critical analysis to back it up. It's nothing more than an assertion.

For this movie to be an intelligent message about war, it would have to way the various avenues besides the clear biases of "War is bad and therefore endless." It doesn't examine the motives of both sides fighting. It doesn't examine any other possible avenues. It doesn't examine diplomacy. It doesn't examine the consequences of losing or winning of any of the sides. It doesn't examine the history behind the conflict. It's message is the means to an end. That's not how life works and absolutely not how intelligent media does either.

The questions about the Kildren the movie asks are not resolved or explored in any meaningful way. The central idea of "War is Bad and therefore endless" is not questioned and therefore it cannot not be critically analyzed or argued. Besides, the characters still fight besides making these assertions so it legitimizes their arguments even more. If War is so bad and endless, why do they focus and glorify the fighting? "War is bad and therefore endless" message is nothing more than a punchline to appeal tot he Japanese psyche while they are merely watching a simplistic action/drama movie.

Well, again, if "war and peace" is all you saw in this movie, then the limitation is as much yours as the movie's. In my very first post in this thread after watching it, I've already described The Sky Crawlers as a whodunit — a mystery based on sci-fi concepts (the original novelist is known for being a detective-fiction writer) — rather than as a "war movie" or an "action film".

To me, the central idea is about Suito Kusanagi, rather than about the war itself. The war provided a backdrop for a series of character studies leading to an inevitable conclusion. If it's philosophy per se you're looking for, then this movie will of course disappoint — Oshii had been very tame about applying philosophy to this movie as compared to, say, Ghost in the Shell. That's why, all along, I've been describing The Sky Crawlers as his most accessible film to date — it's accessible because of its relative lack of moralising, which Oshii is usually fond of.

The "war" in this movie is peripheral. That you see it as the central theme suggests that you've entirely missed its point, so it's no wonder that you dislike it. You wanted a different movie which you didn't get, so whose fault is that? False advertising, perhaps.