sammy24 - 2017-01-11 07:05:17

Perhaps a fitting capstone for Hayao Miyazaki’s life of work, The Wind Rises is a visually-stunning masterpiece with far more mature themes than his previous works. Eschewing the idealized childhood which pervaded his past work and instead focusing on true love and work-life balance, it’s hard not to get the feeling that Hayao is giving us a glimpse into his own life through the lens of Jiro Horikoshi

mjerde - 2015-12-25 00:02:27

So good and so sad at the same time, Ghibli you bastards i´m crying.

lori.schmeler - 2015-07-12 23:30:43

Drove an hour to see this in theaters there was no way I was going to miss the chance to see his last move on the big screen absolutely breathtaking story for those that missed the chance to see it in theaters you will love it all the same but for those who did it's definitely and experience I won't forget anytime soon...

konopelski.walker - 2015-01-24 05:27:39

I just watched this with my family: my father is a bit of an airplane buff but my mother came at it with no preconceptions. However, everyone loved it. The animation was clear and bright. Personally, I found the colors incredibly vivid without being overbearing, which is a difficult balance to find. The film was colored in a way that was reminiscent of my childhood favorites–Disney movies–but the plot was anything but childish.

I found the dream sequences and the theme of the wind brilliant. The dreams reflected the future while tying the story together. The dream land was a place where I think Jirou's heart was. It gave him hope for the future in the form of an Italian with a mustache; it showed him what he needed to see at any point in time.

Throughout the movie, I found the characterization amazing and the dialogue natural. (I did watch English dub.) I was honestly surprised to find out that the voice actors were big-name actors. When I first heard it was dub, I flinched, thinking it would be the typical nearly-mechanical sounding dub, but it wasn't. The voices were always full of emotion that accurately mirrored the faces onscreen.

Beyond that, I think the sound themes were great. There was a particular noise that went along with "evil" mechanical things. This was first heard in the first dream at the beginning of the movie, but reappeared with the earthquake. The music, too, wove into the story gracefully. It accentuated emotions with out overpowering the images onscreen.

In addition, the story is fantastic, and I know it's true. To me, that makes the impact that much stronger. It has a perfect story arch: a boy who has a dream but thinks he can't achieve it, he works to achieve it, he meets a girl, his first attempts fail, he gets the girl but there's a caveat–she's sick, he makes his plane fly, his wife dies. It's a beautiful and heart-rending story with timing that would be difficult to make up without seeming forced.

In all, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would watch it again.

hallie21 - 2015-01-01 12:01:39

The wind rises is a beautiful and stunningly well animated fictional biography of an airplane pilot. The Characters are interesting, and make the entire movie engaging. One can clearly tell that Hayao Miyazaki intended this to be his goodbye.

bernard43 - 2014-12-08 22:55:46

This is a fantastic swansong for the great Hayao Miyazaki. This film is different to other Miyazaki films, as it is more historical and more 'real-life', but there are many imaginary dream sequences which feature gorgeous animation. The story itself is very mature compared to other Miyazaki films, and there are some truly sad and emotional moments. The topic of planes fighting in World War II is something which adults will probably find more interesting than younger children. The music, written by the great Joe Hisaishi is nostalgic and beautiful. Overall, this is a beautiful film. It will leave a long-lasting impression on you, but do not expect to be feeling happy after watching it.

oberbrunner.jessy - 2014-08-10 10:59:39

This is something different. Maybe it's because Miyazaki is an old man, maybe is because he's retiring. The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biography of a famous japanese airplane engineer. It's a beautiful story, with beautifully drawn art and some interesting characters. But I didn't feel the magic I always do with Miyazaki's films, and this one didn't stay in my heart. It's a great film and you should no doubt watch it if you like anime, but don't expect Miyazaki's usual touch. Interestingly, at one point a character says "The artist is creative only for ten years", and although Miyazaki himself had more than 30 years of immense creativity, to put this on film might mean he feels a slight decline in his creative powers, or at least in his willingness to do animation.

nedra.johns - 2014-08-09 19:35:16

Story
The Wind Rises tells the story of plane designer Jiro. The plot isn't as wondrous or even imaginative as one might expect from Miyazaki. However, the film does tell the fascinating life of a real life plane designer that wants to develop beautiful planes in a world that wants to use them for destruction. 8/10

Animation

This is a Miyazaki movie, so as to expect the film is beautifully animated. The flying and dream sequences were personal favorites of mine. The earthquake scene was also beautifully done. 10/10

Sound

A Joe Hisashi score. Seriously that's all I have to say, anyone who's heard his score knows how beautiful his music is and The Wind Rises score is no exception. I found the English Dub somewhat disappointing though. Joseph Gordon-Levitt doesn't really sound like he's trying that hard, and he maintains the same monotone voice throughout most of the film. It's a shame too, because he is one of my favorite American actors, and I thought he would do his character justice. However, the rest of the cast did a stand up job as to expect from a Ghibli dub. 8/10

Character

Jiro is an interesting main character, he wants to make beautiful flying machines for the sake of being able to soar through the air. Unfortunately, his home country wants him to use his machines for destruction. It's interesting to watch Jiro try to make the perfect airplane, and juggle his work with family. Jiro's wife Nahoko is supportive, even though she may want her husband to spend more time with her. 9/10 

Enjoyment: 8/10

Overall

Collectively, The Wind Rises is a truly beautiful movie, with a great story and jaw dropping animation. It is a must see for any Miyazaki/Ghibli fan. It is truly a shame that it lost the Academy Award to Frozen, a movie that is truly basic and boring. The Wind Rises has been licensed by Relatively Media. It has yet to be distributed for home release, but I assume that is soon to come. 9/10

morissette.wyman - 2014-03-20 03:14:38

Hey guys! GoatJesus here. I just saw the Wind Rises yesterday and I feel compelled to do a review--this won’t be a long one so forgive me.

Now, I grew up with Miyazaki. Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away were some of my favorite films as a kid. I’ve done a bit of maturing since then, and while his works hold a special place in my heart--they definitely aren’t as good as I originally thought they were.

When I heard the Wind Rises was going to be his final film, I was really interested to see what he had to dole out. Weirdly, I feel mixed. This movie, is very unusual for him. It’s a biopic about an aircraft designer named Jiro Horikoshi. We follow Jiro from his childhood to his middle ages as he deals with his dream to build planes in a time of war. It does fall into the typical Miyazaki tropes of anti-war, nature and childhood but resembles more of something like The Pianist or Downfall rather than any of his other works.

I get the impression that Miyazaki made this for himself. It’s a piece about planes for one, Ghibli’s name comes from an italian aeronautical term for hot air. Most of his films even revolve around flying. Secondly, Jiro himself is probably someone Miyazaki admired. You can tell there was a lot of passion put into the movie and the entire thing was made out to be a dedication to the man. Generally with his character, there was a theme about crafting beautiful things. Not for money. Not for war. But for turning dreams into reality. Sounds a little bit like making films. There was a certain sense of Miyazaki as a creator coming full circle as I watched. I was even inspired at points. In fact, the bests parts were the little dream sequences Jiro had with the Italian Aeronautical Engineer Caproni. They were captivating and wonderfully written.

Speaking of wonderful, the soundtrack worked perfectly with this film and helped lift spirits, even in the slower bits. It was done by Joe Hisaishi, but like the film itself, is unusual. It has distinctly italian sounding strings and some traditional orchestral stuff--but it’s sort of different...and that’s not a bad thing in this case. It’s lovely to listen to. The ending theme Vapor Trails moved me so much I stayed throughout the credits just to hear it. The animation was even more beautiful. I’d often just stare in awe at how much movement was on screen at once. It’s a bit worse looking than, say, Howl’s Moving Castle in terms of detail, but I was under the impression Miyazaki was working with a bit more traditional methods rather than using computers to help. Shots of sunset and snow were absolutely breathtaking and while Miyazaki's style may turn certain people off choosing smooth and loose animation over stiff and detailed, it really is at its peak here. But it does feel like this could have been a live action film over an animation--and I wish it justified it’s medium just a tad more.

Indeed, this movie is good, but it’s stunted by problems. It’s generally slow and brooding and feels rather--formal. There’s a romance in the movie, but it’s not focused on as much as I’d like and feels rather sudden and jarring. Jiro himself was kind of a bland protagonist and showed very reserved emotions and felt disconnected because of it. It’s odd, because it makes me wonder if it’s Hideaki Anno’s acting behind the microphone or Jiro’s actual personality that’s rather mellow and monotone. Seeing certain facial expressions in the animation in contrast with his voice makes me think it is Anno though. Speaking of Anno, I think the only reason he was cast as the main character was because he was Miyazaki's buddy--cause as far as I know he ain’t no actor and sounds too old for the character 60% of the time. All the other voice actors worked great though. The dub also seems decent with the exception of Joseph Gordon Levitt, who sounds so stilted in an attempt to mimic Anno’s bland performance. But Stanley Tucci as Caparoni is absolutely fantastic.

In terms of other issues, I feel as though the film could have trimmed a good 30 minutes out of it’s two hour runtime. The mixing for sound was also strange. It used human made sound effects for some of the bigger sequences. I feel as though it was trying to highlight certain aspects of technology and power--but it came across as distracting and bizarre.

At the end of the day, it really does shine. with some solid thematic closure of ascension and beautiful sound and visuals it makes it worth a watch. Thanks for watching! I’ll catch you guys later.

SCORE:

Animation: 9.5

Sound: 8

Character: 6

Story: 7

Overall:
7.5