Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good and Pretty Gruesome
Review: Barefoot Gen is based on a famous award winning japanese comic book. Frankly you're better to read the original than sit through this sentimentalized and trite offering. While there are moments of spectacle (the bombing and the horrific aftermath), it's basicaly a "good feeling" movie set in Hiroshima.While it might've been worth renting, it's definitly not a "must have". Much better you spend your cash on the masterpiece "Grave Of the Fireflies". The DVD includes some liner notes but no additional information. The picture quality is fine -- no particular problems.
Rating: 
Summary: A few nice moments, but nothing special
Review: Barefoot Gen is based on a famous award winning japanese comic book. Frankly you're better to read the original than sit through this sentimentalized and trite offering. While there are moments of spectacle (the bombing and the horrific aftermath), it's basicaly a "good feeling" movie set in Hiroshima. While it might've been worth renting, it's definitly not a "must have". Much better you spend your cash on the masterpiece "Grave Of the Fireflies". The DVD includes some liner notes but no additional information. The picture quality is fine -- no particular problems.
Rating: 
Summary: this is an absolute MUST
Review: even though this is not your typical action thrill ride, it is well worth checking out. it is a very influential film.
Rating:
Summary: Gotta get 'Gen'
Review: Few animated films can be comfortablly labeled "important". Mamoru Shinzaki's "Barefoot Gen" is, without a doubt, one of these films. Based on Keiji Nakazawa's poignant graphic novel, the film tells the story of a family and how their lives are affected by the atomic bomb dropped on Hisroshima in 1945. Shinzaki perfectly adapts Nakazawa's somewhat akward style of drawing and adds dimension to these already strong characterizations. The animation is a bit on the stiff side. The style of animation looks a bit like what we stereotypically think of when picturing anime. While there are moments of great beauty and grace (mostly in the film's backgrounds), the animation is closer to Speed Racer than Princess Mononoke. The film elegantly re-tells Gen's tragic story of survival, streamlining the narative for the big screen. Missing from the film are several charming vignettes as well as two of Gen's brothers. Focusing mainly on Gen and his actions and responses, the film loses some of the comic's political vigor but retains a strong voice against war. Never is the film anti-American. It matter of factly cries out against the pointlessness of war. It is mainly through the horrors witnessed in uncompromising graphic detail (even more so in the comic) that this message is most vivid. And yet Barefoot Gen is ultimately a story of survival. Gen is a hero and his actions speak of the amazing potential of the human spirit when faced with the unspeakable. The only thing you will be longing for after the film's somber closing is more. Like "Grave of the Fireflies", "Barefoot Gen" is more than worthy of a spot in any collector's library.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, relentless film is brilliantly directed
Review: Few animated films can be comfortablly labeled "important". Mamoru Shinzaki's "Barefoot Gen" is, without a doubt, one of these films. Based on Keiji Nakazawa's poignant graphic novel, the film tells the story of a family and how their lives are affected by the atomic bomb dropped on Hisroshima in 1945. Shinzaki perfectly adapts Nakazawa's somewhat akward style of drawing and adds dimension to these already strong characterizations. The animation is a bit on the stiff side. The style of animation looks a bit like what we stereotypically think of when picturing anime. While there are moments of great beauty and grace (mostly in the film's backgrounds), the animation is closer to Speed Racer than Princess Mononoke. The film elegantly re-tells Gen's tragic story of survival, streamlining the narative for the big screen. Missing from the film are several charming vignettes as well as two of Gen's brothers. Focusing mainly on Gen and his actions and responses, the film loses some of the comic's political vigor but retains a strong voice against war. Never is the film anti-American. It matter of factly cries out against the pointlessness of war. It is mainly through the horrors witnessed in uncompromising graphic detail (even more so in the comic) that this message is most vivid. And yet Barefoot Gen is ultimately a story of survival. Gen is a hero and his actions speak of the amazing potential of the human spirit when faced with the unspeakable. The only thing you will be longing for after the film's somber closing is more. Like "Grave of the Fireflies", "Barefoot Gen" is more than worthy of a spot in any collector's library.
Rating:
Summary: Gotta get 'Gen'
Review: Few animated films can be comfortablly labeled "important". Mamoru Shinzaki's "Barefoot Gen" is, without a doubt, one of these films. Based on Keiji Nakazawa's poignant graphic novel, the film tells the story of a family and how their lives are affected by the atomic bomb dropped on Hisroshima in 1945. Shinzaki perfectly adapts Nakazawa's somewhat akward style of drawing and adds dimension to these already strong characterizations. The animation is a bit on the stiff side. The style of animation looks a bit like what we stereotypically think of when picturing anime. While there are moments of great beauty and grace (mostly in the film's backgrounds), the animation is closer to Speed Racer than Princess Mononoke. The film elegantly re-tells Gen's tragic story of survival, streamlining the narative for the big screen. Missing from the film are several charming vignettes as well as two of Gen's brothers. Focusing mainly on Gen and his actions and responses, the film loses some of the comic's political vigor but retains a strong voice against war. Never is the film anti-American. It matter of factly cries out against the pointlessness of war. It is mainly through the horrors witnessed in uncompromising graphic detail (even more so in the comic) that this message is most vivid. And yet Barefoot Gen is ultimately a story of survival. Gen is a hero and his actions speak of the amazing potential of the human spirit when faced with the unspeakable. The only thing you will be longing for after the film's somber closing is more. Like "Grave of the Fireflies", "Barefoot Gen" is more than worthy of a spot in any collector's library.
Rating:
Summary: Horrors of War, Triumph of Human Spirit
Review: I recently watched Barefoot Gen and some of the imagery is still sticking with me. I'll avoid a plot summary and cover the highlights. The Story
A great story with two important messages. Barefoot Gen depicts, rather gruesomely, the horrors of a nuclear blast. With our current President considering expanding tactical nuclear weapons programs, its story still hits disturbingly close to home.
The other message is more personal, told in the story of a boy named Gen and how the blast affects his family. Oftentimes touching, sometimes downright depressing, Gen's story often worked me to tears. The resounding message is that bad times pass and that a person's strength is enough to last through the worst. The Sound
This is the worst part of the movie. The sound is not at all effective, sometimes sounding like a soap opera or game show. It can often detract from the somber tone of the movie.
The dubbing is sub-par, especially the voice of Gen, he has the exact same voice of any boy in any anime in the history of mankind. You know the one, that scratchy, arrogant, annoying voice. I wish that someone would re-score this movie; it would definitely take it up a notch and add to its effectiveness. The Animation
The animation in this movie is quite inconsistent. At times, it achieves a dramatic cinematic style with moving camera angles and stunning, fluid movement. At other times, the slapstick seemed kind of inappropriate, and fulfills the stereotype of Japanese Animation set by Robotech and the like. To add to this, it occasionally suffers from the animation trick where only the mouth moves and while the body remains perfectly still. If you would like to see a Japanese movie that earns its merits from compelling animation, I suggest Akira or Princess Mononoke. Despite its shortcomings, I still definitely recommend Barefoot Gen; it's a beautiful story and a chilling reminder of an epic tragedy that is too often forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: Horrors of War, Triumph of Human Spirit
Review: I recently watched Barefoot Gen and some of the imagery is still sticking with me. I'll avoid a plot summary and cover the highlights. The Story
A great story with two important messages. Barefoot Gen depicts, rather gruesomely, the horrors of a nuclear blast. With our current President considering expanding tactical nuclear weapons programs, its story still hits disturbingly close to home.
The other message is more personal, told in the story of a boy named Gen and how the blast affects his family. Oftentimes touching, sometimes downright depressing, Gen's story often worked me to tears. The resounding message is that bad times pass and that a person's strength is enough to last through the worst. The Sound
This is the worst part of the movie. The sound is not at all effective, sometimes sounding like a soap opera or game show. It can often detract from the somber tone of the movie.
The dubbing is sub-par, especially the voice of Gen, he has the exact same voice of any boy in any anime in the history of mankind. You know the one, that scratchy, arrogant, annoying voice. I wish that someone would re-score this movie; it would definitely take it up a notch and add to its effectiveness. The Animation
The animation in this movie is quite inconsistent. At times, it achieves a dramatic cinematic style with moving camera angles and stunning, fluid movement. At other times, the slapstick seemed kind of inappropriate, and fulfills the stereotype of Japanese Animation set by Robotech and the like. To add to this, it occasionally suffers from the animation trick where only the mouth moves and while the body remains perfectly still. If you would like to see a Japanese movie that earns its merits from compelling animation, I suggest Akira or Princess Mononoke. Despite its shortcomings, I still definitely recommend Barefoot Gen; it's a beautiful story and a chilling reminder of an epic tragedy that is too often forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: A VERY MOVING CARTOON
Review: I rented this movie one day just as a curiosity piece. It looked different from the rest of the boxes in the Anime section. No robots or half naked women or vampires or anything futuristic. It turned out to be a touching story of a boy & his family's struggle in Japan during the closing days of WWII. The animated bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most disturbing scenes I have ever watched-one can only imagine the horror of being there in person. But its the aftermath of the bombing that sends chills down my spine. This film is not Pro-Japanese or Pro-American. It tells it like it was. This is the kind of film parents should show children, teachers should show students. It transcends all ethnicity and makes the viewer think. I wish that it wasn't anime because a film like this needs more exposure than to be put into a category with few outside interests. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, then make it a point to.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and True
Review: I saw Barefoot Gen recently and I must say, this is truly the most disturbing anime I've ever seen. I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli's "Grave of the Fireflies" so when I saw the reviews for this I wanted to see if it would live up to Fireflies. Well I must say it's a good contest. While this movie isn't dead serious the whole way through like Fireflies, it does get very serious when the bomb drops on Hiroshima.(Try to imagine a bomb dropping halfway through My Neighbor Totoro) Let's get on with the technical stuff. The Audio quality is about as good as the next film from the early 90's. Streamline updated a few of the soundeffects such as puching and what not. The sound is alright. The Music is pretty basic and nothing special. The video quality is also pretty basic aswell. I was pretty upset that the film is still not availible in widescreen like it should be. I don't know what kind of people they think are going to watch this movie, but these days to not release a movie in widescreen or at least give you an option is just plain rediculous. Overall I'm truly at a lost for words at this point. I just can't get over the incredably disturbing images shown that were so graphic I'd rather not describe them and at the same time highlight the lightheartedness of the some of the scenes. I recomend this movie anyone. Everyone should see it at least once.
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