Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, but..
Review: Oh so sad.. Don't buy this expecting sweetness and light. I loved the animation and was pulled in to the story, but be wary of your audience that you buy this for. Its realism is staggering and subject matter grave. NOT FOR LITTLE ONES!
Rating: 
Summary: My 2 cents worth: Should be Required Viewing
Review: With nearly 300 reviews in the queue, I'm not sure anyone will ever read this.... BUT, if you do, then know that this movie can't be recommended enough. If you've read any other comments, then you know that this is a depressing film. Oh yeah. I actually read the script about a year before I ordered the movie. And I broke into tears reading the script!! We're talking powerful stuff. Now, we've all seen war movies and gory movies and we read the newspapers with the horrors of our modern life, so you'd think this would be nothing. I think the brilliance of this movie is that by presenting it in anime form it disarms the mind, and allows us to really become the characters. Since they aren't real, we transpose ourselves into their roles, and their roles are heartbreaking. Alone, and betrayed by adults both familial and strange : adults who ought to know better. But this is real life. We know it. We know that this is how adults turn on others, and how they turn on the weak, and become selfish. The children symbolize the weakness and helplessness of man in a modern and indifferent world. In a sense, we are all children, and we are all abandoned. If you have a heart, if you have intellect and a mind willing to listen and see, then you will not fail to be touched by this movie. Now, I will say that this is not necessarily an anti-war movie. I mean, on the other hand, is anyone really pro-war? This movie tries to merely speak some truth. War is a reality, and in some cases a sad necessity, but in my view the real point of the story is to show how thin, how very thin, is the veneer of civilisation.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping film about the effects of war on the civillians..
Review: The last time I saw this anime was back in 2001. Its been two years, and until now I was afraid to revisit this film. As someone pointed out before, this isn't a movie that you'll want to watch everyday. The depressing reality of the two main characters', young children, fates will make you feel terrible.
During the course of the movie, Setsuko and Seita have a few moments of hapiness which never really seem that bright since you already learn of their demise at the beginning of the film. This is something which I didn't expect out of Studio Ghibli; heck, I didn't even see the traditional blue Totoro logo at the start of the film! Either way, there's always a lingering bit of negativity throughout this movie, but then again, whenever war occurs, there will always be death to follow.This new DVD release of Grave of the Firelies has 2 discs; one with the film and some bonus features, and the other with more bonus features and storyboarded scenes that didn't make it into the final cut of the movie. Of most interest here would probably be the COMPLETE storyboards and the Roger Ebert segment on disc 1. Ebert also brings to light some good reasons why this film probably wouldn't be better if it were live action. Plus, there's an interesting interview with the Director of Grave of the Fireflies, as he comments on how Hayao Miyazaki encouraged him while he made this movie. Well, if you've never seen this film before this would be a good DVD to pick up. (The 98' DVD release is poorer; much less features and its an un-anamorphic un-remastered widescreen) And if you have seen this, then it might be a good idea to get this DVD and show all your friends and family. I'm pretty sure that it will touch their hearts like it did mine.
Rating: 
Summary: ...but, on the other hand
Review: though this anime is well done it dwells upon and drags out every opportunity for pathos. Doing so it degenerates from a potentially powerful statement into soap opera. My suggestion is to get one of Mizuguchi's other works.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I really enjoyed Grave of the Fireflies. It was excellent. This anime is a historical one. The setting was war but it was really about the children. What they had to endure to survive. It ran through all your emotions from sad to mad.
Rating:
Summary: A New Outlook
Review: This movie is by far one of the most true, and depressing tales of WWII ever told. It gives an honest, open look from the perspective of innocent victims caught in a cruel war. It is not gory, and doesn't provide the desired "shock effect" of many war movies. Instead it brings out the cold reality of such times and sheds a new light on the true costs of war.
Rating:
Summary: Very powerful, willfully disconsolate tragedy
Review: Grave of the Fireflies is definitely a powerful experience. The animation is beautifully done, but the story is mournfully distressing as it visualizes the horrific firebombing of an idealized and enduring Japan at war, and the effects on a population and this little boy and his family. But all this unfolds without any awareness of Japanese atrocities elsewhere during WWII. The entire point of view is that of a young boy, with a father away at war, having been left without a mother and responsible for the care of his very young sister. A series of experiences spans a few months after the destruction of his family life and home. Grave of the Fireflies is worth seeing, though picking 'the right time' will be difficult for such a sad tale. I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be: it would surely have an unpredictable and heavy impact on children, but adults should be entitled to a wider point of view. I'm not diminishing the significance of this movie as a poignantly beautiful tragedy, but the adult in me couldn't help registering the otherwise untold context of that horrible time in human history. If you appreciate tragic stories and quality animation, then this is definitely worth seeing. You might consider renting this movie. I sold mine on Amazon marketplace after watching it. It is certainly a high quality DVD of a fine animated feature -- I just couldn't think when I would want to watch it again ... very angst-inducing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best animated films I've ever seen
Review: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES is very sad. Note that I say that the movie is sad, not depressing. A great film critic told me that great films aren't depressing. Only terrible movies are. He is right. Great films can make you cry, but why should that make them depressing? That means the movie hits you on an emotional level, which is what the greatest movies do. I'm convinced now that the best animaters in the world aren't from Disney. They're from Japan, like Hayao Miyazaki (the greatest living animater in the world) and Isao Takahata, a colleague of Miyazaki's who made this one. This film is so emotionally powerful that it actually succeeded in fulfilling another requirement I have about great movies. It makes me forget I'm watching the movie and make me feel as if I actually am INSIDE the film, experiencing what the characters are feeling. The movie is happening to me. If that last line sounds like a cliche to you, okay. So what? Great movies do that to you, and GRAVE OF THE FIRELFIES did it to me. The story is simple. Two Japanese siblings, a 14 year old boy and a 4 year old girl lose their parents in WWII, and it isn't long before they are completely on their own. They end up relying only on themselves to stay alive. The film was adapted from a highly acclaimed book in Japan, which I've been told is based on the real WWII experiences of its author. Like the greatest animated films I've seen this one is filled with images of complete originality and power. The only one I will mention in this review is a shot of a bunch of fireflies surrounding the children. It's a scene of indescribable beauty. But what happens after that turns it into a scene of unbelievable sadness. By the end of the film tears were in my eyes, something I usually don't do while watching a movie. If a film tells me it's based on a true story, that doesn't always get my attention. Isao Takahata wisely does not let audiences know this at any point in the movie, but what really made this film hit me emotionally is that it happens to two innocent Japanese children. They're the victims of our American military forces. And let us remember that we just bombed the country of Iraq. What if there are right now two Iraqi children, brother and sister, who are victims of the bombings we have done? What if they too have to fend for themselves just to stay alive? Perhaps with this highly likely scenario playing out for real, this film is perfect viewing for 2003, fifteen years after its original release GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES ties with SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE as the greatest animated film ever made. I would like to explain this in my review but to do so would use up my word limit. They are also films on my list of the greatest films I've ever seen. note: I plan to write an essay explaining my three film tie.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: "Grave of the Fireflies" is a noble attempt to deliver a strong anti-war message to children, but the film is remarkable mostly because the hell of war is graphically shown in cartoon form. If the movie had been live action rather than animation, I'm sure it would have been criticized for its unrelenting misery and its somewhat maudlin manipulation of the viewer's emotions. At the beginning of the movie we learn the fate of the two main characters, a young brother and his even younger sister. So there are few surprises, and the unrelieved suffering of the children becomes tedious rather than profound. Granted, there is artistry here. Much of the animation is beautiful and demonstrates the Japanese reverence for nature, while there is a faithful historical rendering of time and place. There is also a subtext at work: what happens to the young boy is a metaphor for what happened to Japan. Younger children may find the experience affecting but far too disturbing, while discriminating adults will most likely be turned off by the cloying sentiment. For a truly harrowing and heartbreaking film about the effects of war on children, "Grave of the Fireflies" compares unfavorably in my opinion to "Forbidden Games."
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS DOUBLE-DISC EDITION
Review: Isao Takahata's moving anime drama Grave of the Fireflies gets the deluxe treatment from Central Park on this release. The film is presented in a standard full-frame transfer. English and Japanese soundtracks are both rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. English subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by professors Theodore F. Cook and Haruko Taya Cook, interviews with the director and film critic Roger Ebert, biographies of the director and the story's author, storyboards, the original trailer, the U.S. trailer, and a documentary about the restoration process used on the film. This is an outstanding release that will be of value to any film fan. - Perry Seibert
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