Rating: 
Summary: What a sad story
Review: When I watched this movie, I felt it was what Akiyuki Nozaka wanted to show almost 15 years ago. Story was simple and straight-forward and some important parts looked missing. But I strongly believe most of viewers will understand there are such weak victums in the war behind victory and defeat. In this story, the death was an only savior to them. I know this author is a very famous for anti-war activities and I was able to imagine sad ending of this story. But I'm sure everybody understands what war destroys and cause misery to ordinary citizens. I want more people in the world watch this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A Universal Story of the Dangers of War and Pride
Review: I watched this for the first time with my Japanese wife, and we were both moved to tears by the power of the film. Without giving away to much of the plot, the film tells the story of two Japanese children-- a brother and sister-- and their struggle to survive following WWII firebombings. "Grave of the Fireflies" demonstrates the special power of animation. I doubt the story would create the same emotional impact if it were made into a live action film. The animation allows the film to truly enter the realm of the universal. These two children could just as easily be American or African or from any country for that matter. And the imagery and artistry of the animation leaves a incredibly lasting impact. Not simply an anti-war film (although it creates one of the strongest condemnations of war I have ever seen), it also deals with the dangers of pride and the need for humility to survive a devasting circumstance. You will be moved by this film.
Rating:
Summary: A well put together Anime DVD?
Review: I was suprised that Central Park Media did such a good job putting together this DVD. I mean, fully animated opening, a decent cover, securing an interview with Roger Ebert (!), and, for the first time for this Anime distributor, secure an actual interview with the actual creators (no text interviews here, boys and girls). This company doesn't do stuff like this--never. Remember their first batch of DVD's? They looked like bootlegs (read "ANIME DVD" on the side and had Chinese subtitles). The film is a five, but I really want to rate the DVD (by giving it a 4) because for all this time Central Park Media was on comparison with that other destroyer of great films, Manga Entertainment (they release ... DVD's). I have one gripe, maybe a few. The new REMASTER is ..., I mean, what did that enhance? Nothing. The transfer looks like the VHS.... Also, when you want to watch the film in its Japanese version...you don't get the ORIGINAL version. You get the English version with the Japanese voice-overs (including "Grave of the Fireflies" over the original japanese letters in the opening credits really irked me.) Well, what more can you ask for. They did a pretty good job. Hey, they could have added some ... dual layer and had the friggin' thing pause on ya. So, overall. Movie: 5. DVD: 4.
Rating:
Summary: BEST WAR MOVIE EVER, animated or not
Review: this movie was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good and soooooooooo sad. its not like other anime which has too much action, its sooooooooooooooo depressing and beautifully animated
Rating:
Summary: Review of the 2-disc DVD remastered edition
Review: This remarkable Japanese animated film has been compared to the likes of SCHINDLER'S LIST, although it is probably more apt to compare it to the great 1952 live-action French film THE FORBIDDEN GAMES, which is also a war-time tragedy involving a small girl and her older male companion. Both FORBIDDEN GAMES and GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES use the same approach to convey an anti-war message: rather than depicting the violent atrocities of war (GRAVE is only rated PG), they depict the wounded souls of children as a result of war. Both films use the theme of a little girl forming a "bond" with little animals as sort of an anchor for the plot. Both films also show, in no uncertain terms, the adults' lack of understanding towards the children's emotional crisis, thus making their predicaments all the more tragic. But GRAVE stands out, as Roger Ebert points out in his interview segment on the 2-disc DVD, because it is an animated film. A film like GRAVE repudiates the conventional belief that a cartoon cannot convey the same emotional impact as a live-action film. In fact, says Ebert, it is precisely the fact that it is DRAWN that a cartoon can often impact the viewers in ways a live-action film can't. The new 2-disc DVD set from Central Park Media (which also made the 1-disc DVD version in 1998) has an improved picture quality compared to the overly brown and yellow transfer of the old DVD. It looks cleaner and less grainy than the old transfer. Colors look much better; sand on a beach actually looks like sand instead of mustard. And flesh tones are more realistic. But what I find lacking is sharpness. The picture still looks a bit too soft for my liking. The supplement has a segment on the video transfer process, and it shows a technician applying edge enhancement to the print to increase its sharpness. Obviously, it didn't quite help. The source material being used for the transfer was probably not very pristine to begin with. The new transfer also looks a bit darker than the old one, dangerously obscuring some details in darker scenes (and there are quite a few dark scenes in the film). The new print, however, shows more picture on the left and right sides of the screen. The supplements are excellent. Roger Ebert has been a champion for the film's cause, and in his 12-minute interview segment, his enthusiasm for the film is contagious and his insights regarding the animated film genre enlightening. There is a 18-minute interview of the film's director, Isao Takahata, who recounts the process of making the film (an actual five-year-old girl was hired to dub the voice of Setsuko, for instance). There is a 6-minute making-of segment which includes an interview of Akiyuki Nosaka, the author of the novel on which the film was based. The novel was, in turn, based on the author's own experience during the war. In a 12-minute interview segment, two historians give compelling accounts on the historical settings pertaining to the film. To gain more historical perspectives, don't miss the section in the supplements that compares photographs of actual locations to the scenes in the film that depict them. The most generous supplement inclusions are the film's complete screenplay and storyboards. The screenplay, in English, is accessible via DVD-ROM, in both PC and Mac versions. It is apparently not a shooting script (one that was written before a film was made), but a "transcript" of the finished film (written AFTER the film was made as a record). Therefore, it matches the film exactly, and it doesn't contain any deleted scenes or altered dialogs that often make for fascinating reading. Still, it is worthwhile for those who study screenwriting and those who, like me, are fascinated by how the written word is interpreted by the visual image. The storyboards are viewable by selecting an alternate "angle" on your DVD player, so you can switch back and forth between the film and the drawings. All the storyboards are pencil drawings; some are sketchy, and some elaborate. The designs in these storyboards are quite close to those in the finished film, indicating these are probably final, fully conceptualized drawings. I would have very much liked to see abandoned designs as well (such as the ones on the FANTASIA or SNOW WHITE DVDs, or the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Work-in-progress version DVD). That would have answered one of my questions: why does the little girl look a bit tomboyish? The supplement section also has extra storyboards of deleted scenes. Rounding out the extras are about 60 color stills (mostly cel reproductions, a few character designs and concept arts), trailers from other anime DVD releases, the original Japanese theatrical trailer for GRAVE. The new DVD is for region 1 only, while the old DVD is all-region. The English and Japanese stereo tracks and the English subtitles are identical in content and quality on both DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: A point in time.
Review: I like watching really good movies. Movies that could touch a person, or give the person a thrill of their life. This movie touch me in so many different way, ways that I thought would not be possible. I thought Metropolis and Mononoke was heart warming, but this took it all. If you like heart felt movies this is the one.
Rating:
Summary: My God...
Review: I have been a fan of anime for the last 6 years or so and I have never seen an anime film quite like this one. It is one of the sadest and most moving things that I have ever seen. The story takes place close to the end of WW II, and we see the suffering expeienced by Japanese citizens through the eyes of Seita and his little sister Setsuko. Seita and Setsuko's mther gets badly burned in a fire bombing attack, and soon after dies from her wounds. Seita and Setsuko are forced to move in with an aunt who is less than happy having two more mouths to feed. She constantly reminds Seita that he is just a freeloader and doing nothing for the war effort. Seita and his sister eventually leave the aunt's home and try to survive on their own in a bomb shelter. Things start to go really bd from there. This is a beautiful movie with some of the most beautiful animation that I have ever seen. It shows the cruelty of war, and that children in such trying times still try to enjoy themselves. Parents please watch this film with your children, it is a view of WW2 that many americans never see. please watch it.
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Summary: Want to put Dubyah's GIJOE War into Perspective?
Review: Then you need to see this. It is easy to send people into war when you sit back and are not actually in it. This movie shows us what has happened on the other side of a bomb dropping.. There are actual humans and better yet children who will suffer more than you think..This movie is beautiful.. A must have for your collection. We watched it with our children [5,7], but I suggest you view it first and see if this is something you'd like to let them see. Obviously will lead you into many conversations. Overall: Just get it!! You won't regret it. It is worth more than they are charging for it.. A 1988 film but with no time limits!!
Rating:
Summary: Heartfeltly Thumbs Up
Review: The story of "Grave of the Fireflies" takes place in the end of WWII near Tokyo, Japan. Despite main characters' nationality, the bitter surviving story of war victims transcends borders: Seita and Setsuko is every child on a war-torn street. "Grave of the Fireflies" is an anti-war movie focuses on humanity. Unlike many films of the same genre, it does less with shocking spectators with a war's cruelty, but rather, it draws people in to empathize with the victims of conflicting states. Setsuko and Seita were devastatingly helpless, I feel. The protrayal of emotion is effectively animated. In fact, every character in the story was all too human. Every gesture and expression was done in the most realistic details that mirror the mental state of characters. For example (possible spoiler), after Seita was released from the police for trying to steal some food to solve Setsuko's malnutrition problem, Seita's attempt to hold himself from crying out in front of his concerning sister is simply a masterpiece. It's difficult not to hate yourself for unable to protect your object of affection in the slightest sense (Setsuko IS the family). I don't cry for a movie, but by then, my own tear already fell to mirror his. This is only an animation.... Everything in this anime is top notch, though I highly recommend you to watch in the original voice, instead of English dub. Tones and emotions are almost robotic or misinterpreted in the English version. The subtitle of the translucent box version I bought sometimes lagged a little bit (while the black box version I had rented was better). I hope these dubbing problems will be solve in the collector's version. If you love great animation with compelling story, skillfully done animation, and don't mind crying involuntarily, well, don't waste your time listen to my last words. :`)
Rating:
Summary: View of War from a Different Perspective...
Review: Typically in war movies, the same perspective is recycled over and over again. We are treated to the soldier's point of view, swooping over the battlefields and watching the pure carnage. In 'Grave of the Fireflies,' (Hotaru no Haka) it is the children whose lives we get to take a in-depth look into. War-torn Japan provides the setting as Seita and his younger sister, Setsuko, must struggle to survive with meanial resources and untouched pride. Seita is a perfect character that demonstrates all emotions that runs through everyone's minds. Next to Seita's side is the lovable Setsuko. Right from the beginning, you know the fate of these children, but watching their tale will only make the story display their needless suffering. Next time you want to watch a war film for the whole family, I greatly recommend 'Grave of the Fireflies.'
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