The Sky Crawlers (2008) Sukai kurora (original title)

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writers:

Hiroshi Mori (story)
Chihiro Itô (adaptation)

Release Date:

2 August 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Every day could be your last. Live life like there's no tomorrow.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Love | Death | Peace | Eternal Youth | Aerial Combat

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Rinko Kikuchi	...	Suito Kusanagi (voice: Japanese version)
Ryo Kase	...	Yuichi Kannami (voice: Japanese version)
Shôsuke Tanihara	...	Naofumi Tokino (voice: Japanese version)
Megumi Yamaguchi	...	Mizuki Kusanagi (voice: Japanese version)
Daisuke Hirakawa	...	Aizu Yudagawa (voice: Japanese version)
Takuma Takewaka	...	Uroyuki Shinoda (voice: Japanese version)
Mugihito	...	Kyoku Yama (voice: Japanese version)
Hôchû Ôtsuka	...	Honda (voice: Japanese version)
Mabuki Andou	...	Fooco (voice: Japanese version)
Mako Hyôdô	...	Kusmi (voice: Japanese version)
Hiro Shimono	...	Pilot (voice: Japanese version)
Yoshinori Fujita	...	Pilot (voice: Japanese version)
Ayumu Hasegawa	...	Pilot (voice: Japanese version)
Oki Sugiyama	...	Pilot (voice: Japanese version)
Fumie Mizusawa	...	Call Girl (voice: Japanese version)
Tomomi Watanabe	...	Call Girl (voice: Japanese version)
Kenichi Mochizuki	...	Mechanic (voice: Japanese version)
Ian Moore	...	Public Figure (voice: Japanese version)
Jill Sinclair Ito	...	Visitor (voice: Japanese version)
Eija Niskanen	...	Visitor (voice: Japanese version)
Joe Claire Bainbridge	...	Newscaster (voice: Japanese version)
Joanna Newsom	...	(voice: English version)
Clive Davies	...	(voice: English version)
Beckey Folk	...	(voice: English version)
Brigitte Duchemin	...	(voice: English version)
Patric Mansfield	...	(voice: English version)
Andrew Ballard	...	(voice: English version)
Mary	...	(voice: English version)
Olga Naga	...	(voice: English version)
Denis Longley	...	(voice: English version)
David Ridges	...	(voice: English version)
Lucie Fischmannova	...	(voice: English version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuriko Hishimi	...	Yuri
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Midori Mitsuya (voice: Japanese version)
Lucy	...	Towa's Dog
Yukari Nishio	...	Bus Guide / News Announcer (voice: Japanese version)
Pericles	...	Towa's Dog
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Towa Sasakura (voice: Japanese version)
Naoto Takenaka	...	Master
Troy Baker	...	Naofumi Tokino (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Doug Erholtz	...	Blond-Haired Children (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Bryce Hitchcock	...	Mizuki Kusanagi (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Kirsten Potter	...	Fuko (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Cindy Robinson	...	Towa Sasakura (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Suito Kusanagi (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Michael Sinterniklaas	...	Yuichi Kannami (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Mamoru Oshii

Writing credits
Hiroshi Mori		(story and characters)
Chihiro Itô		(adaptation)

Produced by
Tomohiko Ishii	....	producer
Mitsuhisa Ishikawa	....	executive producer
Toru Kawaguchi	....	line producer
Seiji Okuda	....	executive producer
Maki Terashima-Furuta	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Kenji Kawai

Cinematography by
Hisashi Ezura

Film Editing by
Junichi Uematsu

Art Direction by
Kazuo Nagai

Art Department
Takashi Watabe	....	art setting
Kumiko Yusa	....	color setting

Sound Department
Ronni Brown	....	foley artist
Sean England	....	foley mixer
Pascal Garneau	....	supervising foley editor
Josh Gold	....	assistant sound effect editor
David C. Hughes	....	sound effects editor
Leff Lefferts	....	assistant sound designer
Jessica Lemes da Silva	....	foley recordist
Zach Martin	....	sound recordist
Tom Myers	....	sound designer
Tom Myers	....	sound re-recording mixer
Clint Smith	....	sound mix technician
Kazuhiro Wakabayashi	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Hisashi Ezura	....	visual effects
Hiroyuki Hayashi	....	CGI supervisor
Eldred Tjie	....	digital artist

Animation Department
Tetsuya Nishio	....	character designer
Atsushi Takeuchi	....	mechanical designer

Music Department
Tomoyuki Asakawa	....	musician
Kyohei Fukushiro	....	music engineer
Kyohei Fukushiro	....	music mixer
Fumito Hirata	....	musician: piano
Akiko Ida	....	music coordinator
Shiro Itoh	....	musician: drums
Yuki Kanno	....	percussion
Toru Kase	....	musician (Bass)
Kenji Kawai	....	musician
Shin Kazuhara	....	musician: trumpet
Yasuharu Nakanishi	....	musician: piano
Tomoko Nakano	....	music producer
Yoshihiko Nishio	....	composer: theme music
Mayumi Okuzawa	....	music producer
Shigeru Otake	....	music coordinator
Taeko Shimizu	....	musician: vocals
Reiko Yasuda	....	music producer
Emi Ôkubo	....	music producer
Kenji Kawai	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Kenji Kawai	....	score programmer (uncredited)

Other crew
Ezra Weisz	....	voice director
Isao Yukisada	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Hideaki Anno	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Production I.G.

Distributors

• Encore Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Pictures (2008) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) (2008) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) (2008) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) (2008) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Pan Vision Oy (2010) (Finland) (DVD)
• Seven Films (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Stage 6 Films

Special Effects

• IKIF (visual effects)
• Polygon Pictures (visual effects)
• Umigame Jimusho Corporation (visual effects)

Other Companies

• AUBE  music production
• Aube Studio  music mixed at
• Aube Studio  music production
• Aube Studio  music recorded at
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Daybreak  music coordination
• Gal Enterprise  trailer editing
• Hitokuchizaka Studio  music recorded at
• Imagica  prints
• Skywalker Sound  post-production sound services
• Sound City  music recorded at
• Sound Inn  music recorded at
• Teru Uchida Strings  orchestra (strings)
• Tokyo TV Center  dubbing studio

Also Known As:

"Sukai kurora" - Japan (original title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for material involving violence, some sexual content and smoking

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | New Zealand:M | Finland:K-11

Company:

Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [[Mamoru Oshii] [Basset Hound]

Soundtrack:

Kon'ya mo hoshi ni dakarete...

The Sky Crawlers... The English Patient the Anime

The Sky Crawlers: (Sukai Kurora):7 out of 10: This is an adult anime...In fact this is a very adult anime. No there isn’t copious amounts of fan service or blood. (In fact the film is rated PG-13 primarily for smoking.) Instead Sky Crawlers has a very quiet, reserved pacing. It’s a two hour anime that feels like it clocks in at over three hours. Not boring per se but very deliberately paced with adult conversations, adult music and an overall adult tone that reminds one of Before Sunrise with occasional airborne dogfight to break up the relationship introspection.

The plot is both light (I will reveal that here) and quite heavy (I will let the movie itself surprise you with its philosophical underpinnings). On the light side is there is a special group of teenagers who are pilots that never grow old. The movie refers to them as Kildren and much is made of how they are just kids; but if you drive, fly, have sex, drink, and smoke a pack every 10 minutes of screen time your are at best a teen and in reality a young adult.

These Kildren fight in retro WW2 style aircraft against each other in an air war with no winners and no other casualties all to apparently satiate the public’s need for conflict. (Think Star Trek’s “A Taste of Armageddon”). There is a new pilot, a wingman and a couple of androgynous love interests with deep secret pasts. There is even a Red Baron character rumored to be an adult and a constant source of tension and conversation in both the dogfights and on the ground.

The Animation is simply awe inspiring. The CGI work is better than many a Hollywood blockbuster and the 2 dimensional cell shaded characters fit both the pacing and the mood of the film. The attention to detail is quite amazing overall.

Overall the film is recommended for fans of adult drama and serious anime. I do confess I did wish for longer sky battles, more realistic violence and even some fan service. It is ironic that one of the most adult anime I have ever seen suffers from a lack of adult thrills with its PG-13 rating.