War
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the war genre.
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Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
War—what IS it good for? ‘Gundam 0080’ tackles this familiar question with hitherto unseen honesty, resulting in one of the franchise’s emotional highlights. (read more)
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Ivan’s Childhood
Very solid stuff. Burlyaev’s performance is one of the best I’ve seen from a child. Tarkovsky’s dream sequences and the lighting techniques he uses to divide them from reality are a highlight. Otherwise, Ivan’s Childhood didn’t grab me too much on a personal level. With so many “horrors of war” films, something either connects or… (read more)
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Army of Shadows
It’s remarkable and deserving of more respect how modern Jean-Pierre Melville‘s films still look. Show Army of Shadows to your cousin and I can’t promise they won’t call it boring, but they certainly wouldn’t look immediately away. A palpably cold struggle against one of the most imposing mountains of an army in human history. As… (read more)
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Grave of the Fireflies
In stark contrast to their usual fantasy fare, Studio Ghibli attempt a down-to-earth drama about two Japanese children trying to survive during World War II. Can Studio Ghibli retain its level of quality even after stepping outside of their comfort zone? (read more)
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Jin-Roh
‘Jin-Roh,’ written by Mamoru Oshii, is an atmospheric, downcast tone piece that mires in the traumas of war. However, though war never changes, I prefer when my media does. (read more)
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Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
While rife with frustrating plot developments and character writing, Zeta Gundam’s ambition is palpable and infectious, ensuring this series will be still be watched in generations to come. (read more)
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Apocalypse Now
As remarkable as everything related to the production of Apocalypse Now is, I find its cynical themes overly nihilistic with an aura that suggests animalistic ruthlessness is the world’s only truth. This “angst,” if I can even dare to use such a trivial word for this admittedly great movie, isn’t profound for me because its… (read more)
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Kagemusha
Almost as frustrating as it is good, because Kagemusha is close to being an all-time masterpiece that’s brought down by the randomly weak writing. Not enough attention is paid to the main character’s development, and many scenes are unimportant, dragged out, or both. If the latter flaw were traded for the former, this would be… (read more)
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Full Metal Jacket
The first half of the movie that takes place in boot camp goes on a bit too long for its own good, being almost entirely carried by R. Lee Ermey’s witty (but eventually tedious) one-liners, but Full Metal Jacket is a powerful depiction of war in its unbiased simplicity. There are no larger-than-life heroes, important… (read more)
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Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Most of Stanley Kubrick‘s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is still funny, but there are several long segments that are just incredibly boring, silly shit and the same run-on gags, like the aircraft scenes. It’s also natural to be disappointed at the lack of the iconic titular… (read more)