i realized it had been a long time since I saw the original movie and while I had liked the characters
934470
With the coming release of GofG volume 2, i realized it had been a long time since I saw the original movie and while I had liked the characters, i could no longer remember all the backstories and interactions.  This solved the problem nicely.  I would have given it five stars, but I suspect they cut a bit for this version of the DVD. That could be my memory, but the story has very nicely balanced the characters with enough amazing battle scenes to please the most fervent action-movie fan.
572992
I read the book before seeing the movie, and I'm glad I did, because if I had seen the movie first I would have been really dissapointed by the book, which is much sadder. The movie was really well written and acted and I actually really like the changes that were made. The book was so, so good, and that made me concerned I wouldn't like the movie because I knew they had made some really pretty pronounced changes. But honestly, it's made so well and there's so much heart in what they did I'm glad I got to see what I'll call the "revised" version. Four stars for not sticking more to the source material just on principle, but I really did like it very much.
880526
I used to watch this movie years ago and have a sentimental attachment to it.  You may want to get another opinion that is more objective but it is entertaining.
3696958
The last time I had access to this soundtrack was back in the early 1970s when I borrowed the 33rpm vinyl record version from the public library.  Back then I was not too impressed.  Of course now having owned a copy of the movie for years I have a new appreciation for Maurice Jarre's score for this film.  At one time I felt that all of Jarre's early works sounded like reworked versions of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.  The IS PARIS BURNING soundtrack caused me to re-evaluate my earlier judgement.  If anything the soundtrack is more closely related to Jarre's compositions for THE TRAIN and NIGHT OF THE GENERALS.  Of course there are some familiar cues in the music.  However you find similar instances in John Williams and James Horner soundtracks.  It is a common occurrence.

When I listen to this soundtrack I normally play it from beginning to end.  My one regret is that the music is divided into just a handful of separate tracks -- where one number rolls into another without a track break.  As such with a standard CD player you are limited to points to where you can skip ahead or back.

Slowly, but surely I have been adding war movie soundtracks to my collection.  Now if only VON RYAN'S EXPRESS was available.
4976282
I'll admit, when I first started watching this movie I was a little put aback. I knew it was a "re-imagining" of the entire series, but it still threw me for a loop. Even with that said, I still enjoyed the movie. I didn't compare it to the series in artwork or storyline, I didn't expect them to re-imagine the wheel or anything. Some of the characters became unrecognizable, but I think that was also some of the fun. They took time to mention ALMOST everyone from the series(I missed you Lady Sakuya). All in all, yes I'd much rather watch the series, but the movie tried to manage to re engineer the whole series in the span of hours where the anime had fifty episodes to do as it pleased.
728386
One word: nice!
But my God, is this a long movie now... but you'll be glued to it, especially if you were stuck to it the first time you ever saw the original.
Heck, I remember the cheering in the movie theatre (or theater for the one who thinks I just mis-spelled it but didn't).
4063020
WOW, I so enjoyed this animated film...makes me ask myself why it took me so many years to see it
4667581
It has been a long, long time since I watched this delightful film. Being gracefully older than the first time I watched, I had a much different perspective.  A must see for the first time viewer or to revisit from a different stage in life.
648734
I saw this movie when it first came out, while I was a graduate student.  In those days I used to go to a lot of movies with my best friend, a fellow grad student whose tastes were very different from my own.  My approach to experiencing a movie was to suspend much of the disbelief and rational analysis that was integral to my life as an engineering graduate student.  Instead, I tried to immerse myself in the fictitious world created by the director and actors and experience it as if I inhabited one of the characters.  I was easily able to undergo this transformation while viewing Obsession, in part because Cliff Robertson was such a good actor and one of my perennial favorites.  Indeed, I experienced the film imagining myself as Cliff Robertson's character, a man plagued by guilt and longing as he continually relived the tragic loss of his cherished wife (played by the incandescent Genevieve Bujold) and daughter.

My acceptance of all of the plot elements in this film did not seem sensible to to my friend, who viewed his approach to film viewing as more of a critical exercise.  This movie worked for me though, and maybe it will work for you too!
2169858
I enjoyed the movie and liked to see some of the old stars on screen again. I remember seeing this movie when it was first released and I enjoy seeing some of the old movies: they are fun.
4188210
Ive had this movie since 2010 and put it away for a while since I didn't like it as much as the TV series. Its 2014 and I rewatched it. It was like looking at a new film all over again with a fresh new look. Two scenes made me tear up, which is something the Air series never did to me before. Probably sick of hearing this but its what KEY does, making their viewers cry their eyes out.  And thats not an exaggeration. Pacing is okay and is a good adaptation of Misuzu's story from the original visual novel. If you like KEY games turned anime, then Little Busters is worth looking at. The EX OVA will have all 8 episodes released by this July so the anime is still quite new.

For those of you who had mixed views on the Air motion picture, maybe its about time you rewatch it and give this great film a fresh new look. Only time can heal past evils and thats what this rewatch did for me.
1457266
Going back to the past... its amazing how the movie effects have changed.
3084933
I've enjoyed watching this movie again. I saw it when the movie came out originally and there was parts I had forgotten. Thank you for the memories.
4439152
I didn't care for this movie when I first seen it. As time went by,I would see clips of it and it kind of grew on me. Watching it whole was an enjoyable experience.
1080409
I didn't recognize most of the characters
may be some of the movie were not of my ages
I should pick some more recent
4417953
This was a good movie but the empowering charisma between the two characters that was there in the original movie was not the same.
679692
It is a funny thing that when I first watched this series when it came out some years ago, I came away feeling not too fond of it even though Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" is one of my favorite films.

It was a sense of nostalgia that made me select it as a purchase. Sometimes nostalgia buys don't work out (ex: "Peacemaker Kurogane" was definitely a 'of the moment' series for me and I barely got through the first DVD on a recent rewatch), but "Samurai 7" was a pleasant surprise on the rewatch. Albeit it isn't as good as the movie that inspires it, it is still very entertaining and kept very much to the spirit of its inspiration. Set in an alternate world in which a farming village needs help against bandits (samurai who have become bandits due to their displacement by the rise of the merchant class), a young village priestess with her little sister and fellow villager who is a rice farmer set off to the city to gather some samurai to help battle the bandits.

It does go a little longer here and there, but overall, the look, feel and characterizations are very well done. As with the original movie, the farmer/samurai Kikochiyo steals the show but I was impressed on this latest viewing of how sympathetic I was to the young samurai, Katsushiro. In the case of Katsushiro, I actually feel like the anime bests the original movie, but that's just my opinion.

Anyway, I'm definitely pleased that I picked this one up. Nostalgia or not, it was an enjoyable watch.