Porco Rosso (1994)

If you only ever get to see one Studio Ghibli movie, then see Porco Rosso. The fact there's nearly 50,000 votes in IMDb for this movie, says a lot, and the movie it timeless.The colors are so beautiful and gorgeous, and the storyline is so touching and moving. It's Studio Ghibli at its best, and I wish there was a sequel. The movie draws much emotion, and the soundtrack is relaxing. The pig pilot is a lovable rogue, and I sometimes wonder what happened to him after the movie ended.I saw Spirited Away and unfortunately turned off after 15 minutes. I'm so sorry it lacked the emotional impact of Porco Rosso.

In Porco Rosso, we follow an Italian WWI pilot who was cursed to look like a pig. The story consists of Porco fending off sky pirates and the attacks of an American ace in the inter-war period.This is a Miyazaki movie so, if you're familiar with his movies, it won't surprise you to hear that the animation is wonderful. It's colorful and happy. Porco's introduction and the introduction to his relationship with the pirates give you a good indication of the tone of the movie.We see Proco lounging on a secluded beach. He is called on the radio to go fend off some pirates who are robbing a cruise and, to make matters worse, they've captured a class of schoolgirls!Now, I cringed when I heard "schoolgirls" because, you know, I thought hyper-sexualized high school girls (aka early Brittany) but it was just elementary school children. I suspect it was a translation thing or maybe a cultural terminology issue. Anyway, we cut to the pirates and the one groans, "Do we have to take all 15?" "Oh course! We can't split them up from their friends!" And then they go on to let the kids climb all over the plane while being "kidnapped."Even when Porco comes to the rescue the scene is light-hearted. Porco shoots out the pirate-plane's engine and even lets them keep a little of their loot to pay for repairs. "I don't want to be putting them out of a job," Porco explains.I saw the English dubbed version. I'm generally a proponent of original audio with subtitles but, in this case, the dub was perfectly good for the movie. Michael Keaton does a great job of voice acting Porco. The voice of Meg from Disney's Hercules is the voice of Porco's love interest. Do you remember Everybody Loves Raymond? Well, Raymond's brother (the one with the deep voice) is a pirate alongside the voice of Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants. The daughter in Father of the Bride voices the spunky engineer. It's a solid B-grade cast.When I was describing the cast to a coworker, he said that a mark of a good B-grade cast is when you say, "Do you remember that show? Well, the side character from that show was in this." That is, you know the actor not through their name but through a point of reference.I would highly recommend Porco Rosso especially for kids. It's fun and happy and I'll probably see it again at some point.

It's no secret that Hayao Miyazaki is utterly fascinated by all things that fly, especially machines that fly. With the exception of Ponyo, all of his movies feature flying scenes, and you could argue that in the case of Ponyo the same aesthetic is still achieved. But none of his films capture the romantic side of flight better than Porco Rosso. If you haven't fallen in love with aviation by the end of this film, I'm pretty sure you have a fear of flying.The movie takes place in Italy in the 30s, between the World Wars. Porco Rosso is a veteran combat pilot from World War I, who now spends his days as a courier slash bounty hunter slash all around flying expert in the Adriatic Sea. Our story starts when an American ace pilot named Curtis arrives to challenge him to see which one of them is the superior pilot. Plus he's paid by air pirates, who are often harassed by Porco Rosso.Oh, and Porco Rosso is also cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig. No reason, really. He just looks like a pig. Roll with it.What I like the most about this film is the atmosphere. It captures the essence of the 30s perfectly, the feel of Hollywood's Golden Age. There's piracy and fighting, but men still have a code. There's a hotel built on an island in the middle of the sea and there's a scene in the film where both Porco and the pirates hang around there together. Because they all respect the owner so much, it's an agreed no-fighting zone. For some reason that really speaks to me.And of course, because it's a Hayao Miyazaki film, the animation is utterly gorgeous, the music is hauntingly beautiful, the storyline is deep yet lighthearted, the characters are great and it's just tremendously entertaining for both kids and adults alike. There are some Studio Ghibli films that are better, in my opinion, but it's still one of the best films I've ever seen and its world is the one I'd like to live in the most.

Another original idea from the mastermind Hayao Miyazaki, a picture with cute humor and stunning animation, it is as absorbing to watch as always. This picture has a very comical atmosphere, which make you grin all the way through, the background, landscape, clouds, with the sun peeking up, its all very pleasurable to watch. A cute symphony is added, adapted to every situation we come across, Miyazaki was able to create this suitable soundtrack which made the picture even more captivating. Miyazaki being responsible for directing, writing and composing, one can wonder how he manages it all, it once again shows his brilliance. The main character, Porco Rosso, is a cursed human, who now is a pig, although the only thing that the curse changed was his appearance, being a war hero he is admired by many people, a pilot, Porco is one grumpy character, agonized of what he has become, although amusing to watch. Overall, this movie is entertaining, creative ideas and a brilliant animation, an enjoyable flick.