hellraiser7 Life like the wind can be a very fleeting thing, we always think we have enough time in our lives and death is far behind, but the moment it comes is always the least we expect and we realize how little time we really had. There are few movies I cry to and this film is one of them.Based on a graphic novel by Ramond Biggs whom made the famous Christmas story "The Snowman". I love the combination of both 2D and 3D animation in places it really made the universe the character were in seem less cartoonish and feel uncompromisingly real, from the way the characters walk to certain locations of the house really feels like your there. The nuclear explosion scene how it was presented and executed I'll admit is one of the most disturbing, horrifying, and unnerving scenes I've ever seen, the only other time I seen this was in the anime film "Barefoot Gen". The music is great it really fits the film, I even like the theme song by one of my favorite singer's David Bowie.But what really makes this film is really the couple Jim and Hilda Bloggs the movie focuses on. These characters really feel like ordinary people it's easy to forget their animated characters. From some of the things they say to one another which feels like the usual things you'd talk about. There are times when you really cringe at their ignorance about the war but you also at time feel heavy pathos for them as both are just struggling to survive by what they have as well as the information from the government pamphlets which made it all the more sadder because you know the information is a lie.There is a lot that really tugs at our emotions, one scene where we see as the explosion is continuing the camera then focuses on a picture of the past and we see both Jim and Hilda past in a montage as they were young and when they grew old. It clinched at my heart because I knew that those times from their past are gone forever. Another scene that was disturbing was when both were outside and they think they smell roasted meat and when we see shots of a town in ruin we know exactly what that smell is, it really gave me a sick feeling inside.It even tugs from the little moments like when Jim wonders why the milkman hasn't arrived. It tugged me because all of the modern conveniences we would take for granted are gone forever, this made me appreciate all of those little things like going to the grocery store and having food and supplies always there for us to buy; or simply even the mall to get video games/movies. Down to the just seeing the physical toll the aftermath is taking on the couple which is gut wrenching because once Hilda's hair falls off their dying.But what really tugged at my emotions the most was just the sense of familiarity, the couple reminded me a little of my own grand parents whom have now passed away along with the house they live in which looks or at least almost looks similar to the house I use to visit my grand parents at. This all the more increased the emotional weight.The fate of the couple in the end broke my heart and I literally broke down and cried, it is something that will haunt you forever.This film really made me appreciated life, grateful that I can still play and buy video games, do martial arts, have a girlfriend and friends, and just simply do all the things I do best in life because none of use really have all the time in the world, like the wind life blows away.Rating: 4 stars

Spikeopath When the Wind Blows (1986) is an animated film directed by Jimmy T. Murakami and based on the graphic novel of the same name written by Raymond Briggs. It features the serene voices of John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft who voice Jim and Hilda Bloggs, a retired old couple living in the Sussex countryside. When the threat of Nuclear War starts to loom ominously, the stoic couple build a shelter in their home and set about storing provisions suggested by the government pamphlets. But do they, or anyone else, really understand the fall out of a nuclear strike?.There was a time in the 1980s when Nuclear War was a distinct possibility, paranoia was rife and adult folk actually started to contemplate the end of humanity. Film makers were quick to tap into the topic and produce movies to further stir those paranoid juices. America produced the dated but very impacting The Day After in 1983, with the film causing Ronald Reagan to reevaluate his Country's nuclear arms policy, while in 1984 the UK gave the cinema world the bleakly shattering Threads. A year prior to The Day After shaking the boots of those watching it, Raymond Briggs, author of the delightful The Snowman, was moving into more adult territory with his work. Propelled by a sense of loss for his parents, whom the Bloggs' are based on (they had featured in his Gentleman Jim 1980), he was inspired to write When the Wind Blows after watching a BBC television programme about nuclear contingency. Thus the film version was to arrive in 1986. Naturally in animated form, so as to simultaneously entice and awaken the kids of the day to Nuclear War possibility and the effects of such.When mooching around for some back story on Briggs and how he came to write it, I came upon a review for the film that chastised the characters for being stupid! Well it's more stoic naivety than stupidity say I, and it's that that drives When the Wind Blows forward. The stupidity comes with the government instructions in how to cope with such a nuclear attack. That these two amiable old pensioners, survivors of the last World War no less, can't grasp the seriousness of the situation is not stupidity, leaflets handed out gave hope that one could survive such an event. As they, as charming an old couple you could wish to meet by the way, go about their business out in the quaint countryside, they show a tender bond that can't be broken, not even by what they think is just the latest War. It's very much a we shall overcome attitude that gains emotional weight as the fall-out starts to take hold and our adorable couple become ill. Come the finale, all the acerbic touches and the underlying message at the film's core, hits home hard, yet Murakami still manages to keep it tender enough, ultimately doing justice to Briggs' excellent literary work.As potent now as it was back in the 80s. Lest we forget that the threat of War, nuclear or otherwise, is never far away from us all. 9/10

cyndi_hill_86 Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Raymond Briggs, a retired World War II British veteran, Jim Bloggs, and his wife, Hilda, learns about the war between America and the Soviet Union could involved nuclear weapons. Jim begins building a fallout shelter based on the designed from the booklets they received from the government. It was a good thing it was done because days later a nuclear warhead from the Soviet Union was heading their way. Jim gets Hilda to the shelter and survives the blast, but they don't realize… the blast was the least of their problems. After two days, based of the booklets, Jim and Hilda go outside for some fresh air and water.The nuclear weapon had covered their rural area in radiation fallout and the couple gets exposed to heavy amounts of it. As time goes by, they start to suffer from radiation sickness, especially Hilda when she starts to lose her hair. The chances of survival start to fade away, and they are in a stage of confusing in their dying moments. The film ends bleakly for them, as they go into the shelter to pray. Although not seen, it's likely they succumb and pass away from compilations of radiation sickness. The final words from them fade into the night sky, uncertain what will become of them.

joebrian55 If there's one movie on my list of favourite animated films, this is what I'd pick. A fantastic animated flick starring none other than Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft that deals with with the threat of a nuclear holocaust. It's like this, Jim Bloggs goes home on a bus to his wife and prepare a scrumptious British meal of sausages and chips, but that's not so peaceful after it turns out nuclear war is about to break out (in the film, I mean) in two or three days time. Jim jumps up in shock and exclaims "Crumbs! This is it, ducks." and over the next couple of days gets the work for a fallout shelter done, well not necessarily done, but what they think is done. Of course, they rely on "Protect and Survive", which I'm not entirely sure was completely reliable in the Cold War, and presume that just because a rescue brigade took care of citizens in the second World War, it will be the same for this one. Then it happens! The missile comes and totally destroys the countryside, blinding car drivers and blowing buildings apart. But that's not the worst part, instead it's when Jim and Hilda decide to go outside in attempts to harvest and keep popping out of their shelter so often, that they develop radiation sickness. So, I first watched the film on the internet when I was 13, now I'm 14, and soon I definitely wish to buy the original VHS on eBay or Amazon so my classmates can see it. BTW, the nuclear attack scene really gave me the shivers first time I saw it.