Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Jesper Brun Yeah, it was really disturbing! And what made it so was how realistic it seemed. The elderly couple was so amazingly acted that it could have been any couple from the real world. Animated in a very unique way by adding cartoon-looking characters to photographs of their living room and kitchen (I think). By adding live-action passages of WWII and well-known personas from that time and having the couple always talking about their experiences from there just made the threat of the nuclear holocaust seem even more omnipresent and frightening. Especially after the half-hour mark the film gradually gets harder to sit through and I can't imagine how it was in the cinema back in 1986 during the Cold War tensions. It's not sad as films like "Grave of the Fireflies", but more disturbing and depressing. Yes, depressing is the right way to describe it, but disturbing is the way they cope with the situation. Watching two main characters slowly dying in the ruins of their home in a desolation after a nuclear bomb has struck is for a PG audience??? At the very least PG-13!!! You're in for a hell-ride of a depressive watch, but that's what "When the Wind Blow" was supposed to do with its unique visual style and the most disturbing and dragged out character death in cinematic history. Thoughtprovoking and realistic brilliance indeed!

robinsonaustin-07490 When the Wind Blows is a 1986 animated disaster film based on a graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, who was also known for the Snowman. The movie's about an elderly British couple - James and Hilda Bloggs respectively - who live out in Sussex, England, on the countryside. Meanwhile, a war is raging between the United States and the Soviet Union. When it was announced that war could be expected within three days, Jim builds a fall out shelter from his door, and buys several pamphlets that the government had distributed concerning the upcoming attack. The couple had been through the likes of WWII, so they are fully convinced that after the war is over, everything will go back to normal. Unfortunately, they don't really have much knowledge on the prospect of nuclear missiles and the impending fallout. The missile drops in the middle of the film, obliterating everything in its path. The Bloggs survive seemingly unscathed, but for how long? The book was written during a time where the threat of nuclear war was much too real. It tried to convey that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, you'd rather it that you get killed immediately by the heat of the blasts. If you were to win the worst lottery ever and end up surviving, your expectancy is limited as your food supply dwindles, and the water is most likely saturated in radiation. Worse yet, you could begin to feel the symptoms of radiation sickness making your death slow and painful. The Bloggs are a likable couple; they're funny, they genuinely love each other regardless of not seeing eye to eye much on some opinions, and they are funny; really, it's their light-hearted naivety that makes the overall tragedy of the film more pronounced. When the radiation sickness begins to set in, the last few hours of the film are of you watching this couple that you had come to love slowly die from radiation sickness, and there isn't anything you can do about it. These characters wouldn't as much as hurt a fly, and yet, they will still die anyway, because it is next to impossible to maintain the extremity of a nuclear holocaust. For whatever reason - most likely a feeble attempt to maintain face from the reality of their situation - the couple attributes each symptom of the illness to old age. The film ultimately ends with them returning to their shelter and praying whilst death comes to collect them.The movie is done in traditional hand-drawn animation as well as claymation to give the film its surreal atmosphere. As the Bloggs are hand-drawn, anything that they grab onto immediately changes into a traditional style to match the character design. The animation is eerily similar to the Snowman which can be bad as it would lead to the assumption that the film is targeted towards a young audience when its subject matter is too mature for them to comprehend fully. However, you could say that the reason for the animation style is to show how life can change with just the push of a button; whatever was beautiful and well-furnished would immediately blacken and go up in flames, heavily resembling many's interpretation of the apocalypse. The actors who played the protagonists also do a good job with making their characters seem realistic. At some points, they could even pass themselves off as if they had been married for years. Lastly, the music is great. Besides the opening title that was sung by the late David Bowie, there are also musical scores that fit the scenes swimmingly. When the bomb goes off, the music becomes louder and sinister to emphasize the fact that the world as we know it is coming to an end. The music that begins to play the moment that the elderly couple realize they're dying is also haunting and depressing. While the film is dark and depressing, it served its purpose. The film is a warning about the likelihood of a nuclear war happening. If a nuclear war were to happen, the government is powerless to sustain the extremities of the blasts, and those that are morally upright and wouldn't hurt a fly will nevertheless still die. In the event of a nuclear war, there is little to no hope of recovery. I recommend this film to anyone who watches apocalyptic films or anti-war films. For films that are similar to When the Wind Blows, I would suggest checking out Barefoot Gen and Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies. The latter is bound to make you feel miserable. However, if you are in a happy mood, by all means, do NOT watch When the Wind Blows. It is a truly haunting film, but one that will leave a huge impression on you.

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

TheLittleSongbird I don't know when to start praising the gem that is When the Wind Blows. It is absolutely wonderful in every aspect, in the characters, in the dialogue, in the story, in the animation, everything. Raymond Brigg's(The Snowman, Father Christmas and The Bear) book is very chilling, and as well as being well adapted, the story to When the Wind Blows is superbly told. Not only that it is heart-breaking and disturbing especially in the final fifteen minutes. The animation is beautifully done and quaint and begs the question "it can't happen here, could it?", and the music is very haunting, and David Bowie's title song compliments the film perfectly. The dialogue is moving, clever and intelligent, the pacing and direction are right on the money and the characters Jim and Hilda are sweet and wonderfully voiced by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. Then there is the fact that few of us knew how to conduct ourselves should there be a nuclear winter, which is powerfully brought to home. All in all, poignant and clever and definitely a must see, also deserves to be better known. 10/10 Bethany Cox