Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The acting in this movie is really good.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Watch the visual review at https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pTvCA1i6B50Never would I have thought that so much emotion could be captured and work in a 25 minute movie. I was surely proved wrong.The Voices of a Distant Star follows a girl and a boy. These two are together but become distant as the girl is sent to war in different galaxies, and the only form of communication is over their phones, but the messages take almost ten years to send. This is a movie as you might be able to tell, explaining the distant relationship between some and even the issues that soldiers had to face when wanting to talk to their loved ones on the other side of the world. And I found it very surreal and scary, and that's why I got a little teary eyed. And I just want to say, that this isn't your normal anime. All of Shinkai's movies focus on emotions, and things like loss, love and finding yourself, these all tend to kind of break the fourth wall and make you analyse your own emotions and ask you if you're okay, regardless of the characters. He says through his story telling that sometimes the situation is out of hand and it is impossible for you to change anything, much like in Distant Star.The story, like most of Shinkai's work, is simple. But as I always say with his movies, it doesn't need to be anything else. This is beauty in simplicity. This is the same reason I loved The Garden of Words. Everything feels so real. Regardless of the mecha robots fighting in space, the characters aren't superficial and is a big part of what backs up this simple story. They don't have horns on the head, or have tails on the back, they're just people wanting to talk to their lover. Earth feels so much like Earth, from the rain and the landscape. A planet that the girl discovers seems a lot like Earth with the same looking creatures, landscapes and rain, and then she bursts into tears realising that there is nowhere like Earth. The real winner in this movie is the gorgeous soundtrack this comes with! Holy moly, what sound! I think that at times I felt I was going to cry from the music itself!This isn't a perfect movie though, it has its downsides. I can't say that it needed to be longer, as this director likes creating these shorter movies, and having this as a short worked well. The main issue I have is the machine that the girl is in. The 3D rendering of the objects looks so fake and extremely overdone, I believe they should have stayed with the 2D drawing style. The mixture of 3D and 2D in animation can work hand in hand with each other, but here, the mixture of both didn't gel and work. I think Shinkai learned from his mistake as I haven't seen another machine looking as bad as this since he made it in 2002. Another part I didn't like was the English dubs. I've definitely heard worse, but this is nothing to write home about.But all-in-all The Voices of a Distant Star is just another movie to persuade you that this guy can create beautiful films, from the music to the characters to the artwork. Everything is done with so much heart. This is a film that beautifully looks at war, love and separation. This is more of an emotionally investing film than most of Hollywood's movies. And seeing that this short 25 minute movie, that was created by one single person and is executed with a great amount of detail shows just how special this film and director is.OVERALL : A

First of all, I wanted to say that this is a superb masterpiece by Makoto Shinkai. I'm not a big fan of Japanese anime or whatsoever, but this one stunned me, like BAM! Seriously though, I do not regret my decision, watching this anime instead of doing my task. A story with a simple concept, and I LOVE IT BIG TIME, because this one contains a time and space elements, a time difference from one place to another etc. You don't have to be an anime lover/fans or maniac to love this great job by Makoto Shinkai. The story itself, straight to the point and tells everything needed to be a perfect short anime/movie and even better, the duration is short. It also contains some action, drama and romance as well. Yes, the graphic is not as good as 5cm per-seconds and some modern anime, sure because this one was made a long time ago(duh it was 2003). But, you can compare it to any anime at that time, and I assure you that this one has a good quality. All in all, after I watched this, I can't move on from this anime, for hours, I don't know probably days or weeks. Anyway, if you haven't watched it, GO ON MAN, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IT'S GREAT AND THIS IS 2014 ALREADY. =))

When it comes to classifying movies, Voices of a Distant Star is hard to place. It has the story of a short story, skilled direction worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the feeling behind it of a poem or song. The plot is, without spoiling anything, simple, yet full of deeper implications that last far past it. In Voices of a Distant Star, the prevailing idea is separation and the truth that bonds between people can cross time and space, an idea that is surprisingly literal in its portrayal in this movie. What is also surprising in this movie is the genre that it seems to put itself into. If you look at it technically, this movie could qualify as a sci-fi mecha-themed adventure whereas it actually is a look at human emotions. This contrast, if anything, still more reinforces the ideas that are found in the deep subtext of the movie because of the ideal that no matter in what situation they find themselves in, humans' emotions are still the same. The only thing that keep this movie back a little bit is the animation quality, which is underwhelming. This is sad, because the attention for detail is still present and the storytelling still comes off as truly intriguing in ways such as that most of the character development is told in the form of text messages. All in all, this is a movie/short that should note be missed by any lover of animes that enjoys movies that delve deeper than most pieces of cinema out there.I can't give this move a perfect rating because of its lackluster visuals, but it's as close to perfect without being so.

First of all, Japan should be producing this caliber of work more, rather than producing endless episodes of meaningless animes.In this film, the action, lighting, sun rays, backgrounds, stills, and cgi are done beautifully. I like them very much. The concept is also pretty unique. The photography and colors are pretty brilliant.But what makes it a pity is the hand-drawn characters. they are not professionally drawn and animated. Proportions are often off. Animation of the hand-drawn characters are not natural. It could have been a much more perfect film with much better feel and look if the characters are done right. What a pity. Generally, a pretty good animated short film.