Reviews

I first saw this film when I was about 8 years old on TV in the UK (where it was called "Laupta: The Flying Island"). I absolutely loved it, and was heartbroken when it was repeated a while later and I missed it. I was enchanted by the story and characters, but most of all by the haunting and beautiful music. It would have been the original English dubbed version which I saw - sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Streamline Dub" (the dub was actually by Ghibli themselves and only distributed by Streamline) which is sadly unavailable except as part of a ridiculously expensive laser disc box-set.

Unfortunately I feel that the release has been partly spoiled by Disney. The voice acting is OK but the dialogue doesn't have the same raw energy that the "streamline" dub or the original Japanese had, and I think James Van Der Beek sounds too old to play the lead. They have made some pointless alterations, such as changing the main character's name from "Pazu" to "Patzu", and added some dialogue. But worst of all I feel that they have ruined many scenes with intrusive music - the opening scene of the airships for example was originally silent but has been spoiled thanks to Disney's moronic requirement that there be music playing whenever anyone is not speaking, which I find annoying in many Disney films.

This film still blows away most recent animated films, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. The plot is simple yet captivating and the film shows a flair which is sadly missing from most modern mass-market, homogenized animation.

I am partly a fan of Miyazaki's work. I say "partly" because most of his films fall into two categories: brilliant, and boring. Sadly this film falls into the later category.

This film suffers from the same fundamental problems as Miyazaki's recent film "Howl's Moving Castle". An intriguing premise is set up, but then immediately reduced to little more than a backdrop for some unfathomable events that only serve to confuse the plot rather than explain it.

The first third of the film reveals the post-apocalyptic world the story is set in, and actually looks like an very interesting story is about to unfold. From then on things go down hill. The middle part of the film is mostly made up of thinly-veiled eco-propaganda, and the ending is heavily marred by the reliance on the kind of impenetrable spiritualism which ruins a large number of Japanese animated films.

Overall the film feels as though someone ripped out every other page from the script before passing it on the the animators. What is left is something which is visually stunning (although sadly the version I saw was an Nth-generation copy, with poor colour - which gives rise to the common myth that Nausicaa shows her bare bottom when flying), but which makes little sense and ultimately left me confused.

Having seen (and loved) Laputa many years ago and then being re-introduced to Ghibli's work via Sprited Away, I have recently been working my way through the back catalogue. Miyazaki has his name associated with some truly remarkable films (Laputa, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, etc...) however he has also been involved in making some films which are little more than impenetrable clap-trap. Sadly Howl's Moving Castle falls into the second category (along with Nausicaa IMO). The plot is almost non-existent, and what little story remains is confusing and fragmented. The film suffers from the same problems as Nausicaa, in that an intriguing premise is established, but which never reaches a satisfying conclusion.

A boring man gets chased through a boring desert by a boring truck! This is NOT a deep and tense psychological thriller, is is the same scene played out over and over (and over) again - man gets chased by truck, thinks he has escaped, truck comes back...

I wonder if this dull film would be so popular if it had been directed by someone other than Spielberg. Quite why so many people love this film is beyond me. Had some unknown director fresh out of film school made this than it would have been treated as what id truly is - pathetic.

1/10