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Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki Starring: James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Cloris Leachman I saw this movie a few days ago as a recommendation by a friend when I told him I enjoyed other Hayao Miyazaki movies. I saw the english version of this movie, not the original Japanese. I haven't seen all of his movies but of the ones I've seen this one is easily my favorite. It starts off with a young girl's airship being attacked by pirates in search of a special crystal that she wears around her neck. She manages to escape and meets a young boy called Pazu and they then embark on an amazing journey....thats all I really want to say about the plot, saying more would definetly ruin the rest of it. The things about this movie that stood out for me was the very unique and well thought out plot; theres plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained. And for such an old movie the animation sequences were also excellent in my mind. Character development, which is pretty key in any movie, was really cool and I was able to have an emotional connection with the 2 main characters at least. Overall: Voted 5.5 because it is my second favorite animation movie (first is Titan AE) RATING: 5.5 PROS: Unique and well presented plot, excellent animation, characters you grow to love CONS: None that I can think of ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: IMDB J-Pak fucked around with this message at 11:46 on May 5, 2004 |
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May 5, 2004 11:39
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 09:12 |
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Even though Mark Hamill kicked rear end in his part, I have some issues with the English version of Laputa: Castle in the Sky. James Van Der Beek, who's in his late twenties, is supposed to play the part of a young child, but he uses the same voice he always uses, so the character sounds WAY too old. Also, I loving hate Andy Dick. The English dub also has all the music reorchestrated (it's the same music, only done by an actual orchestra instead of a synthesizer), and it's arguable which version is better. Still, none of that stuff is a deal breaker. My only complaint about the Disney DVD release is the same one I have for their other Ghibli DVD releases: the English subtitle script for the Japanese audio track feels TOO literal at times. As a bit of trivia, the movie is loosely based around the third section of Gulliver's Travels, "A Voyage to Laputa." Disney removed the "Laputa" part of the name since it's a pretty bad word in Spanish (which is why Jonathan Swift uses it). Fans of the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons will recognize the robot design. This is a great adventure movie, and I recommend people give it a shot. It does run a little long though, which while a valid complaint is one I often hear from the typical "animu^_^ fan" type to explain why they can't sit still/stay awake long enough to watch the movie. I hate them, but don't let them be the reason you refuse to watch this movie. EDIT: FofR, care to explain why you voted this 2.5? I'm curious why you thought this was so average. Daryl Surat fucked around with this message at 08:11 on May 6, 2004 |
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May 6, 2004 00:47
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It's really sad how Disney has taken films that are beloved by millions and hosed them up beyond recognition. I couldn't stop switching back and forth from the original soundtrack to the dub to see how badly they butchered it. I understand that they have to change it somewhat to match the lip movements, and to be fair, for the most part they remain reasonably true to the original spirit of the dialogue. But what's most irritating is when they add additional lines for off-screen characters to help explain what's going on. And to help fill those uncomfortable silent moments, there's also extra music all over the place... I guess Americans are supposed to be too stupid to understand the emotional content of a scene without a majestic score telling them how they're supposed to feel every second. I'm just glad they included the original Japanese soundtrack on the DVD, with what is hopefully a decent subtitle translation. Anyway, on to the movie... not as good as the other Miyazakis I've seen. They should have done more with the castle and spent less time getting there. The castle isn't seen until the final third of the movie and everything leading up to that is pretty typical adventure stuff, a bit tedious and cliched. The story, characters, and art lack the warmth and wonder that made Spirited and Kiki and Mononoke so special. Rating: 3
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Jan 22, 2005 21:55
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I'm also going to chime in to recommend that for those people that have never seen this film. WATCH IT IN THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE DIALOG. Disney can suprise me somewhat, I feel they did a very accurate and good job with the English dub of Spirited Away, but they completely dropped the ball with Castle in the Sky. Not only did they gently caress it up by casting James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin to do adult voices for characters that are support to sound like they are 11 or 12 years old, they dumbed down the dialog...have music where there doesn't need to be, sometimes ruining some good minimalist parts of the movie. There were also a few underlying themes to the work(about peace, environment, et al. themes that Miyazaki puts in almost all of his films) that were destroyed in the English dubbed version. The Japanese version of this is my favorite Miyazaki film. To me, this is the Raiders of animated movies. It is a masterwork from start to finish. The film is a great deal of fun and I highly recommend it. 5.5
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Jan 24, 2005 22:11
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