Rating: 
Summary: Magic.
Review: Miyazaki is a genius of animation: this is undeniable. Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, Mononoke Hime, and Nausicaa are all masterworks of their various genres (anime is NOT a genre unto itself), or so I've been led to believe for Kiki's and Nausicaa. Spirited Away is another film in Miyazaki's spendidly grand tradition, mixing broad appeal in the design elements with Ghibli's always-beautiful animation style. I really can't gush about this movie enough, so I won't: just go see it. I don't care if you don't like anime, or if you've never watched it: everyone I've shown this film to has been stunned by its beauty and power.
Rating:
Summary: More useless ravings from some girl named Faerie-Kat.
Review: Ooooohhhh YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! I love this movie it is my favorite. Its just perfect. THat is the only word I can think of to describe it. Perfect. It kept me watching the whole way though. I watched it when I was sleeping over with my Cousin,Nephi. Even he said it was the seond best movie he's ever seen(Comapred to stinky Yu-Gi-Oh who stole pokemon's rightfull place as "The thing". Can you beleive that!). Seriously, when it was over, All we could do was just gaped at the TV. I heard when they watched it at the theater, the audience actually stood up and applauded(I also heard everybody left the theater complaining. Sheesh,the lies some people tell) And it was SASADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSAD all the way through. Seriously,it almost made me cry.It is really good. Now I have to go swimming in my plushie collection that sadly doesn't include a Haku plush*WHAAAAAAHHHHHHH*
Rating:
Summary: Animé for the rest of us!
Review: I bought this DVD after the award nominations were announced. I've never been a "fan" of japanimation, and this film has changed my outlook. The characters are stilted and over-stylish as compared to American classic animation, but the characterizations are superb. The story pulls you in and the moral of the story hits home. Following Chihiro's adventures leads to understandings about yourself - what more could you want from a film. And the DVD extras are better than most. You won't be disapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most kid-friendly animes
Review: "Spirited Away" stars a young Japanese girl named Chihiro who finds herself in a magical dimension where the lines between friend and foe aren't so clear.The movie is expertly animated, featuring some of the best animation I've ever seen. The musical score, likewise, is perfectly suited to the film. The storyline is deep and mysterious, with rich characters being realistically fleshed out and described in detail. There's a wide cast of them, too, ranging from the wraith-like "No-face" to the ugly frog-men. The only reason that I've dinged it a star is because the ending is a little too pat for my taste. Everything seems just a little too convenient for the film's conclusion, but hey, this is a children's movie. Keep in mind, though, that "Spirited Away" won't be for all children; there is one scene with some blood in it (in fact, the amount of blood took me by surprise--hence, the movie got a PG rating instead of G.) Other than this one scene, though, perfect for all family members.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Movie for the Whole Family
Review: We rented this movie from the library having no idea what it was about. I was a little skeptical at first being that we are a Catholic Christian family and this was about "spirits". But the story whisked us away and before we knew it we were seeing life lessons of courage, dedication to family, and respect for people different from ourselves. This is a wonderful movie that the whole family will enjoy and I can tell you, we enjoyed it about 12 times! LOL Worth the buy, it will be in our stockings this Christmas!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best anime ever!
Review: Miyazaki's follow-up to Princess Mononoke is a masterpiece. I loved both films for very different reasons. Spirited Away is the tale of a pre-teen girl searching for her own identity and finds herself through her adventures in an abandoned theme park transformed into a land of spirits and gods. It is magical, insightful and humorous, all at once! The art, the music, the dialogue are all memorable. A fantastic film for ages 8-88.
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Summary: Far more intelligent than typical Disney fare...
Review: And there's a reason for that. Although the DVD is made by Disney, the movie is licensed by Disney, and the promotion (such as it is) of this movie is done by Disney, this is *not* a Disney movie. And thank God for that. First, allow me to start with the animation. True, it is not as smooth as a lot of American animated films in several places. However, it is still very smooth often enough, and never drops below an acceptable framerate. In addition, it far more *detailed* than most American animation...yes, there are less unnecessary movements in segments, but there is far more detail in images. American animation rarely has many shadows on characters or moving objects, instead having one base color for every (moving) object with another one to tell you that even though it *looks* like a hunk of concrete, it really isn't supposed to be. The art in Spirited Away, although stylized, is far more detailed...most moving objects obey a "three-color rule" (one base color, one color for highlights, one color for shadows), and far more effort is put into details and backrounds than in any Disney film. The dub is...well, it's servicable. Apparently matching voices to animation is far more difficult than doing it the other way around, so the voices are somewhat stilted in places. Disney also ruined an entire plotline, and a rather important one at that, so as not to confuse the little kiddies...or something like that, because they completely undid a major mystery of the story right off the bat, probably to try to hit the little kids in the audience over the head with the answer. The Japanese language version, on the other hand, is excellent, although the subtitles aren't the most accurate translation. Voice acting is believable and so on, and the writing is top-notch. Oh, and the soundtrack *rules*. You have to buy this if you like orchestrated music *at all*. A lot of parents are complaining because it's "too confusing" and "too negative" for little kids to see, they say. You see, this movie does not coddle its viewers. In most Disney movies, the plot goes something like this: A beautiful girl is forced into a life of "horrible servitude" (which does not stop her from constantly smiling, dancing, singing, and generally having a wonderful time for the first eighteen years of her life), and then is put to sleep until some random guy with a good smile comes along and even though she's never met the guy they decide to spend the rest of their lives together. This story is very different. In the beginning of the movie, Chihiro is severed from her only potential allies, her parents. However, rather than mope around going, "Oh my paws and whiskers, whatever shall I do?", she realizes that she's going to have to stand up and figure things out for herself, and in the meantime she has to survive. It isn't easy, because this is nothing like her previous coddled existance...people are not all sugary sweet to her, and she's forced to work hard...and generally, she's forced into a life of servitude, and she does not get the chance to sing or dance or smile about it. She meets a nice guy, but he has some sort of mystery behind him, and also works for the opposing side...however, in the end, through her own strength, and with a little encouragement she manages to (a) save the guy she's grown to love and knows well and (b) save her parents, and free *herself* from her problems. There is no happy ending, she does not live happily ever after...rather, she has to grow up, and instead of living the rest of her life doing nothing must return to the real world, and deal with whatever problems come her way. Chihiro is a rapid departure from previous children's heroines, because previous heroines did not really do very much. The moral of their stories was that nothing could ever be so bad you couldn't be happy, and that other people would solve all your problems for you. Chihiro, though, teaches us that things won't always be all right. Problems will come up, and times will not always be sing-song-along happy...however, if you work hard you yourself can solve your problems, and although you won't have a fairy-tale ending, you'll be able to live happily enough in the real world, with no problems so great you can't solve them. This is why I love this movie so much; because the only thing Chihiro gets from other people is encouragement. She has to deal with things for herself. Not only do you have great animation, a great story, and a really really REALLY AWESOME SOUNDTRACK *cough*...excuse me there, got a bit carried away...it also offers a lesson. And again, unlike other films, it does not hit you over the head with it...but if you chose to grab it, you may.
Rating:
Summary: Miyazaki Does it again
Review: What a sweet movie, If your a fan of anime do yourself a favor and pick it up it's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Japanese Animation At Its Best
Review: "Spirited Away" is one of the best japanese animated movie released. It rightfully won the Oscar for Best Animated Film for 2002. The plot was written very creatively. It combines adventure, drama, and fantasy, offering the audience a unique theme that no one will forget. This begins when the family car stalls, and the little girl walks into a maze of unknown fantasy. She must escape this dangerous territory before it's too late. If she fails, her parents and her sanity will have disasterous results. Her struggles through her mission offer many twists and turns, keeping the audience's eyes wide open. The acting is wonderful, whether speaking english or japanese. The animation is amazing. The combination of elaborate colors and features give the movie the added viewing pleasure. Such quality keeps "Spirited Away" ahead of its time. This movie answers why it's the highest grossing japanese movie of all time. This will keep its audiences entertained during and after viewing. This will be a classic in the near following years.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Fantasy Animation
Review: When you allow your imagination free reign the creation that comes from it can be startling and so bizarre that it takes time for your brain to realign itself to the created reality. "Spirited Away" is a fantastic vision of a world close to ours, and yet invisible to our eye, reached only by a portal lost and forgotten. Spirits served by a host of creatures, including witches, all out to make a living, inhabit this world. This world has its own set of rules and past, with sufficient familiarity with our world that you are not completely lost. Chihiro and her parents are moving to a new home. As with many children her age, Chihiro is not especially happy to be moving away from her friends and the home she has always known. When her father takes a wrong turn and encounters a mysterious building in the deep woods, Chihiro is immediately afraid and tries to warn her parents that they should turn around. Her father and mother press on through the building, believing they have entered an abandoned theme park. When they enter an area filled with restaurants and discover no one around, they pig out to the point where they pork out. As night falls, Chihiro discovers that she is trapped in this world. The intervention of Haku saves her life and enables her to survive in this new world. As Chihiro befriends those she encounters a number of characters in this world come to love and help her in her goal of turning her parents back to people and escaping back to the world she knows. The world Hiyao Miyazaki has created is a fantastic alternate reality. There are demons that eat beings whole. There are bizarre spirit creatures whose purpose can not be guessed, and yet intuitively you have some vague idea of what that purpose might be. There are talking frogs and a giant baby. There are bouncing heads with minimal intelligence. There is an incredible, beautiful and fragile dragon. There is a pair of witches, sisters, whose motivations are typically difficult to understand. The vision of this movie ranks with the best animation I have ever seen. This movie became the highest grossing film in Japanese history, and for good reason. Few movies have attempted and been successful at achieving the scope of this movie. A required film for fantasy film buffs.
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