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Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke

List Price: $32.99
Your Price: $28.04
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A very compelling and poweful story!
Review: As a fan of anime, I had read quite a few reviews on Princess Mononoke. I knew, before I even saw this film, that it would become one of my favourites if not my favourite.

Well, I want you to know that this film exceeded all my expectations and then some, a powerful and gripping tale. This film, will leave you awestruck with its beautifully illustrated animation, very emotional story, and masterfully done music score. To quote an old commerical, "It doesn't get any better than this."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful eco-fable
Review: This is a great fantasy movie, carrying far more emotion than most anime and almost all live-action fantasy done lately. I do agree that the voice casting is a little weird, BUT it could be worse. At least they used real actors, and not some idiots off the street. And if you don't like the voices, the DVD does include the Japanese soundtrack. Now, about those endless complaints about the "inaccurate" translation - this is one of the best anime translations I've seen so far. Remember the "cousins" in the American version of Sailor Moon? (They weren't cousins in the original script...) Remember Ed in Cowboy Bebop, who mysteriously turned into a boy in the American version? Mononoke's translation may not be word-for-word, but it is a great translation of the spirit of the work - and that is how good translation should be done. Sorry, but the stinging insult "this soup tastes like water" simply wouldn't have done it for me. Top marks to Neil Gaiman - and if you like this story, check out "Sandman - the Dream Hunters". There, rant finished - now BUY THIS DVD!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great movie!
Review: I think it sad that a reviewer gave this anima three stars. It's true everyone is entitled to there own opinion, but this particular version (American DVD) is not even out yet (Release Date 12/19/00). Be it that it may, all entitled to there own opinion let it be understood the majority of japanimation was intended for older veiwing audiences unlike most disney movies (cartoon animation) and thus would contain "No Pooh" and should not [in my opinion] be paralled. I believe that Hayao Miyazaki is an incredible artist and his movies are the cream of japanamation. Any how the majority agree! this movie (VHS) found at video rental shops is awsome. Rent it and judge for yourself. I suspect this to be a hit on it's release date! I'm pre-ordering mine today!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: princess Mononoke
Review: Well, I love this movie! It is very clever and well done.I love anime and this is my favorite one. If you like this movie I suggest Nausicaa. I love the imagination and story of this great film. I do say it is violent. There are parts where arms and heads are cut off, but it is not just all blood and gore.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Misconceptions
Review: Studio Ghibli has done it again people...created a wonderfully animated film that has a story line that is full of well thaught out charicters. The badguys are good guys and the goodguys are bad guys. If this was a Disney film the badguys would be badguys and only that and the goodguys would be the greatest heros alive. But not in the case of Mononoke Hime. The characters are realistic and so is the blood. Do not be decieved by this movie becasue it is a cartoon. It is relativley violent and what a small child would consider scary. The only problem with this movie is that not enough people have seen it. They think it will be like a Disney movie, wich it isn't. It is the best movie i have seen in a long time, including live-action ones. This is a must have for any novice anime fan, a collector and even the peopel who have never head of the genre Anime.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Decent
Review: I've seen the Japansese translated, and the english dubbed, and i must say that they did a horrible job translating this Anime. In japanese it is probably one of the greatest i have seen, but the english was butchered, substituting words so it would have a more North American appear i suppose..one such obvious change was "the great forest god" or whatever he was called in the tranlated, as opposed to "Shinigami," or god of death, in the japanese....and the term Mononoke isn't even mentioned in teh dubbed version

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Miyazake, Animation's master of soul
Review: Hands down, the best animated film of all time, period. If you require more to purchase this film, I will endulge you. Miyazake, director of flics such as totoro, has branched away from "kiddy-flics". While nearly all humans above 8 should view this picture, there are moments of gore. However, this is not traditional sex/monster anime, this is an epic anime superior to Star Wars, and of the same genre.

All hand animated, simply brilliant story telling, and incredible production value. I have only seen the Japanese version, and do not intend to watch any version with english. I do NOT speak Japanese...BUT the power of this tale requires NO verbal language. I PRAY this DVD has Japanese with english subtitles, as any other version will simply not do.

One can not express the power of such masterpieces, they must be viewed. If you enjoyed Star Wars, Akira, or Ghost in the Shell, you are betraying yourself not to buy this film. It certainly will have a cozy seat on my shelf, as it is the ONLY dvd I have purchased!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mononoke Hime
Review: i have seen many anime films, but one of the best for me has been mononoke hime (princess mononoke). the animation is one of the best as well as the story line and plot. it's not like other animated disney-type movies where you can predict what is going to happen and when, but it has a very complex story line which will keep your interest. for those who do not know what anime is or never heard of it, this is the perfect movie to watch...i would advise to see the subtitled version, but if you want to see it dubbed then fine....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So, Amazon's got little forest spirit toys for sale, right?
Review: Okay, I was pretty impressed. I've come to dread a lot of these films, thinking they would be ruined by the time they made it to America. Princess Mononoke is about as clear a foreign vision as I've seen on video for quite a while.

I haven't watched the original version, and I'm not close enough to Japanese culture to say that I would understand it in its original context. That said, I think the translation, and "adaption" work did a pretty decent job of explaining the key plot points for a very complex story, and the voice work also blended in well -- Billy Bob Thornton's southern accent may have seemed out of place, but that was appropriate given the character of the monk.

The animation, a little rough at parts, is mostly stunning throughout, especially the character work. My only real objection to this movie is the overblown (beyond climactic)ending, a problem I also had with Akira.

Finally, there's some pretty grisly violence in the battle scenes, so this is probably not appropriate for most children.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not quite Nausicaa but...
Review: Yes its a masterpiece, but it has its flaws. The storyline doesn't flow as coherently as I had hoped, its a little disjointed in places, with a few moments which were a bit slow and tedious, but the brilliant animation was enough to make up for it. The themes of nature vs. human progress (on the brink of an industrial revolution here) is frighteningly similiar to reality, only our forests on earth do not have animal spirit-gods to protect them. Their leader is a girl who believes herself to be a wolf - who is of course Princess Mononoke, raised by wolves and befriended by the wolfgods, she is the link between the human race and the mysteries of the forest. There is the bad guy (in this case a woman), Lady Eboshi, who is spookily similiar to the antagonist in Hayao Miyazaki's other work, the spectacular "Nausicaa" (or "Warriors of the Wind" as was its title in the US). In fact, the whole movie is like a modern (or less modern) retelling of Nausicaa with a few new trappings. The enviromentalist themes are all intact only this time there's no demon summoning, although a few boars get turned into them.

Which leads me to a point. I know ALOT of people in the United States especially are not familiar with anime tend to believe that animation = children fare. Well this is not the case, anime is generally slanted for an adult audience, most often in very extreme cases, with R rated themes. They are basically hard core sci fi or fantasy but set with moving drawings instead of live action. The PG-13 rating is there for a reason. This movie is violent, it is bloody, there are boars with their flesh rotting off, beheadings and other acts of violence. But its not gratitious, there is reason behind it, this movie attempts to make many points on many levels and instead of just talking about it often gives us the visual images to go along with the message. It's entirely necessary and even made me a little queasy at times, but was more than worth it. Children 12+ should be able to handle it if they are mature enough, although just the ideas of animals turning into demons by their inner hatred can be confusing, again its making a point that violence is not the way to go and that problems can be solved with other ways than falling back on the savage core of the living - which is hate.

Of special note is Ashitaka's steed, a gazelle, who moves with such fluidity and grace, that everytime they take the screen together, I can't take my eyes off of them. It's gorgeous watching it leap and bound across the screen, very well done.

Overall "Princess Mononoke" comes highly recommended as a landmark in Japanese animation, however falls under the bar that was set by "Nausicaa" back in the 1980s. Few movies have managed to eclipse that one in general but it still stands as the best of Miyazaki's work. Anime fans have probably already seen it and loved it but parents beware that start to reach for the film based on Miyazaki's kid's fare like the often annoying "Totoro" and the sweet witch's fantasy "Kiki's Delivery Service", that this is particular flick takes a much more mature direction and the real anime fans are thankful for it.


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