Rating: 
Summary: Go and Sen no more (sorry...so sorry...)
Review: As others have said, the movie is recapped enough around here, so I won't delve in to it too much. I must admit, I'm not a big Anime fan. I like Cowboy Bebop a lot, Kiki's Delivery Service was cute and sweet (without being on the sappy, too-cutesy side of things) and I can handle bits of Ranma at a time. But this movie is unquestionably one of the good examples of the genre called "Anime." I just saw this movie for a second time, since it was running cheaper during the day, and at a closer look, there is a lot more going on here than initally seen. The music is fantastic: many times it is simply a piano playing over animation, sans voice (IMHO, the most memorable being the opening and ending theme, as well as the scene where Chihiro is on the train). No one is subjected to any real singing or musical numbers. (There's a very short ditty sung for a monster/spirit that is all of 15 seconds.) The characters translated well into English.My only (minor -- very, very minor) issues would be the inclusion of characters, notably the Radish Spirit, that seem to have little reason to exist in the movie. I still can't find out why Lin looked so nervous to see this Spirit, and how it factored into the movie. But, that may be just a place where translating this to a western audience was not going to work. However the director never ends up looking like he is simply trying to show off with is detail-rich scenes, and off-the-wall minor characters (where some people seem to want to come out and yell at us "See how clever we are?? See?? Over there! Isn't that artsy??"), but rather is trying to give us the same experience a young, terrified Chihiro would have. Overall, this is one I can't wait to have on DVD. This movie never speaks down to it's audience, so I hope someone over at Disney or Dreamworks is taking notes.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Movie! Miyazaki at his best!
Review: As I said in my title, this is a wonderful movie. I mean that literally. It is full of a sense of wonder. As you may have gathered from other reviews, a girl and her parents manage to accidentally stumble into the Japanese spirit world. More specifically, they stumble into a bath house/resort where the spirits and magical creatures of Japan go to relax and unwind. I'll reveal this much of the plot: through their own careless actions, her parents are cursed, and it is up to the young heroine to save them. That's all the plot you'll get out of me. In praise of the film, the animation is fluid and beautifully detailed, the dreamy music always fits the mood of the film, and the voice acting (where some animes fall flat) is quite good. Despite the occasionally sinister or downright malevolent goings on, Spirited Away manages to maintain a feel of innocent wonder. I think the secret to this is the heroine, who is just a normal little girl placed into an extraordinary situation. She's no warrior princess with miles of attitude, or a magical maiden with hidden powers. She's just a girl, small and not very strong, but she has a good heart and enough personal strength to muddle through as well as she can. This film somehow put me in a good mood for the rest of the day, and is easily one of the best animated films I've seen in well over a year. If you can catch it at the cinema, do so! It's well worth the price of tickets. EDITED . . .:
Just as an extra bit of information, a day or two after I saw this movie, I went home from college for the weekend to spend some time with my parents, and got them to go and see it again with me. I enjoyed it just as much as I did at the first viewing, and my parents loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing to say but "Wow"
Review: I recently saw Sprited Away at the Mayan theatre in Denver, CO and I found it to be an awesome movie, it totally immerses you in the experience and I left the theatre with a "wow" (along with a friend of mine, who thought the same) I highly recommend this movie, and even if it does have english dubbing it is done superbly, I highly recommend this movie/dvd
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal that can't be wasted
Review: I am typing this after having read all the cutomers' reviews, and there is one that stands out the most and that is the one that only gave one star to the movie. Now I understand what E! online say, "anime this good shouldn't be wasted on prepubescent...fans"(2002). Because it is true, the only people who cannot appreciate or admire this movie is either a kid or person with a prepubescent mind. It is obvious that this movie is not for everyone--especially for those who believe that anime is only about wars and superb fights. Anime is also about art, and that is what people tend to forget. The first thing that came up to my mind when I first saw the trailer was just the phenomenal sceneries that was presented ( just like Mononoke Hime). Why? First, it did not involve computers that much, Second it redefined art as it is done manually (with cell.)--this is what a real artist does and this is what Miyazaki did. Though the story appears simple, it really goes beyond that. So many things are implied in that movie that only a dolt would not notice it. Moreover, this movie shows what anime and art are really about. This is not to be wasted on Disney fans nor on the typical movie goer, because this movie needs to be appreciate like a book. It should really be admired by the individual who have the true mind of an "artist."
Rating:
Summary: Miyazaki. Is there anything else to know?
Review: There is one true problem about Japanese anime. Many of them are brilliantly constructed and well thought out. They make a lot of profit in Japan as many Japanese people watch the movies, spend money on the DVDs, and have their fun. However, the one problem that poses for these Japanese anime is that they can never get enough money overseas. No matter how popular it may be in Japan, very few anime that reaches the US get very high attention. There are only very few anime that the US pays attention to, such as DragonBall Z or Gundam, while Pokemon was popular, then died down. Not very many anime, especially movies, even get into movie theaters. Tough luck, huh? Spirited Away was a slight exception. A movie that earned more than $234 million in Japan, it is the typical movie that was hot in Japan, and captured no one's attention in America. But it didn't stop some theaters, such as the San Francisco's Metreon, from showing it. Miyazaki has been known as a legendary anime artist, as well as a legendary producer of movies. The producer of "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Naausica of the Wind Valley", and "Princess Mononoke", Miyazaka does not need a major introduction in the United States. His movies are very serious and original, and the fact that he has Hisashi as his composer boasts his movies to be the greatest of all anime movies, bringing out strong messages to the viewers of his anime. Needless to say, those who had seen the movie at the smaller theaters were not disappointed. Many who were skeptical about watching the movie walked out of the theater, jaws dropped. Basically, the movie tells how a girl named Chihiro is transported to a somewhat humorous world of magic and monsters after an attempt to search for a new home their family is moving into. There, Chihiro can only depend on few allies who can help her, for humans are despised in the strange new world. Forced to work for the monsters who run a bathing house in the world, Chihiro avoids being turned into a pig, a fate sealed for her parents. Basically, you couldn't have asked for a better storyline. The character development is very well done. Instead of the overdone brave and beautiful female character, Chihiro is somewhat spoiled, almost useless, and still too young to be judged by her looks. This surprised many anime fanatics, who had expected Hisashi to put in a "perfect" female character. Most of the characters are somewhat strange, such as Haku, who is human, yet is able to harness magical powers to his will from the training given to him in the strange world. Despite the fact that it sounds like another "perfect" male character, many details that would be considered spoilers reveal him to be a very detailed character. Even the very insignificant characters have an attitude of their own. And the best part? There are no villans in the movie. Miyazaki didn't intend for the characters to start singing "Over There". The art is well done as well. With a mix of old fashioned cell shading and computer graphics, the animation of the movie was very eye-pleasing, and didn't damage the eyes of any movie viewers. The art is done in a detailed scale, where even the smallest signs, leaves, and ripple are drawn significantly. There is no such thing for Miyazaki as "unimportant". Overall, the movie is enjoyable for all viewers, whether you are a kid who wants to see a really cool and eye-pleasing movie, or a parent who doesn't want his/her child to be exposed to the violence of many popular movies today.
Rating:
Summary: This is an absolute masterpiece
Review: I was totally blown away by every scene of this movie. I was captivated, and my emotions were stirred, during the entire story. The viewer becomes Chihiro/Sen and sees the world through HER eyes and experiences maturity as SHE experiences it. At the end of the movie, the (adult) viewer realizes just how little he/she understood what it meant to be a child in today's complex world. It is a MUST-SEE for adults and children alike. Hats off to Miyazaki for this great work!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent. Myazaki's Best
Review: Starting with the bad news (which there is hardly any of). The movie is 125 minutes long with credits but you will wish it were 187 minutes long. The film has one very noticeable (but fairly standard) continuity error. The good news, it is one of the best films you will ever see. It ties with Fellowship of the Ring as #2 movie of 2001 (#1 being Cowboy Bebop The Movie which Destination Films MUST and eventually will release). Unforgettable story and visuals will make you want to see it again and again. The story involves a girl who is accidentally in the spirit world when her parents (who later become pigs) take a wrong turn on their way moving to suburbia. Haku helps her through the maze of gods and spirits but he may be working for the Yu-Baaba (which literally in Japanese means Bath Crone). But enough story. Go see for yourself why this is such a good movie. When I saw this film I saw the English dubbed version. Like Mononoke it was a very good dub. Rated PG for frightening and violent images. Suggested for ages 9 and up. If anyone from Disney reads this please make Spirited Away a huge DVD with a DTS-ES track and loads of features from the Japanese DVD.
Rating:
Summary: sen to chihiro
Review: i love anime fansubs! i saw this just months after the Japan released their LaserDisk public. Miazaki and Studio Ghibli are my favorite anime, ... But i still have my subtitled original japanese edition, and perhaps in a year or two i'll check out Disney's (always edited) version of the story.
Rating:
Summary: A truly amazing movie
Review: Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) was designed and animated on a multitude of levels of which I now only comprehend four. I won't go over the plot since it was well covered in the other reviews. The first and most obvious level is the story line of a young girl who goes through an adventure by becoming separated from her parents. The Second is the choices of color we are treated to in Miyazaki's movie. Although at first we see a traditional separation of good in evil in the color choices of the movie, the stink monster is dark and the spirits come out at night when it's dark. When we are introduced to Haku, he wears white. But that's where that ends. We end up seeing the little black creatures that work the furnace as good creatures because they keep Sen's clothes for her throughout the movie. No-face, a completely black ghost save for a white mask seems evil at first but really isn't. It's just lost with no friends. The third are the allusions made in the movie to parts of Japanese life and Miyazaki's other movies. See Tsuyoshi's review for more on this. The fourth and most important to me are the trials imposed on chihiro (sen). She is made to wash a stink monster that ends up being a polluted river, she is made to take care of No-face who was terrorizing the bathhouse, and she saves Haku from being killed by Yubaba. All of these trials and other smaller ones that I haven't mentioned are messages to the audience about human behavior and how Miyazaki views life. We must not pollute our environment (stink monster), greed is not important (no-face), love above all can save someone (saving haku and parents). These trials are the crux of the movie without which we cannot see the beauty of Chihiro's character. Its really awesome to see all these things go into an animation. I'm so accustomed to seeing animations that are just funny, that this movie took me by surprise, pleasantly. There are few movies that I find as poignant and few characters with whom so many people can identify. I loved this movie and recommend it to anyone regardless of age or gender.
Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous...as usual
Review: The movie combines elements of SO many different cultures, from traditional japanese, to greek myth. The attention to detail is such that you find yourself sucked in, as a silent watcher, and wishing somehow that you could be there. It is a movie for everyone...every age, every gender, doesn't matter. Just see it, and judge for yourself. The story (briefly) follows a young girl, who has to adapt to a complete change in life when she wanders into a world of spirits and witches and magic, and finds herself without her parents and only one, very confusing, friend.
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