Castle in the Sky

Rating:
Summary: An absolutely outstanding work
Review: As with Miyazaki's other animated features, this is a triumph on all levels. Tragic, heartwarming, comic, thrilling--I can't say enough good about it.

I haven't heard the Disney dub, but given even their reasonable work on the Spirited Away dub, it's worth the effort to use the subtitles. Miyazaki's heroines always have a particular sweetness, an innocence that stems from purity--and those qualities are never quite captured by the American actresses. Disney also tends to over-fill the soundtrack, fearing that Americans can't stand silence. Miyazaki's work stands on its own--be brave and use the subtitles!

Rating:
Summary: Very imaginative but animation is below Miyazaki's standard
Review: It's more like 3 1/2 stars. This is a very imaginative movie, as one would expect, and it's fun. But the animation is way below what we expect from Miyazaki's standard-bearers like "Mononoke" and "Spirited Away". Too bad, because a lot of thought and imagination clearly went into its design. The opening sequence, in which a boy sees a girl floating down from the sky with a glowing crystal round her neck, is eerie. The best part about this movie is that it takes place in a fascinating alternate world, a "parallel history", which looks like Britain or America around 1900-1910, EXCEPT (here's the cool part) great airships fill the sky. The airships are elaborate Rube-Goldberg contraptions, much larger than the airplanes of today, but at the same time, more old-fashioned and quaint, somewhat like the great dirigibles of the 1920's. It reminds me of great old-fashioned movies like "Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang", "The Great Race" and "Willy Wonka". This alternate world, neither the past nor the future, has been very well imagined and has complete integrity. Little boys will love the vehicles and contraptions. (Some reviewers say the "animation" is great--what they really mean is that the design and storyboarding are great.) Unfortunately, the animation (meaning, not the design, but how characters MOVE) is bad, it's choppy and abrupt; the battle scenes, though exciting, remind us of the HORRIBLE late-80's Saturday morning action cartoons like "He-Man", "G.I. Joe", etc. The movie is from 1986 so it's no surprise, but it's WAY below the standard of "Mononoke" and "Spirited Away", and even below Disney features. There are few quiet, contemplative moments like in "Mononoke" or "Spirited", it's mostly action. The paintings of the sky and clouds are OK but less beautiful than in "Mononoke", "Spirited" and "Kiki's Delivery Service". And, very unfortunately, the movie takes a nose-dive in its last quarter--it locks into the standard all-too-familiar anime plot (warning, here's a spoiler): the castle of Laputa has a powerful energy source which can (surprise!) be used as a super-weapon, and the villain wants to control it so he can (surprise!) rule the world. Too bad. About the voices: Chloris Leachmann (yes, Chloris Leachman) is great as Dola the air pirate, a Ma Barker-type gang leader (when her not-too-bright sons call her "Mom", she insists, "Call me captain!"), Anna Paquin is right on as Sheeta the floating girl. James Van Der Beek is just mediocre as her friend Pozu, and Mark Hammill is over the top bad as the villain ("Give me that Crystal!"). Altogether this DVD is a renter, not a buyer. BTW if you were also thinking of buying "Kiki's Delivery Service", that one's better at capturing the joy of flying, though it's more girl-oriented.

Rating:
Summary: Another great Ghibli classic
Review: I was introduced to Miyazaki quite a few years ago when I bought a movie called "Warriors of The Wind" in a bargain bin at K-mart. Come to find out, this movie was a butchered version of Nausicaa Vally of the Wind with horrible dubbing ala Carl Macek. Anyways as much as I hate Disney, I am glad to see Miyazaki's work translated into english and uncut the way his films were meant to be seen. This is a great service to children in the United States. Castle In The Sky is another example of perfection to come from Miyazaki, and I urge everyone who may have children to start them a collection of his work. The moral values of his films stretch beyond the classic right vs. wrong seen in other childrens films, giving children a much deeper understanding of values.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic film on DVD...but be careful of the audio options.
Review: I'd seen Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki's successful U.S. breakthrough, in the theatres in a dubbed versions and was supremely impressed and satisfied by the job Miramax did to adapting the film, with Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver and Gillian Anderson delivering top-notch voice acting for the English version that I didn't miss the Japanese version. So when Disney finally released the Miyazaki catalogue on DVD here, my expectations for Laputa: Castle in the Sky -- my favourite Miyazaki film -- were staggering.

This DVD turned out to be a rare bird indeed. The English adaptation is abysmal. James Van Der Beek, as the crucial main character Pazu, gives one of the worst animation voice performances I've ever heard. He sounds like a person reading lines while trying to loop a movie. Anna Paquin fares marginally better as Sheeta, and the talented Mandy Patinkin is wasted in a tiny role. Overall, the direction on the English dubbed version is pretty bad, with the English-language actors filling in unnecessary dialogue that all but ruins what had been quieter, silent moments of pure action. The tremendous first five minutes of the film are just ruined by unnecessary actor ad libs, which intrude upon the pure-action storytelling of the original. And somehow Disney felt the need to re-arrange and remix the score and basically committed seppuku to the dangerous, high-adventure tone of the opening scene.

But wait...for all the butcheries committed to the film in the English dubbed version, Disney deserves praise for putting options for the full, untampered Japanese sound mix into the DVD audio options. When I discovered these options, my criticisms became minimal, as I was able to enjoy Miyazaki's original, superior vision of how the sound mix and dialogue should be. Having the guts and the respect to make available the original tracks despite its high-budget (albeit botched) English version is really a laudable move on Disney's part, and quite rare in translating a film for foreign markets. Kudos for respecting the original vision.

My recommendation? Watch the film with the original Japanese sound mix and English subtitles. The subtitling option on this edition is far better than the subtitles on the Taiwanese import copy of the film I had, which weren't even in sync with the voices.

With technical aspects out of the way, the film really is a classic. With the best story progression, characters, artwork and thematic elements in the Miyazaki oeuvre, not to mention a celestial film score which is the jewel in Joe Hisaishi's crown, Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a must-own. I still wish they could have done a better job on the dubbed English version -- the English version of Princess Mononoke does the original proud and is a great option to have. Nevertheless, the original sound is there for you to enjoy, and you can pick the English version if you so incline. See if you agree with me whether it's better or worse. This is definitely a good edition of the film to get.

Rating:
Summary: Great except for the new and not improved dub.
Review: Miyazaki's classic "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" is finally released in the U.S. (Disney has dropped Laputa from the title). I was fortunate to discover this film many years ago (well over a decade). Even though I could only see it in Japanese without subtitles, this film left a big impression. Within the last year, I discovered I could import it on DVD with english sub and dub. I had long since given up on Disney (who's had the rights to this for years) ever releasing it.

Well, wouldn't you know, now that I have it, Disney finally releases it along with the other film they've been sitting on, Kiki's Delivery Service? Thank you, "Spirited Away" for convincing Disney there is an audience. On April 15th, Disney released Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, along with "best animated feature academy award" winning Spirited Away. Even though I already had the import of Castle in the Sky, I picked up this new U.S. release because of a special deal in getting all three.

The best thing about Disney having the U.S. distribution rights over Miyazaki's films is how well they handle the English dub. The quality is as good and sometimes better than the original Japanese. No other company handles japanese animation imports even half as well. So it surprised me to discover that I didn't much care for the English dub on this release.

The import version I have has an english dub that is rather well done, even if it's not as good as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, or Spirited Away. I always figured it to be the Disney dub that made it on releases over seas, but was never released in the U.S. Who knows, maybe it is, but it's not the dub that's on this release. As usual, Disney has given this the star treatment in order to make the film more marketable, but familiar names don't equate to better voice acting.

In all fairness, the quality of the dub is mostly excellent. The real problem I have is the casting of Anna Paquin and James Van Der Beek as the two main characters. Their voices and acting don't reflect the pre-teen characters they are portraying. Worse, the dialogue is different than the dub from the import. The reason it's worse, is it gets the dumbed-down-for-kids treatment that has to over explain everything.

Miyazaki's films are for the kid in all of us, not specifically for children. In fact, many young children may not even enjoy his films. Unfortunately, us westerners can't get over the fact that if it's animated, it must be for kids.

Castle in the Sky is a great film regardless. The best way I can describe it is to say it's what "Young Indiana Jones" should have been like. Being an older film, it is not quite as refined as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, but it still knocks the pants off anything you can find made here. Don't just think this is a movie to get for the kids, it's a great film anyone should love (unlike Disney films). This is a five star film that I only gave four because of the uncharacteristically disappointing Disney dub.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: I was so excited when I got this DVD because I am a fan of Hayao Miyazaki. The movie was no less then I expected, with great art, a great score, a fantastic fantasy world with plenty of imagination, amazing characters with amazing personalities, and above all else, a great plot.

Pazu is an apprentice to an engineer, and dreams of finding a fantasy land in the sky, called Laputa (thats LA pewta). One day he see's a girl falling (or should I say floating?) from the sky. There is a crystal around her neck that glows and seem's to be holding her up in the air. Soon the military and secret agents get caught up in a unique plot to control Laputa and find the all powerful crystal. Also, air pirates want the treasure that can be found at Laputa and at the same time seem to be after, and helping, Pazu and the girl, Sheeta. Sheeta also has a powerful crystal that leads her to Laputa.

If you could describe Laputa: Castle in the Sky in one word, it would be Classic. Castle in the Sky has unique air ships and a FANTASTIC environment. I must say that Castle in the Sky is one of my favorite movies of all time (the other two being Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, other works of Hayao Miyazaki). Oh, I wish that that movie went on forever! (maybe there will be a sequel?)

Rating:
Summary: Bad Bad Bad Talkative Dumbed-down American Version!
Review: Don't get me wrong, Laputa is one of my all-time favorite movies, and not just for animated movies, and I've eagerly awaited the region 1 release of this DVD (I already own the region 3 release), only because I thought Disney will do a decent job of translating this anime masterpiece in a respectful, and most importantly accurate, way like they did for Mononoke Hime. After all, isn't it in the Disney-Ghibli-Tokuma contract that NOTHING can be changed in the process of traslation? Miyazaki's masterpieces are like the music of Mozart, take away or add one note anywhere, and you'll end up destroying the whole thing. But Disney thought they can improve upon perfection and boy did they do a butcher job to Laputa! First they thought the attention span of American audience is so short that they have to fill every quiet moment with musical background, just like in Hollywood movies. While Joe Hisaishi did a superb job with the updated score under the circumstances, it really distracts from the mood of the movie, because those quiet moments are meant for us to ponder, to reflect and to pick out the subtle background sounds from the movie, but all that is lost by filling almost every minute with background music. But the worst offence of all are the awful voices and the bad bad alterations in the dialog. If you put on the Japanese audio track while watching the English subtitle (dubbed version), you can see the difference even if you don't understand Japanese. My estimate is that there are twice the amount of dialog in the American dub as in the original. Places where the characters shouldn't be talking are replaced by useless remarks or explanations. And worse, many of these remarks are spoilers of things to come! Again it seems Disney thinks that American audience is so dumb that they have to have every single thing explained in painful detail. And the American voices of Pazu and Sheeta are just plain awful to hear.

I understand that Disney always views animation as only for kids, probably of age 12 or under, but Miyazaki's movies are equally entertaining to kids and adults. In fact I first saw Laputa almost 20 years ago when I was 20 yeas old and I loved it then and I still love it as much today. By dumbing down Laputa like Disney did, they're showing great disrespect not only for Miyazaki and Ghibli staff, but to all of us older audiences. It's plainly an insult to our intelligence.

I do hope that in time a Director's version of Laputa will be released, featuring the unaltered music and dialog in full DD5.1/DTS glory. But until then, I suggest everyone watch the Japanese audio version with English subtitle (the literal translation version, not the dubbed version) to really appreciate this amazing movie for what it is.

P.S. the one star subtracted for the rating is solely for the bad American version. The original Laputa gets my perfect score in any rating system ^_^

Rating:
Summary: A comment on the Disney English version of Laputa
Review: 5 stars for the Japanese version and 3 stars for the English version.

The music of the English version of Laputa had failed to create the atmosphere which the Japanese version had done a very good job - especially from chapter 10 to the end.

The appropiate moments to stop the music and the suitable moments to start the music are totally messed up in the English version. Besides, some of the melodies fail to harmonize with the atmosphere. Moreover, the voice acting of Pazu and Sheeta are simply 'acting' without soul.

The volume level of the dubbing in the English version is much higher than the music which further downgrades the important role of the music in the original Laputa.

With the help of the screen selection and audio setup, one can compare the overall effect between the English version and the Japanese version in a fly.

Anyway, both the music and sound effects in the English version are very disappointing - even a tiny subtle thing like the singing of birds are absent at the begining of Chapter 10. In the Japanese version, with the effect of music and sound, my heart said: "Wow! Laputa." In the English version, my heart said: "Hmm..., it seems like this is Laputa."

Rating:
Summary: One of the most beautiful and adventurous movies i've seen
Review: This movie is one of the best movies I have ever seen, easily on my top ten list. It has adventure, romance, friendship, plenty of action, it is light hearted and just a fun movie to sit down and watch. The setting in the movie is amazing, Miyazaki based much of the mining town and castle's off of real places in Wales, England. The technology is really cool too, it's not quite futuristic, but its also not modern, its a surreal type of technology that's very industrialized. It seems like it takes place in the late 19th century, yet in an alternate universe. The characters are very developed, and Pazu is one of my favorite characters of all time. Check this movie out, whether you like anime or not, you won't forget it very easily.

Rating:
Summary: WOW! Pure Fun!
Review: This movie is fun. pure and simple. I'm almost 18 and I enjoyed this movie a little two much. ^.^ The story is releativly simple, but done so so well. I really feel this is a movie the whole family can enjoy. (there IS some violence, most of the bad guys die- it's comparable to Disney's Atlantis- so be warned.) And as always I'm impressed by a fairly good dub which this has. (not perfect but pretty good) my only real complaint is I feel some of the subltle timing is ever so slightly off, and could be a bit more literal, but it's nothing that won't stop you from enjoying the movie to its fullest.