The Castle of Cagliostro

Rating:
Summary: Disney NOT
Review: Walt Disney was a TRAITOR!!! He sold his friends out to gain power!

Rating:
Summary: Lupin the 3rd movie is excellent
Review: There is probably no anime character as revered or as celebrated as Lupin the 3rd (well maybe Captain Herlock). Lupin's adventures are truely some of the most entertaining in the entire medium. And The Castle of Cagliostro continues that tradition in spectacular fashion.

Directed by the legendary Hiyato Miyazaki who directed Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, The Castle of Cagliostro follows Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon to the European country side. There they find that the Duke of Cagliostro is about to wed a young lady, who has ties to Lupin's past.

This is, without a doubt, an absolute joy to watch. At a time when so many anime series are overly tedious, brooding and melodratic, it's refreshing to see a film that has a grand sense of adventure and being humours at the same time. Lupin the 3rd may be the world's greatest thief, but in this film he gets to play the hero. Which is a great change of pace for Lupin. One of the great things is that even if you're unfamiliar with Lupin the 3rd, you'll have no problem following this film. This is almost a "stand alone" movie.

The transfer is excellent. The color is very clean even for an older film. The original audio track is presented in 2 Channel Dolby stereo as is the English track. One of the things I couldn't get used to was that the English voice actors are different than that of the current voice talent on the Lupin the 3rd series currently airing on Adult Swim and released by Pioneer. But if you listen to the original Japanse dialog that's not a problem.

The DVD has a very good menu layout. There are animated scene selection menus, which I found very nice considering that most older DVD's don't feature them. One of the things is that the "Extras" are a little sparse. There's some background on Miyazaki, trailers and really that's about it.

This movie is wall to wall fun. With so much anime being so deadly serious, it's great to sit back and have a good laugh. If you like anime, or even just good films in general, then this is a can't miss for your library that director Steven Spielberg once called one of the greatest adventure movies of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Cliff Hanger
Review: Anyone Remember the game Cliff Hanger that came out in 1983? This laserdisk game wasn't as popular as Dragon's Lair but it was one of my all time favorites. that game pretty much was the movie of "The Castle of Caagliostro" only you could play as Lupin.

Rating:
Summary: Bond.... James Bond (Japanese style)
Review: Grown-ups and non-anime fans should not be put off by the cover art for this DVD. This is a great action movie that reminds me of a Bond movie. It has exciting car chases, a clever hero that gets himself out of precarious situations, and an evil super-villain.

But Bond with a big difference: ironically, this movie is LESS cartooonish than the real Bond movies! Bond has lots of gadgets that are incredibly specialized yet just happen to come in handy EVERY TIME, villains who are usually just too loony to be believed, and he has babes who want to jump in the sack with him after eyeballing him for 30 seconds. As a teenage boy fantasy movie, Bond rules; but if you want to see a fun, rollicking adventure/spy movie, then Castle of Cagliostro is actually a better bet.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is one of the earliest movies by a Japanese director named Miyazaki. Most Americans have never heard of him, but in Japan he's looked upon like Spielburg and Lucas rolled into one person. Many people have compared him to Disney, but I think that's not a good comparison. While Disney worked in the same medium, his films were much more child-oriented, and for better or worse, he established many of the animation formulas and cliches that have become the norm for American animation (with notable exceptions like the superb Iron Giant). Disney has become synonymous with dumbed-down and formulaic. No one would EVER use those terms to describe Miyazaki.

While it is really Miyazaki's later work, such as the incomparable Spirited Away, that earned him his reputation as a genius, this film is still very much worth seeing. In fact, what I generally tell anyone who will listen is that you can't go wrong treating Miyazaki's name as a sort of brand name: just rent or buy anything made by him and you're guaranteed to see a movie that is well made, thoughtfully written, a visual feast, and most of all, wonderfully original. How many directors can you think of that fit that description?

The main character of this movie, Lupin, is from a long-running series. But I haven't seen any of the other episodes, and I assure you that you don't have to see any of the series beforehand to be able to enjoy this movie: it stands on its own.

In closing, let me mention that there is a persistent myth perpetuated on various Internet sites that Steven Spielburg called this one of the greatest adventure movies ever made. As far as I can tell, he never said that. Still, this wonderful movie doesn't need any made-up endorsements. See it, and you'll see why.

Rating:
Summary: Great caper film which happens to be anime.
Review: Monday, May 03, 2004 / 4 of 5 / Great caper film which happens to be anime. This was my first full length film exposure to the Lupin mythos. Long ago I had played the laser disc game `Cliffhanger' in the arcades when it first came out, it incorporated most of its plot and scenes from this movie. It was great to finally see the whole thing as I only ever made it about half way through the game, heh. Lupin and sidekick rob a casino and during the ensuing pursuit happen upon a princess chased by thugs. Ultimately leading back to a castle, a count, and a small country holding secrets to counterfeiting and beyond this was an excellent early anime with a great plot. It's interesting to see the character and stylistic cues later anime, particularly Cowboy Bebop, took from the Lupin saga. The plot was what surprised me the most, very sophisticated and entertaining for an anime, it was almost like an animated Bond film, or similar spy caper/mystery. Recommended.