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The Castle of Cagliostro

The Castle of Cagliostro

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $23.96
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Different from Miyazaki's latest releases
Review: Many of Miyazaki's latest releases are quite different from this film. While the films, such as Princess Mononoke, are amazing works they are far more serious than this film. The Castle of Cagliostro is a fun and comedic romp that will leave you with a warm feeling inside.

The story follows Lupin III, a master thief that is similar to James Bond, in his adventure to break into the castle of Cagliostro. He quickly discovers much more behind the castle than he bargained for.

The movie is great if you don't want anything to heavy and are more concerned about a light-hearted and fun film. One of my favorites

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Castle of Cagliostro
Review: I love most of Miyazaki's animation pictures. Actually I have been a Miyazaki fan since 1978, when I saw his anime on TV at the first time. "The Castle of Cagliostro" is my favorite, and I'd like to give five stars to it, however, I dare to give three because of the picture/sound quality of this particular release.

Compared to the DVD for Japanese market, the contrast of picture is too strong, and sometimes dark colors turned to simple black. Reel change sign and dust on the film bothered me. I also noticed in a scene, the picture swayed horizontally, with poor focus. The frequency range of sound is narrower than Japanese version.

If you can playback region 2 DVDs, I strongly recommend you to buy it from amazon.co.jp. Japanese version of "The Castle of Cagliostro" is five stars in every sense of the word.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Film
Review: I've seen alot of Lupin III movies and I've seen alot of Miyazaki's films. But this one stands out as by far the best of them. I think it is possibly the best anime made. Actually there were some problems with the dub. One thing I noticed is that when Zenigata introduces himself. He say "Inspector Keibu Zenigata" but Keibu means Inspector in Japanese so actually, he is repeating himself. Anyways, this has to be my favorite anime overall.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: Dont let the fact that this anime produced over 20 years ago sway you from watching this classic. Its definitely one my favorite Miyazaki productions. Its goofy, silly, fun where hints of Inspector Cleuseaus, James Bond, Our Man Flint come through in the main character Lupin the thief.
There are unexpected scenes in this movie portraying them as chain-smokers, eating ramen noodles with chopsticks while staking out a castle, and a Samurai sidekick that shows up in traditional garb smack dab in a make-believe European country! Truly hilarious.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Greatest Films Ever Made
Review: Hayao Miyazaki has been called the Akira Kurosawa of Animation, and the Disney of Japan. Neither term is sufficient to describe his genius. Among his many fans, there is much debate as to which of his movies is the greatest. Some people say Castle in the Sky. Some say Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. And many feel that this film is his best. Hard to say, but I would definteily say it's one of the best movies ever made, to say nothing of one of the best animated films ever.

Lupin the Third is big series in Japan. You might say he has a following like that of James Bond in the United States. But that would be a serious understatement. There is Lupin Manga, Lupin OAVs, Lupin movies, Lupin games, a Lupin TV show. And that's just what I've heard of. But despite the fact that Lupin is a huge phenomenon spanning a huge variety of media, everyone seems to agree that the crowning achievement as far as Lupin goes is the castle of Cagliostro. And the best part is, you don't have to know anything about Lupin to enjoy it!

The animation is old, more than 20 years. But like all of Miyazaki's animation, it looks better than much of what passes for animated films today. The backgrounds and mechanical devices in his films in particular are always amazing. The film transfer on this DVD isn't exactly the greatest. At times, it shows scratches and metal flecks on the print. At one or two points in the film it looks a little dim and washed out. But in the good parts, the use of color and detail is truly awesome.

The characters in this film are great. Lupin himself comes across like a combination of Jim Carey and James Bond (in the best possible way), and his many sidekicks (from his heavy firepower loving right hand man to the serious samurai and sometime love interest Fujiko) all are just great. The villain is pretty evil, making the great escape and showdown at the end of the movie that much better. But the real stars of the show are Lupin and the beautiful young girl he has sworn to rescue. Both of them are just PERFECT.

This film also features great action sequences (the great car chase, a gyrocopter getaway, and steel-clawed assasins come to mind). And let's not forget about the music. From the opening credits to the ending of the film, the score does not disappoint. Speaking of sound, the Japanese dub features the same perfect voice acting you will find in every Japanese version of a Miyazaki film. And this dvd features a great English dub too. People with young children should take note, though. The English dub has more harsh language than the Subtited version. I'd say about the difference between a PG and a PG-13 rating).

What makes this movie for me is it's wonderful sense of BALANCE, something Miyazaki has mastered absolutely. There is adventure. There is action. There is comedy. But most of all there is the infectious idealism and beauty of the human spirit that makes all of Miyazaki's films absolute classics. Everyone should see this movie. Any animation fan should buy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Made in 1979, but you won¿t be disappointed.
Review: Made in 1979, but you won't be disappointed.

Lupin the 3rd was a very popular T.V. series during 1970s and 80s. Lupin is a master thief, grand son of French "Ar sene Lupin." He has very characteristic companies:

Jigen: a master gunman who can shot anything he wants.
Goemon: a samurai, who can cut any object with his sword.
Fujiko: Lupin's enemy and lover.
Zenigata: a inspector from Tokyo police who has been pursuing Lupin, but never succeed.

"Castle of Cagliostro," was made in 1979 by a famous director Hayao Minazaki, and this was his first movie.

I've watched this movie in Japan when I was a little kid, and I never forgot about it. I recently purchased DVD and watched in English dubbed. The translation is little different from the original, but I think they did pretty good job. I can tell they tried to make it easier language.

The most exciting thing in this movie is Lupin's character: a thief who is skillful, gentle, kind, and having sense of humor. Lupin was manage to steal princes' heart in the story, but had to leave her at the end. It was Lupin's dandyism which takes your breath away.

Scenario is also well written. There are some intelligence conversations with political background. Lupin was pursuing the secret of counterfeit in a small nation, Duchy of Cagliostro, and run into a princess who was forced to be a bride against her will.

This movie, there are some similarity to "Shrek.": To rescue a princess locked in a tower, unmanned camera pictured Lupin when he tried to get into the castle, and Lupin breaking into princes' wedding ceremony and said "I object!."

This is still enjoyable to those who are not familiar to the T.V. series. Animation looks old compare to today's one. But I don't think you will be disappointed. One of my friends who never knew Lupin, watched this movie, and said "You can call me Lupin, if you want."

This is still one of my favorite.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lupin!!!
Review: This one was pretty good. Lupin reminds me of a smoother Austin Powers with cooler sidekicks. Besides the other Lupin movies this one really caught my eye. If you watch this you might not understand it, you might have to watch part of the t.v. series first. The animation is pretty good. I mean not Akira good but pretty good for the year it was made in. It contains all the charecters including Lupin, Zenigata, Fujiko, Jigen, and Goeman. This movie is probablly suitable for ages 11 and older. I have no idea why amazon gives movies that aren't rated ratings. Overall it was a pretty good anime.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lupin!!!
Review: This Lupin movie was pretty good. It pretty much has all the charecters in it. But it dosen't very well show how cool they can be like in the t.v. and ova series does. Overall the animation is pretty good compared to the others. The story pulls you in and is pretty entertaining as usual. There is plenty of action including car chases, shoot outs, spying etc... there is alot of comedy which makes it hallarious and of course there is alot of Lupin. Lupin is what made me fall inlove with anime. He is like a smoother japanese Austin Powers hero kind a guy to me. Very good anime.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is a great anime movie!!!
Review: This is a great movie cause it combines my two favorite things my favorite director and my favorite anime show. This movie ties in great with the anime series. Miyazaki did a great job directing this movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Great But Good Fun
Review: I had misgivings after buying Hayao Miyazaki's THE
CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO. Being one of his earliest
movies, it was unlikely to be in a league with his
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO or PRINCESS MONONOKE, and I
wondered if it was actually going to be even worth
watching.

But I finally sat down and watched THE CASTLE OF
CAGLIOSTRO and it kept me perfectly entertained all
the way through. It's basically derived from
French or Italian-made "caper" films from the 1960s
or 1970s, involving the adventures of master thief
Lupin in the little mythical kingdom of Cagliostro
(which I would suspect is next door to Grand Fenwick).

What you get out of this is wild car stunts (driving
on two wheels and so forth), tricky gadgets, a castle
fortress with laser defenses, a princess in distress,
an evil count, a pretty spy, anti-tank rifles, a fight
in the clock tower, escapes from dungeons, and an
Interpol inspector named Zanigata who combines a bit of
Inspector Clouseau with a little amiable satire of
Japanese single-mindedness.

The production values are generally competent, though
not quite up to Miyazaki's more famous works. Still,
the Miyazaki style, distinctive among all animation, is
still very clearly there. A lot of the plot devices
can't stand up to even mild examination, but given that
nobody with any sense would think this movie should be
taken seriously that's not really much of a criticism.
It does get a bit more violent in places than something
this lightweight can support, but it doesn't make a
habit of it.

The end result is pleasant if not exactly memorable.
This is the sort of movie I am reluctant to praise too
much or too little. Must-see video? No. Entertaining?
Yes.

Incidentally, I found out from poking around on the
Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" late-night offerings
that an anime TV series was made about Lupin, titled
LUPIN THE THIRD. I only bring this up because the
TV series is very cheaply made, and those who have
seen it might get the mistaken idea that THE CASTLE
OF CAGLIOSTRO is operating at the same (very low)
level of quality. Not the case, fortunately -- the
only thing the TV series and the movie have in
common are the characters.


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