Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: The movie is a funny as any Disney movie. The characters are as interesting as those of Lewis Carol ( my favorite are the frog in the Kimono and the little mouse) The colors are beautiful and crisp and the background art is so realistic. Great movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Best animated movie in a long time
Review: I saw this movie in the theaters and I was blown away by it. Then I bought the movie a few days later and now I can watch it whenever I want. To me this doesn't seem at all like a Disney film and I don't even know why Disney was a part of the filmmaking process. Spirited Away is way better than Princess Mononoke and well worth your time to go see. Anime rocks!!
Rating: 
Summary: a minority, dissenting view
Review: In Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning animated feature, "Spirited Away," a young girl by the name of Chihiro and her parents stumble across an abandoned "amusement park" that turns out to be a mysterious bathhouse for the spirit world (a la "Carnival of Souls"). After her parents are turned into pigs, the young girl must infiltrate the bathhouse to find a way to make them human again. Chihiro encounters an amazing array of strange and exotic creatures abiding there, some of whom help her in her quest and some of whom don't.No one would ever deny the visual splendor and wealth of imagination that have gone into the look of this film. The animators have created an entire world filled with inhabitants that defy description. Moreover, the elegance of the backgrounds and the fluidity of the movement provide some of the best work in those areas that animation has ever offered. One appreciates the effort, especially in this day and age when imagination in movies is at such a premium. Therefore, I feel like a bit of an ingrate pointing out that "Spirited Away" might actually have been a somewhat better film had the filmmakers opted for a little LESS imagination in favor of a little more discipline in the storytelling. The filmmakers are so busy trying to dazzle us with their creativity that we end up with more characters and subplots than the film can reasonably cope with. The story often feels arbitrary in nature, with events that seem unrelated to each other vying for our attention just so we can be impressed with how creative everyone is trying to be. The film seems to ramble for a good part of the time, and we find ourselves yearning for a tighter, more streamlined narrative to help keep us involved. In addition, there's a certain lack of logic that runs through most of the film, making us question why certain characters do what they do. For instance, why would a bunch of spirits be so concerned with eating, sleeping, making money, riding trains, etc.? The rules of this world don't seem to be laid down rigorously enough for us to understand what it's all supposed to be about. I don't want to sound like a total curmudgeon in criticizing a film that, apparently, many people, including innumerable critics, have hailed as a masterpiece. And I do concede that "Spirited Away" has moments of great beauty and charm to more than compensate for its rather slow pacing and excessive length. A haunting trip on a ghostly train is, perhaps, the highlight of the film, a transcendent moment that hints at how great the rest of the film could have been had its makers not felt the need to pad out the story so consistently. Chihiro is a spunky, poignant and noble heroine, and a few of the other characters are compelling as well. "Spirited Away" offers much for the audience to gape and marvel at, but it lacks the drama to make us really care.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely awful!
Review: I honestly can't believe that so many people liked this movie. My husband and I bought the DVD after reading many positive reviews that described it as "wonderful," "fanciful," and "a family classic." We were horrified when we watched it, though. This movie is full of mean-spirited characters, violence, and scenes that would give a young child nightmares. The little girl who's the protagonist of the movie is basically abandoned by her parents and abused by most of the spirits she encounters. She does end up making friends, standing up for herself, and rescuing her parents from the spirit world, but it's not enough to make up for all of the negativity of this movie. There's no way that I will ever let my kids watch this movie. My husband and I thought it was just plain weird.
Rating:
Summary: Walt Disney's Best Movie Ever!
Review: Spirited Away is my favorite and most loved storys. It is about a girl who is trying to save her parents in a magical and mysterious world, well in this strange world she makes new friemds and discovers her true self. This movie has some of the best animation I've seen yet! If you love stories that are haert warming, funny, and a bit dramatic I recamend this to you!
Rating:
Summary: I love it!! BUT....
Review: It's definitely not for everyone!! My friend was not prepared for the freakish characters... in addition, I think the movie had a dark feeling to it overall! The animation is amazing!! There are so many touching moments, comic treasures and such great attention to detail in the art work and the story!! I hope you check it out, so at least you can determine if it's worth all the fuss!! :)
Rating:
Summary: Great Motion Picture from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli
Review: This is a wonderful film for anyone that likes to watch a good screenplay turned into a great movie. These are the kind of movies that define new pathways, I can't recommend enough that you watch this movie. Read above the rest of the reviews.
I do have some comments regarding this two DVD's set, I disliked the fact that so much importance was given to the people at Disney for their translation and distribution efforts: don't get me wrong here, I think the lipsync work is great and the english version came out very good, but I do feel that Miyazaki and the studio should have had more relevance in this DVD release. I would have liked to see so much more instead of the interviews to the people at Disney! There is a great Japanese program showing the making of the film, but few images of the procces, aside from the storyboard. I would've liked to see thumbnails, the conceptual paintings, more on the digital aspects of the production (the 3d effects are stunning, but nothing was said about them) information on the design of the characters.... I hope that Disney will publish something better on this movie later, it would be a shame otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: Would have been 5 stars if Disney weren't Disney....
Review: If you've never seen the original or a good fansub version of (ahem) "Spirited Away," you will find it to be a wonderful journey into Miyazakiland. However, if you have a decent fansub, you'll probably be happier sticking with it and passing on the Disney version. The translation is not true to the original - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and guess they had an inexperienced translator working on it. Better that than the alternative of purposely trying to dumb things down/be PC for the American audience. Words were dropped, nonexistent dialog was added and typos abound. The Japanese version ends with the American-version's cast list. I guess Disney figures Americans don't care about the real actors, even though the voices have more emotion than their English-speaking counterparts. Most of what's written here applies, as well, to Disney's two other recent Ghibli releases. Why couldn't they leave perfection alone?
Rating:
Summary: This movie deserves a billion stars!
Review: Kiki's Delivery Service was good. My Neighbor Totoro was cute. Laputa, Castle In The Sky was great. Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite movies of all time--an absolute jaw-dropping achievement. Now, we come to Spirited Away. This is without question the best anime movie I have ever seen. It made me laugh (the soot balls are adorable! I want one! I want all of them!); it made me cry; it made me giddy (whenever Sen and her friends triumphed over Yubaba); it surprised me (can't say anything without giving stuff away); and it just moved me like no other anime has ever done. Sen is a real, believable character who acts like a ten-year-old WOULD act if put into this situation. She is lost, confused, sad, angry, sarcastic, beligerent, kind, innocent, and friendly, all at the same time. She doesn't flinch in front of Yubaba, but gives in to her emotions after seeing her parents in the pigpen. She deals with the Stink Spirit without having to be prodded, and faces the angry No Face knowing that he could attack. She is not particularly beautiful physically, but by the end of the movie she is beautiful in other ways, including that way. She is not brave or daring--she tries to stop her parents from exploring, and she doesn't partake of the food herself (which is a good thing). Lin is one of my favorite characters. Like Toki from Princess Mononoke, Lin has an attitude and a sharp tongue and is not afraid to use it. She is sarcastic, insulting, and borderline cruel to most, but to Chihiro/Sen she is almost like a big sister. I love what she tells No Face! (Those of you who have seen the movie should know what I am talking about.) Haku is too wonderful for words. And his other form is SO awesome! He's handsome, kind, and I love his voice! Anyway, Get the movie! Watch it! You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Fairytales don't tell children....
Review: Simply wonderful. It is undisputed This is a beautiful movie. The plot is captivating and personal. It does meander, but in a good way. It takes time to notice things and build momentum. Spirited Away could have been shorter- but it would have suffered for it. If you want to appreciate it as a piece of art, watch with subtitles, but the dub is fine. It communicates the plot well enough, and children (the audience) shouldn't have to worry about reading when watching movies, because it takes them out of just watching it. Those who worry about accuracy and Americanizing in the translation are misguided. I know enough Japanese to know the sub mistranslates very often in this and any film, rephrasing most of the questions, putting in things not said. It is a good sub, but it had to be "mistranslated" because most of the meaning is lost if just the words are translated and not the intent. When Chihiro's parents are calling to see if anyone is there, they are saying "Sumimasen!" or "I'm sorry," which makes little sense without context. The sub isn't more accurate, but the acting may be better, because some people don't like Chihiro's english actor. I thought she did well.
I would recommend this with a few "buts:" 1) Don't buy it if you liked Princess Mononoke because of it's environmental sentiments. The environmental message is second to the plot, and is stating Miyazaki's love for the earth, not that _you_ should love it. It's what separates Mononoke from a well drawn Captain Planet. Neither movie is there to take you by the hand and tell you what you or your children ought to think about anything. 2) Don't buy it if you don't like fairy tales, as in the Grimm ones. In fairy tales, any morality is incidental, making the hero apparent. Her parents are turned into pigs for their greed, but would have been eventually anyway, and Chihiro's desire not to join them so she can eventually save them drives the plot early on. Things just happen, and being a good girl puts her in more real danger at times than being neutral or bad. 3) You won't know this until you see it, but if you can't understand NoFace, you won't understand the film. He is the only other character besides Chihiro on the cover. He has more screen time than Haku, and is in most of what critics call "dead time." I'm not sure I fully understand him myself. Miyazaki calls him autobiographical. He wants desperately to please people, is figuratively and literally ravenous, and is empty and directionless without consuming people. He is tragic, and it would be an incomplete movie without him. 4) Just a note: Chihiro never finds herself, merely discovers she has always been there. This is why she goes from sullen and sarcastic to polite and determined. This is seen as a very good thing, and very different from the typical American heroine who does the opposite. She isn't a fantasy fulfillment but, *gasp,* a role model (but isn't there just to be one). She does the right thing without guarantee it will turn out well or regard for if it will. Being "true to herself" never comes into it. Parents fear not: the heroine isn't insufferably annoying, but will be unfamiliar. Thank God. With all of this said, is it good for children? It will scare them. It scared me. That is its nature. But it will scare them with things they are already afraid of. "Fairy tales don't tell Children that Dragons exist. Children already know that Dragons exist. Fairy tales tell Children the Dragons can be killed." Primal nonsensical terror is one of the most magical and definitive parts of childhood. Watching this is, in the long run, better than a night light. It's a sword.
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