Spirited Away

Rating:
Summary: One of the most imaginative movies ever made
Review: I like this movie very much and so does my 5 year-old daughter. The animation is beautiful but it's the fresh ideas, concepts, and characters that impressed me the most. The originality is staggering.

Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT!
Review: After watching this movie I can see why the disney animators worship the director. People you respect for their animation abilities (creator of Pixar for example) believe this director to be one of the greatest animators of all times. Once you see this movie you will understand why. No computers here. Painstakingly done by hand, this is a magnificant piece of work. Younger kids may not truely understand the scope but adults will marvel at the creativity and the workmanship. You know the story, you know about the awards, now watch the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Yet another amazing Miyazaki...
Review: Hayao Miyazaki is the creator of numerous amazing films. Spirited Away follows the class and charm of such films as Princess Mononoke before it. The characters are detailed and the animation is gorgeous, and the plot is intriguing and well developed. It is an awesome portrayal of the supernatural spirit world, as well as a highlight against gluttony. If you consider yourself an anime fan, this is a must see movie.
What's more, it must be awesome since it's the only Disney film (sponsored or no) that's ever won an Academy Award.

Rating:
Summary: Miazaki does it again
Review: Even if you have no idea who miazaki is, there should be a good chance you'll find something that you love on this magical ride. Personally I liked "princess Mononoke" and I loved "Laputa: castle in the sky", but this one, beats them all. Details on the plot have already been discussed elsewhere so I won't go into the story. All I wanna say is the animation is gorgeous, so rich in detail that you can pick up new things each time you see it. The characters are believable and charismatic (even the so-called "villain") because they aren't devided into good and bad but rather one great big colorful mass of interesting creatures each with their own motives and personality traits. And all these elements come together to form one of the most insanely charming fairytales ever. It feels a bit like Alice in wonderland (the book) and I guess parents should be warned that some scenes are a bit intense, but some truly important and valuable moral lessons are discretely spread around along the way, so I believe that this film is a great and healthy experience that children everywhere should be able to enjoy. If I ever have kids I certainly plan on showing them Spirited away.

Rating:
Summary: Technically Superb, But Strange
Review: Another stunning film by, Hayao Miyazaki, the undisputed master of animation this film suffers from many of the flaws of Princess Mononoke and other masterpieces of Japanese animation: a combination of almost random imagery and shocking leaps between brutality and tenderness and between gravity and silliness. For those comfortable with these features of the genre, this film will stand out as clearly the finest yet made: an essential part of any serious anime collection and easily worth a dozen viewings. However, viewers new to serious anime (we're not talking Speed Racer here) and especially those with young children, should take care: this film, like many of its predecessors (notably Mononoke) contains disturbing images that will not be suitable for all audiences. Moreover, because these images are -- in typical anime fashion -- often dreamily disconnected from any real narrative purpose, they are all the more shocking, especially to those expecting a family animation experience along the lines of Lion King. For the daring though, well worth a try; but be sure to pre-view it before sitting the family in front of it.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: What I heard most about this movie before I actually saw it was that it is a great story. The concept is interesting, the movie has great beginning but then it sort of wonders aimlessly to a point of actually being boring. Not in the same league as "Lion King".

Rating:
Summary: Oscar's pick...
Review: I often find that the movies that win awards (particularly Oscars) are not necessarily the movies I wish to see. Sometimes, in fact, I have never even heard of these award-winning films. No, I am not referring to foreign films or documentaries or the winner of the "Most Obscure Film from Kazakhstan" prize. I'm talking about the big awards for movies of which I should have at least heard.

Five movies were nominated for this year's Best Animated Feature award. Included in the list of nominees were such films as Lilo & Stitch, Ice Age, and Treasure Planet. The only nominee of which I had heard nothing was Spirited Away, a Japanese film dubbed into English. Obviously, this chapped my delicate sensibilities, so I immediately arranged to view the film - to my complete and utter joy.

Spirited Away is the story of Chihiro, a young, selfish girl who is thrust into a surreal world of talking frogs, witches, dragons and spirits. Through her attempts to rescue her parents who have been turned into pigs (that'll teach them to eat the food of the spirits), Chihiro learns lessons about friendship, bravery and love. I'm not doing the story justice, simply because I don't feel that I'm up to the task.

If I was forced to describe Spirited Away in ten words or less, I would have to call it "Alice in Wonderland embedded in Japanese mythology". Unfortunately, it is the Japanese mythology that is the only fault. And, though it pains me to say it, the fault is mine - I am simply not well-versed in that type of literature.

Japanese audiences loved this movie. With its original theatrical release in Japan in 2001, Spirited Away became the highest grossing film ever for that country. I loved the movie, too, despite my admitted short-comings.

That being said, I would recommend that parents screen this film before showing it to younger children, as some scenes may be a bit frightening. For the parents that do watch the film - don't be surprised if you enjoy the film more than your kids. I suppose that's as good a reason as any to rent it for them...

Rating:
Summary: Spirited Away
Review: I loved it, A must for all anime fans.
Try all of Miyazake films.....;)

Rating:
Summary: Will last and last in your memory like a glorious dream
Review: The genius of this film is its utter narrative originality: while it seems indisputably like Japanese fairy tales (in its particulars of spiritual machinery) and may even remind you of Northern European fairy tales (in its setting and the tribulations the heroine must go through), it also seems like nothing else you've ever seen. Best of all, while its exceptionally intelligent and offers a profound allegory about class (in its heroine's need to work to survive, and the gredy system she works under), it never seems moralistic or preachy in the least. And nothing is never what it seems to be: eschewing the easy good and evil dualities of American cartoons, the characters the heroine encounters are complex and ambiguous in their morality. No one is a clear villain or hero, and someone who can give her her greatest aid at one minute can suddenly become a threat to her life.

The young heroine, Chihiro, matures in the course of the film from a clingy and even irritatingly whining young girl to someone more mature and self-reliant, but her transformation is gradual and believable. When her parents are transformed into pigs by the magics of a mysterious recreational village for spirits they stumble across, Chihiro must work from the literal bottom of a spooky and mysterious tower which functions as a bathing house for spirits and demons. The bathhouse tower is a kind of Gothic miracle, populated by all kinds of creatures that you've never seen before and remind you of nothing else (such as the enchanted furnace smudges required to carry inidivual coals). And the film is replete with great moments of beauty that the director, Miyazaki, is not afraid to linger on: a train gliding over a flooded empty landscape, or seagulls circling far below the heroine's feet (yet over a beautiful blue sea) as she climbs to the top of the mysterious tower. This isn't like anything else you've ever seen before.

Rating:
Summary: A new modern anime classic!
Review: From anime maestro " Hayao Miyazaki" presents a modern fairy tale that tells of a traveling family with a little girl named " Chihiro" who goes into a strange abandoned theme park that is actually a magical realm for spirits. A sorceress puts a spell on the girls's parents turning them into Pigs, only Chihiro can break the spell by going into the spirit world and go on many tasks including trying to go back home.

A most excellent and creative Japanese animated movie that has tons of great animation to amaze you and neat graphics. It's now the highest grossing movie in Japan next to " Mononoke Hime" and " Titanic". This movie was released last year into Theaters receiving an American audience and Acclaim from critics such as Roger Ebert, this is a most see movie for teh whole family.

Also recommended: Harry Potter Series, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, Ninja Scroll, The Professional: Golgo 13, Fist of the North Star, The Wizard of Oz, The Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, Labyrinth, Ghostbusters, The Last Unicorn, The Flight of Dragons, The Hobbit, The Secret of NIMH, My Neighbor Totoro, Perfect Blue, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky.