 |
 |
|
|
buying more than one thing? (uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or |
||
 |
 |
intereact!Directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Rick Dempsey, Pete Docter
Actors: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashuin, and Ryunosuke Kamiki
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Retail Price (not our price): $29.99
Release Date: 2006-03-07
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Run Time: 119 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Discs: 2
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com
Like a dream, Howl's Moving Castle carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance. With domestic box office receipts of over $210 million, Howl passed Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke to become the #3 film in Japanese history, behind his Spirited Away and James Cameron's Titanic. Based on a juvenile novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle marks the first time Miyazaki has adapted another writer's work since Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. Using CG, Miyazaki creates a ramshackle structure that looks like it might disintegrate at any moment. Sophie's honesty and determination win her some valuable new friends: Markl, Howl's young apprentice; a jaunty scarecrow; Calcifer, a temperamental fire demon; and Heen, a hilarious, wheezing dog. She wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end an unnecessary and destructive war. The film overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features--animated or live action--offer as much magic as Howl's Moving Castle. --Charles SolomonThe Many Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki The works of Miyazaki The BookThe Art of Howls' Moving Castle (book)Stills from Howl's Moving Castle (click for larger image)2) Description
In Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated masterpiece, journey beyond imagination and enter a "breathtaking fantasy world" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) filled with adventure, humor and heart. Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell. Featuring the voice talents of Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, and Billy Crystal, Miyazaki's artistry comes to life on DVD with inventive characters, unique storytelling and richly detailed animation. (c) 2004 Nibariki • GNDDDT
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
1) A Joy to Behold [Rating: 5 out of 5]
"Howl's Moving Castle" directed by Hayao Miyazaki first came to my attention when it was nominated for an Academy Award. I thought the title was ridiculous and what was a `moving castle'? While channel surfing, I was immediately stunned by the imagery of this conventionally-animated film and I've bought the DVD.Sophie leads a quiet life in her family's hat shop. This imaginary world is like early twentieth century western Europe with significant differences. Magic exists along with technology. One day while going to see her sister, she is aided by a handsome stranger. This stranger (later reveled to be the wizard Howl) has problems of his own and they are chased by mysterious black rubbery creatures. These creatures are henchmen of the Witch of the Wastes. Seemingly cornered, Howl literally sweeps Sophie off her feet to safety.Later while alone in the shop, she is cursed by the Witch of the Wastes who believes Sophie is her romantic rival for Howl. Instantly Sophie is aged from 19 to 90. She leaves town and ventures out into the countryside. In her journey, she is befriended by an enchanted scarecrow. She helps him and he helps her. She ultimately finds refuge in the moving castle of Howl. She is allowed entry by the fire demon, Calcifer who powers the castle. She later meets Markl, Howl's young apprentice. Then the Wizard Howl returns home. Sophie recognizes the man who rescued her. What she does not realize, is Howl recognizes her despite the curse.In time, she becomes a member of the family. Howl is also cursed along with other problems. Events in the outside world intrude in their personal lives when their nation goes to war. If you want to know what else, watch the movie...... :-)This film is nothing short of a masterpiece. I never would have thought of Christian Bale as having a romantic voice. His voice is the perfect compliment to the beautifully animated Howl. The characters are vivid. Howl can be dashing and the man certainly knows how to make an exit. Sophie is insecure as a young woman but oddly comfortable as a old woman. As her confidence and love for Howl comes through, her appearance returns to normal. It as though the curse is a physical manifestation of her insecurities. Young Markl is initially annoyed by this old lady but she soon fills a void in his life. The DVD extras were interesting. Remember this is a foreign film. Even though it is a cartoon, it is dubbed. The animated characters lips were originally synced to a Japanese language script. When American voices were used, the translated script had to take into account the lip movements of the animated characters. The movement is based on a novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Having read the novel, I think the movie is an improvement. It seems Pixar Director Pete Doctor has not. While pointing out the interesting plot elements made by Miyazaki, he names things created by Ms. Jones. While this is a wonderful film, it is based on Ms. Jones work. It would've been nice if she'd been given proper credit.Even though this is a cartoon, it isn't necessarily a children's film. Adults will love this also.2) Enchanting Yet Disappointing Tale [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Having seen most of Miyazaki's magnificent films, I was really looking forward to seeing this film. Judging by the trailers, this latest creation from the ingenious mind of one of Japan's most talented and legendary film makers of all time it looked to be another smashing success. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as awe inspiring as any of his previous gems. The movie starts out very promising and continues in the traditional vein of Miyazaki taking his audience on a magical journey to an imaginary world where anything is possible. It almost goes without saying that the artwork is incredible, as always, and the level of detail and passion for the images displayed on screen goes unquestioned. However, the story falls almost completely apart with little to no continuity accompanied by giant, gaping plot holes that leave one wondering what in the wonderful world of Miyazaki is going on here? The story actually flows pretty smoothly with a few minor glitches up until the last half hour at which point it essentially falls apart. Apparently by reading the book the film is based on one would have a better idea of why things occur as they do and would shed some background on what exactly is going on with the two warring factions, Sophie, Howl and the Wicked Witch of the Waste's curses. Movie audiences should not be required to know the full background though in order to enjoy a film, so in that regard Miyazaki disappoints because he leaves WAY too much to the imagination, so much so that it is to the point where the audience would have to write a few chapters just to fill the story gaps. No amount of beautiful animation can compensate for shoddy story telling, not even Miyazaki. Quite frankly there is not enough exposition to provide an adequate framework for understanding what is going on with Sophie, and some major inconsistencies such as why her age seems to fluctuate between old and young over the latter half of the film, even though the curse is only supposed to make her old until the spell cast on her is broken. The audience is given a rather vague idea of what Howl's involvement with the two warring kingdoms is, what he does in his spare time and why the things that happen to him occur as they do. There is an intriguing part of the story involving Madam Suliman who is the royal arch sorceress and how she was the master of Howl at one point, but this story arch is highly underdeveloped and despite the high flying premise of the idea it never really takes off. She also has something to do with the Wicked Witch of the Waste, but that's never fleshed out either. Hence, the audience is left hanging and wondering how these thematic elements all tie together. I did notice one major problem with the film besides the aforementioned incongruities which is that many major concepts are copied directly from Miyazaki's previous films, including script and art elements. The giant black, slimy blobs from 'Spirited Away' play a fairly important part in 'Howl's Moving Castle', as does winged air ships and the smaller flying ships known from 'Laputa: Castle In the Sky', and perhaps the biggest concept that Miyazaki copied from his own previous work is the idea/depiction of Howl and his alter ego, which was highly reminiscent of one of the major character characters from 'Spirited Away', Haku. Coincidental I suppose since I haven't read the book but it just felt like the portrayal and concept was cut and pasted from 'Spirited Away'. Overall I enjoyed it purely on an artistic level, and while some of the magic is still evident from the brilliant mind of Miyazaki, the film seemed to be a smorgasbord of several of his films rolled into one, and not a very fluid, successful attempt at that. The story was disjointed and even though the story wrapped up with a sweet ending, there was still so much more that went unanswered and unfulfilled. Basically it comes down to a great deal of potential with this amazing premise (the book is most likely far better) but sadly not even Miyazaki could conceptualize this complex, intriguing and enchanting tale. It's still far better than most animation out there including the majority of what Hollywood churns out, but it's definitely sub-par for the standard set by Miyazaki himself. Worth seeing once, but not owning.3) Stunning details [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This movie by Hayao Miyazaki is beautiful! The details in the background and on the characters makes them feel real. The story line is wonderful too. For anyone not entirely sure of which of the Miyazaki films to choose from, I would pick this one first.4) Another Miyazaki Masterpiece [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Hayao Miyazaki is a master anime artist. There are few in the world today who can rival him. While perhaps this story isn't as good as some of his others, nevertheless his productions grow more impressive with each release. I have every Miyazaki film dubbed in English and this is one of my favorites.5) Great movie [Rating: 5 out of 5]
LOVE this movie. My children and I will watch it over and over again. I have also told many friends about it.