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Lupin the 3rd - The Castle of Cagliostro Director: Hayao Miyazaki Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Dubbed, Subtitled Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 100 minutes Studio: Palm Pictures/Manga Video Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-04-25 Buy from Amazon |
 "Weak Miyazaki, but Great Lupin"If you're coming to CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO after having admired Miyazaki's other work, you'll be extremely disappointed - it's his first feature as a director, and is clearly a work-for-hire based on Monkey Punch's popular (and VERY Seventies) LUPIN III manga and anime. So there's very little of Miyazaki's humanism or love of nature here - and a lot of Lupin III's outlandish sideburns and 007-Meets-Benny Hill schemes. However, if you're coming to this movie looking for Lupin III, you'll be delighted because it's an outstanding adventure for him and his usual gang of cohorts (including Inspector Zenigata - who has to work WITH him for a change to catch a genuinely dastardly villain!). If any touches of Miyazaki are evident, it's in the movie's treatment of women and sex - the heroine Clarisse seems tremulous at first glance but proves to have a lot of courage in the clinch, and for once Fujiko is more effective female hero than doublecrossing tease. Even Lupin's perpetual horniness is toned down considerably - he comes off as a genuinely gallant "gentleman thief" than the loud jacket-wearing stunned-ox-in-heat he often comes across as in the anime series (currently playing on Cartoon Network's ADULT SWIM block). Another good touch is the portrayal of Zenigata - "Pops" isn't a totally-incompetent bullying buffoon in Miyazaki's view, but a good cop driven bonkers by his fruitless pursuit of a great adversary. He knowingly risks his career (and life) and teams up with the man he's been determined to arrest since - well, forever! - to stop the villainous Count Cagliostro's schemes. Of course, the movie ends just as almost every Lupin III adventure does, with Zenigata chasing Lupin - again! - and Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko getting away from him with foolish ease...again.... If you go into CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO looking for a fun lighthearted adventure, you'll be delighted - just don't expect to see much of the man who would later give the world classics like TOTORO, PRINCESS MONONOKE or SPIRITED AWAY. "The castlew of Cagliostro"This movie is interesting and if your looking fro an action packed movie this is it. This movie isn't rated and does contain fowl language. But that's because it's dubed in American and it needs to be more Americanized. If your kids want james bond but are too young try this.  "A Great Film"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.  "The Castle of Cagliostro"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. "Different from Miyazaki's latest releases"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 |
