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Spirited Away Actor: Miyu Irino Director: Hayao Miyazaki Number of Items: 2 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Animated, Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 132 minutes Studio: Walt Disney Home Video Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "montgomery python"this is great...better than anything...even any other monty python thing i havv ever seen. "The best animated feature ever made?"There was certainly a hype around 'Spirited Away', the way there is about a lot of animé; you're supposed to think it's superior because it's not American. I don't agree with that -- 'Shrek', 'A Bug's Life' and 'Toy Story' are all masterpieces, to name but three fairly recent US offerings. But here the hype is justified. I saw 'Spirited Away' at the cinema, but have to say I enjoyed it more on DVD. This kind of (basically hand-drawn, though computer-enhanced) animation needs sharpness of focus that you rarely get with film projection and I found myself enjoying the images and noticing detail much more at home. Miyazaki and co. strike very good balances here -- imagination is strong, often grotesque, but never so bizarre that it becomes just a 'trip'; there is morality, but it never veers into the didactic or sentimental; there is awe and humour, the sublime and the terrifying and the comical. Above all, there is simply beautiful drawing and colouring, and character animation that's both minutely observed and economical. I particularly like the range of complexity: from the Haku-dragon's elaborate, undulating curves, right down to the soot-creatures, which are like telephone doodles come to life. The computer enhancement adds stunning backgrounds and transparency effects to create some striking images. Finally, it's nice to have both language versions. I tend to be a subtitle-snob; I walked out at the start of a screening of the English-language version (it had been billed as in Japanese) and haven't seen it yet, but will give it a go. To me the original voices are even more important in animation, because they're the main 'real' element, but I guess it's a matter of taste and the English version has been widely approved. And I have to admit to watching the dub of 'Princess Mononoke' one day when I wasn't feeling well enough to follow subtitles, and it was excellent.  "A Little BORING. But very creative and well thought out."I have to admit this movie was very creative and interesting and the picture was really nice. However, I think the movie was boring and could have been made a lot more interesting. Definately not a fan. I guess this is just my opinion and I respect the rest of yours. Maybe its just the way this guy works with his anime. "Magical!"Until this movie came out, I had never seen an anime cartoon in my life. Even when the movie released in the theatres I didn't pay much attention to it. In 2003, I was watching the Oscars, and I discovered this movie won an award for the best animated feature. Curious to find out more about this movie, I decided to rent it and take a look at it. After watching "Spirited Away", I was in complete awe. This was one of the best animated movies that I had even seen! "Spirited Away" is the story about a young girl Chihiro, who is moving to a new home with her parents. However, her father takes a `short-cut' during the trip, and somehow they end up in an abandoned theme park. While strolling through the park, Chihiro's parents smell something delicious, and find out that the restaurants in the parks are filled with mouth-watering food. They start gobbling up the food, while Chihiro gets worried, thinking that they are in big trouble. Soon the weather starts changing and Chihiro starts seeing apparitions walking around the park. Terrified, Chihiro runs to her parents to get out of the place, but is horrified to see that they have turned into pigs. She soon finds that she is now in a completely different world where the spirits walk the Earth, and through the help of her new found friend Haku, she has to survive in this strange land. The main reasons why I liked this movie is because of: i) (M)iyazaki's wonderful story: I would have never been introduced to watching Miyazaki's other movies if I had not seen this. ii) (A)dventure: From cleaning the stinking River God, and taking care of `No Face', to her train journey in the end, this movie was filled with excitement and adventure. iii) (G)reat Story: In a way, this movie is like `Alice in Wonderland'. Both the movies talk about a depressed and bored girl, who is suddenly transported into this strange fantasy world, where everything is different, and tries to find their way back. However, even though there are some similarities, I wouldn't call one a copy of another, because `Spirited Away' has a completely different charm to it, and is unique in its own way. iv) (I)ntrigue: The story of this movie is very surreal, revolving around strange and mysterious characters (such as No Face) that keep us entertained. v) (C)olorful: The animation for this movie is wonderful. It is like a breath of fresh air from other animated movies. vi) (A)dequate Translation: I saw the English version of the movie, and didn't find it too bad. Daveigh Chase did a good job of giving voice to Chihiro, as did Suzanne Pleshette, Susan Egan and Jason Marsden for the other characters vii) (L)ovely Background Score: Music plays an integral part in any movie, and the score for this movie is amazing. The first letter of the above 7 points describes the whole movie in one word: MAGICAL (which it is). Therefore, for those who have not seen this movie as of yet, get it now and see it! "THANK YOU HAYAO MIYAZAKI!!!!!!"I am a new fan to japanese animation, or anime. This movie certainly makes me want to see more anime movies. I must have sat there for 10 minutes after seeing this movie in shock. It was so good! This is an amazing movie. You have to see it!!!!! |
