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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Director: Hayao Miyazaki Number of Items: 2 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Animated Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 118 minutes Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-22 Buy from Amazon |
 "Not as good as his best work."I own Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, and Kiki's Delivery Service, so I expected more of the same. This is not in the same body of work. While the animation is beautiful, and the heroine brave and resourceful, it is a cautionary tale of man's destruction of his environment. There are endless war sequences which I find boring as an adult, and which are entirely inappropriate for children. In fact, the entire film should not be watched by anyone under eleven years of age. There are bloody stabbings, the murder of an old man, the grappling of insects which children will find "cute," and one of the main characters is a multiple amputee. It is good, but not great, and doesn't bear multiple viewings, as some here suggest.  "Intriguing"As an avid hater of Anime cartoons and having a bias against the majority of films which fall into that category, I must say...Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind is definately an interesting flick. Prior to viewing it, I had watched two other Miyazaki films: Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke, both of which had blown me away. When I saw his name on the cover of the dvd, I knew it couldn't be too terrible. Luckily, it wasn't. In Nausicaa, Miyazaki displays the same attention to detail that has always placed him a notch above other animators. Even now, with all the leaps and bounds in animation that computers have made, they still struggle to equal the quality that is present in Miyazaki's work. One can genuinely see the emotions on the characters' faces. The many environments which are shown in the film also never fail to convince. One thing I noticed was the similarity between the basic storylines and elements which made up Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke. Were you to replace the toxic jungle of Nausicaa with the forest of Princess Mononoke, replace the giant insects which live in the jungle with the giant animals which live in the forest, replace the warring villages with the warring samurai, and move the time period back about 1400-1600 years, then you would have the overall shell of Princess Mononoke. However, similarities are to be expected when the same author created both stories. Yet that's not to say that the story is bad or that the movie is not worth watching. Far from it. Although the same level of depth isn't present in Nausicaa as it is in Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa remains an excellent film, never-the-less. In fact, you'll probably be left wanting more after you finish the film. If that is the case, then there is a series of Manga which go beyond the film, as the film covers less than half of the full story. The full manga are available here. http://www.animecornerstore.com/nausbrvalofw.html And, while I despise anime, I must confess, I have been convinced to order all of them.  "One of the most beautiful anime works!"Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was one of the most breath-taking anime films I have ever seen! I've been a huge fan of anime for most of my life, and Nausicaa has made me love it even more! Nausicaa is one of Hayao Miyazaki's (creator of Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.) earlier films. To be frank, it came out in 1984, I believe. However, don't make the mistake that because it's a little old, the animation isn't very good. It was gorgeous! It gave that indescribable feeling of it being REAL, unlike so many animated works today (including Japanese animation). The characters are realistic and inspiring. The main character is Nausicaa, princess of the Valley of the Wind. She is a sweet sixteen-year-old girl who is not afraid to fight for the good of others. Being an older teen girl myself, I found myself almost cheering out loud for Nausicaa. She has become a sort of role model for me. Another good character is Asbel, prince of Pejite. He's a strong character; a good role model for the men watching. Since there are so many other reviews, I won't go into detail about the plot, but PLEASE GIVE THIS MOVIE A CHANCE! It has a beautiful message woven into its lush world that will leave you really thinking. Also, Joe Hasaishi's soundtrack is absolutely beautiful. The dub work was great, with Alison Lohman as Nausicaa, Shia LeBeouf as Asbel, Uma Thurman as Kushana, and some other famous names. All in all, Nausicaa presents some very real messages and characters that make you want to watch it again and again. "A Great First; Precurser to Miyazaki's Greatest"The film Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind is the timeless tale of a pure, goodhearted person trying to do what's right during a time of uncertainty. With a post-apocalypse as the backdrop, quite popular during 1980s anime (see Akira) due to the Cold War, we are introduced to a world where human technology and power has destroyed our land. Sparse kingdoms are seperated by an ever-growing forest of deadly spore-emitting plants while the beasts which protect them swarm. Nausicaä lives in a peaceful valley by the sea until an airship crashes with two things of importance: a captured princess and the hibernating form of a destructive monster which ravaged the land 1000 years ago during a time called The Seven Days of Fire. Soon, an empire sends their troops to recover the monster, and Nausicaä is pressed into hesitant action to prevent the destruction of both her people and the actually gentle creatures of the forest. While watching Nausicaä, I noticed many hints at characters Miyazaki creates later in his career. Our title heroine reminded my own mother of Kiki in Kiki's Delivery Service. I saw San (see Princess Mononoke) in her spirited defense of her people and the forest. Azabel, the young prince of a kingdom trying to prevent the monster from falling into the wrong hands, reminded me of Pazu from Castle in the Sky. Although the movie itself is quite good, I found the music odd. Too electronica, influenced by the 80s. I would love for Joe Hisashi to orchestrate a new score to this terrific movie. Overall, the movie is almost a giant sketch for forecoming works Miyazaki would create. While a fantastic film (especially with the strong pro-nature and anti-war theme), I feel many of Miyazaki's works later on are greater in their execution. That should not prevent one from watching this film, on the contrary, do so now. Just don't expect the movie to be the director's best. Definately one to watch, even though Miyazaki has gotten better. "Disney got this movie right!"I was a stickler to the old cartoon, Warriors of the Wind. Despite it's dubbing back then, which was not very good, I grew up with it and loved it. Then I got the graphic novels, and found out how much was cut from this movie. I got this movie locally. And it was redubbed wonderfully. Never did I know Patrick Stewart (Picard on STTNG) Would turn out to be the perfect Lord Yupa, as apposed to the original voice. I discovered at least 30 minutes had been cut from this movie in the dubbing of Warriors of the Wind. Which left more gaps than many would have realized. Disney also went back to the original Japanese names. Which I loved. They kept the same score as you would hear from the older version. I loved the one line they kept from the old dubbing. "That's Lord Yupa! Kill him and you'll be famous!" ^_^ If you want the complete version, get this movie. You won't be disappointed. I sure wasn't! ^_^ |
