Laputa - Castle in the Sky [DVD]

Laputa is one of the earlier films from the well known and respected Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

The story is about a legend of a lost floating castle in the sky - Laputa, of which nobody really believes to exist anymore taking it as an old story, and the story of two children, Pazu, trying to find Laputa to finally prove his father did see it and earn him the respect he should have had, and Sheeta, a girl thrust unwillingly into the story through a family connection and a mystical crystal pendant she inherited.

One of the great things about this film is the fact almost everyone can watch it and get something out of it. I remember watching it as a five year old and enjoying it, and more recently discovering what the name of this film I remember watching was, and finally getting to rewatch it as a twenty year old, and enjoying watching it just as much, if not more than I did in the early ninetys, Miyazaki's incredible talent of telling the story in a completely unpatronising and enjoyable way and the setting of a place so completely different, yet familiar and nice to us watching at home.

All the animation is simple, yet very well done in the now familiar Miyazaki/anime style, all done pre computers by hand, and dosen't look dated or old in the slightest.

I cannot really comment too much on the dubs and voices, as I have only watched the film in it's origonal japanese (subtitled of course) but I do know of two different versions, the origonal english dubs (as shown on tv in the early ninetys) and a newer Disney dub, which is the version on the new dvd's.

This is definately a film I would recommend to pretty much anyone, from anyone getting into anime/Ghibli films and wanting a great film to watch, or for a parent wanting a film to watch on a sunday afternoon with the kids. Spirited Away may seem to be one of the most well known of the Studio Ghibli films, but I would say this one is just as good.

Set in a period when miners were commonplace, this tells of a young orphan boy named Pazu, who is working in a mine with some other miners when he sees a beautiful but unconscious young girl named Sheeta float down from the sky courtesy of a mysterious crystal around her neck.

When Sheeta regains consciousness the following morning she tells Pazu of how she escaped from a group of pirates led by their mother Dola, and how they were after her crystal when she fell from an airship in which she was held captive by a man named Muska. After that, she does not recall a thing, but she catches sight of a photograph of a mysterious floating castle named Laputa (Pazu's father had taken the picture before dying, in an ultimately vain attempt to prove that such a place existed).

An excited Pazu, who learns that Sheeta wants to go to Laputa, agrees to join forces with her to help her get there and to prove to those that doubted his father's words that Laputa really exists somewhere in the clouds above. But how can they stay one step ahead of Muska and the Dola gang?

After seeing SPIRITED AWAY in 2003, I suddenly became intrigued when titles from director Hayao Miyazaki's back catalogue were being released on DVD, and, after heavy recommendation from other Miyazaki fans (mostly on IMDb), I took the plunge and ordered LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY, and I'm delighted that I did because this film is an absolute stonker! This Optimum Releasing version is the best out of the two versions that I've seen, and has proper subtitles (the other version I've seen, which was the previous Buena Vista DVD, had dub-titles instead of subtitles, which was rather annoying as there was a lot of dialogue that Disney added to their English dub, and in that version the subtitles followed that instead of being a translation of the Japanese dialogue). You can also watch an English dub (which has voices by the likes of James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin and Mark Hamill), and this has SDH subtitles; however, due to the verbose nature of Disney's English dub and the fact that the voices of Pazu and Sheeta don't really fit (even some of the music is different), I really do recommend the Japanese soundtrack for this film.

Despite dating back to 1986, LAPUTA has lost none of its awesome visual impact and engaging story and characters, the overall charm is still there, the pace is just fine, and the music (by Joe Hisaishi) is possibly the best musical score that I've ever heard out of all the Miyazaki productions that he was worked on, and you can really appreciate that rich orchestral music oozing from those speakers! Oh, and of course there's the excellent quality of the artwork, which we have come to expect from Miyazaki and the rest of his team at Studio Ghibli (the film was also produced by Isao Takahata, who would go on to direct the masterful GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES in 1988)

Perhaps it's a little too scary for very young children (particularly the second half), but for everyone else this addition to your DVD collection is absolutely vital. A classic of the genre.

This film brought back all the memories of child hood adventures, not a care in the world and every where had a charm all of its own. From messing around on the river with my friends to exploring woods and time worn old buildings, this film brought it all flooding back.

Imagination is a gift that children have in abbundance, which we sadly lose when we grow up with rationallity taking its place.

Watching this film made me long for the days when the only thing i cared about was having fun and wondering what was on the other side of the big stone wall in the park which myself and none of my friends dared to jump over and take a look.

Wonder and mystery are something that i will probably never feel again, but, for an hour and a half, whilst watching this film i felt like a kid again and for that Hayao Miyazaki i am eternally greatful.