Castle In The Sky (Animated) > Reviews > Sky's the limit!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Wonderful visuals, beautiful design, good plot, likable characters
Disadvantages:	Some iffy dialogue, not Miyazaki's best work, the publics phobia of animes !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Watching Castle In The Sky, it becomes all too easy to forget that this was a film made as long ago as 1986 (that’s around eighteen years for anyone who’s counting). As animation goes, it really wouldn’t look out of place alongside the latest Disney releases, though as Japanese animes seem destined never to truly take off in the West, this charming tale will inevitably miss the recognition it deserves.

Directed and scripted by Hayao Miyazaki; the man behind the epic Princess Mononoke, the stylish and amusing Castle Of Cagliostro and recent Oscar-winner Spirited Away, I wasted no time in snapping up Castle In The Sky when it was finally granted a U.K release in November 2003, some seventeen years after it originally appeared in Japan. Better late than never, I suppose…

Like many of Miyazaki’s projects, Castle In The Sky can be categorised as a family-based animation, but rather than opting for a light-hearted, slightly camp effort populated by talking animals, its aims quickly prove rather more ambitious.

Things start frantically – a young girl by the name of Sheeta is being ‘escorted’ by Airship to a military base, only for the craft she is travelling in to be ambushed by a bunch of pirates. Both the military and the pirates want Sheeta, and more specifically, the mysterious blue jewel she wears around her neck. Fights inevitably break out around the ship, and Sheeta attempts a somewhat suicidal manoeuvre to evade her pursuers – she climbs out of her cabin window! Hanging on to the ledge for dear life, she soon loses her grip and plunges towards the Earth…

Meanwhile, the ever-spirited young lad Pazu is working down the mine with his mentor, known simply as the Boss. Times are hard for Pazu and the people of his village; silver reserves have all but been exhausted and even tin is hard to come by. This particular day however would turn out very differently to how Pazu would have predicted, as whilst he collects some lunch for the Boss, he is distracted by a bright, blue light that seems to be floating towards the ground. Rushing over, he discovers an unconscious girl (you guessed it – Sheeta), and decides to take her to his small house until she wakes up.

The pair of youngsters quickly strike up a strong friendship, and find that keeping on the move is the best course of action, as it isn’t long before loud-mouthed Dola and her Pirate sons have tracked Sheeta down. The pirates’ pursuit seems relentless, as Dola makes many references to the importance of the blue stone. However, with the help of the jewel, Pazu and Sheeta manage to shake off the attentions of their new-found foes, and during a trek through an abandoned mine, begin to learn about the significance of the stone. It is thought to be the key to finding the mystical floating Island of Laputa, or the Castle In The Sky if you will. Laputa is an ancient, long-lost Kingdom thought to contain huge amounts of treasure, and like his father before him, Pazu sets his heart firmly on uncovering the legend.

There is one man out to spoil Pazu’s plans however – Colonel Muska. He’s the token mega-lo-maniac, who loves giving out orders, and believes he has divine right to find and rule Laputa. After Sheeta’s capture at the hands of the military, Pazu decides to join forces with his previous enemies - the Pirates, and it soon becomes a race against time for the colourful young fellow as he tries to rescue his friend and beat the military’s aptly-named Goliath Airship to Laputa.

There is no doubt about the most impressive aspect of this film – the visuals. The attention to detail that goes into the environments and the sheer effort it must have taken to create two hours worth of animated film is admirable, but Hayao Miyazaki’s flare and imagination in design places him among the very most gifted director’s in film history in my opinion – he has the ability to think of things (such as the Island of Laputa) that really do carry that ‘wow’ factor, and even so many years after it’s first screening, Castle In The Sky still looks positively glorious.

Whilst its storyline doesn’t capture the imagination in quite the same way Princess Mononoke does, there is something for everyone to enjoy here. For the younger audience, Pazu and Sheeta’s friendship and magical adventuring proves quite touching, and whilst much information must be digested during the two hour running time, the direction of the plot as a whole is not to difficult to understand. For the older end of the market, Miyazaki’s now-customary subtle humour once again makes a successful transition from Eastern to Western versions, and the quality of the animation is always something to behold for anyone old enough to appreciate it.

As with all films, the characters are as important as the plot – Pazu is an enjoyable and interesting hero, as his courage and determination really shine through towards the end, and his endearing partnership with Sheeta really sparkles. The villain Muska is typically excellent; he makes up for his apparent plainness with a truly dislikeable, cold personality. He is ruthless, has not a shred of humanity to show for himself and by the end, you’ll really want him to get his come-uppance. Though the pirates play a secondary role to the characters I’ve just mentioned, the visual humour that regularly accompanies their screen presence means that there is rarely a dull moment when they appear, making them firm favourites with the viewer.

The dialogue is, as with many dubbed animes, a bit of a mixed-bag. Pazu is voiced by James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek), and his slightly high-pitched tones suit the miniature hero absolutely perfectly. Slightly less successful is Sheeta’s dialogue delivered by Anna Paquin (X-Men) – the lead female role once again over-emphasises certain sentences to a near-ludicrous degree at times, and comes across as overly twee, which is a shame. There aren’t really any other big names of note, though the dialogue is generally of a good standard.

The soundtrack is rather nice, fitting the magical and wondrous environments to a tee. The songs are unlikely to stick in the memory, though add considerably to the atmosphere, as do the unorthodox sound effects that pop up from time to time.

Castle In The Sky is a P.G certificate, suggesting that there is nothing too offensive within. There is no strong language, graphic gore or anything that could be considered harmful to a young child, except for the odd section of mild violence – it has definitely been designed as a film the whole family can watch.

Though it lacks the X-Factor evident in some of Miyazaki’s other animes, it’s hard not to enjoy Castle In The Sky. It’s pretty graphics belie a complex and well-crafted storyline, that will impress adults as much as it will enchant children. It’s fair value, as it can be found over at play.com for £13.99, although it may be reduced on special offer some time in the future. Recommended.

*DVD Extras*
It’s disappointingly bare in the extras department – just a handful of Japanese trailers for the film; a rather nice storyboard and French/Japanese dialogue options, though I couldn’t find much use for these as I can’t speak the respective languages!