Howl's Moving Castle
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Movie Reviews of Howl's Moving Castle
Movie Review: An amazing animated feature from Hayao Miyazaki.
Summary: 5 Stars
A 18 year old girl named Sophie has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste into a old woman and she goes on a journey to get rid of the curse. She seeks shelter in the mysterious walking mechanical castle of the wizard Howl who is assisted by a young boy "Markl" and a friendly fire demon named "Calcifer" whom she makes a deal with so she can regain her youth. She also befriends a magical turnip headed scarecrow, and a weezing dog and finds love on the way with Howl on a adventure for a lifetime.
A magical and unique animated fantasy adventure from Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and a adaptation of the novel by Diana Wynne Jones. This is a beautifully animated and written motion picture that has now became a new anime classic with the other Hayao Miyzaki productions, "Akira", and "Ghost in The Shell"! the dubbed version is quite enjoyable with the voices of Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal and Emily Mortimer. But the Japanese language with English subtitles version which the DVD has makes the movie better for those who want to learn Japanese the easy way.
This 2-Disc DVD set includes both the dubbed and Subbed-Japanese language versions with cool extras like a "Behind The Microphone" featurette with the dub voice actors, a featurette on the Pixar studios premiere of the U.S. dubbed version with John Lassester and Hayao Miyazaki, Trailers & TV Spots, and full length movie shown with storyboards with either English soundtrack or Japanese soundtrack with subtitles.
A must own movie for lovers of animation everywhere, one of my most highest recommended animated movies.
Also recommended: "My Neighbor Totoro", "Spirited Away", "Nausicca: Valley of the Wind", "Akira", " The Wizard of Oz", "Ghost in The Shell 1 & 2", " Princess Mononoke", " Ninja Scroll", " Castle in The Sky", " The Professional: Golgo 13", " Castle of Cogliostro", "The Last Unicorn", "The Flight of Dragons", "Kiki's Delivery Service", " Yellow Submarine", " Whisper of the Heart", " The Cat Returns", " Porco Russo", " City of Lost Children", " Edward Scissorhands", " The Corpse Bride", "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit", " Chicken Run", " The Secret of NIMH", "Wizards" and "Watership Down".
Movie Review: A Miyazaki Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This is yet another beautifully rendered Miyazaki masterpiece about a wizard called Howl (and sometimes Jenkins . . . and sometimes Pendragon) who lives in a castle that moves across the moors (or the "waste" as it's called in this world). It can also move between cities, all through a magically color-coded door. A young girl named Sophie starts the tale. She works in a hat shop and is very shy and rather drab and very afraid of adventure. However, she winds up getting one whether she likes it or not when a witch puts a spell on her, turning her into an old woman. She goes to Howl in an attempt to get the spell taken off, but since part of the spell's magic is that she can't say she's under one, she has no choice but to remain with him in the guise of a cleaning lady until she can figure out how to get rid of it. However, she soon practically forgets all about her own spell when she realizes that Howl is trapped in a sinister spell of his own -- one that may kill him. Sophie is the only one who can find a way to save him, and somewhere along the way, she learns how to save herself.
Features the voices of Christian Bale as Howl (He even SOUNDS hot -- how does he manage that???), Blythe Danner, legendary actress Jean Simmons as Old Sophie, up and coming Emily Mortimer (Match Point) as Young Sophie, and Lauren Bacall as the witch. It's based on a book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Both are very good, but in different ways. The book is more lighthearted and has far more subplots (and at times is frankly a bit confusing). It's a bit hard to find -- I had to order it at Half.com myself to avoid paying through the nose for it, because most stores don't carry it, and neither did Amazon.com at the time. It's worth checking out if you can manage to hunt a copy down. And the movie is a DON'T MISS, for sure. Miyazaki's subplot about the war is not in the book; he invented it to help make the story more poignant, and it works -- this is another film that can be described literally as magical. You just have to see it to believe it, and believing is bliss.
Check this one out, and see for yourself how it was robbed of the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Wallace & Gromit ain't got nothing on this!
Movie Review: Trying to decode the story ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Probably many people find the story confusing. I felt the same thing when I saw it in the theater for the first time! The story seemed arbitrary and I couldn't connect the pieces together. But when I watch it again on the DVD, I realize the movie is probably about one thing: personal freedom.
Howl is a free person. He doesn't has a heart and even his home (which is usually characterized as a stable point in one's life) can move :-) He is disguised as different wizards in different counties, and when Sophie asks him how many identities he has, he said "Enough to guarantee my freedom". When Sophie confronts Suliman, she comments Howl as "selfish and cowardly and unpredictable, but he's straight as an arrow. He only wants to be free." But in Miyazaki's world, nothing is black and white. According to Suliman, Howl's power is too great for a person without heart, and he will eventually becomes a monster (some political figures come to my mind).
Sophie, on the other hand, is bounded by responsibilities. She is young, but her heart is old. She refuses the invitation from her friends and keep working at the hat shop. When her sister asks her "Are you going to spend your life in that shop?" She replies "It meant so much to papa. Besides, I'm the eldest.". Even her sister asks her to "look out for yourself".
When Sophie is turned to an old lady, it actually set her free because the good thing of being old is that one has "so little to lose" She becomes more adventurous and takes control of her life. She is very assertive as being the cleaning lady in Howl's castle and even tames Calcifer to cook her food. For Howl, his turning point comes when he refuses to move his castle anymore (I'll leave it to the reader as why he does that) By the end of movie, he regains his heart. He feels terrible because it is like "trapped under a stone". And Sophie says, "Yes, a heart is a heavy burden".
There are other wonderful things in the movie. For example, this is probably one of the few movies that tell me what it is really like to be old. But I do want to highlight the thread about personal freedom as it will help you to tie up the pieces of the story.
Movie Review: Outstanding Miyazaki Film!
Summary: 5 Stars
Walt Disney Home Entertainment presents a Studio Ghibli Film. Just writing that gets my blood pumping a little faster with excitement. This is a treat of a movie; a sweet and humorous ride. Howl's Moving Castle has a perfect blend of action, humor, emotion, and sheer imagination to please most viewers.
The story is about an eighteen year old girl, Sophie, the eldest of two sisters. She considers herself to be plain, and her life and attitude reflect it. She has no spark or interest in anything beyond doing her dull duty to her dead father's business. Her sister, on the other hand, has a sparkling, well-loved personality and beauty to go with it. Enter the mysterious young man, Howl, who rescues Sophie early in the film. This begins to awaken longings in Sophie, and angers a witch, voiced by Lauren Bacall, who desires Howl's heart. In retribution, the witch curses Sophie, making her into a 90 year old woman. The older Sophie is excellently voiced by Jean Simmons, who gives her character the perfect blend of strength and vulnerability.
Ironically, after getting over the shock of what has happened to her, Sophie begins to really live, and starts to experience life. For the first time she sees the beauty around her. What a joy this film of hope and awakening love becomes! It is a story of an odd assortment of some lonely, isolated characters that are desperately searching for love and a place to belong.
Calcifer is delightfully voiced by Billy Crystal--who is utterly perfect for the role--and is so cute, if he wasn't a glob of fire, I'd want to hug him. Christian Bale voices Howl in a masculine, powerful way.
The movie needs more than one viewing to understand all the nuances of the story. It is deep on more than one level, and so much fun. The animation is first class; very beautiful and detailed. My goodness, the details!
The violence of war is seen in repeated bombings of cities, but there is no gore. There is no nudity or offensive language, though there is magic, and a few images of peril or "monsters" that might frighten little ones.
This is one of Miyazaki's finest works that I highly recommend.
Movie Review: Miyazaki Proves Again He's a Genius
Summary: 5 Stars
Now, to further explain my title, I will say that Howl's Moving Castle isn't Miyazaki's best. In fact, in many ways it's his most disappointing because he got his ideas from another person's work. But, as you watch, you can still feel all those spectacular Miyazaki touches that he puts into all of his movies, and those are the beauty of the art, the common themes and morals, and the strange style of story telling. It's that style of story-telling that I think makes Miyazaki so great. Just as in Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa, Howl's Moving Castle presents a conflict, but it's more of a world-wide kind of thing with no definable antagonist. It's an odd feeling, watching a movie where you know that you can and probably will cheer for each and every one of the characters while they attempt to solve their own personal problems as well as the external conflict. During all of this, the common themes of love, friendship, and loyalty spur the characters on.
As for the story in Howl's Moving Castle, it follows a young girl named Sophie who's just used to accepting what life's given her. But when a witch comes to her small hat shop, Sophie is cursed and changes from a young, regular girl to an old, head-strong woman. She sets out to find a way to fix her curse. During her journey, Sophie encounters a strange scarecrow that eventually leads her to Howl's Moving Castle. It's here that Sophie finds a purpose, and journeys with Howl, his fire-demon Calcifer, and Howl's apprentice Markl, as they attempt to stop an ongoing war between two kingdoms as well finding solutions to there own problems and curses.
Like all of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films, Howl's Moving Castle sports some of the best visuals off its time, and truly sets another industry standard both for storytelling and art. Too add, it has a great musical score to the carry the emotion of the scenes. Disney also did a wonderful job with the translation and provided a top notch cast of voice-actors, including Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Billy Crystal. This is truly an anime stand-out. I'd recommend this to both anime films and film lovers of all kinds. Do not miss this movie?