Princess Mononoke
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Movie Reviews of Princess Mononoke
Movie Review: The Most Beautiful Animation I Have Ever Seen
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sure that many people like me look at the cover to this and say "Oh, another of those rediculous _ Japanese _ Animation _ Videos _ " and walk right past it. I must say, I too would have done that, had I not rented this video because of the all-star cast doing voice-overs of the original Japanese masterpiece. At first glance, when the movie begins, and you see a demon that resembles a pig covered in entrails, your first thought is "Why?" and then as the mysterious creature is shot by prince Ashitaka, and it's flesh melts from it's bones, you reach for the remote. Hey, it's what I did! But don't let the graffic opening sequence scare you into missing out on this great adventure.I must say that, as compared to most Japanese animations, this has a relatively normal storyline. The Prince, Ashitaka, saves his tribe from a demon boar that is roaming the woods, and in return, the demon puts a curse on the young prince which will claim his life. He is bannished from his tribe, with no hope. Without despair, he journeys to Iron Town, in search of what cause the Demon to become such. It is there he meets the ruler of Iron Town, Lady Iboshi, and is introduced to San, or The Princess Mononoke, a girl who was raised by a Wolf God. San and Ashitaka form a friendship (or perhaps something more) and together, they try to bring down the Lady Iboshi, who plans to kill the Great Forest Spirit, who protects the Gods within it's forest.
This is one of the most BEAUTIFULLY animated movie I have ever seen, in truth. The landscapes were breath-taking, and would rival the great photography of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The story is wonderfully told, and the characters are not only likable, but believable. Unlike many films, there are no "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys". There are only people. Some misguided, some not. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves adventure, fantasy, and, oh yes, romance. It really was a great movie!
Movie Review: The Most Beautiful Animation I Have Ever Seen
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sure that many people like me look at the cover to this and say "Oh, another of those rediculous _ Japanese _ Animation _ Videos _ " and walk right past it. I must say, I too would have done that, had I not rented this video because of the all-star cast doing voice-overs of the original Japanese masterpiece. At first glance, when the movie begins, and you see a demon that resembles a pig covered in entrails, your first thought is "Why?" and then as the mysterious creature is shot by prince Ashitaka, and it's flesh melts from it's bones, you reach for the remote. Hey, it's what I did! But don't let the graffic opening sequence scare you into missing out on this great adventure.I must say that, as compared to most Japanese animations, this has a relatively normal storyline. The Prince, Ashitaka, saves his tribe from a demon boar that is roaming the woods, and in return, the demon puts a curse on the young prince which will claim his life. He is bannished from his tribe, with no hope. Without despair, he journeys to Iron Town, in search of what cause the Demon to become such. It is there he meets the ruler of Iron Town, Lady Iboshi, and is introduced to San, or The Princess Mononoke, a girl who was raised by a Wolf God. San and Ashitaka form a friendship (or perhaps something more) and together, they try to bring down the Lady Iboshi, who plans to kill the Great Forest Spirit, who protects the Gods within it's forest.
This is one of the most BEAUTIFULLY animated movie I have ever seen, in truth. The landscapes were breath-taking, and would rival the great photography of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The story is wonderfully told, and the characters are not only likable, but believable. Unlike many films, there are no "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys". There are only people. Some misguided, some not. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves adventure, fantasy, and, oh yes, romance. It really was a great movie!
Movie Review: As other reviewers have said, "Oh my God it's beautiful!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Princess Mononoke has been well reviewed here many times, soI'll keep this as short as I can. As an animated feature: this ishands down the best that I have ever seen (granted, that's just mypersonal take on things) and I'm an animation fan of just abouteverything - Disney, Anime, claymation (I "lump" - bad pun,I know - Aardman Animations in here, i.e. Chicken Run, Wallace &Gromit, etc.), you name it. As a DVD: this is amongst the bestvisual experiences I have seen on DVD. I'm somewhat biased by my loveof animation, but even so I truly think this DVD can stand up againstmany of the big-bang-DVDs out there (I have things like Gladiator,Independence Day, Fight Club). The audio is also top notch and I'veenjoyed watching the English dub as well as the original Japanese.The 2 versions really have a very different flow and feel so to fullyappreciate Miyazaki's vision it's necessary I think to see PrincessMononoke in it's original language. One last note - as others havealso stated, the extras are pretty minimal, but that doesn't reallydetract from this DVD very much. There are certainly things I wouldlove to have seen included, but I won't even think about complainingdue to the quality of work shown in the transfer and the fact thatthey did finally include the Japanese language track (how many of usreviewing this signed the petition? I'm glad I did!) Anyone who hasnot seen this movie (doubtful if you're reading through all thesereviews :) should give Princess Mononoke a try. Rent it, borrow it,whatever works for you. I can't really think of anything to comparethis to so you'll just have to watch it in good faith. All of thereviewers here that have expresses their love of this movie have doneso for good reason - Robert Ebert loved this movie, too. Animation,Disney, anime or anything else, does not have to be cartoons for kids.Princess Mononoke proves that and should be viewed as a feature film,not an animated cartoon.Movie Review: Whose side is he on anyway?
Summary: 5 Stars
This question is at the heart of Princess Mononoke. Most of the other characters at one time or another think he is against them. At first viewing it's hard to tell what the main character is up to. He saves the Princess, then he saves Lady Eboshi. Then he's going to help the "bad guys"? What?!?! Who is evil and who is good? It's not instantly obvious, which makes Princess Mononoke stand up to repeated viewings - many repeated viewings. The story is complex, but not too complex. It's main themes are humanity versus nature (i.e., itself) and hate. Hate destroys and eats away flesh. The tentacle-like demons fashioned from hate provide some of the most incredible animation, and some of the most poignant scenes. Another theme is the idea that sometimes the best side to be on is neither side.The animation is about as good as it comes. Miyazaki is one of the best, and this is one of his best pictures. If the story happens to bore you (it shouldn't), just look at the incredible animation that never lets up. The animated grass growing towards the end is particularly incredible.
Animation does not get much better than this. Visually and thematically, there are not many as good as Princess Mononoke out there. Given its themes, it's somewhat surprising that Disney brought this masterpiece to the States. Sure, some of the English dubbed voices are a little off, but this doesn't detract from the film much. It's interesting to watch the film in its original Japanese with English subtitles. The characters come across a little differently this way, and the translations are different in the subtitles. For instance, the "Forest Spirit" becomes the "Deer God" in the subtitled version. The voices also are incredibly different, and those who don't appreciate Billy Bob Thorton's drawl will enjoy the Japanese version.
There aren't many movies worth owning and watching over and over again, but Princess Mononoke is definitely one of them.
Movie Review: Sound? Good grief--your EYES will pop out!
Summary: 5 Stars
I owned this DVD for 8-10 months before i unwrapped and watched it--I didn'T like "Spirited Away" (you tell me why; I don't know). But I loved "Grave of the Fireflies" from the same studio, and "Whiper of the Heart," which I think Miyazaki had a hand in.
Miyazaki takes the complexities of a simple problem (must the need for mechanization and what we make of natual resourses ruin nature?) and weaves a story of the most glorious creatures one has ever seen, imagined or not had the imagination to imagine. And although there is a hero and a heroine, nobody else is all good or all bad. I loved all the characetrs, from the girls rescued from a brothel to the (GULP!) Night Walker. Move over, Lawrence Olivier in Henry V (sorry; I was just thinking of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen).
There is a problem wih my DVD player, and I couldn't get the original soundtrack. I had no problems with the excellent actors in the English version (I think the Japanese are second only to Bergman in dubbing), but having read the reviews, I will watch it in japanese tomorrow at my friend's house.
LATER: The ENGLISH (dubbed) version is much better---because, first, the actors are all adequate to the task, but second, and more important, there is only so much subtitle you can fit on the screen at one time, and the subtitles to the Japanese version tend to be minimalist. The Japanese language is spoken rather quickly, and while the English-speaking actors could keep up, the subtitle-writers could not (besides, they have to take the reading speed of the audience into consideration as well).. (There have been movies where I have learned things from the subtitles that I hadn't even known were in the movies---this is NOT one of them!)You will learn a lot more of what's going on in the speech and thought of the characters--unless you know Japanese--if you watch the English language version.