Castle in the Sky (1989)

Thanks for the memories!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film that officially introduced the world to what would become the greatest animation studio of all time, and it lives up to that honor. All these years later in what now seems to be the twilight era of Studio Ghibli, classic after classic under their belts, Castle in the Sky still manages to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its best. Hayao Miyazaki's intention with this film was to show off what the studio was capable of, as well as to act as its mission statement - to create animated features of the utmost quality filled with magic, heart, adventure, depth, and purity of artistic intent. It succeeds with flying colors.It's a notable film in Miyazaki's filmography not only for being his first under the Ghibli banner, but also in that it is perhaps his most traditional work during his time with the studio. It employs many classical storytelling techniques that he would later largely abandon as his voice as an auteur deepened: a solid three-act structure, the MacGuffin plot device, as well as a purely villainous antagonist. This was likely a conscious decision with the intent of laying a sturdy, accessible foundation upon which to build the studio's name, and it's by no means a criticism of the film. Quite the contrary, these tried-and-true techniques are employed in absolutely masterful fashion to create what is a clear contender for the studio's strongest and most narratively satisfying action/adventure film. It also lays the groundwork for what would become many of Ghibli's core themes: coming of age, friendship, awe of the natural world, and rich, morally layered characters who are often not all they may seem at first glance.Though it may not have quite the same level of experimentation, uniqueness, and artistic virtuosity as some of Miyazaki's later works, it remains one of his seminal films, as well as one of his most tightly-scripted, well-paced, and purely fun. A classic in its own right.4.5/5

This is one of the best animated film i've ever seen, 10 out of 10 in my book, and my favorite studio Ghibli film of all time. The film is well paced, action is good, the floating city was not a let down like I thought it would, it was amazing and they did spend a lot of time on the city unlike what I thought. Also the characters were well developed and funny.

This is one the many films from Japanese cartoon creators Studio Ghibli I had not seen, but remembered the title of and really wanted to see, I'm glad when I got the opportunity, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo). Basically young girl Sheeta (Anna Paquin) has been abducted by secret government agent Muska (Mark Hamill), the airship she is on is attacked by Captain Dola (Cloris Leachman) and her air pirate sons, they are in search of Sheeta's crystal amulet, given to her by her father. Sheeta falls from the airship, but the amulet starts glowing and her descent is slowed by its power, she lands in a small mining town and is discovered by boy Pazu (Dawson's Creek's James Van Der Beek). Sheeta is surprised to be alive when she wakes, Pazu explains what he witnessed, he is building a small aeroplane with the intention to go in search of the the lost city of Laputa, a flying castle thought to be a legend or myth, but Pazu's took a photograph of. Dola's pirates show up and pursue them, as well as Muska's soldiers, eventually the two fall into a mine, there they encounter eccentric local Uncle Pom (Richard Dysart), he recognises Sheeta's amulet and informs them it is made of 'Aetherium', a material used to keep flying cities, like Laputa, aloft, after leaving the mines Sheeta tells Pazu that her full name is 'Lusheeta Toel Ul Laputa'. Sheeta and Pazu are captured by Muska and imprisoned in the fortress of Tedis, Muska shows Sheeta a dormant Laputan robot, he knows about her secret name and interprets it to be that of the Laputan royal line, Pazu's life is threatened unless Sheeta cooperates, and he is sent away and forget about her. Pazu returns home distraught, there Dola's sons ambush him, Dola is eventually persuaded to help Pazu, to stop Muska, intercept the airship Goliath and capture the crystal. Sheeta recites a magical verse and unexpectedly activates the amulet and the robot, which destroys the fortress, Pazu arrives to rescue Sheeta, but Muska obtains the amulet. The pirates, accompanied by Pazu and Sheeta, return to their airship the Tiger Moth, they pursue the Goliath, it is following directions by Sheeta's amulet to locate Laputa. The lost castle in the sky is found, it is devoid of human life, but overgrown by woodland, with a gigantic "eternal tree of life" in the centre, it is maintained by another robot. Dola's pirates are captured while Muska's soldiers explore the ancient city and crumbling, overgrown, yet beautiful ruin of a castle, it is the ultimate evolution of the crystal levitation technology, and also has the powers of holography, magnetic cohesion, pseudo-nuclear weaponry and a veritable army of the semi-sentient robots. While Pazu and the freed pirates escape, Muska captures Sheeta and takes her with him into the centre of Laputa, containing the immense Aetherium crystal keeping the city aloft, there he identifies himself as 'Romuska Palo Ul Laputa', a member of another royal line, and he uses Sheeta's amulet as the key to access the advanced Laputian technology. After Muska massacres his own soldiers and destroys the Goliath, Sheeta escapes with her amulet, she encounters Pazu and passes it to him, in a confrontation with Muska, Sheeta realises that the people of Laputa left because humans were meant to live on earth, not in the sky. Muska refuses her argument and threatens to kill her if she does not give him the amulet, Pazu enters and says he will give him the amulet if he is allowed to talk to Sheeta, Muska grants him one minute, Sheeta and Pazu recite a "Spell of Destruction", destroying much of the city, and Muska dies. Sheeta and Pazu survive the collapse, protected by the tree's gigantic roots, they reunite with Dola and her pirates, who have swiped the city's treasure, they part with Sheeta and Pazu who are heading to start a new life together, Laputa is left floating in the sky, with a robot guardian still tending the garden, and maintained by the Aetherium crystal. Also starring Jim Cummings as General, Mandy Patinkin as Louis and Andy Dick as Henri. It is a simple story of a quest to find a magical city that floats high in the sky, with are nods to the works of HG Wells and Jules Verne, and retro-futuristic stuff, the voices for the English dubbing are alright, more than anything you pay attention to the fantastically colourful and imaginative animation, an enjoyable animated fantasy adventure. Worth watching!

I was so excited about this film after reading all the glowing reviews, but it was a real disappointment. It's one of Miyazaki's earlier works, and that may explain it, but I just couldn't enjoy this film even though I really wanted to. I know it sounds funny to say, but it was simply just too "cartoony". The beginning of the film is pure magic and for the first 15 minutes or so, I was engrossed in the story and looking forward to the rest of the film. But soon after that, it degraded to almost Saturday-morning cartoon levels of predictability, relying on exaggerated and typical villains and supporting characters. If you liked this at all, you owe it to yourself to check out more of Miyazaki's films. He is a true artist and is capable of much better than this.