Your thoughts on... Studio Ghibli Wave 2 films

[Mehe]

What can I Say? After only seeing Warriors of the Wind, and then reading the manga fourteen years later, me expectations were built up higher than Mount Everest.

And then I picked up my copy today.

And I cried.

Tears of joy. It was perfect. I want to thank the Disney company for making my dvd collection complete. Anything from here out is just filler.

[castleinthesky]

Hopefully I will pick this up tonight!! Maybe I'll get The Cat Returns tonight as well.

[Mr. Toad]

Mehe,

You are right, I just picked up my copy and it all flooded back. I saw it at an animation film festival about 20 years ago. Certainly, one of the best 10 animated movies I have ever seen and maybe the one that takes you on the biggest emotional roller coaster. I will watch it tomorrow night, on the road tonight. www.nausicaa.net

[Mehe]

My only little problem, and I mean little, was that Kurotawa didn't sound as sneaky as I thought he should have.

[MickeyMousePal]

Did anyone get a pack for the buy 3 get 1 free DVD in any of these films?
I didn't get a booklet in The Cat Returns.

[Mehe]

All that was in Nausicaa was a one page insret. That was a little dissapointing.

[boss]

Well we just finished seeing Nausicaa tonight, for a film that is over 20 years old it is very impressive, excellent story, the extras are excellent too. I have been wanting to know a bit more about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli which is in the extras. Disney did a good job! and studio Ghibli did a better job! by making this film. The second disk story boards are great too but/and imo are more for the hardcore animation fan.

My thanx to both companys for some great entertainment!

[Paka]

Thought I'd maybe start a thread about this to see if it went anywhere.

As the UD reviews should show, I really liked Nausicaä and Porco Rosso. I just bought and watched The Cat Returns, and I thought it was delightful. ^_^ Especially 'cause of the cat factor. I luuuurves the cats.

So now I have all three of this second wave, and I must say it's just reinforced my affection for Ghibli films. *heart*

[Paka]

FYI - I merged your "Nausicaä thoughts" thread with this one, Mehe. Hope you don't mind!

[Bill W]

A while back I asked a good friend of mine from Japan if he liked Miyazaki's movies. He said his favorite was Nausicaa, so I was eagerly anticipating this DVD release. I watched Nausicaa last night and honestly have to ask why everyone thinks it is so great. To me it really seemed like a mix of Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke. Of course these two movies came after Nausicaa.

I still haven't watched Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns, but Spirited Away is still my favorite Ghibli film. Grave of the Fireflies is also excellent, but in a completely different way.

So can any of you diehard Nausicaa fans explain why you like the movie so much.

[boss]

Well, I finished watching Porco Rosso last night... funny well done story. being that I am a "motor head" scenes like the dyno session with the high perf "ghibli" 12cyl engine in the shed was very cool and something I can relate to. Being that I am in my "middle age" I also can relate to Porco very well too

I seen before that some people said this story had no real meaning/message... I found this story had a very specific message that was repeated many times over that all women/females should take notice to. My wife has been telling me this message for many years.


MEN ARE PIGS!... thats the sad facts... lol and a great truthfull message to all young women! . This movie will be one of my favorites lol

Bill, being that my family and I are new fans of Studio Ghibli's works, imo to me Nausicaa was just good entertainment, the story was very good and kept us interested right to the end and again when you consider the movie is over 20+ years old and you compare it with some of Disneys or other 20+ year old animated films, again I would say it's well done. I don't think it is fair to compare it to newer films.

[Mr. Toad]

Bill,

Given the state of animation of the time it was a masterpiece. Japanese animation was quickly made low budget crap. Lets compare it to the Disney product of the time...Rescuers/Fox and The Hound/The Black Cauldron. To have watched a beautifully animated movie with a real message was and still is an incredible treat.

[boss]

We finished watching The Cat Returns lat nignt, nice story, my kids really liked it.

One thing I noticed was Tim Curry looks just like the Cat King lol, when I first seen him doing the voice overs in the extras section and looked at his eyes I cracked up laughing

Muta is my kind of cat lol, it was funny that he was based off of a real fat stray cat that just hangs around Studio Ghibli.

Good entertainment!, nice detail

[Bill W]

Bill,

Given the state of animation of the time it was a masterpiece. Japanese animation was quickly made low budget crap. Lets compare it to the Disney product of the time...Rescuers/Fox and The Hound/The Black Cauldron. To have watched a beautifully animated movie with a real message was and still is an incredible treat.

I agree with you that the animation is excellent. The story is very creative and thorough too. I guess I was just expecting more. I think the movie is a little hyped up by everyone. It will probably be the same if/when Song of the South comes out.

Last night I watched The Cat Returns. I actually really enjoyed that one. It had a nice mixture of comedy, action, drama, suspense, etc. I thought the voices were excellent. Anne Hathaway did a really nice job. Cary Elwes was excellent! I'm looking forward to Whisper of the Heart now. Hope they use the same voice dub cast for Baron and Muta. Also enjoyed how half the film was set in modern-day Japan. It brought back a lot of good memories from my time living in Tokyo.

[Mr. Toad]

Wow, watched Nausicaa for the first time in about 18/19 years. I can not believe how far ahead of Disney they were at the time, although Disney was leaps and bounds behind where it had once been.

What a story. Reaffirms the value of life, both human and otherwise, shows how badly we really treat each other and the true nature of good vs evil and corruption of the soul. Truly, a masterpiece. Thank you Miyazaki.

Really a great disc with the extras. The second disc was only storyboards, not very entertaining unless you are an animator.

[orestes.]

I've only had a chance to see Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind yet due to never having more than 45 minutes of free time in the past couple days.

I knew I would really like it as with every Mityazaki movie. I consider his movies my favourite animated movies plus some of my favourites in any genres.

I can't wait to see Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns next.

[MickeyMousePal]

I just saw Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Porco Rosso yesterday and both films were excellent!!!!
I also saw The Cat Returns on Tuesday which was good.

[PublicEnemy#1]

I went to Walmart with my friends, my friend bought Nausicaa for 16.90 without tax. I was broke so I couldn't get it. I'm going to ask if I can go tomorrow and buy both Nausicaa and Porco Rosso, I also saw American Beauty for 9 bucks so I shall buy that as well.

[Mr. Toad]

Watched Cat Returns tonight and it was the weakest of the four Ghibli films I have seen so far, but it still was far from bad. It was very funny and cute but lacked the emotional impact of Nausicaa, Spirited Away or even Kiki's. Animation did not seem like it was quite as good as the others either, but it was the first from Ghibli's new generation.

I think A Bug's Life would be a good comparison. In my opinion Pixar's weakest, but still a good movie.

[castleinthesky]

I finally have had time to buy and watch all three Ghibli films of wave 2. I was highly anticipating Nausicaa and The Cat Returns. I had less anticipation for Porco Rosso.

The First movie I got was Nausicaa. Nausicaa was breathtaking! I loved the film. I liked the story. Since Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke are my two favorite Ghibli films, it was no puzzle that Nausicaa would become one of my favorites. The plot of the movie was great. I like how nature had been a part of this film.

My second movie I watched was The Cat Returns. The Cat Returns fell below my expectations. I expected the movie to be great. It fell short. The movie is still a great movie, but not up to Ghibli standards. I like it being a shorter movie because you can watch it at more flexible times.

I saw Porco Rosso last. I had low expectations for this movie. Porco outperformed my expectations. Porco was great! The whole plot was manipulated into a love/ adventure film, like Mononoke and Castle in the Sky. The love plot is very complex, and I still don’t fully understand it.

I saw all three films in segments because I did not have time to watch them fully, but I plan to watch them fully soon. I’ve only watched them once so my ratings may change.

My Ghibli Rankings:
1) Castle in the Sky 10/10
2) Princess Mononoke 10/10
3) Porco Rosso 10/10
4) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 10/10
5) Kiki’s Delivery Service 10/10
6) Spirited Away 10/10
7) The Cat Returns 9/10
Grave of the Fireflies 9/10

I am hoping to see The Castle of Caligostro.

I am ready for Howl and Wave 3!!