Search - Castle in the Sky on DVD


Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky
Actors: Mayumi Tanaka, James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Genres: Indie & Art House, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Anime & Manga, Animation
PG     2003     2hr 4min

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 04/15/2003 Run time: 125 minutes Rating: Nr

     

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Movie Details

Actors: Mayumi Tanaka, James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Creators: Hirokata Takahashi, Hayao Miyazaki, Hideo Ogata, Isao Takahata, Tatsumi Yamashita, Yasuyoshi Tokuma
Genres: Indie & Art House, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Anime & Manga, Animation
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Fantasy, Anime & Manga, Animation
Studio: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen - Animated,Closed-captioned
DVD Release Date: 04/15/2003
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1986
Release Year: 2003
Run Time: 2hr 4min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaDVD Credits: 2
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 14
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages: English, French, Japanese
Subtitles: French
See Also:

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Member Movie Reviews

SV S.
Reviewed on 10/22/2023...
A good, but not great Miyazaki film. This one is a bit more silly and lightweight than some of the great director's classics and will appeal mostly to children. The story does not feel well-realised, with the titular castle barely being explored at all by the main characters.

There is still some fascinating imagery, some of which you will be familiar with if you have seen other Miyazaki films, since several visual ideas are recycled in this movie. There are positive messages included in the film about respecting nature and treating others with kindness, which makes this a worthwhile watch for kids.

Some imagery and subject matter may be too scary for small children, with eerie-looking robots, nasty villains, lots of guns and explosions, and perilous situations for the child protagonists, including being (mildly) harmed by adults.

3 stars.
(Based on other reviews, my impressions may only apply to the Disneyfied English-language version of this film, which is apparently poorly translated. I have not yet watched the original in Japanese, which is included in this DVD.)
4 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

Winsome fantasy
Zack Davisson | Seattle, WA, USA | 04/17/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

""Castle in the Sky" is a masterpiece of one of Japan's finest filmakers. There is a simple artistry to Miyazaki's stories. This is a children's film, but it is in the tradition of children's stories that appeal to all ages. A rare, pure fantasy, the film has the same magic as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and other early Disney films.I first saw this movie when it was released in US theaters as "Laputa the Floating Island." The mythical floating island of Laputa is taken from Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." Like Swift, Miyazaki cloaks a political statement with a fantasy, giving deeper meaning to his story. Environmentalism has always been central to his films, and "Castle in the Sky" is no exception. Visual, the film is a literal flight of fancy. Much of the film takes place in the air. Air pirates travel in unwieldy flying machines. Giant dirigibles sail the skies. Travel by kite is an acceptable option. The animation is of the highest quality, as is the sound and acting.The story may seem familiar to followers of animation. Miyazaki also work briefly on the script of "Nadia: Secret of Blue Water" using some of the same concepts. The story was also adapted by Disney as their film "Atlantis," sending the characters underground instead of up to the sky. However, "Castle in the Sky" is the story in it's original, best form.I cannot recommend this film enough."
Disney has utterly destroyed a wonderful film.
Seth Rogers | 05/16/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw Castle in the Sky in the original Japanese while living in Japan in the early 90s. I was instantly captivated. The characters were engaging and immediately likeable, the cliffhanging action was fantastic, the plot was original and rather gripping, and the music was just absolutely gorgeous. If I were rating the original film (titled "Tenku no Shiro: Laputa"), I would readily give it five stars. Miyazaki is easily one of the most original and watchable animators in the business.

That said, this is an atrocious rendition for American audiences.

Overall, the voicecasting isn't too shabby. However, the actor playing the main character - the adventurous boy Pazu - is just plain awful. Not only does he sound more like a 28 year old than a 13 year old, but he has two voice settings: loud and soft, and absolutely no nuance in between. Listening to him is a rather teeth-grinding experience.

The translation of the dialogue from the original Japanese is pretty wretched. A lot of the original meaning was simply discarded and replaced by Disney. The lines of the air-pirate sidekicks were completely altered and not for the better. By the end of the movie, their constant stream of inane babble will have you wishing someone would just jettison the entire airship crew at high altitude. Overall, the dialogue of most of the supporting characters shows extremely poor scriptwriting.

For some odd reason, Disney decided to mute most of the sound effects in this movie. The ominous whirr of massive propellers, the sudden crash of explosive shells, the crisp sound of gun shots. All of it was toned down and muted-out by Disney. This detracts significantly from the excitement of the chases, the thrill of flying, and the incredible cliffhanging moments that made the original movie so much fun. Imagine the most recent summer action movie with the sound effects turned off and you'll get a pretty accurate picture of what Disney has done to Castle in the Sky. This is truly unfortunate since the original movie had some great sound-effects work.

The worst crime of all however, is what Disney has done to the soundtrack. The original Japanese film had one of the most spectacular, haunting and beautiful soundtracks I've heard in any movie.

Disney completely removed this soundtrack and replaced it with their own rendition.

Hints of the old score come through at times, but it is heavily watered-down and sounds almost elevator-musicish. I almost cried when I heard it.

The end result is a movie that little resembles the original film. Dramatic moments of silence are filled in with pointless dialogue, the savage howl of the wind replaced with bland instrumentals, piercing gunshots are replaced with something sounding suspiciously like a child's cap-gun, wonderful dialogue is completely butchered. It leaves one with a sneaky suspicion that Disney deliberately vandalized the film to protect its monopoly on the American animation market by making Japanese films look as bad as possible.

It is quite possible I'll never forgive Disney for this disgrace of an adaptation.

On the other hand, the Japanese language option (with subtitles) retains the original film in all its glory. For that reason alone, this DVD is definitely worth buying.

But please, PLEASE, watch the Japanese version before subjecting yourself to the horrible English-language version. Even if you hate subtitles, this film is worth watching in Japanese. Everyone I've shown it to, both young and old, has been instantly captivated.

Like I said, if I were rating only the Japanese-language version, this review would have been five stars. But the English-language monstrosity thoroughly deserves a one-star rating. On balance, I can't give this DVD more than 3 stars for an American audience.

This is probably the biggest disappointment I've had with films since George Lucas inflicted Jar Jar Binks on millions of unsuspecting Star Wars fans. Consider yourself warned."
Disney: Put this film on DVD!
David C. Rutledge | Ada, Oklahoma | 10/01/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"More than four years ago I rented the VHS tape of Kiki's Delivery Service, and there was an ad for Castle in the Sky before it. It was listed as "coming soon."Since then, I've gotten the Japanese version of Castle in the Sky on DVD, and I love it. However, I'm still baffled by the fact that Disney has paid professional actors to voice the characters and gotten the film prepared for release in the US -- even advertised it -- and has since then just sat on it.It's almost criminal to hold such great films as Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, and Pon Poko in your possession and not share them with the English speaking world.If and when they see the error of their ways and make this film available, do yourself a favor and buy it. We need to let the media juggernauts know how much we love Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli."