Spirited Away

[George Braun]

What did you think of "Spirited Away"?

I think it was outstanding! Amazing! The color was beutiful. And it was heartwarming and exciting! It is the greatest animated movie of 2002!

Rating: 9/10 :)

[filmfreak]

Im jealous that you've seen it, its the only Miyazaki feature I havent seen. Im still waiting for my R1 DVD to arrive (Its not out yet) and I dont think it will ever get a UK release, bloody Disney.

And they have the cheek to expose us to rubbish like the Jungle Book 2 whilst ignoring the genius that is Hiyao Miyazaki.

[Kong]

Highly entertaining, imaginitive, funny, and stirring. If it can move Kong you know it's good stuff.

[Viscuoa]

I have this movie and it's about time. It's entertaining and well plotted. It's fun for all the fantasy anime fans out there. The animation is really great too and the ending will leave you wondering with two questions.

[Aniko]

I just saw it and absolutely loved it. A very heart warming and endearing story. My daughter loved it also.

[Aniko]

Just wanted to bump this thread back to the top of the list....it deserves it. It's such a wonderful movie, and not just for kids. It's a feel good movie for anyone.

[linespalsy]

i'll just quote an exerpt from an interview with naoki yamamoto [writer/artist: dance till tomorrow, fancy, thank you, among many other great manga] that appeared in pulp, last spring/summer. it pretty much sums up my reaction.

p: seen any movies recently?

ny: sen to chihiro no kamikakushi [spirited away]. director hayao miyazaki is like a god to me. sen to chihiro is really twisted and fun. with princess mononoke miyazaki said that he just cant simply do "good versus evil" type of morality stories. with sen to chihiro he just keeps putting out these really twisted images. he doesnt even attempt to have any story development. i was really excited when i saw it and thought, "wow, this old man has finally gone senile!"



-> was anyone else dissapointed by the ending though? somehow miyazaki's resolutions always seem kind of facile to me...

[suzuki-san]

I first saw this film while living in Japan in a small town theatre, when, almost 2 years ago, my Japanese was at a tremendously low level.

Nethertheless, I loved the film and it was easy to follow despite the language barrier.

I think that Mononoke was translated well for the American adult audience, and Totoro was done well for kids.. smart for Disney to pick up distribution rights.

Spirited Away is the perfect medium between the two. Bringing up topics of social and environmental destruction, while keeping the kids occupied.

I've never seen that miracle pulled off until now.

Mr. Suzuki

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[Kong]

Originally posted by suzuki-san
I first saw this film while living in Japan in a small town theatre, when, almost 2 years ago, my Japanese was at a tremendously low level.

It was released in Japan about 10 months ago.

[Fugitive]

No, it was actually released in Japan in 2001. I received a Japanese video version in July 2002.

[Kong]

Originally posted by Fox
No, it was actually released in Japan in 2001. I received a Japanese video version in July 2002.

IMDB is confusing Kong. It says 2001 beside the title, but lists the Japanese release date as 7/29/02. http://us.imdb.com/Business?0245429 Kong believed IMDB, but it turns out they were completely wrong. according to Yahoo the release date was 7/20/2001 http://www.upcomingmovies.com/miyazaki2001.html

Kong's bad.

[Fugitive]

Easily confusing since they probably mix up the release with the Disney release dates? Who knows. Good anime tho.

[suzuki-san]

Yes, it was released in Japan in 2001, if my memory serves me correct. It was in October.

It was definately not released in July of 2002. I think the Japanese video was released then. They were showing it on the beach.

Suzuki

[JudgeoftheBlind]

Spirited Away was good not as good as people said it was didn't live up to mononoke which stands as one of my fav. movies of all time but it was good

[Joe Popular]

I also liked Monoke better, just because it had more action and the character were more likable. I did not like following Sen around a bath house, I liked A****aka riding his red elk across medeval Japan. That said, i think that Spirited away has the best animation I have ever seen, and i watch a lot of animation.

[Jackie Malfoy]

Saw it on reviews but never saw it I did not want to because those kind of movies I don't watch!
Not a fan of anyway of the tv shows or movies. But I bet it was still good I will take you guys word for it!See you around!JM :cool: ;) :p :D :)

[Joe Popular]

Jackie, you are missing out if you assume this is just like every other Japanimation movie or show out there. If you think this is like Dragonballz or Akira, you are mistaken. It is beautifully animated with a magical storyline that sucks you in for a full 125 minutes. It won best animated film from the Natioinal Board of Review and New York Film Critics circle. It also won best picture at the berlin International film festival. (All off the DVD cover)

[Sedai]

Jackie, you are missing out if you assume this is just like every other Japanimation movie or show out there. If you think this is like Dragonballz or Akira, you are mistaken. It is beautifully animated with a magical storyline that sucks you in for a full 125 minutes. It won best animated film from the Natioinal Board of Review and New York Film Critics circle. It also won best picture at the berlin International film festival. (All off the DVD cover)

Have to chime in on defense here. There is a ton of good Anime (not Japanimation, thanks) out there. Of course there is a lot of crap as well, but that is true with anything. Check out Perfect Blue, Ghost in the Shell, Gasaraki, Ninja Scroll, Serial Experiments:Lain, Armitage III, Macross Plus, Noir, the list goes on....

No need to lump every work in a genre together as something bad when there is a slew of good animation/writing in the genre. Also, I am trying to figure out how Dragonball Z and Akira can be lumped together as an example of something, as the only thing they have in common is that they are both considered anime. Akira has some of the best hand drawn animation in the genre, and I struggle to comprehend how this could be missed, when you are assaulted with breathtaking scene after breathtaking scene. A tad confused by the film? Watch it again, this time with the English dub turned off, and really pay attention to whats going on and read the subs, as it all makes sense. Dragonball Z can't hold a candle to this film and I concur that DBZ is not very good. It's on Saturday morning cartoons, that should be enough of a clue to the quality of the anime.

Check out some of the titles listed above, and I think you will find that not all Anime is junk.

_Sedai

[CrazyforMovies]

Typical Japanese low grade animation and storyline.. It's not good.

[LordSlaytan]

Sometimes I think you smoke crack.

[Sedai]

:rotfl:

[brave_sir_robin]

Typical Japanese low grade animation and storyline.. It's not good.

Ummmm...Low grade?
:eek: That's some of the best animation I've seen in my life! What are you talking about :eek:
Anyway I loved it! And for Miazaki fans check this awsome site out!
http://www.nausicaa.net
I love all the Miazaki films I've seen and I can't wait for Disney to release Nausicaa and the vally of the wind and Porco Rosso (see link) :D

[Caitlyn]

Sometimes I think you smoke crack.


:laugh:

[Tuna]

I still think DBZ is good for most of the show's span. I admit the pacing is terrible and everything is really drawn out, animation is just ok, but how can you not get sucked in!?

[Aniko]

Typical Japanese low grade animation and storyline.. It's not good.
Typical!?!
I'd really be interested to hear why you think it's typical and low grade....and why it's not good. I gotta tell you, I disagree. Even if it's not your cup of tea...it's not typical.

[Piddzilla]

I saw this incredible film last night for the first time and I really liked it. I don't watch much animated film, japanese or other countrywise, but I could see that this one was different from Disney's and the other elephants' films.

Even if I don't agree with Crazy that it is low grade I think I understand what she means. If you compare Spirited Away with the latest american animated features it appears to be simpler than its american counterparts. I saw something about just this on a swedish film tv program and I think the guy said something about japanese animators actually doing everything by hand and not using computers as much as in America. And this gives the films a completely higher peronal touch, and I can say that I felt that personal touch clearly when I saw Spirited Away.

About the storyline I think that perhaps some people are so used to the Hollywood narrative with clear beginning, middle and ending, a clear definition of what's good and what is evil and a spelled out moral to learn from the story. In Spirited Away we have the moral too. We get to learn lessons about greed and being compassionate and what it means to be truthfully generous, but it is given to us in a little different way. What I thought was incredibly cool was that you were never sure about who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. Some creatures who actually did some pretty awful stuff (No-Face, that obnoxious baby, the "Yubaba bird") were given a second chance and turned good in the end. I personally liked this since I am a firm believer of that no one was born evil or that no one is evil by nature. That is the impression you get by watching a lot of Hollywood productions.

I loved this film. There was so much stuff to look at, so many cool, scary, weird, cute and funny creatures and beautiful backdrops. And the story was good too, not too simple but not too complicated. Easy enough for kids to watch but engaging enough for grown ups to watch. I would really like to see more anime from Japan, a country by the way that appears to be a bit of the happening place in the film world today.


[EDIT] Oh and if you have the option of watching it in japanese with subtitles - do it. We started watching it in swedish by accident and it's like a big part of the mood was lost. And japanese sounds cool. :D

[quiball]

Typical Japanese low grade animation and storyline.. It's not good.
i'm sorry, if this isn't good, i don't know what you would consider to be a great movie...
Low grade? what kind of Japanese anime do you watch, man?

[greppin]

Some Japanese Anime T.V Shows could be called low grade, but I don't think any of Hiyao Miyazaki's work could be put in this category... either this person hasn't seen the film and is basing there arguments on another idiots opinion, or they are that idiot, or they may have something wrong with their eyes.

Please post examples of High Grade Japanese anime as I'm confused;

http://www.xs4all.nl/~mononoke/Images/Wallpapers/Normal/Spirited-Away-Wallpaper-04.jpg

Is that low grade?

[edited to make sense]

[kaisersoze]

I didn't think the animation was lacking, I found it very catching to the eyes infact.

And maybe you think the story line didn't mesh well together but niether did alice in wonderland and we all loved that

[Fugitive]

Typical Japanese low grade animation and storyline.. It's not good.

'typical low grade'? and your user name is CrazyforMovies?
hmmm... not sure what you mean by 'typical' or 'low grade', as Japanese anime has been equal to, if not surpassing, Disney for years. I have to go along with Greppin and ask you what kind of anime have you been watching? Things have progressed since the days of Speed Racer and Leo the White Lion, unless you've been watching too much of the likes of Pokemon (but even that has some creative works).

Miyazaki has his own style but never have I seen anything 'low grade' from him. Spirited Away was 'different' in storyline but the animation is not lacking at all.

One of his best that I've recommended to quite a few people, which is definitely not lacking in storyline either is Grave of the Fireflies. If you see that and think it's 'typically low grade', then maybe you should stay away from anime completely.

[greppin]

My Neighbor Totoro is one of my favourites, I'm looking forward to the Disney dubbed dvd.

[Fugitive]

That's a popular one. I'm with Pidz tho, I prefer the non-dubbed versions, however for little kids that can't read subtitles yet, it can't be helped.

[rauldc14]

Just watched Spirited Away, I'm not a huge fan of anime by any reason but wow this film was amazing.