An introduction into anime and other foreign movies.
Basic Info
Where to Watch: Streaming on Max or online rental/purchase
Runtime: 1 hours 59 minutes
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors (English Version): Christian Bale, Billy Crystal, and Josh Hutcherson
Rating: PG
Pros:
- Great animation
- Beautiful score
- Interesting story and characters
Cons:
- The American voice acting isn’t great and it occasionally doesn’t match the animation
- The movie can take some weird turns
Overall Thoughts:
“Howl’s Moving Castle” comes from Japan which may make people think twice about watching this movie but it is great. This movie resembles an old Disney movie in the fairytale like story but because it is foreign it isn’t as appealing.
This movie is just one of many all time great movies made by Studio Ghibli. The studio has eight movies rated over an 8 on IMDb and Hayao Miyazaki himself has six such movies. The studio has been nominated seven times and has won two Oscars for best animated feature, one in 2003 for “Spirited Away”, the first foreign animated film to win, and one in 2024 for “The Boy and The Heron”.
Hayao Miyazaki, a director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, is one of the most acclaimed directors ever whether it be animation or not. He is tied for the most best animated movie Oscars nominations and he is tied for second in wins. His movies are also rated highly by fans and critics on a majority of sites.
A big reason as to why this movies succeeds is because of the score that was done by Joe Hisaishi. It is wonderfully fantastical and it adds to what is shown in the movie.
The animation is the backbone of what makes a Ghibli movie so magical. In a world were most animated movies are turning to only 3D animation or a blend of 2D and 3D animation, like Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, it is refreshing to see a good 2D animated movie like this. Every scene has a rich background and the character movement is really smooth.
The best thing about this movie is that while it is amazing there are many other movies like this. Ghibli themselves have other movies that are considered better. The only reason for this one being the first reviewed Ghibli movie is because it has aspects from their other movies in it. This movie also does a great job of showing that other countries are good at making movies and they worth checking out.
Other Things
Let me know what you think and if there are other movies you think I should watch.