Any one here's seen "Howl's moving castle"?

8_Forgotten_8

Anyone here's seen "Howl's Moving Castle"?? its like the BEST anime film EVER! if you havent, i'd recommend you see it!

CuLT

Watched it with a couple of mates; much anticipation

We sort of collectively decided that it had all the hallmarks of a great Miyazaki film, yet somehow lacked the heart. All the elements were there, the story just seemed to have less and less cohesion as it progressed, and I personally didn't really feel for any of the characters.

Maybe it will improve on a second viewing, but Laputa, Mononoke, Nausicaa and Spirited Away all won me over instantly, something which Howl's Moving Castle has failed to do.

Karoma

It's LIKE not really, like y'knowww.

CuLT wrote:

... it had all the hallmarks of a great Miyazaki film, yet somehow lacked the heart. All the elements were there, the story just seemed to have less and less cohesion as it progressed, and I personally didn't really feel for any of the characters.

Maybe it will improve on a second viewing, but Laputa, Mononoke, Nausicaa and Spirited Away all won me over instantly, something which Howl's Moving Castle has failed to do.

My sentiments exactly.

Rhyme

CuLT wrote:

...something which Howl's Moving Castle has failed to do.

I think it was Howls nature that took something out of it for me, Miyazaki excels in creating loveable characters and Howl just didnt spark despite having Christian Bale as his voice.

Fantastic film in any case, thoroughly enjoyed. Must get back and finish My Neighbour Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies so i can have a larger frame of reference

ehraz

Howl's Moving Castle is good but I prefer Miyazaki's earlier work.

I wonder if it's the fact that he based this one on a book by a British writer, that gives it a different feeling for me, than ones he has written himself.

My favourites are definitely still Tonari no Totoro and Naushika.

8_Forgotten_8

hmmm...i have never seen the version with the english speaking howl..but the chinese speaking one is pretty fine. duno...thats just my opinion. I quite liked the whole magical thing.

Grave of the fireflies is apparently really good!havent got to seeing that yet! my friend says she cries everytime she watches it. I really want to see Totoro, last time i've seen it was like when i was 5.

Spirited away is also excellent!i remember the first time i watched it i was just drawn in completely!saw that one a few times with my sis..sad i know!haha. and i also enjoyed princess mononoke.

which would you say is the best of Miyazaki's films?:)

CuLT

8_Forgotten_8 wrote:

which would you say is the best of Miyazaki's films?:)

Sacrilege

They're all brilliant, though my favourite is a toss up between Nausicaa and Laputa.

8_Forgotten_8

coolage!

isnt there like suppose to be a Spirited Away number 2 coming out soon???

sharingan

Personally its a toss up between 2 very different films: Nausicaa and Kikis Delivery Service. However I haven't seen either of Howls Moving Castle or My Neighbour Totoro yet. I have seen all of the rest of his films.

As for Spirited Away 2? Where on earth are you getting your information? This isn't Disney, where successful films receive additional sequels until such a time as any artistic merit is wrung from the franchise. These guys will always pick a new project. THe only thing that is even remotely close to a sequel was Whisper of the Heart/The Cat Returns, but they were done by different directors.

Currently it is unknown whether Hayao Miyazaki is working on another film or not. If he is, it is being kept very secret. The only (known) project being undertaken at Studio Ghibli is being directed by his son, Goro and is an adaption of Ursula le Guin's Earthsea. Been a storm of controversy over this one initially, with Hayao Miyazaki's objections being well publicised.

8_Forgotten_8

sharingan wrote:

As for Spirited Away 2? Where on earth are you getting your information?

well, i remember hearing it from somewhere?

anywho, it was said that Spirited Away was the LAST project that Miyazaki was going to do...but then out came Howl's moving Castle...so ya never know what he's going to do next.

what did you think of the cat returns?

blacktie

i thought howl's moving castle was good, but i much prefered grave of the fireflies and spirited away! Grave of the fireflies make me cry everytime i watch it! and spirited away is just the best!

Vokes

sharingan wrote:

The only (known) project being undertaken at Studio Ghibli is being directed by his son, Goro and is an adaption of Ursula le Guin's Earthsea.

An animated version? Nice!!!

Thomas_S_Hunterson

It was a terrible film
I saw it in the cinema, biggest waste of money ever
It just reeked of Deus Ex Machina
It was grand up until the end where they needed some way to tie up the story.

"Hello i'm the prince, the reason for the war, but i'm back now so we can all live happily ever after"

Where did that come from. It was tragic

Karoma

Eh, please use the spoiler tag..

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Karoma wrote:

Eh, please use the spoiler tag..

Sorry, just ammended

TheIrishGrover

I know people are going to think I'm nuts but I thought Howl's was only OK. Only saw the dubbed version in the cinema and I usually pefer subs. I wasn't a huge fan of Mononoke. Loved Spirited Away of course. But my fave has to be Porco. Think it's his funniest....... oh, that or totoro.... Hmmmmm.... (HATED the dub that was done for Porco. HATED!)
Having said that though, I got the Chinese versionof Howl that comes with Japanese soundtrack and English subs..... MUCH prefered the Japanese version. (Never really liked Sophie's english dub).

Thought the end was a copout alright

jaqian

I recently watched HMC and it was subbed in a kind of japlish that kinda added to the film. I thought it was a brilliant film that was let down by the ending. There was something weak about the ending, can't put my finger on it but an enjoyable film none the less.

8_Forgotten_8

yeah, i agree with u on the ending..it was just like...blah. it was like the end..but then again..it seemed not yet finished, if you get what i mean..and then like random things just happened and that was it..like that straw man turned out to be a prince??? how weird is that...and also some other small things which i didnt quite understand...

jaqian

It's like the budget ran out and they had to finish up early so there was no depth or thought to the ending.

psicic

Howl's Moving Castle was good, not great. I mean, with every other Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki I've seen my attention has been grabbed right from the very start - not this one. There's a huge 'Meh' factor with HMC - it didn't seem very organic, character development was sacrificed to action and the story did seem oddly paced in places.

Probably should have known something was wrong when all the pundits were saying how great the movie was going to be because they were using so much CGI. (It was laughable - I read in a magazine how the ability to animate a few hundred flags in CGI meant that the city scenes were going to be the best thing to grace a movie screen...EVER! I mean...they're flags for God's sake!!!)

Studio Ghibli has done some great stuff - as a fan I just hope they haven't begun a slip into a Disney-esque mediocrity...

blacktie

i agree:)

Tar.Aldarion

was on in the portable cinema thing in college yesterday but I had to miss it

blacktie

poor you

evad_lhorg

out on monday on dvd! getting it in hmv. comes with art cards and sleeve or somethin

8_Forgotten_8

lol coool.:D

blacktie

omg...dad came home from china and got the whole Studio Ghibli collection!


sweeet!

CyTai

blacktie wrote:

omg...dad came home from china and got the whole Studio Ghibli collection!


sweeet!

Huh? Did you get the VCD collection??

I didn't see DVD collection during my visit....

Well, I hope the qualities are good with good English sub.

Peace. > <

cotwold

8_Forgotten_8 wrote:

Anyone here's seen "Howl's Moving Castle"?? its like the BEST anime film EVER! if you havent, i'd recommend you see it!

Ugh i hated it, i found it simulated the sensation of swimming through porrage and after investing 119 minutes of your life the ending is a complete Deus ex Machina

cotwold

sean_keevey wrote:

It was a terrible film
I saw it in the cinema, biggest waste of money ever
It just reeked of Deus Ex Machina
It was grand up until the end where they needed some way to tie up the story.

"Hello i'm the prince, the reason for the war, but i'm back now so we can all live happily ever after"

Where did that come from. It was tragic

A man after my own heart.:cool:

blacktie

CyTai wrote:

Huh? Did you get the VCD collection??

I didn't see DVD collection during my visit....

Well, I hope the qualities are good with good English sub.

Peace. > <

not english..chinese! i find the english speaking one a bit weird?...

thanks! yup..dvd i think.

laterz ^-^

Kingp35

Maybe it was the mood I was in but I found the story to HMC a complete mess at times. Nothing was very clear up until the end which was a huge disappointment. It had none of the magic of Spirited Away. I must say I was hugely disappointed by this and actually struggled to stay awake during parts of it. It just felt like a mess.

6/10 and thats pushing it.