Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

roboticman Most animated movies that come out are pretty good. Not all of them are perfect, but you'd be surprised how many good ones there are. But there's one that in my opinion, is the definitive one. The one that stands out above all. That movie is Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.In a different time period or world, there exists a legend of a floating castle named Laputa. Only few people have heard or seen it. One of them is a boy named Patzu, an adventurous thirteen year old kid who's father was obsessed with the castle after he took a picture of it. He is determined to find the castle and prove justice for his father.At the same time, the princess of the Laputa, a girl named Sheeta, is kidnapped by a goverment agent named Muska who wants her amulet that is the key to a secret room on Laputa. As Muska is taking her away, a group of pirates hijack the ship and try to take the amulet from her. She climbs outside of the blimp and accidentally falls before they can get her. Her amulet saves her from falling and she gently glides down to a mysterious location. Patzu discovers her and takes care of her.From then on, it turns into a full on adventure movies complete with robots, evil corporations, fighting, and the discovery of Laputa.Watching this movie is like an experience. Something that takes you away from reality and puts you in this fantasy realm. When I first watched this movie, everything on screen that Studio Ghibli did, they did right. The animation, the music, the voice acting, the plot, and the resolution.James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin do fantastic jobs as both Patzu and Sheeta. So does Cloris Leachman as the main pirate. But the person that steals the show is Mark Hamill as Muska. Mark Hamill is a definitive villain. Just hearing his voice when he's threatening Sheeta gives me chills. This is probably his best performance since The Joker from Batman the Animated Series.Hayao Miyazaki and his team did a really good job creating the world and Laputa. You could probably take any frame from this movie and hang it on your wall. Just the way they put so much detail into Laputa is a real treat.If you're looking for an adventure movie that is also an anime, has fantastic characters and of course and original story, then what are you doing reading my review. Go watch it.

classicsoncall I don't have anything against animated films per se, it's just that I don't find them as engaging as a live screen performance. At some point I tend to lose focus and then it becomes a bit of a chore to finish the story. Like all the Miyazaki films I've seen, this is well drawn and colorful and given to plenty of action, with the creative premise of an etherium crystal at the heart of the story. Beyond that it was a good guys versus bad guys type of story that didn't fully engage this viewer. That's not meant to be a negative in terms of recommending the film to anyone else, it's just that animated films fail to move me for the most part. This one was not an exception.

SnoopyStyle Sheeta with her crystal manages to escape from pirate Captain Dola and her sons. She falls out of the airship and ends up floating to the ground where she is rescued by young Pazu. Pazu and his community struggles to make a living in the mine. He is obsessed with finding the lost floating city of Laputa. His late father found it once but was ridiculed for it. With pirates and government agents after her, they have to rediscover the power of her crystal and the lost Castle in the Sky.This world is imaginative. The story is a bit muddled. The dialog is a little clunky. The slapstick comedy is broad. I'm not sure that every motivation makes sense. I'm not sure why Dola joins Pazu to help Sheeta. The pirates are shooting up everybody to get the crystal in the beginning and I don't understand why they switch sides. I'm not sure why Pazu was let go especially since he seems to be a great way to control Sheeta. Some of the motivations are confusing but this does have the Ghibli inventiveness.

danbranan I was so excited about this film after reading all the glowing reviews, but it was a real disappointment. It's one of Miyazaki's earlier works, and that may explain it, but I just couldn't enjoy this film even though I really wanted to. I know it sounds funny to say, but it was simply just too "cartoony". The beginning of the film is pure magic and for the first 15 minutes or so, I was engrossed in the story and looking forward to the rest of the film. But soon after that, it degraded to almost Saturday-morning cartoon levels of predictability, relying on exaggerated and typical villains and supporting characters. If you liked this at all, you owe it to yourself to check out more of Miyazaki's films. He is a true artist and is capable of much better than this.