This inspired my love and passion for films when I was 4.

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2011)

When I was a child and first watched this movie on TV, I was blown away. It didn't go for the action of Star Wars, it didn't go for the comedy of Toy Story, and it didn't go for the romance of Titanic. Instead, it went for pure beauty, and (In my opinion) this accomplished that perfectly.
While other people take off marks for the various versions (Both of the English-dubs), I had little problems with them, but I am going to focus on looking at the subtitled-original version with the original music: The way Miyazaki wanted it.
The one factor of this movie which was the factor that blew my mind as a child was the music. Such fantastic composition off sounds and emotions brought through the music in each of the scenes. There were moments where the music picked up on the idea of adventure, feelings of loss and loneliness, and then moments of hope and triumph. Truly sublime: In my opinion, perfection and the BEST soundtrack I have heard. I know it is naive to say such a thing, but this is what hit me as a child: the music was such beautiful artwork crafted solely for this movie.
The artwork, as Studio Ghibli's artwork always has been, was stunning. These hand-drawn images are so perfectly crafted you can actually see the amount of effort and passion the artists put into this. Together the artwork and the music tickles the imagination of both adults and children.
The story is based on the floating island of Laputa: a concept originally presented in the book "Gulliver's Travels." It successfully takes that one concept and blooms it into something entirely new. It's beautiful ideas clashing between the original text and Miyazak's own wild and beautiful imagination.
The characters are very well written: Miyzaki often focuses on the innocence of the youth, and this film has various themes revolving around that. Pazu and Sheeta want to find the island for selfless reasons: Pazu wants to follow in his late-father's footsteps and find the island, and Sheeta wants to discover her link to it. It is a journey of self discovery for these two characters, while the adults are greedy for money and power. There is a clear sense between who is good and bad which is ambiguous at first, but through the film as we get closer to Pazu and Sheeta, we all discover who to really trust. The characters are believable and there is a constant sense of development in both the characters and the narrative.
This is my most favourite film ever because of these reasons. I try to be strict when it comes to films but I find it difficult to criticise this film. There is no such thing as a "Perfect" film, but I think this comes pretty close.