Miyazaki's Greatest Film

Rating: 10/10 (24 October 2012)

Inspired by "Gulliver's Travels," the fantasy-adventure Castle in the Sky was Hayao Miyazaki's third feature, and helped to establish his reputation as a visionary in both Japan and the United States.The film is about a young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.As for the elements of the film,it echoes in Myazaki's earlier Nausicaä, and anticipates imagery in his later films, from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away. The English dub, which features Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek and Cloris Leachman,is lively and close in tone to the original Japanese, if a bit talkier.Aside from that,the exciting flying sequences, appealing characters, and fantastic vision of a steam- powered future Jules Verne might have imagined make Castle in the Sky a must-have for fans of Japanese and Western animation.The viewer will obviously have an uplifting experience as it's the perfect place to view where Miyazaki has been and where he intends to go.Overall,it is the greatest film he has ever made.