Read the book, watch the movie!

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2005)

Howl's Moving Castle was my favourite childhood book. I've read it many times (as an adult too). Diana Wynne Jones weaves the most creative, exciting, fun and magical stories around. I've been fairly annoyed with all the attention (+ movie spin-offs etc.) that JK Rowlings "Harry Potter" has received, since they are not, in my opinion, on par with Diana Wynne Jones' truly magical works.
I had always wished that Howl's moving castle would be made into a film, but knew that it would probably be a disappointment. I've been proved wrong, Hayao Miyazaki is probably the only film-maker in the world with the fantastical vision required to bring this story to life.
This is my favourite movie of the year, it has been a dream come true to see this most magical of stories told through Miyazaki's stunning imagery.
My only concern with this is that many people seem to value watching it in the original Japanese with English-subtitles. I feel that this would probably be pretty confusing: an English story, translated to Japanese and then back into English! I've never heard of a translation of a translation that didn't get pretty confused. Besides, the English voice talents are world class, this is not a second-rate manga with a hammed up voice-over.