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The Films of Studio Ghibli |OT| Creating New Worlds

thenexus6

Member
I finally watched both Princess Kaguya and Princess Mononoke for the first time this last week.

I thought Kaguya was very good, not one of my favourites but I definitely enjoyed it. Mononoke on the other hand was top tier Ghibli and I thought it was excellent. The only Ghibli films I have not seen now are Pom Poko and Tales from Earthsea.
 
Over the past few weeks, I've watched for the first time :

- Porco Rosso : it was awesome. The characters are endearing.

- Castle in the Sky : it was awesome.

- Howl's Moving Castle : awesome yet confusing a few times during the movie.

- Poppy Hill : awesome, and quite soothing slice-of-life-ish love story after the three other action-packed movie.

It's interesting how the lore is developped each time, and how they can make each moment, even less important-looking ones, interesting.

I'm considering getting the rest of them now. I got Grave of the Fireflies, but I don't feel I could endure a film like that right now based on what I've been told about it.

Next ones should be Kaguya, Ponyo, Arietty.
 

Asbel

Member
Guys, what are the best looking Ghibli movies in blu ray? I've got most of them on dvd and need an excuse to get them in blu.
 

Draconian

Member
Guys, what are the best looking Ghibli movies in blu ray? I've got most of them on dvd and need an excuse to get them in blu.

I've only seen Ponyo, From Up on Poppy Hill, Castle in the Sky, and The Wind Rises. They all look great, but I think The Wind Rises is the best out of these.
 

Kuraudo

Banned
Guys, what are the best looking Ghibli movies in blu ray? I've got most of them on dvd and need an excuse to get them in blu.

Spirited Away is phenomenal in HD. The acuity of detail in the backgrounds is even more beautiful when you can see the actual brush strokes.
 
Spirited Away is phenomenal in HD. The acuity of detail in the backgrounds is even more beautiful when you can see the actual brush strokes.

Can't wait to get this one on the US release. I can't even image how good it's going to look.

Got Porco Rosso and Pom Poko from Target today.

Porco Rosso is one of my favorite Ghibli films. I can't believe how much I enjoyed it the first time I saw it and went in thinking it was going to be meh. Was I ever so wrong.
 
Saw Marnie a couple of weeks ago and found it pretty good, not as good as Kaguya but really enjoyable nonetheles.
Loved the little girl that moved in the house

I also just got back from an exposition of Ghibli's work with more then 1300 drawing of their work from the times Miyazaki and Takahata worked at Toie and TMS to Marnie was There. Seeing their drawing in real life is breathtaking, the amount of work they put out is really incredible. I'm specifically talking about two 3 meters high drawings from Spirited Away.

They also sold a book with every drawings and some mugs from Spirited Away and Mononoke. It was pretty awesome, grabed the book and the Mononoke's mug.
 

Fjordson

Member
Been on a tear recently picking up Ghibli blu-rays. I didn't own any and hadn't seen or rewatched any of them since probably Howl's in 2004.

So far I've got Mononoke, Howl's, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service and Nausicaa. Gonna pick up Porco Rosso and Totoro today.

I think Disney does a really good job with the blu-ray releases. Could use some more bonus features on some of them, but the sound and picture quality is top notch so it's all good.
 

Asbel

Member
I rewatched Whisper of the Heart for the second time recently. First time was years ago likely around the time of the US dvd release and I thought it was pretty good but needs a bit of polish. I forgot the attention to detail they put into Shizuku. A self absorbed, inconsiderate, self righteous good person that would eventually mature. The story she writes is even bad fan fiction that she needs to polish.

I still think it would have been better if Seiji didn't always liked Shizuku and just grew to like her instead. That kinda came out of nowhere as it wasn't hinted that he liked her until he confessed it. Still, a really good slice of life movie. Just as good as Ghibli's fantasy stuff.
 

neoism

Member
I rewatched Whisper of the Heart for the second time recently. First time was years ago likely around the time of the US dvd release and I thought it was pretty good but needs a bit of polish. I forgot the attention to detail they put into Shizuku. A self absorbed, inconsiderate, self righteous good person that would eventually mature. The story she writes is even bad fan fiction that she needs to polish.

I still think it would have been better if Seiji didn't always liked Shizuku and just grew to like her instead. That kinda came out of nowhere as it wasn't hinted that he liked her until he confessed it. Still, a really good slice of life movie. Just as good as Ghibli's fantasy stuff.

I remember to this day when I seen this for the first time.... one of the main reasons these movies are soo great its the feeling you get once its over.. it was a nice summer day that had rain.. and sunshine at the same time...( you know when it makes that werid lighting that you dont see that often) I took a walk after the movie and it just made feel soo good.. and warm inside... love WOTH... I had low expectations going in and was really moved and its one of my favorite's... most Ghibli movies give me this feelin, that of fulfillment and the simpleness of life and all I did was just watch a movie... I get it from live films as well but for some reason I get it more from just about every film they have made. It's just the way their drawn I guess... makes me a kid again if only for 2 hours...... <3 <3 <3
 
Just looking at the TV listings today in the UK. Turns out The Wind Rises is on Film4 today at 3:25 pm (finishes 6:00 pm, I didn't know it was 127 minutes +ads long).

This post is probably too late for anyone to benefit but nevermind.
 

BadWolf

Member
Have any of you fine folks bought any of the Ghibli storyboard books for their animated movies?

Are they good? Worth getting? Only Japanese or are there some in English?
 

LuuKyK

Member
Not sure if this has been posted here already or not, but I just discovered this guy called TAKUMI, who did this awesome drawing of what a Ghibli Theme Park would look like:

6671b159da9e3cae5699ed80fadb6b06.jpg


You can read more about it here.

He also has some other pretty cool Ghibli art in his facebook (linked above):

 

Asbel

Member
Got a few more blus. Watched Pom Poko for the first time and it's like a friendlier take on nature vs humans. Pretty good but went about a half hour too long. Unnecessary subplots that don't add to the overall plot of the movie. Also, there are documentaries that show racoons actually thrive in cities.

Got the Mononoke blu too and that is perfectly paced and doesn't go on any longer than it needed too. Just as good as I remember it. Watched the featurette right after and what I'm guessing is the NTSC broadcasts was such a huge contrast in image quality to the 1080p movie. You forget how bad things used to look.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Watched Pom Poko for the first time and it's like a friendlier take on nature vs humans. Pretty good but went about a half hour too long.

Yes, that's the biggest problem with that movie. It's much too long
and the artsytle is really cheap and tacky looking - like a 90s Disney channel cartoon.
 

BadWolf

Member
Maybe I've got them mixed up...

Thanks anyway :)

They probably can't translate them because, looking at scan samples, they are straight up pages drawn by Miyazaki and contain his hand written notes to the animators in Japanese.

Ended up ordering books for Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo and The Wind Rises. It's storyboard goodness so the language barrier shouldn't matter.
 
Wow Porco Rosso was really good. Kinda surprised because you don't really hear that mentioned up with the Ghibli greats. Really liked it, and of course Joe Hisashi's soundtrack was godlike.
 

LuuKyK

Member
I mostly hear Spirited Away, Mononoke, Nausicaa, Totoro, Castle in the Sky, and Ponyo.

Even though I really like Ponyo, its not consistently considered among the best Ghibli movies as far as I've seen around forums and such. It got more attention because its a somewhat more recent movie. Having said that, yeah, Porco Rosso is more of a classic than Ponyo by a mile, I would say. Nowhere near Spirited Away and Totoro, but still.
 

GCX

Member
Porco Rosso is one of the most rewatchable movies ever. I've seen it so many times and always find new things to marvel.
 

Asbel

Member
Rewatched some of my Ghibli dvds. Not as clean and bright as the blus but fine for the most part. Then I see black spots flashing at the end of Laputa, like the kind you see in old VHS tapes. Hoping the remaster cleaned that up. Laputa is a more tamed version of Nausicaa and a great precautionary story about technology in it's own right. Really nothing wrong with this movie, it's done really well.

I also finally watched Porco Rosso for the second time. Unlike my rewatch of Whispers of the Heart, I don't like Porce Rosso anymore than I did the first time. Like Laputa, it's already a perfectly good movie, no complaints. Pacing was spot on. They don't wrap up too suddenly and neatly like in Whisper nor drag on needlessly like Pom Poko. I'm actually not sure what the theme of Porco Rosso is. Is it freedom? Honor?
 
Finally got a chance to see Kaguya since my Blu-ray arrived over the weekend. What a way to go out if this truly is Isao Takahata's final film. Just has a striking look and is gorgeously animated. Also worth mentioning that Joe Hisaishi really outdid himself on this one. The music is wonderful.

Can't wait to dig into the making of bonus disc that comes with Gkids release.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Finally got a chance to see Kaguya since my Blu-ray arrived over the weekend. What a way to go out if this truly is Isao Takahata's final film. Just has a striking look and is gorgeously animated. Also worth mentioning that Joe Hisaishi really outdid himself on this one. The music is wonderful.

Can't wait to dig into the making of bonus disc that comes with Gkids release.

Can't wait for this to release tomorrow!
 
Just watched Marnie. Found it kind of meh. Second least appreciated Ghibli movie for me.


HUGE SPOILERS
It's basically How I Met My Grandmother.

:(
Porco Rosso is one of the most rewatchable movies ever. I've seen it so many times and always find new things to marvel.

its a very adult movie with very adult themes. even though it seems very kid friendly on the outside.
Saw Marnie a couple of weeks ago and found it pretty good, not as good as Kaguya but really enjoyable nonetheles.
Loved the little girl that moved in the house

its hardly comparable to kaguya I think as they go for totally different things. that said marnie is superb :p.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus

Discotek Media has detailed the Blu-ray release of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's debut film, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). The 35th Anniversary release of the seminal animated film includes newly commissioned extras and makes its North American Blu-ray debut on April 28th.

Synopsis: When master thief Lupin III, a.k.a. "The Wolf" inadvertently steals a fortune in counterfeit bills from a casino, he is quick to realize the high-quality printing plates that made them are worth even more. Tracing the source of the money to the small European country of Cagliostro, Lupin and his team of colorful outlaws cross swords with the nation's mysterious monarch over his forthcoming marriage to the last princess of the Cagliostro family. It's fast-paced adventure as Lupin must battle fearsome ninjas, rescue a damsel in distress and uncover the key to the lost Cagliostro fortune. Written and directed by Academy Award-winning anime pioneer and visionary Hayao Miyazaki, everyone will enjoy this lighthearted romp which Steven Spielberg once called one of the greatest adventure movies of all time.

Special features include:
Audio commentary track by Reed Nelson of Lupinthe3rd.com
Three English dubs: the Streamline Pictures dub (Mono) of 1992, the Manga Entertainment dub of 2000 (5.1 Surround), as well as cleaned-up "family-friendly" version of the Manga dub (5.1 Surround)
Interview with Lupin voice actor Bob Bergen (1992 dub)
Interview with Lupin voice actor David B Hayter (2000 dub)
Original Japanese audio (Mono)
Newly translated English subtitles
Slipcover
Mini-poster

.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Deal alert:

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Blu-ray is $19.99 at Amazon and Best Buy.

The Grave of the Fireflies Blu-ray is $14.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. (this is the second lowest price it's ever been)

When do you guys think Disney will announce the next set of Ghibli release?

I think the final batch of blus (My Neighbors the Yamadas, Spirited Away, and The Cat Returns) are coming later this summer, so the announcement could happen any time.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
I know but I really enjoyed it when I first saw it. It's a shame Disney has the rights for it here as they clearly have 0 intention of ever releasing it. It never even got a DVD release.

I really liked it too. I wish Disney would give up their rights to Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday so GKids or someone could snatch them up. :/
 
Don't know if this deserves a new thread but Film4 (UK) are doing a new Studio Ghibli season (assume dub unless otherwise stated, times are GMT/BST):

http://www.film4.com/whats-on/studio-ghibli-season-2015-on-film4?ghibli

Listings subject to change

Saturday 28th March
1pm - Spirited Away

Sunday 29th March
1pm - Arrietty

Monday 30th March
11am - Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

Tuesday 31st March
11am - Howl's Moving Castle

Wednesday 1st April
11am - Whisper Of The Heart
2.05am - Little Norse Prince (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Thursday 2nd April
11am - The Cat Returns
2.30am - Ocean Waves (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Friday 3rd April
11am - Kiki's Delivery Service
1.20am - Spirited Away (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Saturday 4th April
1pm - My Neighbour Totoro

Sunday 5th April
1pm - Ponyo

Monday 6th April
11am - The Wind Rises
2.05am - From Up On Poppy Hill (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Tuesday 7th April
11am - Princess Mononoke

Wednesday 8th April
11am - Porco Rosso
1.20am - Only Yesterday (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Thursday 9th April
11am - The Castle Of Cagliostro
1.45am - My Neighbours The Yamadas (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Friday 10th April
11am - Pom Poko
1.35am - Grave Of The Fireflies (Japanese language, English subtitles)

Saturday 11th April
1pm - Tales From Earthsea

Sunday 12th April
1pm - Castle In The Sky
1.25am - The Wind Rises (Japanese language, English subtitles)
 
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