Castle in the Sky - 1986

From the first time I read short summary on the film, everything about Castle in the Sky seemed fantastic to me. It has probably been my most anticipated Hayao Miyazaki film, and although I very much enjoyed it, I was sadly disappointed in the film overall. However, with that being said, even though I may have been expecting more, Castle in the Sky was still an entirely entertaining animated film that may not rank among Miyazaki's best, but still works as a very good film. And unlike most films of his, instead of the animation being the most impressive part of the film, the story was.


A young boy named Pazu, who is an apprentice of an engineer, is one day running an errand for his boss when he comes across an unconscious girl floating down from the sky, where he catches her and provides her a place to stay. Meanwhile, there is a so called "castle in the sky" often known as Laputa that most people believe is just a legend, but Pazu is convinced that it is real because his father claims to have seen it before, and took a picture as proof. The girl seems to have a secret concerning Laputa and men continually are chasing after her and Pazu, as they all begin a journey to find this legend of a castle.


Castle in the Sky has one of the better, if not best, stories out of any Hayao Miyazaki film I have seen, and as I have already mentioned to me it has all the makings of a masterpiece. However, Castle in the Sky suffers from one very big flaw. The writing of the story that I love so much was terribly under devloped. I felt very rushed into the plot, where I would have liked to spend time on the story at the beginning, rather than jumping straight into the action. Still, after saying that, which is my only real complaint, Castle in the Sky was a very well done film with better characters than most Miyazaki films, and a better ending too.


Though I found the writing flawed in the story devlopment, the actual relationship development between our two main characters was very strong. And I think, like Spirited Away, regular viewers and Miyazaki fans alike will enjoy that this tale focuses more on younger children rather than older, which is something I enjoyed about the film. I mean, who doesn't love a good ol' story about two young kids in love trying to find a giant floating castle? Classic.


I feel like with all of my Hayao Miyazaki reviews I am getting repetitive with the animation category, but I suppose every film has to be treated as its own, and so I cannot just skip over this major part of the movie that brings it to life. Obviously, the animation was fantastic. Especially when it came it the actual castle, Laputa. It was such a joy to watch, and one of the best animation out of anything Hayao Miyazaki has done, that I have seen at least.


Overall, Castle in the Sky is not one of the best animated films I have ever seen, and it certainly isn't Miyazaki's best, but it still marks itself as a very solid animated film, and easily surpasses most any animation you will ever see. I cannot believe I am saying this, but the storytelling actually lacks a bit, but maybe I just need to watch it again, it was late and I was tired. All in all, I liked it a lot, maybe even loved it.

Story: 10/10
Writing: 6/10
Acting: 8/10
Direction: 8/10
Visuals: 10/10 (10.5 if I could)

Final Rating: 8.4/10