| Spirited Away | 
 enlarge | List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $2.53
You Save: $17.46 (87%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $2.53
Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 870 reviews)
Sales Rank: 9700
Category: Video
Actors: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiragi, Mari Natsuki
Directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Kirk Wise
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Label: Walt Disney Video
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 125 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.3 x 1.3
UPC: 786936213850
EAN: 0786936213850
ASIN: B00005JLET
Release Date: April 15, 2003
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Great movie for adults and kids September 8, 2008
This film is one of my favorites. It is a "work of art" as many have said. If I had children, I would want them to see this one (after the age of 5 or 6, I'd say), but it *is* long, and the young ones could fall asleep if you're watching it at night with them. I love the message of friendship, and how kindhearted the characters could be. Other characters were not so kind, but you later learn why they are unkind and are able to see why compassion reigns supreme. I have nothing but love for this film!
A fantastical movie! September 7, 2008
Spirited Away is an imaginative tale about a little girl named Chihiro who becomes trapped in the spirit world after her parents are turned into pigs for eating the spirit's food. There, she must work in a bath house for the spirits until she can think of a way to escape.
In many ways, this film is excellent. The animation is beautiful, the setting is strange and entertaining, the story is full of twists, and the characters posess alot of depth. What I love most about this movie is the depth of the characters- no one is one dimensionally "evil" or "good". Every character posesses good and bad qualities to varying degrees. Even Chihiro starts off as an unlikeably whiny girl at the beginning, but by the end, has developed courage and self-reliance. I just love the departure from black-and-white moral categories to a more morally ambigous characters, because the real world is morally ambigous.
On another note, the setting of Spirited Away is strange and colorful. I was very entertained by the bizarre array of bath-house guests, the strange twisting layout of the bath-house itself, and the haunting and beatiful scenery viewed from the train. Also, anyone who's seen Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro might recognize the return of the soot gremlins. I had actually seen Spirited Away first, then My Neighbor Totoro a year later, so imagine my surprise when I recently rewatched Spirited Away and saw them. Soot gremlins!
Compared to his other films, this is one of Miyazaki's more energetic and action-packed films. So, if you've seen some of his other films and couldn't stand the slow pacing of the story, then Spirited Away may be just the thing for you. Well anyway, I can't recommend this movie enough! Please watch it at least once!
Quirky and bizarre but strangely endearing story. Beautiful animation. September 6, 2008
My partner artist loves the work of Miyazaki and bought this film for his collection. But, I have to say, the first time I watched it, I was like, "what is this?" It was so weird! There did not seem to be a plot, just a bunch of weird scenes with strange characters, one after another. And, the girl's parents turning into pigs - graphically interesting but absolutely pointless element of the story. Then, we watched it again, and I saw something different the second time. I saw the progression of the young girl through this strange world with helpers and advocates, and the hidden messages of the story started to come through.
The third time I watched it, I was hooked and now I love it. The artwork is fantastic. We watched it both in Japanese with English subtitles and dubbed with English. I preferred the dubbed version as I think it helped to put the story into a better context for understanding.
 Beautiful and fantastic movie, but the best? August 23, 2008
This is a beautiful and fantastic movie and well represents Japanese spiritual world such as the concept of Yaoyorozu-no-kami (eight million kami). But, actually, I am not sure why this is the most popular Ghibli movie in America. I think even for Japanese it is difficult to understand some of scenes. Miyazaki used a lot of abstract and symbolic elements and they made this movie more complicated than his other movies such as My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Princess Mononoke.
But I would say this is still a very interesting movie and some scenes have left a strong impression on my mind. I like the scene where Chihiro eats rice balls with weeping tears.
One of Ghibli's best! August 17, 2008
When I first got into Miyazaki/Ghibli movies, I started out with Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. I liked them so much I bought EVERY other movie they released, hoping the rest would be just as good, and they are. After Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away is my fave. What I like about it is of course the story, but also the fact that this is one of Studio Ghibli's most deeply/richly colored movies. Ghibli seems to favor the softer more airy and light colored approach, but this has a really deep almost water color look to it.
|
|
|
