Barnes & Noble

Master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki always enjoyed critical support and a small following in the United States. After winning the Best Animated Feature Academy Award for Spirited Away in 2003, Miyazaki has broken out of his cult status, and his early masterworks have been eagerly anticipated on DVD. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984), the director’s second film, is a post-apocalyptic saga and ecological fable that anticipates themes later developed in Princess Mononoke. Based on a celebrated manga (comic book) series -- also by Miyazaki -- Nausicaa is intended for more mature audiences than the director’s later, lighthearted fantasies, such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. The setting is 1,000 years following the collapse of civilization, when the last surviving humans are threatened by the spread of a seemingly toxic jungle. Nausicaa (voiced by Alison Lohman) is your prototype strong-willed and independent Miyazaki heroine, who will make a stand to save the jungle from warrior princess Kushana (Uma Thurman). This formidable foe launches an assault on Nausicaa's idyllic valley to awaken the slumbering Giant Warrior, whom she intends to use to destroy the jungle. The distinguished voice cast also includes Patrick Stewart as Nausicaa's mentor, swordsman Lord Yupa, and Chris Sarandon (the evil Humperdink in The Princess Bride) as Kushana's ambitious lieutenant. While not as fluid as his later films, Nausicaa features Miyazaki's dense and detailed design and awe-inspiring set pieces involving such fantastic creatures as the behemoth insect Ohm. According to anime web sites, Nausicaa was previously only available on video in the United States in a criminally butchered version, Warriors of the Wind. With great care and respect, the good folks at Disney have given this landmark film its due. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

This impressive work from acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki represents a significant departure from traditional anime. Foregoing the gritty storylines, extreme violence, and adult content found throughout many anime, Miyazaki's works borrow as much from fairy tales as they do from science fiction. Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind is no exception. Centuries after war has devastated the earth, Princess Nausicaa leads the people of the Valley of the Wind. Feuding clans fight with planes and tanks as well as swords in a world that is both primitive and futuristic. In addition to her people's conflicts with other factions, Nausicaa must also contend with the insects of the jungle including the Ohmu, a race of giant, intelligent bugs that poisons the surrounding atmosphere - and is spreading rapidly. The setting of this 1984 animation owes much to the post-apocalypse genre spawned by Mad Max and other films, and the political subplot is often compared to Frank Herbert's Dune. However, the heroine here has more in common with the female protagonists of the Disney musicals such as Pocohantas and Mulan; Nausicaa is more concerned with harmony and communication than with conquest and revenge. Sympathetic to the Ohmu, she learns she must approach them with understanding to achieve peace and restore the dying world. This film is beautifully animated and written, and the moral to this ecological fable is difficult to miss. The film was dubbed into English in the mid-2000s, hence the presence of such actors as Shia LeBoeuf, who wasn't born yet when the film was originally made. Jonathan E. Laxamana

Product Details

• UPC: 786936175240
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Language: Japanese, English
• Editions: Dubbed
• Time: 1:57:00
• Sales Rank: 1,058

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