DVD, Studio Ghibli
Animation, loosely based on the books by Ursula Le Guin
Fantasy
English dubbing, very good
115m
Studio Ghibli animated and produced my all-time favorite movies, but this one fell a little flat for me. It could be I had a choice of watching it in Japanese or English, there were no subtitles. I’m a subtitle geek, I love hearing the story in its original language and reading the subtitles. I know. I’m strange.
The story is loosely, very loosely, based on the Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin. I remember reading them when they first came out many years ago. I barely remember them, but this story didn’t fit my memory at all. Some judicial internet searches, and voila! I know why.
One of the nice things about Studio Ghibli movies, they can be enjoyed by any age group. The English dubbing is by top notch actors—Timothy Dalton, Matt Levin, Mariska Hargitay, Cheech Marin, Willem Dafoe, and others. Watch the movie, see if you can recognize the voices.
Arren, the runaway prince, comes back to the castle and kills his father, the king, stealing his magicked sword, and runs away again. Sparrowhawk, the Arch Mage, rescues Arren from various horrible things, including a slaver. Arren rescues a girl who is not grateful, and when Sparrowhawk takes him to visit an old friend, there is the girl. Eventually, the evil wizard gets the old friend, Sparrowhawk, and Arren under his control, and the girl takes Arren’s sword to him in the castle of Cob, where she learns his true name, and tells him hers.
It’s a fairy tale, it’s meant for kids as well as adults. You know it’s going to have my kind of ending, relax and enjoy the story.