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Howl's Moving Castle | 
| Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashuin, Ryunosuke Kamiki
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $12.80
You Save: $17.19 (57%)
New (42) Used (15) from $12.80
Rating:  290 reviews
Sales Rank: 822
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: DISD41399D
UPC: 786936296662
EAN: 0786936296662
ASIN: B000CDGVOE
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: March 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Missing case and artwork. Expedited shipping is not available for this item.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Sophie finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is swept off her geet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named howl & embarks on a fantastic odyssey aboard his magical castle. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 03/07/2006 Run time: 119 minutes
Amazon.com
Like a dream, Howl's Moving Castle carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance. With domestic box office receipts of over $210 million, Howl passed Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke to become the #3 film in Japanese history, behind his Spirited Away and James Cameron's Titanic. Based on a juvenile novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle marks the first time Miyazaki has adapted another writer's work since Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. Using CG, Miyazaki creates a ramshackle structure that looks like it might disintegrate at any moment. Sophie's honesty and determination win her some valuable new friends: Markl, Howl's young apprentice; a jaunty scarecrow; Calcifer, a temperamental fire demon; and Heen, a hilarious, wheezing dog. She wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end an unnecessary and destructive war. The film overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features--animated or live action--offer as much magic as Howl's Moving Castle. --Charles Solomon The Many Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki 
The works of Miyazaki | 
The Book | 
The Art of Howls' Moving Castle (book) | Stills from Howl's Moving Castle (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 285 more reviews...
 watch the movie, but please! Read the book! October 15, 2005
Kotori (Australia)
29 out of 44 found this review helpful
Incoherent and inexplicable, the plot swims before the eyes like a fishtank viewed through the end of latenight beer goggles. .
Lost is the charm of Diana Wynne Jones original novel & mood, exchanged for the unsubtle manueverings of Miyazaki's fevered imaginings and textureless villians.
Sophie works in a hatshop for her mother (step mother in the original book), and setting out one day is rescued from some intimidating soldiers by handsome Howl, who is also reputed to be a fearsome eater of hearts & magician.
They travel over the city by sky (huh?!) and she lands at the bakery where her sister Letty works - for people who haven't read the book, you probably won't get this little subtlety, as Letty is never again seen or referred to.
Which in turn loses a wonderful subplot wherein Howl has a flirtation with Sophies' other sister, and there is a guitar, an enchanted suit, and various and sundry other bit props, all of which play a part in the revelation of the missing prince.
After visiting Letty at the bakery, Sophie makes it home and is confronted in her hat shop by the Witch of the Waste & cursed to appear as an old lady.
Not wanting to disturb her mother, Sophie decides to seek out someone who can help her and sets off into the hills.
After freeing a scarecrow Sophie lands in Howls castle, a preposterous contraption of chimney pots & chicken legs, and settles in.
She bargains with Calcifer (Howls resident fire demon) and wrangles a bed in the corner. Howl accepts her presence as a nuisance but too difficult to evict.
As she becomes a more accepted part of the castle, Sophie begins to learn why Howl roams and puts out his own fiercesome rumors, and why the goons of the witch of the waste haunt them.
In summary, watch the movie, but please! Read the book! Howls Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a treasure everybody will enjoy and the pedestrian and conversley fantastical mismash of plot which is portrayed herein is wildly improbable and far inferior.
kotori 2005
Difficult, difficult February 24, 2006
L. Gutierrez (Mexico City, Mexico)
25 out of 32 found this review helpful
This is a difficult movie to review, at least for those of us who have read Diane Wynne Jones' original novel.
The problem, you see, is that both the original book and this film are beautiful, but also completely different. Besides the title and some of the character's names they share nothing else.
Wynne's novel is charming and lighthearted, a mixture of soft romance and mystery, with even some adventure thrown into it.
Miyazaki's adaptation tries to be much more serious, touches difficult subjects (such as the terrors of war) and, unfortunately, gets lost in the proccess.
While Wynne's book offers a near-perfect (if simple) plot, Miyazaki's own is full of holes - some of you might not notice them while watching the film, but once it's over you'll end up wondering many things...
Which kingdoms were fighting? Over what?
Why did the Witch decide to curse Sophie? What was it that she wanted in the first place?
Why was Howl involved in the war in the first place? Why does Sophie's hair remain silver?
Where did the air-machines and bombers came from? What are those frog-like things supposed to be? Why does Howl transform into that... thing?
Some are minor details, some aren't so easy to over-look.
However, this film is beautiful. Beautiful. The visuals are amazing, the interaction between characters heartwarming and the music has a bohemian touch that fits the mood all too well.
I would go as far as to say that this film has ephimeral moments - the scene with the stars running over the lake, for instance, is too beautiful for words, even. Howl coming back, exhausted, almost invisible and falling onto a chair is, as simple as it sounds, artistic, and his all-feathered body, and all the scene during which he protects his house and Sophie will make 95% of the female audience sigh.
So, should you watch this movie? Yes, if you haven't seen it yet, then yes! Try not to think too hard about the many "whys" and just enjoy the ride. Enchanting visuals, lovely music and an over-all feel-good feeling (redundant, I know) will accompany you, I promise. You won't regret it.
If you are a fan of Wynne's book, however - be wary. You just need to understand they're not the same thing. This movie isn't trying to be a faithful adaptation; it's something very different and very unique. Don't expect Wynne's lighthearted romantic humor, but you'll get something really good in its own way.
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