So I'll admit this - The only Ghibli film I've seen before this is The Cat Returns, and that was a brilliant piece of cinema. I see Ghibli as the Pixar as the 2D Animation world(if that makes sense?).

I've been wanting to see these films for a long time now, and now I have my chance.

This will be the first of the Studio Ghibli reviews, starting with Nausicaä of The Valley of The Wind, the 2005 re-release, with the English cast.

Behind all of the lush fantasy forests and imaginative over-the-top insect creatures, was basically a 'save the planet' message. This would have usually bothered me, only it was done so brilliantly and subtly that I didn't really care. Wall-E, for example, portrayed the same kind of message, but again, it was done beautifully, and wasn't really shoved down our throats like that atrocity, The Happening. I mean, really, what WAS 'happening'???

Off track.

There weren't any moments within this film when I felt it was cliched at all, it all felt natural, as weird as it sounds. I think what added to this natural 'aura', if you will, was the brilliant voice acting by Alison Lohman, who played the Princess of the Valley, 'Nausicaä'. The character suited the voice perfectly, something which is difficult to achieve when something is being translated to English from another language.

The emotion that she conveyed through her voice was astounding, I really felt her pain when the insects were being lured by the baby. This wasn't the only scene, but one of many; just thought this was a notable one.

Patrick Stewart, Shia LeBouf, Mark Hamill and Uma Thurman also lent a hand, voicing Lord Yupa, Asbel, Mayor of Pejite and Kushana, respectively.

The cast was something to admire; like Lohman/Nausicaä, each of the cast members seemed to resonate with their animated counterparts, and this was another element added to what I feel made the film as brilliant as it was.

So in staying with the new rating system:

Performances: 8/10

Plot: 7/10

Visuals: 7/10

Dialogue: 8/10

Stupidity factor (The higher the score, the more stupid it was): 2/10

Overall (average): 8/10

Kazed