Amazon.com: Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) achieved his first international hit with this delightful 1979 adventure yarn. Quick-paced, high-spirited, and loaded with wit, Cagliostro is a dandy throwback to the caper pictures of the '60s. International man of mystery Lupin III stumbles back into the picturesque European duchy of Cagliostro with his faithful and gruff sidekick, Jigen. They will encounter, in no particular order, a runaway bride, a magical ring, an evil count with a dastardly plan, an inspector bent on catching Lupin, perilous rooftop chases, hooded guards with superhuman powers, a well-used dungeon, a counterfeiting scheme, and an ancient mystery promising grand treasure. Lupin deploys an array of Bond-type gadgets, razor-sharp wit, and a surprise up both his sleeves. Despite the hail of bullets, this caper is great fun, never taking itself seriously. Miyazaki's career illustrates how limiting the term anime can be for these films; there are hardly more than 10 live-action films of this genre as entertaining. Far less mean than Hollywood fare, it nevertheless is for ages 9 and up with language and gunplay. The Lupin character has been featured in other anime films, but never as successfully or with as much fun as in Miyazaki's film. The new English-language dubbing is excellent to boot. --Doug Thomas
WAY better than I thought it would be. I wasn't going to buy this movie because it was so old I thought the animation and everything else would be outdated, but I got it anyway just to complete my Miyazaki/Ghibli DVD collection. I'm glad I did! Aside from the music, you wouldn't even know this was released in the 70's! This movie is great, and downright fun. It's also the most humorous Miyazaki film out there.
That whole animation sequence where they're swimming through the aquaducts is amazing. The camera angles were some of the best I've seen.
This Movie Makes Lupin Look Good I've only seen snippets of the TV series and have only ever heard bad things about it, so I was hesitant when deciding to buy this movie. However, the allure of Hayao Miyazaki's name in the credits got me pulling it off the store shelf. And I was certainly not disappointed. After watching it for the first time, the first thing I wanted to do was watch it again. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. This movie is certainly of Miyazaki quality and made it easily to the top of my A list. There's few movies I've seen that make being a career thief seem so cool.
This film is packed with twists and action, but with plenty of comedy that keeps the movie from getting dark. However, it's certainly not for those with "sensitive ears," because there is a good amount of profanity, but I didn't think it took anything away from the movie. Although there is a little death and a lot of guns and explosions, there is a minimal amount of blood and absolutely no gore.
This movie can be enjoyed by all action movie-goers, whether or not you are an anime fan
If James Bond was a kid My grand-children (5 to 13) and I enjoyed this cartoon immensely. Sometimes we laughed out with delight. Imagine a James Bond hero with all the gadgets and "savoir-faire" of James Bond, but none of the violence, or grown up stuff. And on top of this the images are beautiful.LRG
Miyazaki's Lupin Absolutely great! That the animation style is a bit dated is apparent from the start, but don't let that get in the way of enjoying this Miyazaki-directed film filled with non-stop action and hi-jinks. Lupin is quite a loveable character, even if some of the supporting cast are a bit stiff. This was my first Lupin film, and I intend to see rest!
get the 'Manga Video' dvd release, instead Right from the get-go, this version irked me. The introduction plays stilled images versus the [original] beautifully animated sequence. English translating, while not bad, forcefully swears quite a bit. Manga Video's dubbing may not be entirely clean but it was hardly bothersome.
It is unfortunate that these issues ruined what is an otherwise great story.