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34
10,000 B.C.
55
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62
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36
College Road Trip
xx
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31
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41
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57
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67
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54
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49
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34
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57
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xx
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71
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61
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65
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79
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35
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73
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24
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37
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xx
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58
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48
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55
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22
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69
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44
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53
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76
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37
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37
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61
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47
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55
Street Kings
33
Superhero Movie
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
36
What Happens in Vegas...
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
79
Iron Man
76
Shine a Light
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Horton Hears a Who!
69
Redbelt
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
61
Stop Loss
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
Mist, The
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
57
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
55
Street Kings
55
Nim's Island
55
Baby Mama
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
49
Hancock
48
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
47
Strangers, The
44
Ruins, The
41
Drillbit Taylor
37
Made of Honor
37
Shutter
37
Speed Racer
36
College Road Trip
36
What Happens in Vegas...
35
Jumper
34
Happening, The
34
10,000 B.C.
33
Superhero Movie
31
Deception
24
Love Guru, The
22
Postal
xx
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
xx
Dark Knight, The
xx
Mamma Mia!
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

83
Alexandra
80
Band's Visit, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
47
Bella
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
59
Blind Mountain
55
Bra Boys
60
Brick Lane
70
Caramel
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
78
Counterfeiters, The
52
Diminished Capacity
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
84
Edge of Heaven, The
52
Elsa & Fred
79
Encounters at the End of the World
62
Expired
64
Fall, The
51
Finding Amanda
57
Flawless
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
60
Fugitive Pieces
45
Full Grown Men
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
69
Go-Getter, The
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
68
Heartbeat Detector
34
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68
Honeydripper
55
Irina Palm
69
Jellyfish
60
Jihad for Love, A
68
Kabluey
62
Kiss the Bride
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
82
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38
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70
Love Songs
64
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30
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33
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53
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74
Mongol
52
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52
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71
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84
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61
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69
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61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
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72
Priceless
51
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55
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29
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79
Reprise
71
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56
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51
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76
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66
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70
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62
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72
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81
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56
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xx
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71
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54
Tracey Fragments, The
70
Trumbo
72
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83
U2 3D
56
Unknown Woman
86
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79
Visitor, The
62
Wackness, The
37
War, Inc.
64
Water Lilies
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
55
Without the King
72
Woman on the Beach
64
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
84
My Winnipeg
84
Edge of Heaven, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
82
Last Mistress, The
81
Tell No One
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Reprise
79
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
76
Shotgun Stories
75
Young@Heart
74
Mongol
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Surfwise
71
To the Limit
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Roman de gare
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Trumbo
70
Love Songs
70
Caramel
69
Go-Getter, The
69
Operation Filmmaker
69
Jellyfish
68
Kabluey
68
Heartbeat Detector
68
Honeydripper
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
66
Son of Rambow
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Married Life
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
64
XXY
64
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Stuck
62
Expired
62
Wackness, The
62
Kiss the Bride
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
On the Rumba River
60
Fugitive Pieces
60
Brick Lane
60
Jihad for Love, A
59
Blind Mountain
57
Flawless
56
Unknown Woman
56
Then She Found Me
56
Sangre de mi sangre
55
Quid Pro Quo
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
55
Irina Palm
55
Bra Boys
55
Without the King
54
Tracey Fragments, The
53
Mister Lonely
52
Diminished Capacity
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Mother of Tears, The
52
My Blueberry Nights
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Bella
45
Full Grown Men
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
37
War, Inc.
34
Holding Trevor
33
Miss Conception
30
Meet Bill
29
Red Roses and Petrol
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Howl's Moving Castle
Buena Vista Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG for frightening images and brief mild language
Starring
Christian Bale,
Jean Simmons,
Lauren Bacall,
Blythe Danner,
Emily Mortimer,
Josh Hutcherson,
and
Billy Crystal
An amazing new animated adventure that celebrates the power of love to transform and the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of adversity. (Disney)
| GENRE(S): |
Animation
|
Fantasy
|
Foreign
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Hayao Miyazaki
Diana Wynne Jones (novel)
Cindy Davis Hewitt
Donald H. Hewitt
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Hayao Miyazaki
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 7, 2006
Theatrical: June 10, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
119 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Japan |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Japanese (dubbed in English) |
Original title "Hauru no ugoku shiro"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
An organic, childlike wonder, fabulously unpredictable and seethingly inventive.

100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
You run across animation this ingenious about as often as a moving castle comes your way.

100
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Perfect for anyone with a youthful heart and a rich imagination.

100
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Parse it any way you like, Miyazaki's gifts as an animator place him in a category of his own. To see his latest film is to be somehow reminded of Italians who could hear Verdi's operas as soon as they were sung or English readers who could experience the novels of Dickens episode by episode.

100
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The movie's dreamlike spaces and characters are sometimes worthy of Lewis Carroll.

100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Howl's Moving Castle is one animated epic that has it all: poetic intensity, potent storytelling, vivid and surprising characters, and intoxicating powers of visual imagination.

100
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
It's one of the best and strangest films of Miyazaki's career.

100
Newsweek
David Ansen
Howl's Moving Castle has the logic of a dream: behind every door lie multiple realities, one more astonishing than the next.

100
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
The plot is pretty convoluted, but Miyazaki has a very good handle on it and lavishes his customary heart, humor, and inventiveness on every situation he depicts.

100
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
A picture from an old man working at the top of his game.

91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Movie magic is only as powerful as the imagination that casts it. Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki's imagination is the most creative in animated filmmaking.

91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The worldview, the sense of childlike fun shaded with adult melancholy, and the joyful, serene attention to visual oddity and wordless beauty could only be made in Japan. And, specifically, made by Hayao Miyazaki.

90
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Another soulful gem from the peerless Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.

90
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Sophie, in both her incarnations, joins an impressive sisterhood of Miyazaki heroines, whose version of girl power presents a potent alternative to the mini-machismo that dominates American juvenile entertainment. Not that children are the only viewers likely to be haunted and beguiled by Howl's Moving Castle - all that is needed are open eyes and an open heart.

90
Time
Richard Corliss
The perfect e-ticket for a flight of fancy into a world far more gorgeous than our own. The film doesn't halve itself to appeal to two generations. At its best, it turns all moviegoers into innocent kids, slack-jawed with wonder.

90
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
A moveable feast of delights.
90
New York Magazine
Ken Tucker
In the best moments of Howl's Moving Castle and in his extraordinary body of work, Miyazaki teaches his viewers more valuable lessons.

88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Clever and often enchanting.

88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
There's a word for the kind of comic, dramatic, romantic, transporting visions Miyazaki achieves in Howl's: bliss.

80
Variety
David Rooney
The tireless volley of ideas and inventions make this a delight that should connect with kids and adults in both dubbed and original-language versions.

80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
Miyazaki's animated adaptation of Jones' book is a charming and thoroughly absorbing treat.

80
TV Guide
Ken Fox
You'll gladly surrender to the whole gorgeous muddle.

80
Slate
David Edelstein
Because of its convolutions, Howl's Moving Castle isn't quite as transporting as "Spirited Away." But it's a moving bridge between his lyrical fancies and his outrage. Miyazaki is like a soulful cartographer of the soul, mapping our inner landscape, leaving us bedazzled.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
G. Allen Johnson
A wise and wonderful parable.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
With its bold screen-filling imagery, this is definitely a movie to be relished on the big screen.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The filmmaker's obsessions have got the better of him. That said, I can't recommend the film highly enough, since bad Miyazaki is still leagues better than anyone else.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Miyazaki may not have achieved the level of "Spirited Away," but he's still ahead of the curve.

75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A richly inventive, slightly eerie animated movie from Japan.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The story, which also involves an asthmatic dog and a scarecrow, is more accessible than "Spirited Away" but less transporting than that Oscar-winning masterpiece.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
It is almost inevitable that Miyazaki, often compared to C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling, should have found in Diana Wynne Jones a kindred spirit.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Richard James Havis
Consequently, though it's difficult to work out what's going on, it's never boring.

70
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
While Howl’s Moving Castle is far from perfect, it’s still a very good movie. It’s just not a great one.

67
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
The voice acting, from new Batman Bale to the almost unrecognizable Bacall is fine – even Crystal reigns in his usual Borscht Belt bravado – if a little plain.

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
While the movie contains delights and inventions without pause and has undeniable charm, while it is always wonderful to watch, while it has the Miyazaki visual wonderment, it's a disappointment, compared to his recent work.

60
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
Miyazaki's movies are as stunning as they are confounding.

60
Empire
Staff (Not credited)
Just as Miyazaki seemed on the verge of properly crossing over, he serves up an anime riddle wrapped in an enigma - though with all his usual charm, wit and hand-drawn beauty.

50
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The movie is practically incomprehensible.

50
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
The plot of Howl's Moving Castle meanders so listlessly that its details become less and less charming.

30
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
The movie made almost no sense whatever to me. I literally could not follow it, even as I was dazzled by it.

20
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Miyazaki, like an evil sorcerer, has plucked the heart out of Jones's story and left it there to die.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 97 User Votes
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