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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Princess Mononoke
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 87 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Animation
Written by:
Hayao Miyazaki
Neil Gaiman (English screenplay)
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 29, 1999
DVD: December 19, 2000
Running Time: 150 minutes, Color
Origin: Japan
Language(s): Japanese (dubbed in English)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for images of violence and gore
Starring Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jada Pinkett Smith
The mythological tale of a war between encroaching civilization and the beast gods of the forest. (Miramax)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Howl's Moving Castle Spirited Away
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
One of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Its breadth, profundity, and stunningly rendered vision make idealism seem renewed and breathtaking again.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Ty Burr
Has the effect of making the average Disney film look like just another toy story.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Amore satisfying use of the medium would be difficult to imagine.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
A landmark feat of Japanese animation from the acknowledged master of the genre.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
A big movie for the ages, full to the brim with sympathy, imagination and sheer visual delight.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Marc Caro
Rarely does any film, animated or otherwise, immerse you in such a vivid landscape and engage your senses so strongly.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
The majestic pageant of images - no sylvan landscape has been this indelibly, dimensionally alive - is inextricably welded to the multifold spiritual / ecological questions about the future that Miyazaki is contemplating.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon
Like a lot of anime, it's overlong and gets way too metaphysical at the end, but ultimately, this is a Princess worth worshipping.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A dazzling movie, gorgeous to look at, involving on both emotional and intellectual levels, and often thrilling.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated epic adventure.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The film's storytelling and heartfelt pantheism are both impressive.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Complex, superbly rendered, and wildly eccentric anime-even by Miyazaki's own standards.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
A film for the young at heart and those who still appreciate honor, valor, love, and the earth.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
In theme and technique, it pushes the boundaries of animation and opens up new and imaginative possibilities.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
More thoughtful and varied than the average Hollywood cartoon.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Its imagery is never less than breathtakingly beautiful, and is occasionally truly awesome
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
Much more mythic and risk-taking than the usual Hollywood product.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
It's Miyazaki's use of sound--and silence--that takes your breath away
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Andy Klein
While Mononoke is often gorgeous to look at and has a far more sophisticated story than most Japanese animated features, it still feels overlong and dramatically unengaging.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
A Zeitgeist potpourri, strung with late-20th-century fear and anxiety.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
As spectacular as it is dense and as dense as it is colorful and as colorful as it is meaningless and as meaningless as it is long.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Wacky, vividly conceived but mundanely executed cartoon fantasy.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 87 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Michael W gave it a9:
An amazing film. The story and the characters just blew me away.
Chris M gave it a9:
Stupid american teens who pretend to be grown ups and reject this movie because it's animated are just idiotic!This is the most mature animation i have ever seen and the stupid youth doesn't have the education to realize this is a powerful film full of meseages not thrown at your face,calling the plot week just because they are used to stupid american teen movies with "clever" suspense or just because they are bored to read the subtitles!How can anyone call this incomprehensable?How can anyone reject it because it's an animation or because the animation has gotten old?What's your favorite movie anyway,Butterfly effect?
lil s gave it a9:
A great miyazaki film, the only problem was the dub kinda sucked, so to fix this, watch it in japanese with english subtitles
Brad K. gave it a10:
This movie is the best ever
mario gave it a9:
visually stunning faboulous story. loved it, loved it, loved it. i look foward to anything from these creators
Janikous gave it a7:
OK, its great. But damn its not that easy to follow. Its never truly clear exactly whats going on, but you do get the jist of thing. Great voice acting, and truly one of the finest animations ever - there were several scenes id consider to be classed...(read more) as Art - incredible detail, beautiful landscapes etc. Im a complete newbie to animated movies that are neither Disney nor the incredible South Park movie, so forgive my lack of love for the plot/style, but id certainly recommend others to watch this.
Andrew R. gave it a0:
What the hell is wrong with the world. This was possibly the worst movie I've ehehever seen. I watched the whole thing on a friends suggestion, and I must say, it was the worst choice my friend had ever made. I hated it immensely, I know some people liked it, and I guess that's fine for all Asians and anime fans, but over all, it's horrible. And I wish I could rate it less then a 0.
