Reviews for Nausicaa of the Valley of Winds (Kaze no Tani no Naushika)

In the far distant future, the Earth has become a vast wasteland where the deserts expand year by year and poisonous forests grow in deadly abundance. One of the last safe havens of humanity is the Valley of Winds, where a young princess named Nausicaa lives in peace with her people. She rides the winds farther than any other dare, and can calm the giant insects who sometimes wander into their lands. But one day, an airship crashes into the valley, bringing outsiders and the threat of war. Now, Nausicaa has to find a way to uncover the secrets of her dying world and stop an ancient terror from being resurrected, before everything she holds dear is destroyed.

"Nausicaa" is one of the classics, an epic adventure story in the truest sense of the word, set to a lovely score, and filled with all manner of visual wonders. The animation here is decent enough, and especially good for the early 80s, but it's the artwork and design which really caught my attention. The use of very simple, quasi-realistic characters on incredibly detailed backgrounds gives Nausicaa's world a feeling of completeness that many other animated films never quite succeed at. I've never seen a post-apocalyptic vision of the future that looks quite like this one, with its endless deserts, fading civilizations, and the beautiful, deadly forests where plant spores fall like snow. The insectoid "ohmu" are the best of film's creatures, massive, beetle-like animals with rows of gemstone eyes that glow red when they become angry.

The characterization here is phenomenal. Nausicaa has to be one of the best animated heroines I've ever come across, a strong, capable, confident young woman who simply goes and does what needs to be done. She's the one taking all the risks, fighting every impossible battle, while the rest of the cast struggles to keep up. At the same time, she seems to be the only one trying to prevent conflict, trying to understand the world and the creatures which threaten humanity's survival. I'd say the single most striking image in the film is of Nausicaa on her "mehve" or glider, with her little pet Teto on her shoulder, flying fearlessly into the direct path of an enemy gunman. Other notables include the young man, Asbel, who joins Nausicaa in her journeys, and Yuta, the nomad who lends his aid to the valley. Despite the identification of several antagonists, there are no true villains here, but rather people fighting for their own way of survival, even as they hasten their own doom.

One thing to keep in mind when watching Miyazaki's films, is that they tend to be longer, quieter, and more slowly paced than in Western animation, though they have their fair share of suspense and action. The storytelling here is very gradual and very subtle, explaining some things as it goes along and letting viewers piece the rest of the information together themselves. The climax, however, centering around a devastating ohmu stampede, is nothing short of electrifying. I count it among the best sequences ever animated. "Nausicaa" is a science-fiction story by definition, but feels like a timeless old legend at heart. I loved every minute.

Note: a very heavily edited version of "Nausicaa of the Valley of Winds" was released in the U.S. and U.K. as "Warriors of the Wind," which is missing about twenty minutes of the film and renamed the central character "Zandra."

This is an excellent movie with an endearing message and interesting characters, as well as beautiful animation and a thoughtful message about humanity. I won't rehash what's been said already, but go and see this movie if you possibly can. See the subtitled version though, instead of the dubbed, "Warriors of the Wind", the story line will make much more sense and have a lot more meaning. But, if you can only get a copy of "Warriors of the Wind" you'll get to see the same basic idea, but the subtitled version is much better, I can't emphasize that enough.

This movie is a definatele recommendation for anybody who loves animation, the environment, or even just a good story. However, this movie is not a children's movie, so even though it's not extremely violent, it would be, in my honest opinion, over their heads and just not worth letting younger children watch it.