Hayo Miyazaki Retrospective Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Review

Hey, this is Steve blue and you are listening

to the geek cast radio network Oh, and welcome

to episode 99 of the Cinema Geeks. Today we are

continuing our Hayao Miyazaki retrospective as

we review and discuss Nausicaa Valley of the

Wind. Joining me today is Kevin Optimus Solo.

How's it going, man? Not too bad, yeah. Also,

of course, we have Hard Candy Mandy. Hello. And

last but not least, Matt Fritley -Sent. How are

things? I messed up dinner again. Man that stinks

I always mention that on the podcast cuz I do

it I like you know Cuz I cook right down to the

wire, and I think I mess it up like one every

three or four times No, I wasn't what did you

mess up? What'd you go with was it was inspired

by the movie? It was not I just forgot to put

in a very important ingredient, and it was a

crock -prat recipe so I woke up and dinner was

not done when you guys came over to watch Nausicaa

and the grill. I came inside to greet Matt and

Amy, who had shown up, and they had sweet -ass

Star Wars helmets on. So, of course, I had to

try one on. And in the meantime, apparently the

grill caught on fire. And when I walked back

outside to open it, the flames shot out. I kind

of did a little, like, lean my head back a little

bit to save my eyebrows, but the burgers got

a little small after that, and... Hot dogs will

chart. That's an interesting scene. That's crazy.

Well, there you go. That's one way to talk about

Nausicaa Valley or the Wind. It's like when you

will go see a new movie and talk about your theater

experience. That was our viewing experience.

Exactly. It was a rip war in good time, apparently.

Yes. But yes, this is our second movie in the

Heime Asaki retrospective. We talked about Castle

of Kaleostro last week, which was a unique movie

to start with, as we mentioned for a number of

different reasons. And Matt, I think you're the

one coming into this, probably with the most

experience when it comes to anime and it comes

to Higami Izaki. I know last week, one of the

last time we talked about... Miyazaki film, we

mentioned that we felt like we weren't starting

with one that wasn't really a good representation

of what makes Miyazaki such an infamous director

and like makes this movie so rememberable. Now

that we're in Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, do

you think we're starting with a movie that is

a better representation of the Miyazaki people

have come come to know and love? Oh, way better.

It's got like the the fantastical magical elements

it's got the adventure the story like it's it's

exactly what i expect when i'm watching a Miyazaki

movie and i'm you're this is one you're coming

in that you've seen before if i'm not mistaken

no i've not seen this this is one of the few

that i hadn't seen all right so we're breaking

new ground here we're breaking new ground so

overall this being the first time you saw it

what were your general thoughts about Miyazaki

Valley of the Wind That's not I combined his

name I'm fine with it. Um, I think that if you're

if you're going to do if you're gonna do Miyazaki

movies and you want to do them in any Chronological

order I wouldn't be upset if you started with

this even though Lupin's my favorite anime franchise

Like you don't really need to see that one But

this one is right in the wheelhouse is right

with everything else. I love it. Just as just

like I love everything he's done It's right out,

right up my alley. Alright, very nice, very nice.

Kevin, I do have a quick question for you though.

Was it challenging getting over the fact that

Shia LaBeouf did voice a character in this? I

saw his name pop up, like I think it pops up

before you hear any characters talk or whatever.

Yeah, that was just like a what? Like what was

he like four when this came out? I didn't realize

he was of the age that he would be doing anything

and involved in any of these films, but I don't

know. But then I found out, you know, obviously

the dub happens much later than the actual movie

was originally released. So it all made sense

afterwards, but yeah. that guy even did one of

his like screams like his weird screams yeah

pretty much but uh i kind of agree with matt

though for what he's saying i'm not having any

experience with any miyazaki films whatsoever

but watching this film in comparison to the castle

of caliostro this feels more like what i thought

i was getting myself into and and more of what

i was kind of expecting out of the films so it

feels more like in that realm to me even though

i haven't seen any other films so maybe that's

an ignorant thing to say but um so yeah i mean

i can see how this is uh what matt was saying

could be like the beginning of the whole thing

and you might not even need to see castle of

cali illustrator to kind of connect all the dots

with his other themes and whatnot very nice so

overall what were your impressions I like this

better than I like Castle Calliostro for sure.

I would definitely come down positive on Nausicaa

Valley of the Wind if I said that correctly.

I do think the film has some minor issues that

we probably will get to but overall I thought

it was I thought it was an Interesting film.

I thought visually there was a lot there. I thought,

you know, thematically they're tackling a lot

of things and it just kind of does a good job,

especially in the beginning of the film of creating

this universe and kind of bringing you into it.

It's much, much different of a start to the film

than what we got with the previous film where

we just kind of had to jump in and catch up as

we went along, not saying that's a bad thing

necessarily, but Just to compare and contrast

the two films, this is much different because

this one definitely leads you into the film and

kind of gives you the necessary information to

kind of make you a part of the world that it's

creating. So it seemed like an easy transition

into the story. And I think, like I said, that's

something that gives me a... on board a lot with

fantasy science fiction films is if you can create

a world that I'm actually interested in and I

was definitely interested to find out more about

the world that was being created in the first

you know 30 45 minutes of this film so I would

generally come down positive on this one Dan

you had asked Matt, if he had seen this before

or not, is this one of the ones that you had

seen previously or was this a first viewing for

you? This was a first viewing for me, too. For

some reason, I thought I watched his first film,

but what I thought was his first film was his

next one we'll get to, which is Castle in the

Sky. So this was the first watch for me as well.

So first watch for all of us, I believe. So that's

interesting. Yeah. Freaking new ground. Amanda,

considering you almost set yourself on fire watching

this, was it worth it? Yeah, I think that...

It was... Amanda has an interesting story when

it comes to the viewing of this film. More than

just setting herself on fire. Yeah, I think that

I went into this really not knowing anything

about it and when I got into the film, I... was

definitely intrigued by everything that was going

on. I just happened to be super exhausted from

almost killing myself and everybody else. I fell

asleep and didn't get through much through the

first watch. So then I had to go back and try

to watch what I missed. And then I fell asleep

again. So she watched the first viewing and she

got at least half of it, if not... at least half

of the viewing in before she fell asleep. The

second watch she got I think all the way down

to like the last like five to ten minutes before

she fell asleep so she saw 95 % of the film.

Yeah nothing to say bad about the movie just

like the sounds of it and it's got like the music

in it and stuff just kind of zonked me out it

like zoned me out and I fell asleep. The people

the peaceful atmosphere just you know, put you

right under I understand Well, I'll make it four

for four good I am really liking this a lot too

and and like Matt mentioned it is a good representation

of the movies that I have seen of me is augie

this feels very much like those and we talked

about world building and I think it does a lot.

There's a lot going on with this movie and it

could I think get convoluted and I think it really

rides that line well where you kind of understand

this world enough you get what's going on and

I often say I feel like when I'm watching a Meizaki

film at times it feels like I'm like watching

the sequel of a movie that doesn't exist and

not in a bad way but in the sense of like he

just kind of Starts the movie off running like

there's no long exposition that really get you

into it You kind of learn as you go and then

that's the case here, but I thought it was done

quite well I love the characters are a lot of

colorful interesting characters thematically

there's a lot going on I do think though there

are some some messaging that might be Considered

heavy -handed at times, but I don't know if that's

a culture thing or just being you know a cartoon

of that nature if that's a product of that but

it really ended up sneaking up on me because

I ended up enjoying it liking it but As it was

running out that can its conclusion I just it

felt like it the emotional weight of the movie

at the end really got to me I'm like, well, this

is it just one of those things like everything

started clicking and it all really came together

nicely for me and I thought I was really Rarely

impressed with it and I thought of all the Miyazaki

films I've seen I did to me it's I was definitely

I up there for him in his filmography so far

I agree with Kevin definitely enjoying a lot

more than a castle. Okay, okay. Okay. Yostra,

which is the movie I did like but I don't know

like this is I think if you're gonna Classic

Miyazaki in all its glory. So Yeah So man, one

thing I didn't mention what we're regarding regarding

the movie was the messaging and like, you know,

there is a huge environmental message that goes

on with this. It takes place in a stoping future

that obviously the world was destroyed because

of man and its pollution. How did you feel the

movie handled that message and that theme? I

don't know. It wasn't the worst. Like it was

definitely somewhere in between WALL -E and Mad

Max. where it's like Wally is like, you did this,

we've ruined it, and then we're still ruining

it. And Mad Max is like, yeah, the earth got

ruined, but we're still having fun. Like, this

is definitely somewhere in between there where

it's like humans ruined the earth and now they're

suffering the consequences and they're just dealing

with surviving. And it's probably closer to Wally

than Mad Max. but it's not the most heavy -handed,

though it is very much there. And revelations

throughout the movie reveal that it's kind of

like, yeah, even if humans all die off, the Earth's

gonna be okay. And so that's hopeful, I guess.

It doesn't bother me nearly as much as it probably

bothers some, but I'm also a very crunchy, liberal

kind of guy, so. Yeah, I think it's it's it's

challenging because I think it's certainly there

and it's there's a lot going on But I do think

it kind of handles that well I don't know Amanda

what you thought of it or what you thought of

you know If there's anything else you felt you

got out of the movie Beyond It's just narrative

and the ability for it to make you a movie form

of a lullaby I think that was super heavy handed

as far as you know what I was trying to get across.

It kept slapping in the face that over and over

again but I thought it had some pretty cool elements

to show the actual like result of what we had

done. Like the spores and stuff I thought were

super cool and like the toxic jungle is almost

like manifest in your face that this poison and

everything was is from us and how much it's really

affecting everybody and I think that um I was

able to kind of get around it in some points

when I thought he was looking at these really

cool visuals of of them like showcasing you know

this awful stuff that we had done to the planet

but it them saying it over and over and over

again like we did it dude we get everything's

toxic we get that we did this but um I think

the visuals definitely helped push it along through

that with a heavy -handed tone So Kevin, Amanda

seems to think it falls a little bit more on

the heavy handed side. Matt, on the other, what

were your impressions of the overall message

that I was certainly trying to convey? I mean,

I don't know if most people will see a difference

between these two terms, but I probably would

shy away from the heavy handedness and go more

so for the phrase that you hear, being on the

nose. and I know those are very similar things

but I think it's a little bit different because

for me it's not necessarily that the that the

narrative is is telling us these things or that

the thematic elements are repeated throughout

the movie it's more so and I don't know if some

of this is lost in translation with what you

know I don't know if these were the actual names

of it but calling things the toxic jungle and

the sea of decay and then just some of the just

on -the -nose naming of some of these things

Seemed a little unnecessary to me. It's like

It's not it's not like it insults your intelligence

or anything like that, but We we can kind of

draw those conclusions. We don't necessarily

need those things named those direct references

to it for me. So I mean, it's just a minor nitpick,

but I would have liked a little bit more subtlety

in the naming of those types of things. But the

overall message didn't necessarily bother me.

I didn't feel like it was being repeated too

much because it's kind of like an ongoing, like

that is the central theme of what's going on

in their world and in the Valley of the Wind

is, you know, as far as trying to survive and

kind of how it emanates into their Kind of folklore

in their culture and and different things like

that. So that part didn't bother me I could have

used some more subtlety, I guess in the naming

but that's very petty Yeah, there's I think uh

matt you brought up a good point when you're

referring to like man max and molly because I

kind of I can kind of see that where you it shows

you like the pieces of the past world, I think,

you know, they at one point they're using like

uh I think that was either a spaceship or a submarine

or one of the two that was certainly part of

the past world that was once there, but there's

certainly a message there, but I thought it's

like portions of it or maybe on the nose are

heavy -handed, but I think it goes deeper than

that. I don't think it's asking complex questions

and giving... More complicated answers. It's

not like saying okay. This is simple. It's really

about this, you know harmony and Trying to find

that harmony and the importance of it, but and

how Basically, you know you have all these fraction

factions of different people and what they're

trying to do to one another and in the repercussions

that we see there so I I thought like like I

guess I'm somewhere in between with it, but I

thought there were some problems with it if there

were issues with the movie that's where I would

point to but I thought I was just impressed with

how much it was trying to say and Like the unique

nature and went by and I and like I think you

mentioned Kevin it could be some of that heavy

-handedness just with the Product of the culture

where we're naming something to talk to jungle

when that really isn't what it should be called

But it's you know, the wine scenes are in Disney

or like, you know, we're not gonna be too complicated

with it We'll just just make it easy. But talk

to John jungle does sound like an ultimate like

1980s rock band. That or something that would

took place in Captain Planet. That's true. That's

very true. So it's interesting though that you

bring up you know that there is a lot more layers

and there's a lot more messages that seems to

be I was trying to read some reviews after the

fact after we had watched the film to kind of

see what either the highlights for some people

were or what the consensus for like the the drawbacks

for if there were any and it seemed like it was

a common thread anybody that did write bad reviews

for this used either exactly what we're talking

about with the the heavy handedness or the on

the nose type aspect of it or they said that

it was too complicated there was too many subplots

and too many characters Didn't necessarily get

the the too many subplots and too many characters

But I was interested to see what you guys felt

about that other critique because we touched

about one of them and the only other one I could

find was saying that it was too complicated Actually,

I can kind of see the characters more I could

see than the complications because I thought

there was a lot like I mentioned I thought you

know it there is some complications there, but

that's what I liked about it because It is this

movie talking about the world has become you

know, unlivable so much and it could be really

easy just to make it like, oh, all the people

have to do is farm or like they just have to

get together and they have to like, but I thought

it was kind of showing like how challenging that

is and all the little pieces you have to put

in place and how these characters that are there,

their motivation, some of them are rather straightforward

and simple, but some aren't and some are, you

know, aren't designed just to be those the evil

most. Mustache curling type of villains they

you know, they're trying to survive within their

own culture And this is all they see is the opportunity

to do that And yeah, you see like nature kind

of just stuck in between so I didn't see that

I do think there are a lot of characters and

there are it could get easy to be get lost like

I do think like watching this movie a second

time I probably would even enjoy it a little

bit more because there is a lot going on and

there are some pieces that I do think aren't

fully fleshed out not necessarily with the main

character, but some of the side characters, but

Overall, I didn't have that same issue with it

that I guess some of the people did that did

give it a negative review And I agree with you

on that because I think that's probably one of

my favorite things too is that it's not just

black and white There's a lot of different factions

of characters coming from different Backgrounds

or different motivations for what they're doing

and it's not it's kind of a sign of how you know

when every group or every subgroup I guess in

society is brought up in a certain way and is

doing certain things that they might not be able

to see how that creates a disharmony with other

groups or with nature in general and I kind of

appreciated that and I also appreciated what

it seemed like we got in the direction of the

film or in the way that the film is framed because

it gives you all these other groups and then

it gives you as the viewer the ability to be

the outsider looking in on this. At least from

my experience, I never felt like I was, you know,

it's not like some films where you feel like

you're part of the action or where you feel like

you're a part of whatever group is being depicted.

So I liked how we could then as outsiders view

everything that's going on. And it's almost like

you can see how this is either working or not

working together. But because you're an outsider,

you have to kind of watch and see how each group

is going to react and what decisions they're

going to make. And I thought that was made for

a better experience because you can kind of see.

Even though it's easy for you to see what should

be done or shouldn't be done Since you're an

outsider you got to kind of view what went into

all their decisions and kind of how that plays

out So I kind of appreciated how he kept at least

me in my experience at a distance from all the

groups and kind of an outside view Yeah, I don't

know Amanda if in Matt if you guys had any thoughts

on that It's an interesting thought because I

don't really think of myself when I'm watching

a movie um as like because it's not such an interactive

media that i don't think of how i'm putting myself

into it but that i mean i could definitely agree

with what he's saying i think i was just mainly

on board with nausicaa and her um her struggle

and her kind of strife and and her beliefs like

just trying to get on board with her um even

like with Her whole thing, you know, the killings

got to stop and and Her whole stance I think

was what I was trying to get behind the whole

time I don't think that I was on the side of

anybody else throughout the film Matt what about

the complication part that you that a lot of

people were complaining about that it was me

Be too complicated or there's too many different

plots or themes going on Did you feel that or

did you feel like I because I disagree with that

I felt like that was kind of the one of the highlights

for me I think that the plot is incredibly straightforward.

There are a lot of characters as they believe

Dan said And there's some questions of like about

motivations like of some of the characters but

like Ultimately, no, I think it's a pretty straightforward

movie as far as the plot and any general things

are concerned I think something else you said

you mentioned, you know when we were watching

it is that it was much easier this time and maybe

not just in comparison to Castle of Caliostro

but obviously that's the only other film we've

watched but it was much easier to discern the

groups of characters in this film as far as the

sections or the subsections you know like the

the people from this area the people from that

area I thought if you're watching it you know

and you're paying attention they they do a lot

of things to kind of separate those groups from

a visual standpoint Yeah, it helps that one of

them was an army wearing uniforms. But yeah,

you could definitely be like, okay, those guys

are part of the evil army. Those guys are villagers

in the oppressed town. It was very clear to tell

who was who based on their clothing, their mannerisms,

things like that. Yeah, it was nice and easy

to follow. That just adds to the it's not complicated

or difficult to follow. Yeah. I know last week,

not last week, but last time we talked with Castle

of Kaleostro and with Lupin being one of the

main characters and how we brought up that he

wasn't, he's not really a hero. He's not, he

like exists in this middle ground. With this,

we talk, you know, we're matching a lot of the

characters, a lot of different factions. There

are some obvious villains, but overall, do you

feel that with like Nausicaa or the other characters,

do they also exist in that middle ground where

we have people, it's not necessarily good or

evil for the most part were just people in a

situation in different situations looking for

survival or is there a clear antagonist and protagonist

here for me i think the only thing that was clear

as far as you know more black and white is nausicaa's

portrayal or taking kind of that that uh hero

role i mean like obviously she is um not just

fighting for her group and her village or whatever

but in the valley itself but then ultimately

you know for the betterment of everybody so i

mean i can see her being kind of outside of that

gray zone in in a definite kind of someone you're

rooting for and someone who's kind of taking

the helm to protect everybody but outside of

that I don't think the film is too interested

in necessarily painting anybody as necessarily

as evil or as good it's more so like we were

talking about everybody has their own motivations

their own set of values based on their own village

or their own clan, and they're just really trying

to purport that. I mean, obviously there's bad

characteristics that people have, but that doesn't

necessarily make them a villain or an evil character.

I mean, yeah, some people might be greedy or

some people might be wanting money or wanting

power or control or different things like that,

but I don't think that in of itself makes anybody

a villain character. It just makes them all more

almost like real people or like real members

of a world or a universe. for me I would I would

argue that the one guy was a little evil like

yeah the headband guy the guy who was with the

armless general who I think like he was like

a prince or something like he was like his motivation

seemed evil but yeah everyone else was definitely

like just trying to survive in this one world

the way that they know how to or the way their

culture would dictate but then he was evil I

think with Nausicaa it's Pretty clear cut that

she has the best of intentions She's got the

purest of heart that you can see and even though

at one point she says I didn't know my rage could

you know drive me to kill but at the same time

She's trying to like you guys said better everything

for everybody and her her village, you know her

her people all looked up to her they all respected

her they all loved her very deeply and it was

all earned because she was so capable and so

willing to you know put herself out there to

help anybody in anything and she she proved her

worth and and her value and the fact that we

had this like super strong female lead and they

never made it like about her being like this

Princess and she's a girl, but she's so capable

It was just she was a strong respected capable

person and that's why her people loved her and

it showed throughout everything that she did

she did it for For everybody and for the good

Yeah, I thought what's what's interesting about

that is that she is like she's very pure but

also not boring and We have a character like

that that is so very straightforward and and

one that is It could easily be like just like

a princess character or someone that is very

like one dimensional But I think she's more than

that and that's one thing I do like about Miyazaki

that he does tend to have a lot of strong female

characters in general in his movies and strong

characters in general, but I do enjoy that he

tends to try to create characters that take traits

that could be very one -dimensional but add in

some interesting aspects to her. She's almost

like a female Indiana Jones without the baggage

and the being kind of a jerk. I think she was

a lot like Rey from the newest Star Wars. That's

a better comparison. She's very powerful, very

strong -willed, very good at things. But still

struggles to get to the the goal. Yeah, but I

think even rate I mean even her willingness to

help people comes with this kind of like How

is this gonna affect me right now? I've got my

own agenda It took them a while to pull her out

of the fact that she was stuck in her own agenda

to Really help everybody like they had to smack

her in the face with the problems and show her

that this can't be her world anymore, whereas

Nausicaa is just all in it for everybody, she

does not think about herself. Even when she flies

off the handle and starts trying to, you know,

she jumps in a room and starts murking people,

it's because for her father, like, it's, it's

nothing to do with herself. I think every, everything

that we see her do, her motivations are selfless.

Yeah, I agree with that. And she has I think

she's almost like one step ahead of everyone

like she just seems to understand this world

better than anyone and it's all its components

and how to how to survive and you know she could

easily be like a privileged character but it

seems she puts herself in situations and even

like her first scene really you know we as we

are introduced to her it's her really going out

of her her norm or not I guess not norm but going

out of her way to help someone she knows not

at all. All she knows is basically the person

from afar could see they're in trouble and she

goes out of her way to try to help them. And

it just happens to be someone she knew, but I

think right away you see her bravery and her

selfishness within the first 15 minutes of the

movie. Yeah. No, I think that rate comparison

is a good one though in a lot of ways. I agree

with some of the differentiations that Amanda

was making as well, but I think that's a good...

Good comparison and I think not only her but

The relationship she has as well with the character

that's voiced by Patrick Stewart Which by the

way didn't know Patrick Stewart was gonna show

up and voice a character in this film So that

immediately had me on board but the relationship

between those two characters is it's probably

one of the most compelling relationships throughout

the film and I think that that also helps Kind

of put her in that kind of like that hero spot

or that You know almost like a coming -of -age

type of position for her with the like the older

Mentor of I can't remember Patrick Stewart's

name and the movie but that character Yeah, yeah

true What else I find interesting with this movie

is that you know Miyazaki is a person who loves

aviation loves Planes and you just just the creative

machines that are designed in this like the world

itself is really insane But just all the all

the different uses of flight like his first really

big movie And you can definitely tell this guy

loves things that fly you can it's on all different

scales, too It's from like a simple glider. I

guess for lack of better term that like she's

using to like You're saying like these massive

airships and different things like that. You

get to see like all different scales of flight.

So I thought that was kind of interesting. Yeah,

it's like... A gun plane? What's that? A gun

plane? Yeah. Gunship. Yeah, it's a lot of creativity.

It's almost like being a kid and giving him a

piece of paper. It's like, draw the ultimate

airplane spaceship. And like, that's what he

does. And he puts it in all the different like...

even like how each group of people had machines

that were all kind of designed in a unique way

compared to the next one. So I just thought that

was... Not to mention the insects, the homes

and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's

a good thing to talk about, too. I mean, we talked

about with Cal... Castle Kaleostro that the animation

being for network was 1979 when that was released

and how it still held up really well This being

six years later. Does it seem like it's even

on another level Is it around the same as the

last film or is this even like more impressive

on an animation standpoint? No, I I did I like

the animation I think the the surprisingly one

of the highlights for me from this film was was

the visuals Like you said, it's kind of in conjunction

or in a partnership with the creativity of the

different vehicles, the different machinery that

we're using, the different insects and the different

nature aspects. Like, first of all, just the

design behind them. But then the animation goes

hand in hand with that. And I thought visually

the world they created was probably the highlight

for me for the whole film. So I think it was

up a level for me from Castle of Calios. I don't

know if Matt and Amanda agree or not. Definitely.

I think the visuals were one of the. biggest

draws for me there were some super cool stuff

going on also like the insects creeped me the

hell out like i mean they looked cool but um

i i had no idea like what to think about that

it seems like something not to interrupt you

but it seems like something like Obviously, I

didn't see this film as a child, but I'm thinking

of other films that I did see as a child like

The Dark Crystal or something like that. It seems

like if this was something that I had seen when

I was like six or seven, that some of the images

and the designs of these insects and things like

that would have stuck with me. Like it would

have been something that I remembered even if

I hadn't seen or heard of or even thought of

the film like 10 -15 years later if somebody

mentioned it or if they showed me a picture of

it it would have been like oh I remember that

freaking the heck out of me when I was a kid

or something like that. Like they had that kind

of an effect I could imagine if I had seen it

as a kid. I don't know man what your thoughts

were on the animation overall. I don't know if

the quality of animation was any better like

if it was smoother or if there was more moving

parts because that's always the thing with anime

is how many moving parts are there per image

but it's definitely more impressive just because

of the visuals rather than being a dude driving

a Fiat through a Baltic European country it's

these massive bugs each and a whole series of

bugs each one different but still similar enough

visually so it's it's way more impressive even

if it's not of a higher quality necessarily.

Yeah, it's I mean, I'm not an animation expert,

so I can just all I'm going to go based upon

is what I think looks better. And that could

be often often based upon the way you see it

compared to like a Blu -ray or a movie, you know,

a streaming or something like that. But I thought,

you know, like. again considering the time thinking

of other movies that came out around that same

time and thinking like how impressively it holds

up but like I think it has been mentioned the

creativity I think it's really what drives it

home and just the fluidity of emotions and the

action and it feels like you know it there's

no choppiness it seems like it with all the crazy

things that are going on and all the everything

like the massive massive scenes of these all

these animals that are crawling around like there's

so much this world is so vivid and it just seems

so beautifully rendered. I feel like with a lot

today, you get the CGI aspect of animation where

things kind of get. added in, and they kind of

lose that feeling a little bit. But with this,

I couldn't imagine just the work that went into

making this the way it is. It's got to be quite

incredible, because it's quite an impressive

feat just looking at it on, what, 20 years later?

Or no, 30 years later. Geez. Even some of the

landscapes were pretty impressive. Yeah. It's

a beautiful -looking film for sure, so very nice.

Any other thoughts or anything else people wanted

to bring up regarding the movie? I think my only

other nitpick, I guess, from my standpoint outside

of, like I said, maybe some of the naming conventions

and possibly seeing how it could be a little

bit too on the nose. The only other thing that

I saw or that I experienced during the actual

watching the film that drew me back a little

bit was, and I think I'm just a pacing Nazi,

but... There was some moments where I felt were

drawn out a little bit or a little maybe long

in the tooth at times, maybe evident by Amanda

falling asleep twice through it. But I could

see that in a way. For the first about 30 to

45 minutes, I did not feel that at all. Like

I was on board for every moment of the film for

at least the first. probably almost half of the

film. I think there was some parts towards the

second half that were a little bit drawn out

where I felt like maybe could have been expedited

a little bit. But again, that's just me nitpicking

and trying to find something else I could I could

draw back on on the film to make it seem not

Perfect, I guess, but it's a minor nitpick. And

I think, like you said, especially if you are

watching it in the right state of mind and not

ready for bed, it probably wouldn't have had

the same effects. So that's just my only other

little nitpick on the film. Which is interesting,

I guess, when it was originally released in 1985,

the U .S. cut was a lot different. I guess it

was like 20 minutes shorter. And I think it was

named differently. It was like Warriors in the

Wind. Hey, Miyazaki was not a big fan of that.

Reportedly when he was releasing his next movie

He sent a samurai sword to the wine scenes with

a note of it saying no cuts when he was kind

of put the home of yeah He does not want them

to adjust this movie. So which I get I mean cutting

out 25 minutes of this I think would I mean obviously

may affect some of that pacing, but I wonder

Story wise it would be confusing and I wonder

if that's where some of those negative reviews

come from if they were written at the time I

could see what taking out 20 minutes would probably

make it probably more confusing for sure. Yeah

Well, I think that, um, on top of Nausicaa having

a cute Pokemon for a pet, I think that, um, it

also had, like, heavy consequences. Like, my

fuckas died. Like, it showed them burying people

and, like, all these graves from this, you know,

huge plane crash. And you can see, like, blood

splatter and... Like the whole planet being toxic

and they kept, you know, showing you how heavy

all these consequences were. I think that it's

something that you don't always get from cartoons.

Yeah. Matt, was there anything else you wanted

to touch upon that we didn't get to yet? No,

I think I think we covered it all. I mean, it's

just it's it's a brilliant piece of work. There

is one slightly confusing thing, and I don't

know if it's because I wasn't paying enough attention,

but at the end, a character's clothes seem to

change for no reason, but there is a reason.

It is a visual one that I just didn't pick up

on. I don't think Kevin did either, but yeah,

it happens for a reason. I don't think I did

either. I think I missed the change in clothing

altogether, man. I was, yeah. I don't think I

was sleeping, but I could be wrong. But alright,

so final thoughts and what grade would you give

Inasuga, Valley of the Wind? Amanda, let's start

with you. Oh man, since I did not exactly see

the entire film, I feel a little bit bad about

rating this, but I think I'm gonna give it a

5. Wow, 5 out of 10, alright. Kevin, what about

you? I think I'm a little more on the positive

side than that. Like I said, I really like the

world -building of it, the creation of the universe

and the design aspects of the different vehicles,

the different technology, weaponry. Insects etc.

And I think the message is a good one whether

it was heavy -handed or not It's an important

one and I think there are some some layers of

that to chew on and I again like the aspect of

all of the different Villages being depicted

or clans being depicted the way they were, you

know Kind of all having their own reason for

what they were doing and lucky Dan had mentioned

the idea of whether they could live in harmony

or not So I like all that so minus some pacing

issues and a couple other things. I think it's

a good jump from Castle of Cagliostro. So I'm

hovering like in the low seven, like high six

range. So I'll give this one a seven. I like

the fantasy sci -fi aspects of it. And I don't

know what else to expect, but I got to leave

a little bit of room for something to be better.

So I'll give this one a seven out of 10. All

right, Matt, how about yourself? I'm baffled

hearing these numbers because I'm thinking eight

and that feels low. Like, I love this movie.

This is exactly what I want out of a movie. Like,

on every level. Like, I love the characters.

I love the huge, massive world. Like, I could

watch this movie over and over again. It's not

my favorite Miyazaki movie, but it's, I mean,

easily just so much better than anything we're

getting now or ever. Alright, yeah, I'm actually

right there with you Matt. I was rather impressed

with this and I'm really glad we did do this

because I'm glad we this is out of this we at

least got to see this movie because It really

this really worked with me almost on every level.

Yeah, I had a few nitpicks but overall, you know

the beauty of the Animation the story itself

the characters, you know Some things may have

been not fleshed out as much as I want to but

that was really minor overall I thought it really

worked well and you know is Quite the accomplishment

especially for arguably a directorial debut for

for hey Miyazaki You know the at least the first

original property who was making I mean, that's

that's quite the place to start So I probably

I guess I'll go highest on this. I'm gonna actually

go 8 .5. I Quite enjoying this and I'm actually

gonna think it's gonna be quite hard for a movie

to kind of knock this out I mean, if it is that's

gonna be impressive, but I like this quite a

bit And Matt, did you go with an eight? Eight.

I'm only one point lower than you, Matt. You

do that half thing. You could have seven and

a half, or you could have eighted it. I don't

know. It's so early in the spotlight, I don't

want to corner myself so much. I'm not scared.

I'm not scared. But it's a little unfair since

I have seen some of the other movies. But still,

I mean... It does have, it does apparently have

an 87 % on Rotten Tomatoes for a critic count,

and it's a 91 for users. So, a lot of people

are fans of this one. Yeah, 8 .1 on IMDb, which

is a pretty, pretty high rating. I get one point.

It's the 202nd movie of all time on IMDb, so.

Alright, there you go. Alright, well, we'd like

to hear what you thought of Nausicaa Valley in

the Wind if you had the opportunity to see it.

If so, you can contact us in a number of different

ways. You can email us at feedback at geocastradio

.com. We're also on Twitter at cinemageocast,

and you guys are also on Twitter. What are your

Twitter names? Amanda, how about you? Hard Candy,

Mandy, Eyes, and a Wise. Kevin? Mine is at Optima

Solo. And Matt. I am at FridleyScent. And I am

at Movie Revolt. You can also go to GeekCastRadio

.com, click on the episode post, and leave a

comment there. We do enjoy that, as always. But

that's it for this week, but we'll be back next

week with episode 100, and we have a very special

show in store for you guys. It should be fun.

So we'll see you then.