Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Kaze no tani no Naushika (original title)

Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Hayao Miyazaki (comic), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)

Stars:

Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda

Top 250 #231 | 3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Nausicaä (voice)
Mahito Tsujimura	...	Jihl (voice)
Hisako Kyôda	...	Oh-Baba (voice)
Gorô Naya	...	Yupa (voice)
Ichirô Nagai	...	Mito (voice)
Kôhei Miyauchi	...	Goru (voice)
Jôji Yanami	...	Gikkuri (voice)
Minoru Yada	...	Niga (voice)
Rihoko Yoshida	...	Teto / Girl C (voice)
Masako Sugaya	...	Girl A (voice)
Takako Sasuga	...	Girl B (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Boy A (voice)
Tarako	...	Boy B (voice)
Yôji Matsuda	...	Asbel (voice)
Mîna Tominaga	...	Rastel (voice)

Storyline

In the far future, man has destroyed the Earth in the "Seven Days of Fire". Now, there are small pockets of humanity that survive. One pocket is the Valley of Wind where a princess named Nausicaä tries to understand, rather than destroy the Toxic Jungle. Note that the old US release titled Warriors of the Wind is an entirely kiddiefied version which edits the original movie heavily, thus creating an entirely different story. -Andre

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Plot Keywords:

Valley | Wind | Princess | Future | Far Future | 

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Taglines:

Miyazaki's epic masterpiece (2005 Disney release)

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for violence

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [us] Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 March 1984 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Warriors of the Wind

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hakuhodo, Nibariki, Tokuma Shoten

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 95 min (1985) (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lack of color fidelity used in certain versions give many people the impression that Naushika flies around in a miniskirt with a bare butt. This is not the case, she's wearing pants that happen to be roughly the same color as her skin, and the "skirt" is actually the lower part of her coat.

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Goofs

When Nausicaa is underneath the toxic jungle, and she goes under a hole through which the sand passes, Teto disappear from her shoulder, and then in the next shot, he reappears on her.

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Quotes

Kurotowa: She's alive. There goes that dream.

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Crazy Credits

As the credits roll we see life returning to normal in the valley: Kushana, Kurotowa and the Tolmekian fleet leave peacefully, after Nausicaä has unheard words for Kushana. The denizens of the Valley of the Wind replant trees in the burned-down forest. Lord Yupa and Asbel ride Yupa's beasts to the Toxic Jungle and explore it. When the text "The End" appears on screen we see Nausicaa's discarded helmet in the forest, alongside a green, non-Toxic Jungle sapling.

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Connections

Featured in Reaction & Review: Warriors of the Wind (2011)
The movie is reviewed.

User Reviews

A Miyazaki masterpiece

Brilliant, captivating, and sometimes just plain awesome are some of things that come to mind while watching yet another one of Miyazaki's epic tales: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. Deliberately slow-moving at points, yet undeniably exciting in and out of it's action sequences, it's one of those animes (a Japanese animated movie or show) that deserve a second viewing, and a fantastic introduction to anime itself.

Without revealing too much of the plot, it takes us through the life of Nausicaa, a princess of a small village, and her struggles to stop warring nations from destroying an important source that can save the planet. The planet has already gone through a major destruction that nearly wiped out humanity, and their are large insects called ohmu, that guard the source that is spreading through the world.

Miyazaki introduces an empowerment of female characters in his animes, such as Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, and his most recent, Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro). The characters are done with style and care, and, in Nausicaa, there is no exception.

It amazes me that this film created some controversy when released, being banned in Poland because of it's depiction of an ecological disaster. Though the movie is obviously fantasy, it turns out that some may consider it a touchy subject. I didn't find any offense whatsoever with anything the movie showed, just a futuristic disaster no doubt caused by man.

Combining fantasy and science-fiction, Nausicaa is nice to look at. It certainly shows it's age when compared to some newer animes, not having the help from high-end computers. Considering it was done in the 80's, Miyazaki's production team did a great job. Little details, backgrounds, gadgets, & animals are drawn slightly better then some Japanese animes from that time.

Keep in mind that my review is based on the Disney release (Feb 2005). It's cleaned up, unedited, with new voices from well known actors that sound great (but I still prefer subtitles). Keep far away from the old version 'Warriors of the Wind', which chops off more then half-hour from the movie.

9 out of 10