Product Details

• Directors: Goro Miyazuki
• Producers: Hayao Miyazaki
• Format: DVD Region, NTSC, Special Edition, Anamorphic, Widescreen, Subtitled, Import
• Subtitles: English, Japanese, Chinese
• Region: Region 3 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Inter Continental Video
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000U3MHCQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,880 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strange... What's even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn't enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause. During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a young distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessness and has no mercy, especially when it comes to protecting Teru. For the witch Kumo this is a perfect opportunity. She can use the boy's "fears" against the very one who would help him, Ged. The world is gripped in terror as plants are drying up, livestock are going to waste, and the human brain begins to corrupt. Natural disasters are punishing the kingdom of Enlad and the light which should be bringing balance to the world is weakening. Meanwhile the sacred sword has been stolen from the king by an assassin. On the verge of passing out, the king mutters the name "Arren" . . . the name of his only son who is on a journey to find the source of the destruction in the world. When Arren comes across the powerfull sorcerer Haitaka, a man formerly known as Ged who is the root of the terror, the balance of the world begins to crumble and Arren's life itself is on the edge. However, when Haitaka witnesses Arren's inability to overcome the darkenss in his own heart, Haitaka sees elements of himself in the young prince. He spares his life and the two venture out into the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lets clear up some misconceptions about this movie, February 13, 2010

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea: Double Disc Edition (DVD)

In all respect to the other reviews here, I think it is time to clear up some misconceptions or questions about this movie, including: How to navigate the menus? is it bootleg? how to get it to play in English? why doesn't it say Disney on the label? why isn't it like Spirited Away?.... etc.
First let's address the bootleg issue. The version on the page I am writing this review for is a "Region 3" disc, not made for USA DVD players which are Region 1 unless you own a region free player. Region 3 is S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, parts of South East Asia. Japan is Region 2 by the way. The copy sold on this page is probably Korean or Taiwan, and I do not think it is bootleg. Studio Ghibli has to have a local distribution company in each country they release in, and Inter Continental is a distribution company in the Asian market. The real issue is that it has not been released in an official US version yet, but has been in the Asian market for a long time.
My copy is a single disc copy I ordered on the web a year ago for about $25, it is made in Taiwan by Bonzai Media, is a Region 1 disc, but is not bootleg. The menus on mine are not in English either, but are in several Asian languages and I suspect the menu is identical to the disc sold on this page. The menu languages seem to be Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. After figuring out the menu by trial and error, I was able to play the movie in English audio voices, well done I might add, by clicking the third icon on the menu page, taking me to another menu page where I clicked the third icon again, then clicked the icon on the far and lower right of that page to start playing in English. That's it.
The Disney thing - Disney has not released in the USA everything that Hayao Miyazaki has made. Also, his Studio Ghibli releases films from other directors at the studio, not just the famous Hayao and they have not even released all of their stuff either. Which brings me to my next point. This film is a project directed by the son of the famous Hayao Myazaki, his name is Goro Miyazaki. So we need not hold this first time effort up to the standards you expect of the more recent films by Hayao, and we need to give his son time to build up his skills/experience to the current level of his father. I believe that if you measure it against Hayao's early films it holds up.
As for the movie, I believe they adapted it from a Japanese set of comics or graphic novels, which were in turn based on Ursula K LeGuin's books of Earthsea. I have read the original books and do love them, but I would suggest forgetting them when you watch this as they have little to do with each other. Movie adaptions of books are far from following the source book the majority of the time, this is not the first. There is also a live action Earthsea, and it is pretty bad. I tried to approach this film as a fresh story and pushed out of my mind what I know of Earthsea, and here is what is GOOD about it as an animated feature. I found the character development to be well done and believable, and I was caring what happened to them by the end. The animation was very fluid, great sound, great character and background design. The real weakness from most viewers is in the plot/script and how slowly it progresses. But it seems to me the director was taking intentional pauses, slowing us down to the time and culture of the people in the story. I suggest if you find this movie, give it a chance with an open mind and do not hold it up to such a high standard as Spirited Away.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No wonder........, May 10, 2009

By 

Vince The Valiant "Niv" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea: Double Disc Edition (DVD)

This one had mixed reviews from critics and that included me! I really loved nearly all the works of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-san (or Mr. Miyazaki's son rather!) but this one is a bit of a let down. The plot started with good and interesting scenes, until the mid-plot came...it kind of dragged, festered with unnecessary and boring scenes that could have been replaced with exciting signature "Miyazaki climax" that we know and love.
The music had the consistency of a blinking old bulb from your basement. I thought they lacked on this department as well since you will barely recall that it had musical scores after watching this piece..meh.
To end my rant, I'd say this one is a must rent not own movie from Studio Ghibli.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great imagery- shame about the plot, October 19, 2009

By 

Dendem "choro lover" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea: Double Disc Edition (DVD)

My family and I have read and re-read the Earthsea Quartet and most of Ursula Le Guin's literary work for many years, so when I found this film I was hopeful. The landscapes were beautiful and picturesque but that is the extent of the film for me. We were horrified to see that the writers scrambled all four books into an incoherent mess. Confusing and removing most of what made these novels such timeless classics. No coherent explanation justified Arren's murder of his father let alone giving him the shadow. Unforgivable. I feel for Ursula.

While I can accept and enjoy a film which has been adapted (properly), this was not worth my time.