Score Sample: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

So John Williams has composed music for films since the 1960s. His familiar sound really entered the public mind in the late 70s with Jaws, Close Encounters of a Third Kind, Superman and of course Star Wars. But if you listen to his material from before those milestones you can hear his distinctive voice in those scores too. Over the years Williams has evolved as a composer, adding more and more complexity to his music, but still managing to capture that Williams sound and the knack for crafting memorable themes.

All this to say that when someone asks me what my favorite John Williams score is, I get overwhelmed for a moment. So much music to pick from, and from so many decades and styles. With Jerry Goldsmith, I don't hesitate. But with Williams... And then I smile and say, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Now with it comes to the films, I'm in the "Raiders is the best one, don't even question me on this" camp. But Williams did the remarkable with his followup score. He took his main theme, because you had to have that, and then made sure to use it quite a bit. Compared to Last Crusade, which goes easy on using the main theme, Temple of Doom doesn't shy away.  It gives the whole score (and film) a more pulpy feel. I also love all the new themes introduced in the film. Sure Willie and Short Round are obnoxious characters, but they have some really great themes. Willie's theme is full of that old school Hollywood glamor. Williams uses both themes in counterpoint to Indy's theme on a number of occasions and to wonderful effect.

Then there are is the bold adventure theme used in the final third of the film, as Indy and his pals save the slave children. I love this theme, and it gets some great moments to shine in the score. Not to mention a myriad of minor motifs that pop up and play around in the score to add even more color. They are all distinct, they are all well stated (and restated so you recognize them) and they are all fun.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the John Williams score with everything I love about John Williams. It is in the middle of his late 70s to mid 80s style before he really started to add the layers and layers of complexity to his action music. I love it each time I listen to it, and you can't really go wrong with the End Credits which I'll present here. Enjoy!

The Warrior an the Sorceress (1984)

Introduction:

This is a bad movie - no nice way to put it. It is low budget excuse to show women without clothing, have hulking men swing fake swords around and every cast member spout horrible dialogue with the skill of a plank of wood. It’s a perfect sample of no-budget 80's fantasy and produced by Roger Corman no less. So you know I’m going to have to watch it. I’m just a masochist that way.

Summary:

The Warrior (David Carradine), is never named in the film, but is billed as Kain. Seriously? Of Kung-fu fame? He carries a huge sword, scowls a lot and doesn’t say much of anything. Basically if you’ve seen Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo then you have a pretty accurate idea of his performance. Anyway, he shows up in a village where two rival gangs are battling it out over control of the well.

On the one side is Zeg (Luk Askew) with his militant forces and captured, titular Sorceress (Maria Socas). He keeps his men in line with discipline and rage. On the other the bloated Bal Caz (William Marin) and his band of freaks and puppet monsters. This group is much more chaotic and fun loving. They remind me of Jabba the Hutt and his crew from Return of the Jedi, but with fewer puppets. Kain plays both sides against each other to save the town, save the sorceress and get a magic sword.

Good Points:

• Carradine does a pretty good imitation of Toshiro Mifune
• Some of the puppet creatures are funny
• Some of the fight scenes are handled well

Bad Points:

• Is a remake of Yojimbo or Fist Full of Dollars with no surprises
• The acting is really wooden for most of the film
• Missing that sense of fun that makes these films work

Overall:

Most of these 80s barbarian age flicks work for me on some level. But the Warrior and the Sorceress falls flat. Part of it is because of the lifeless performances by just about everyone. There just isn’t any energy here. The other issue is that this movie is almost a shot for shot remake of Yojimbo. Seriously, Director John C. Broderick even uses some the same camera angles and blocking. Sure, the samurai flick didn’t have a puppet dragon advisor or a four breasted slave dancer, but Kurosawa wasn’t thinking outside the box enough. The whole time I’m realizing I could be watching a samurai film classic, instead of this low budget and halfhearted remake. I quote Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000 on this one: Never remind an audience of a great movie in the middle of your crappy one.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 3

Sound: 3

Acting:  2

Script:  2

Music: 3

Direction: 2

Entertainment: 2

Total:  2

If you combined their outfits, you'd have one
complete look!

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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Movie Musings: The Strange Journey of the Star Trek Films - Part 1

Part One - The Original Series Cast

"So a Klingon, a Romulan and a Vulcan walk into
a bar..."

It is hard to argue Star Trek's legacy within pop culture. It’s characters and universe have endured almost as long as James Bond.  Every time I think we can count the franchise as down and out, along comes a new incarnation to bring it back to whole new group of fans yearning to explore strange new worlds.

One of the interesting things about the franchise is that its longevity is due in large part to the success of the feature films that were released starting in 1979 with StarTrek: The Motion Picture. While the television series is where the franchise started, if the films were not as successful as they were, Star Trek would be a fondly remembered relic of the 1960s.  In addition, we can see how Paramount, the studio that owns Star Trek, feels about the series depending on how they approach the films.

I think Decker wants his chair back.

In this two part blog, I’ll take a look at the ways the films were impacted by and impacted the franchise, and why they are important to its legacy. I won’t be going into too much detail on my thoughts on the films, but I will discuss critical reception (and perception of that reception) and how that affected the films.

The original series ended in 1969 after three seasons. While it was popular among science fiction fans, it never really exploded in popularity during its run. Instead Star Trek got syndicated and that is where the fanbase really started to grow. During the 1970s it was hard to avoid a rerun of Star Trek and even growing up in the 1980s, it felt like the series was always around.

Wait! There was a cat girl in Star Trek the Animated
Series! Sign me up!

An animated series followed in 1973 and 1974 that expanded the voyages a little bit, and allowed the writers to take the series in directions that would have been impossible with live action.  All this exposure of Star Trek in the 70s inspired Paramount to look into creating a new series of adventures with the same crew for Phase II. Production started and then a little movie called Star Wars erupted onto the screens, and suddenly Paramount shifted gears to turn Star Trek into a film franchise.

The increased the budget to a whopping 35 million dollars (of 1970s money). They pulled in acclaimed director Robert Wise and got their marketing into high gear. This was the turning point. If Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a failure, than the franchise was dead.

The moons of Vulcan are affecting her mind!

Critical and general response was average. But the combined fanbase of the 60s and 70s had been thirsting for new Star Trek adventures, and they went back to the theaters over and over again to see the film. For all it’s faults The Motion Picture has a huge visual scope, impressive visual effects and a wonderful soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith. Seeing it in the theater is a real experience (one I actually had the pleasure of revisiting in 2012). There was also a frenzy of interest in space adventures because of Star Wars, so I bet a lot of little kids dragged their parents to see the film. In the end, the Motion Picture was a financial success.

Paramount felt confident in continuing the series as a film franchise, and moved forward producing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But they reduced the budget to a little over 11 million, and asked director Nicholas Meyer to make sure there was more action in the film (a criticsm of the previous film they wanted to avoid). Meyere delivered a film that is more visceral, goes back to the roots of the original series, and cranks up the action with some excellent visual effects and high stakes. The Wrath of Khan was an immediate hit, with excellent critical response and fan approval. It also did very well on VHS, a new medium that studios were just beginning to explore in 1982.

"Is that a giant worm in your hand, or are you just
happy to see me?"

So Paramount kept the same focus when it came to The Search for Spock in 1984. Once again the budget was increased to 17 million. But the focus on characters and the quest to bring Spock back to life helped pull viewers in the theaters to find out how it was all going to shake out. Director Leonard Nimoy obviously knew the series inside and out, and crafted a solid follow up to the previous movie. The film got average critical response and most people enjoyed it well enough. But the film had a dark undertone that surprised many viewers.

Do you think he's using colorful metaphors here?

Gears were shifted in the storytelling for the next film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Nimoy was back at the helm and the budget was given a bit of a boost (to 25 million) for some really impressive visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic. But the script involving time travel, saving the whales, and the crew interacting with the denizens of San Francisco circa 1986 was a blast. It was a fun movie with plenty of laughs and adventure all mixed together. Critical response was full of praise. But it was the success of the film with a wider audience that gave Paramount a view of what a successful Star Trek franchise could be. This was the most financial successful Star Trek film until the reboot in 2009.

In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation arrived on television screens. It was a new cast, new starship, hell it was a new century! Paramount understood that in order for the franchise to continue it would need to evolve. To do this, they needed to inject it with new blood creatively. Obviously the film franchise was still profitable, but a new television series could create new fans and lead to a new series of films.

It is like that Depeche Mode song, reach out and touch
face.

1989 brought the first good season of The Next Generation after its rocky start over the first two seasons. Meanwhile Paramount attempted to strike gold in the theaters again with William Shatner directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Unfortunately the film was plagued with production issues, and arguments over the direction and tone of the script. Shatner wanted to go darker and more intense. Paramount wanted to keep it light and fun. The end result was a film that was critical and financial failure. Fans disliked the film for a whole host of reasons and rumor is that even Gene Roddenberry felt the film was not part of the official cannon. The movie also had the unfortunate release during one of the most crowded years in movie history. Batman, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Back to the Future Part 2 were all battling for seats in the multiplexes. Someone had to lose and Star Trek “won” that honor. While it did eventually recoup it's 28 million dollar budget, no one was really pleased with the final film.

"No, it's not Tribbles. The joke only works if
the Klingon asks the bartender first."

This did set off alarms at Paramount. They wondered if the aging cast was losing their audience appeal. But they also learned some lessons. Budget cutting your special effects heavy films is not a good option. So they turned back to Nicholas Meyer who did so well with The Wrath of Khan to helm Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In a cunning bit of synergy, the plot for the film directly impacted events in The Next Generation episodes Unification with Nimoy making a special appareance as Spock in the two-part adventure. Meyer brought back high stakes, tension and excitement to the series. The plot was inspired by world events, and with the increased budget (to 30 million) the movie looked great. Meyer’s script balances humor and tension better than the previous film did. Even with all that, the movie was also declared the final voyage of the full cast from The Original Series. All those elements stirred together made The Undiscovered Country a critical and financial success in 1991.  It was a win for Paramount and the franchise. But everyone knew it was time to switch gears.

In part two of this post, I take a look at the trails and Tribble-ations of the films featuring the case of The Next Generation and Beyond...

"Just imagine it. We are all animated, and there's
a cat girl in a red uniform! That is my vision."

Score Sample: Conan the Destroyer (1984)

When it comes to the big guns of fantasy music of the 1980s, you can't ignore the amazing score to Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris. Nearly every track on that score is top notch film music material, and it is easily one of my favorite scores for the 1980s. The score became iconic in its time, and when the sequel came around the producers asked Poledouris to return.

While most of us will agree that Conan the Destroyer is an inferior film to the original, it has some solid fantasy tropes, some cool action scenes, and some really bad humor that doesn't work and some serious moments that turn out hilarious. It is a great movie to riff. But the music is actually one of the best parts of the production. Poledouris returns with a similar style, primal and rooted in medieval music stylings, giving it a very different feel to John Williams or James Horner's more classical trained scores.

Conan the Destroyer keeps the love theme, the main theme and even repurposes a few themes from the original score in unique ways. But the new material is really great. The villains get a bombastic new theme. The sequence with Conan facing the mirror room creature has a relentlessness to it, and there is plenty of magic in the score. While the original 80s album isn't too bad, there was an amazing rerecording that is the only way to listen to this score.

For you listening pleasure here is a suite of music from Conan The Destroyer by Basil Poledouris.

And the rerecording done by City of Prague Philharmonic for the amazing Tadlow album, that also includes music from the Universal Studios Sword and Sorcery Spectacular.

Move Musings: Where Have I Seen This Before? Star Wars: The Force Awakens

While watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens I had a little bit of deja vu. And yes, more than the fact that the story was essentially A New Hope. Some of the actual visuals from the film were very familiar. And yes beyond the fact that they borrowed from previous Star Wars films. As a rule, Star Wars borrows imagery from Star Wars, that is part of the style of the series.

In any case, as Rey was wandering the derelict Star Destroyer, I realized that I had seen similar shots and angles in another movie I watched.

And just when I think I can stop writing about Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, someone has to go and reference it. Of course Nausicaa is a pretty good model for a lead female character in a science fiction story, so it is hard to begrudge the creators of The Force Awakens from giving Rey a visual nod to the opening scenes in Miyazaki's film.

Movie Musings: The Kwisatz Haderach of the Wind

Man is about to meet worm.

I haven’t watched David Lynch’s take on the space saga Dune in quite a few years Now I say David Lynch’s take because from a visual standpoint the movie is very much a David Lynch film. Lynch’s style permeates everything including his shot selection, editing and the acting styles. Even elements of the visually stunning design (sets, costumes and creatures) seem to come right out of Lynch’s subconscious. Is it just a coincidence that the Third Stage Guild Navigator looks like a huge version of the Baby from Eraserhead?

Paul is the stranger in a strange land.

I know most hardcore science fiction fans dislike the 1984 version of Dune. While you can see some key portions of the novel on the big screen, most of it was edited, compressed and reimagined. You could also argue that it impacts the entertainment value of the film (but that is for a full blown review of the movie). This version of Dune focuses on the story of the messiah coming to save the oppressed people.  That very same year another science fiction epic arrived in theaters with many similarities to the Lynch film. It was all about  a messiah saving her people from oppression. And both featured giant worms!

This princess shows no fear.

Nauiscaa of theValley of the Wind is like a bizarre mirror of Dune. This struck me in my most recent viewing of Lynch’s film. I was contemplating the character of Paul Atredies (Kyle Maclachlan) and realizing that the guy is rarely wrong about anything. Most of his choices (in the film version) are the right ones and when he tests himself he always comes out on top. It is that perfect hero paradox. We can admire this kind of hero, but we can’t identify with them.

I realized I felt the same way about Nausicaa. When I was writing the review of that film I struggled with the fact that we are told about her destiny at the start of the film and she makes all the right choices to achieve that prophesy. Dune starts the same way, with Princess Irulan (Virginia Madsen) telling us about the Fremen prophecy about their messiah.

"War does not make one great." Nausicaa learns this
hard lesson.

What is perhaps more interesting are the differences between these two characters. Obviously you have a male messiah in Dune and a female messiah in Nausicaa. This actually reflects directly into the tropes for sexes. Paul becomes a holy warrior, literally unleashing a jihad against the forces of the Emperor. Nausicaa is a skilled warrior and shows her prowess a number of times. But she is more of protector and in the end a unifier.

The emperor of the known galaxy faces his destiny.

Both characters commit self-sacrifice during their story. Paul drinks the Water of Life in order to obtain great knowledge of his enemies. It turns out to be a potent weapon and one he uses to his advantage. Nausicaa places herself directly in the path of the rampaging mass of Ohmu. They proceed to trample her and there is no way anyone could survive that. Her sacrifice  moves both the humans and the Ohmu. Hostilities cease around her dead body.

Like Paul, she rises again from certain death, now imbued with an inner power. But for Nausicaa this power is one that brings peace. She defeats her enemies, but most of them end up alive at the end of the film. When Paul defeats his enemies most of them are very dead.

Nausicaa shows that humans can live with nature and
not fight it.

Also interesting is their relationship to the giant insects of the film. Paul and Nausicaa see the insects as part of the natural world, but she also realize that there is some secret around the creatures that may lead to a greater revelation. Paul discovers that the worms and the spice are linked – the spice is actually the worm’s eggs, and that is why they attack the spice mining (something explained in deleted scenes or in the extended cut). Nausicaa discovers that the insects of the toxic jungle are spreading the jungle over the world, but not to destroy it, they want to cleanse it.

Paul harnesses the power of the worms and uses them as giant weapons against the Emperor and his minions. Nausicaa tries to calm the Ohmu, the most sentient of the giant insect life, and create understanding between humans and nature. She never fights the insects or tries to use them, her approach is almost like a diplomat/bug whisperer.

"Long live the fighters!"

But the main difference between the two is their origins. Paul is basically the prince from a foreign land who meets the natives, becomes enamored with their society and culture and then turns into their leader against the oppressive powers that he was once a part of. This is a trope based in ancient mythology, and one that Hollywood has used time and again. Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai and Avatar all have the same basic plot: the outsider has to come in and lead the oppressed (native) people to rise up against oppression. An interesting trope, but one that feels a bit overused these days. It had been used two years before in Tron, with a bit of a twist.

Nausicaa is not the outsider, but essentially the chosen one within her own tribe. Again this comes directly from mythology. In this case the oppressive outsider comes to a new land and is ignorant of ways of the natives. They outsiders cause havoc while the hero attempts to guide them to see the error of their ways. Time and again they fall into conflict. It takes the sacrifice of the hero to get everyone to see the error of their ways.

Nausicaa at the birth of a new world - one she
helped bring about.

What does this all mean? Well it means that both stories take slightly different views of the messiah mythology, but still follow the overall arc of that story. Of the two, I think Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is more interesting. Nausicaa attempts to reach understanding and not all out war to achieve a goal that benefits everyone.  After all, war is what got the world into the mess it is currently in. Nausicaa’s journey is more challenging in my mind. Not to sell Dune short, I think it works well as the story of a warlike Messiah. But when you boil it all down, I think that Miyazaki crafted a better film than David Lynch.  But I’ll still watch either one of them any time you want to.

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And Then This Happened...Dune

You know when you invite Sting to the party things are going to get interesting. And if David Lynch is directing, then it is going to get surreal. Caption this!

And then this happened...

Sting will cut anyone who doesn't click an ad before they go. 

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Introduction:

After completing Castle of Cagliostro director Hayao Miyazaki shifted his focus to writing and drawing a graphic novel. It took place in a post-apocalyptic world and featured a young woman named after a princess in Homer’s The Odyssey. The manga turned out to be a big hit, and eventually he was approached to adapt his work for a big screen feature film. Miyazaki decided to place his hopes on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. If it was a success, he would use the profits to start his own animation studio, if it wasn’t… well Lupin III was still cranking out episodes.

Summary:

According to legend, the earth was nearly destroyed in the seven days of fire. Mankind unleashed their most horrible weapons and only succeeded in collapsing civilization. They also created a forest of corruption. This dense fungal forest is toxic to humans and breeds enormous insects that occasionally go on rampages and destroy human settlements and spread the fungus further and further across the land.

In the secluded Valley of the Wind, a group of humans manage to carve out a wind powered society. The princess, Nausicaa (Sumi Shimamoto) spends her time exploring the fungal forest and helping her people. But when a huge airship from a distant land crashes in the valley everything changes. The airship was transporting a disturbing cargo – a huge pulsating living creature. Then Princess Kushana (Yoshiko Sakakibara) arrives with her troops to retrieve this object and captures Nausicaa to use as a hostage. It is only a matter of time before Nausicaa escapes and begins her path to save her people and possibly learn the secret of the forest of corruption and humankind’s place in this dying world.

Good Points:

• Amazing visual design: everything from costumes to creatures
• Glorious flying sequences that pull you into the wonder and action
• A thematically rich story with memorable characters

Bad Points:

• Nausicaa is rarely wrong about anything
• Joe Hisaishi’s score is a bit rough in places
• Feels a bit familiar, because it inspired so many later films and television series

Overall:

Miyazaki brings a fully realized world to life, with so much visual depth and detail that it is staggering. The story is layered with themes, but the plot is fairly simple. The characters are fairly stock, but you could argue that this is the first film to introduce many anime character tropes. For me, the animation and visual style are what makes this film so memorable. It is an amazing sophomore effort and well worth seeking out for any animation, science fiction or fantasy fans out there.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

In Depth Review

Nausicaa faces the darkness of her journey.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a tricky film to write about. On the one hand it is one of the most influential anime of the 1980s, and often considered one of Miyazaki’s greatest works. On the other hand it has some flaws that come from a burgoning filmmaker who wasn’t sure if this was going to be his only shot at bringing his own material to the big screen. So he goes for broke and sometimes it doesn’t quite gel.

My other issue is that the graphic novel is really one of the best I’ve ever read. Miyazaki had time to expand and fully explore the world he created with nearly over a decade to write and draw it. The film covers only a quarter of the material the manga does. And once you read the manga with all the complexities, characters and themes, I’m sad to say that the film seems a little shallow in comparison.

The detail on the airships is impressive.

But for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of reading the graphic novel, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind will impress. There is no way it can’t. The visuals are amazing at nearly every level. Given the fact that Miyazaki had two years to design and create his vision leading up to the film version, there is a depth of detail to the world that is mind-blowing. This is right up there with Akira and Ghost in the Shell when it comes to world making details. But in some ways Nausicaa may be more impressive because it isn’t building off of a world we know, but forging a world that is familiar and yet alien.

We recognize things like tanks, swords, airships and gasmasks. But Miyazaki takes influences from various historical time periods and fuses them to make his own world. I called the civilization wind powered, but that isn’t really correct. There is a strong feudalistic feel the culture, but they have airships powered by some kind of reactors. The tanks look like pre WWII models. The armor and weapons of the Torumekians looks like something from 1400s Germany.

One example of the gas masks used in the film.

I also like how the technology and culture also shows the necessity of working with the environment to survive. When we first see the sword master Yupa (Goro Naya), he and his avian mounts are wearing unique gas masks to avoid inhaling the toxic spores. The gas masks a constant reminder of how tenuous the human grip on this world is. Nearly every character has some kind of breathing filter or apparatuses on their person… just in case.  In addition, Nausicaa mentions that her people use cast off chitin from the giant insects as tools and other useful elements. This influences the visual design; a more alien and yet organic look to much of the Valley of the Wind.

An enraged Ohmu chases our heroes.

Then there is the fascinating creature design. The giant insects, especially the mammoth Ohmu are truly a wonder to behold. The Ohmu have a real heft and weight to them that makes their rampages even more horrible. Miyazaki would use the same visual principle for the giant boars in Princess Mononoke. The flying insects are equally impressive. I also like little Teto, the fox like critter that Nausicaa adopts. The explosion of creativity of these creatures would be unmatched in Miyazaki’s films until we get to the myriad of sprits in Spirited Away.

The simple fact is that you can watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind any number of times and always find some new detail to wonder at and explore.

Ship to ship battles are frequent in this world.

The action is also impressive. This is the film that Miyazaki’s love of flight really shines. Nausicaa takes to the air countless times, often on her compact and quick glider. The movie has plenty of battles between airships, with diving into clouds, hiding in the sun and plunging into the depths of the fungal forest. These scenes are fully rendered with no cheats to be seen. It actually puts some modern science fiction ship battles to shame. What makes these scenes work so well is that we feel the thrill of flying, as well as the tension and danger of aerial attacks. Miyazaki’s dynamic framing and motion play a big part in this.

But I would be remiss to mention the other main reason these scenes work so well. Composer Joe Hisaishi’s music adds to the flying scenes immensely. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind marks the first time Hisaishi and Miyazaki collaborated on a film. And it would lead to a fruitful partnership that would span decades. The two would bring out the best in each other, and we see the very beginnings of the wonderful thematic work of Hisaishi in this film.

Nausicaa is always ready to defend her people.

The main theme for the film is heard in the opening credits, and is used several times during the movie. It has a majestic quality, and Hisaishi’s use of piano during the theme became an instant trademark for his scores on Miyazaki’s films. Perhaps his most effective pieces is the childlike lullaby that he uses when Nausicaa bonds with the enormous Ohmu creatures. There is a haunting quality to the tune and the way Hisaishi uses it. It feels ancient and yet with the child’s voice singing “la la la” to it, the tune sounds innocent. It is one of the most memorable musical moments in 1980s anime.

But not all of the Hisaishi’s material works for me. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind uses some unique and very 80s synth sound effects. Some of these are so jarring they actually feel out of place during the film. Other times, the otherworldly nature of the synths works with the strange visuals on the screen. I admit some of it reminds me of early video game music for the Sega Genesis, but it does end up giving the movie a unique sound. Hisaishi would continue to use synths in his scores, and improve on how they are implemented. Here, it just feels hit and miss in effect.

An encounter with a giant insect is about to go wrong.

The sound effects are handled well. Much like the visuals, sound design for the new world is an important part of pulling the viewer in. Gunshots and the airships make familiar sounds that help ground the viewer. But the giant insects, Nausicaa’s unique glider and her insect lures all have unusual sounds. It’s a good balance of new and old that supports the film.

The first time I watched this film was with an English dub produced back in the 1980s (I’ll go a little more into that at the end of the review). So some of my memories of the film are colored by that not quite adequate dub. For this viewing I decided to give the Japanese dub a try and really liked it. Sumi does a fine job with the character of Nausicaa. She is determined, forthright and strong when she needs to be. I also liked Goro Naya’s performance as the wise and deadly Yupa. When Disney released the film on DVD they gave it a pretty solid dub featuring an impressive cast including: Patrick Stewart, Edward James Olmos, Uma Thurman and Shia LaBeouf. For some reason that dub just doesn’t quite click for me. But I think that is my own mental malfunction.

Nausicaa flying off into adventure.

As I mentioned Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a pretty simple story about a young woman who discovers a secret that can change the world. She has to make hard decisions and sacrifices to do the right thing, even in the face of overwhelming odds. She must break tradition and accepted social rules to save not just her people but all of humanity. It is an overwhelming role. In the graphic novel Nausicaa finds herself sinking under its weight.

But the film doesn’t have the time or inclination to really dig into that part of the story. Instead Nausicaa is presented as nearly perfect. She never seems to doubt, never seems to waver and rarely seems to be wrong about anything. She is guided by her own virtue, and one that lines up with a prophecy mentioned in the early portion of the movie. In this way, she is a true mythic hero, one who must journey away from her home into the underworld of the fungal forest, and return with the knowledge to save humanity.

Nausicaa witnesses the horrors of war.

But this mythic status drains her of humanity (ironically). She seems too perfect, too knowledgeable and too gracious to be much more than MYTHIC HERO. But in a way, the whole film feels that way. It is a legend, with all the tropes and concepts in place. In fact the opening credits play over a tapestry showing what will be Nausicaa’s story already preserved as legend. What is interesting about Nausicaa is that she may be the least interesting character in the film, but she also went on to inspire many other characters who built off her base and grew into something greater.

For me the supporting cast of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind has always been more interesting. Yupa is a fascinating character. We hear a little of his travels and adventures. When he runs into enemies in the film, they all know him by an obviously impressive reputation. You want to know more about his mysterious swordsman.

Kushana unleashes the final phase of her plan
for conquest.

I also really like Princess Kushana. Her rationale for attacking the Valley of the Wind and attempting to harness the power of the terrible biological weapon all make sense once you hear her story. It becomes impossible to hate her, and she even turns into a valiant warrior of sorts. In the graphic novel she really gets to shine further during the political maneuvering of the second half of the saga.

But it really is Miyazaki’s direction that makes the familiar (and maybe overly familiar) story of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind work so well. The film is nearly two hours long, but it flies by as we join Nausicaa on her journey into the depths of the forest. The stunning visuals, the intense action scenes, and even the drama of the climax, that really doesn’t come as a surprise, all work together to make the film both entertaining and thought provoking.

Nausicaa may be perfect because she always seems to find the right answer for the hard questions, but those questions are ones we all must face. How far will you go to save your people? Would you kill innocents for them? Does revenge solve anything? Are humans supposed to control nature, or become supplicant to it? Do we even have a choice? Is hate really the only response to an attack? What if the attack is perfectly justified? Heavy stuff from a man who would later be best known for his child friendly films.

Featuring cast not appearing
in this film.

The film is well constructed, allowing the viewer to be pulled into the world and the story. The editing keeps everything moving along pretty well, which is why it seems a bit strange that the first North American release of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was heavily edited and renamed The Warriors of the Wind. The dub simplified things a bit, and several key sequences were completely absent (causing some major rewriting of the overall plot to occur). This was how I first saw this film, and to tell the truth, I found the movie very odd and kinda creepy (I was probably around ten or eleven when I saw it). The voice actress for Nausicaa (renamed Princess Zandra) always sounded too old for her character. The Ohmu were just plain monsters in this version. And the whole thing relied more on the post-apocalyptic setting then the original version. One of my favorite things about this version was the cover art, which featured a bunch of characters who aren’t even in the movie. Poor Nausicaa is relegated to the far right.

But even in this hacked up form, the visuals enthralled me. It was such a unique looking film that I remembered it, and Hisaishi’s score for the finale scene with the Ohmu for years afterward. When I got back into anime in the late 90s, the film came up in conversation. People were describing scenes that I recognized, but from a film with a completely different name. it was an odd discovery to find out that Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was considered an anime classic.

Nausicaa faces her fate, because it is the right
thing to do and the right time to do it.

I think it holds that title even today. It is the start of many themes, concepts, visuals and storytelling that Hayao Miyazaki would revisit and evolve over the decades. But more than a historical starting point, the movie is just plain entertaining. It shows what a great talent Miyazaki has and he would continue to improve as the years continued. Many consider Nausicaa’s film the pinnacle of his career. I don’t hold it so high, but man was it a great way to announce his presence to the world. His follow up, Castle in the Sky would take the animator in a familiar direction, but with a new twist.

Some more of the outstanding visuals from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

The mysterious swordsman, Yupa... and his
huge, huge mustache.

A small but might tank used by Kushana's forces.

If you see this coming at you... you're dead.

Nausicaa in a gunship over a vast army of rampaging
Ohmu!

Kushana observes her ultimate weapon.

The details inside the cockpits is amazing.

Nausicaa gives this review a thumbs up!