Castle of Cagliostro (1991)

Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) achieved his first international hit with this delightful 1979 adventure yarn. Quick-paced, high-spirited, and loaded with wit, Cagliostro is a dandy throwback to the caper pictures of the '60s. International man of mystery Lupin III stumbles back into the picturesque European duchy of Cagliostro with his faithful and gruff sidekick, Jigen. They will encounter, in no particular order, a runaway bride, a magical ring, an evil count with a dastardly plan, an inspector bent on catching Lupin, perilous rooftop chases, hooded guards with superhuman powers, a well-used dungeon, a counterfeiting scheme, and an ancient mystery promising grand treasure. Lupin deploys an array of Bond-type gadgets, razor-sharp wit, and a surprise up both his sleeves. Despite the hail of bullets, this caper is great fun, never taking itself seriously. Miyazaki's career illustrates how limiting the term anime can be for these films; there are hardly more than 10 live-action films of this genre as entertaining. Far less mean than Hollywood fare, it nevertheless is for ages 9 and up with language and gunplay. The Lupin character has been featured in other anime films, but never as successfully or with as much fun as in Miyazaki's film. The new English-language dubbing is excellent to boot. --Doug Thomas Amazon.com

Great Balls of Hayter!

The Castle of Cagliostro is a great action film about that lovable thief Lupin the Third (i.e. the Japanese grandson of the French gentleman thief Arsene Lupin, a character invented by Maurice Leblanc in the early 20th century) and his buddies Jiggen, Goemon and Fujiko. The baddies are superbad - they are the Monaco-like royal family of the tiny European kingdom of Cagliostro - and somehow Lupin outwits them all. Of course, he also marches into danger and allows himself to get beaten up. But, like Mifune Toshiro in Yojimbo, he outsmarts the bad guy, who eventually gets his just desserts in a very oddball way, and gets away with millions in loot. Of course, while Goemon and Jiggen are barely in the film, and some of the brushes with death are really just too close to be believed (hey, I know it's an animated film but there's no reason to out-deathdefy Indiana Jones), it's still a pretty good film. This time I watched the dubbed-into-English version, and the voice of Lupin was done by my old high school classmate David Hayter, who calls himself Sean Barker - the character he played in his only feature film, the Guyver 2 - and who also does the voice of Solid Snake in the North American version of the Metal Gear games. Quite a blast from the past - he sounds quite a lot like I remember him from 1982... December 25, 2008

The Only Japanese Anime My 80-Year-Old Mother Loves!

What to do when my 80-yr. Mother wanted to watch something on TV and there were only old re-runs, series repeats, stale news, sports re-runs, etc.?

I put on DVD player & DVD of "Lupin the III, The Castle of Cagliostro." Knowing my mother haden't seen this anime before, knowing she doesn't care for Japanese anime, but she does love James Bond films (even the new J.B.,) and mystery programs, I gave it a "try."

She LOVED it! She loved the storyline, the plot, the action, the characters, and yes, the animation! Not once did she say it was a "cartoon."

Lupin the III is now another one of her favorite heroes (next to Capt. Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp,) and my mother is planning a family party around watching this anime, together, as a group activity.

Thank you Mr. Miyazaki for allowing my mother to become an anime fan like I am. December 9, 2008

castle of cagliostro

Wonderful movie, got it for my little brothers who love miyazaki, great addition to their collection of his films December 6, 2008

WAY better than I thought it would be.

I wasn't going to buy this movie because it was so old I thought the animation and everything else would be outdated, but I got it anyway just to complete my Miyazaki/Ghibli DVD collection. I'm glad I did! Aside from the music, you wouldn't even know this was released in the 70's! This movie is great, and downright fun. It's also the most humorous Miyazaki film out there.

That whole animation sequence where they're swimming through the aquaducts is amazing. The camera angles were some of the best I've seen. August 17, 2008

This Movie Makes Lupin Look Good

I've only seen snippets of the TV series and have only ever heard bad things about it, so I was hesitant when deciding to buy this movie. However, the allure of Hayao Miyazaki's name in the credits got me pulling it off the store shelf. And I was certainly not disappointed. After watching it for the first time, the first thing I wanted to do was watch it again. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. This movie is certainly of Miyazaki quality and made it easily to the top of my A list. There's few movies I've seen that make being a career thief seem so cool.

This film is packed with twists and action, but with plenty of comedy that keeps the movie from getting dark. However, it's certainly not for those with "sensitive ears," because there is a good amount of profanity, but I didn't think it took anything away from the movie. Although there is a little death and a lot of guns and explosions, there is a minimal amount of blood and absolutely no gore.

This movie can be enjoyed by all action movie-goers, whether or not you are an anime fan May 28, 2008

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