CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

rhyshurst Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut is wonderfully joyous romp, and is well worth a watch.It's a much lighter take on the classic 'Lupin the 3rd' manga, which may be alienating to long time fans of the series.But replacement of the raunchier humour of the manga with the wonder and energy of Miyazaki is well worth it.It follows Lupin and his friend Jigen's Investigation into a large counterfeiting operation in the small European country of Cagliostro, and their discovery of an evil plot by the country's ruler to steal an ancient treasure from it's rightful owner.The plot isn't particularly complex, the likeable and iconic characters of the Lupin franchise carry it for the 1hr 40min run time.The animation is very simply drawn, but this helps it to be extremely fluid and bouncy.The simple characters aren't much of a problem anyway, they are all iconic and charming enough to the point were it doesn't even matter.The backgrounds and are beautifully detailed, especially the titular castle which is gloriously cliched in a good way.It's many traps, stairwells and towers set the scene for several exciting action sequences, especially the final chase scene (a signature of Miyazaki's works).To conclude, this film is well worth a watch even if its not the most substantial of Miyazaki's films.It's certainly extremely enjoyable and well executed,definitely has my recommendation.

Eric Stevenson For all the good and bad films I've had to sit through for Superhero Month, I am so glad to be starting off strong with Anime Month! We start off with none other than the directorial debut of the most famous anime director, Hayao Miyazaki! I had no idea that he even worked on this movie. Of course, he's simply been a part of almost every beloved anime film not based on an anime or manga. Actually, this one was based on a manga! I guess he started off not doing original ideas. It was great to see an anime film all the way back from 1979, especially with me judging on whether or not the film holds up.And guess what? It holds up perfectly! For being the oldest anime film on this list, that's quite an achievement. This movie features Lupin III saving a princess in a castle from an evil count. I admit the only bad thing is that the plot is kind of weak. It's still great to watch this wonderfully entertaining character, Lupin III, get into all sorts of mischief! From what I heard, in the original manga, he was actually more villainous, so some loyal fans are against this movie. I personally found him one of the most likable anime characters ever made. I love his voice, his style, and all the great backgrounds and twists and subversive love story, as expected from Miyazaki. ***1/2

Scarecrow-88 Hayao Miyazaki directed this marvelous mix of action, fantasy, adventure, and comedy. He takes on so many genres, the plot is damn near winded from how much ground it covers. The genesis of the plot is a supposed hidden treasure and this villainous count who wants it all for himself. A princess is his potential key to finding the treasure. But the count's got problems when a couple of burglars and their samurai friend impede upon his plans; that, and a police Interpol inspector (and his officers) who not only wants to prove that the count is crooked but find the master burglars who have been traveling all over robbing places.Miyazaki's animation might be viewed as a bit primitive when compared to Spirited Away, but I think compared to other animation seen on television "The Castle of Cagliostro" is a knock-out. Certainly the dungeon, aqueduct, and clocktower sequences are exciting (if a bit far-fetched, but I let that go; I just consider the anti-hero Lupin larger-than-life and let it be) and thrilling to watch, and the Lupin III character (a popular manga character) survives one hairy situation after another. Lupin being able to breathe underwater and swim against powerful current flowing against him, hanging, scaling, and climbing up the castle structures (and how he hops the rooftops) with relative ease (I say that reluctantly as he must tip-toe and combat downhill movement when he loses step), and resist being crushed in giant gears and sprockets (in the aqueduct and clocktower) establishes the lead character as superhuman. He is clearly shot in a way that could kill him (he even bleeds out a stream!), he falls to his ass after a log-piece his "rescue string" is tied around pulls from the roots (landing on his head!), and dives from a long distance (capturing a falling Princess Clarisse to boot) head-first into a lake that surrounds the castle. So suspend disbelief.Count Cagliostro is a classic heavy. He plans to force Clarisse into marriage to secure a hidden treasure through their union (but he mainly just wants her ring, with a crest that is to be associated with his own ring's family crest), and he has a host of imperial guards with shields and swords (but doesn't mind using ninjas with guns or knives for claws, either!) at his disposal. Lupin and buddies, Jigen and Goemon (partner-in-crime and swordsman respectively) will make things difficult. Lupin is driven by an encounter with Clarisse when she was younger, offering assistance to him when he was hurt after a heist chase, while Jigen and Goemon are just loyal to the master thief. Interpol cop, Zenigata, has been on Lupin's trail for ages, trying desperately, without much luck, to catch him. Here is a chance to do that, but it is Lupin (believe it or not!) who calls him to Cagliostro's castle estate! Lupin is a character who is so confident and slippery, it is never in doubt he will succeed in rescuing the damsel and costing the Count his quest. Not without a share of difficulty, though. But I thought the character of Zenigata, and his red-faced responses to adversity and frustration, was a real treat. But Lupin is your classic likable thief character. He has integrity in that the danger and peril constantly placing Lupin in jeopardy didn't thwart his efforts to save Clarisse. There is also a female spy character that Lupin has a past with who gets in on the action (fired at by the guards, and packing heat herself, more than willing to exchange gunfire, narrowly avoiding death). So lots of fun characters and action in Miyazaki's film. The hidden city ending is beautiful eye candy, and has a sense of irony considering the Cagliostro villain believes it is treasure…his fate on the clocktower is a doozy! The autogyro and car chases are vehicular highlights as well!

bcheng93 i remember this as a kid but never got the chance to see it. i remembered that it looked so fun and really wanted to see it. well..., i found out that this is Miyazakis first effort and just had to see it.if this movie doesn't put you in a good mode at the end then you are a ogre and need to stay in your cave. it is an action, comedy, romance with a little 007 and also Inspector Gadget all rolled into one. the script is very tightly written and there is no holes in it. the main character Lupin the 3rd is very very likable, in fact all the good guys were! there was non-stop action and non-stop laughs in this movie.the animation considering that the movie came out almost 35 years ago is pretty good considering. the animation feels nostalgic and you can see hints at what Miyazaki will become in the future. there was still a lot of beauty in some of the animation, comparable to todays. i would recommend this movie to people of all ages..., there is something in here that everybody will love and even though the main character is a rogue, he is a gentleman rogue who lives by a righteous moral code. old school anime rocks!one thing i want to touch on is the original soundtrack which in my mind was awesome( i loved the start and the end song )and puts one right in the mood. for some reason it was a gripe of a lot of non-Japanese viewers and i heard that the western dubbed soundtrack was very good, i've never heard it and even if i did i would disagree. the original soundtrack just puts you in the mood and you could tell that it was the late 70's and early 80's by the music. i don't like and don't recommend dubs of foreign movies cause the real translation rarely ever comes through. what is wrong with people, have they forgotten how to read???