The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

This is a great movie. And the first Lupin the 3rd film I've ever seen. Specially when this was Hayao Miyazaki's first movie entitled as the director.

The movie starts out in Monanco where Lupin(a master thief) and Jigen(a smooth guns man) pull off a robbery at a casino. They successfully stole the money from the casino. And escaped by car. As they drive on the freeway, Lupin notices that the bills are all fake. Jigen couldn't believe that they stole worthless money. But it gave Lupin an idea on what their next heist should be. And that's at the country of Cagliostro. Which is a small European country that's home to the Goat Bill counterfeiting that make copies of the world's currency. They encounter a girl who was chased by a group of thugs by car. After that encounter, Lupin obtains a ring from that girl before asking questions. The ring in fact is something Lupin has seen before 10 years back.

First seen this movie back in spring 2005. I wasn't familiar with the franchise at first. But I soon learned the theme and characters right away.

Animation is excellent for an anime from 1979. Despite it only made within 4 months of time. This movie proves Castle in the Sky isn't Miyazaki's only film containing an actual villain. It's not as breathe taking as Nausicaa or Castle in the Sky, but it's still a worthy Miyazaki movie. It's one of those films I can see over and over.

Highly recommended for the die-hard Miyazaki and Lupin the 3rd fans.

I rate it 8/10, after seeing this film, it made me a bigger Lupin the 3rd fan than before.

Fmovies: How would you define a movie classic?A movie classic is a movie that doesn't age,and you can watch it when you're 10,20 or 30 and still find the same magic you found the first time you saw it. Rupan sansei:Kariosutoro no shiro-Lupin the third:the castle of Cagliostro in English-is a movie classic,but let's start from the beginning.

Lupin the third was created by Japanese mangaka Monkey Punch.After a colossal success on paper,the franchise has moved into three anime series of equal success and it's still present nowadays thanks to the animated movies."Cagliostro" was the first of this new incarnation

First of all,let's introduce the characters: Lupin III is the Japanese descendant of famous french thief Arsene Lupin,or so he claims to be.The world's greatest thief,he's also a master of disguise.Clownish and bumbling,he's always tracked down by inspector Zenigata,who always fail to capture him.It's not his fault tho,since Lupin also has escape skills of superhuman ability. He has a long time crush on Fujiko Mine,and that causes him more troubles than he'd ever want to admit

Jigen Daisuke:one of Lupin's two best friends,Jigen is a marksman of uncanny accuracy.Of American-Japanese heritage,he can shoot the antennae off of an ant.Always smoking,he never wears his hat off,because he uses the brim to aim.

Goemon Ishikawa:Lupin' second best friend and mate,he is the archetype of a samurai.A real master,he's very strong and agile,but it's when he pulls off his sword that things become really dangerous.His Zantetsu-Ken("the sword that can slice metal")has been created with meteor fragments,and can cut everything.Even iron and steel. Goemon is quiet and silent,and doesn't trust women.Seeing Fujiko,he does have a point,actually

Fujiko Mine:Beautiful and highly skilled woman,she always uses her feminine wiles to their full advantages.She's very dangerous and her only wish is to become richer and richer.Lupin is madly in love with her,which causes him to almost always lose everything he gets.Fujiko is a excellent thief and probably,the smartest of the bunch.

Inspector Zenigata:a Japanese Interpol inspector,hes constantly frustrated by Lupin's ability to escape his highly intelligent traps.But he's so devoted to capturing the world's most wanted thief that he never gives up,even tho he always end up at biting the dust

OK,you pretty much got it,don't you?The synopsis is as simple as it gets,but what makes Lupin so special is the excellent mix of all those ingredients:exotic places,immense treasures,lovely ladies,lots of well-paced action,incredible escapes and good laughs.

But what does this movie do,to reach the Olympus?One word:Miyazaki. Acclaimed all around the world "the best animation director of all times",he puts his magic into this franchise.If you don't know what magic I'm talking about watch Mononoke Hime or Spirited Away;do yourself a pleasure,watch them.And then you will agree with all the people saying it,including me.

He puts the well-working Lupin franchise into a superbly written story,with brilliant dialogs and deep,interesting characters. The animation is that good.And the pacing?Simply incredible.This is not "The Incredibles",this is not cgi,this is not a 10000000 times already told story.This is great action,great laughs,great direction,touching moments,superb soundtrack...and a final showdown really worth it. Not the best an

Early feature directed by the now world famous Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki. A roguish thief, Lupin III, attempts to save the Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro from an evil Count, both of them well aware that she holds the secret to a legendary hidden treasure.

The animation is, unsurprisingly, much less sophisticated than in the later Studio Ghibli films, or even those released only a few years after such as "Nausicaa". However, the quality is still very high and Miyazaki's trademark attention to detail, particularly with machines, is noticeable already.

The character animation is much broader and more obviously cartoon-like but this matches the very light tone of the film - this is an all-out action comedy adventure, after all! The details in the film give it a very European feel, from the costumes to the cars (wonderfully animated Fiat 500 and Citroen 2CV), and I was most reminded of Herge's "Tintin" adventure series.

This film is good fun, though I did find the pacing a little uneven, and particularly recommended to those who enjoy their animated films a bit simpler and more conventional than most of Studio Ghibli's output.

The Castle of Cagliostro fmovies. I just saw this on Madman Cinema DVD. I don't know if this is just an Australian distributor, but believe me, they've got their hearts in the right place! I swear I saw this movie when I was a kid, but I always feel that way when I watch Miyazaki's films. This one is my favourite. In terms of adventure movies, I'd say it's second only to "Raiders of the Lost Ark"! At first it's joyous, exhilarating and kind of sweet. Then watch it again and you'll see how clever the writing is and how tightly written the plot is. It does things in adventure movies that could never be done in live action. If this were a traditionally (Disney) animated film it would have sucked. Same if it were done with puppetry, stop-motion animation or CGI. But in the world of Manga, it's a perfect fit. I found it at a local library. See if you can do the same! It's a masterpiece!!!

Ever since I first viewed the Disney-released version of Princess Mononoke last year, I have done everything in my power to see Hayao Miyazaki's other films. My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, at least the dubbed versions, were readily available, and they were perfect. The next one I found was this film. It was released on DVD by Manga company. This one does not contain the visual mastery, or even the storytelling mastery, as the other three films of his that I've seen, but there is definitely great promise shining through. The animation is not great. It's a lot more stiff than what would come later. There are a few physics-defying scenes that kind of made me cringe (the car driving sideways up a steep incline, Lupin jumping off the roof of the castle is still able to catch the side of a turret). The story is quite good. It has a lot of excitement, reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies. The characters are fun. In short, it is just a very entertaining film.

So if you have any interest in anime or in Miyazaki, by all means, the DVD is worth buying. Unfortunately, the Japanese soundtrack is a little weak. The English side is much better for its sound quality, but I realize most animephiles despise dubs; this one is particularly good, and the remastered soundtrack makes it worth it. The DVD has a really nice layout. I was kid of expecting it just to have been thrown on a DVD and sent out. At least they took their time. Now, if Buena Vista Home Entertainment (which had no part of this pre-Ghibli film) would release all of his other films to DVD!!!

I have two Japanese animated feature films from 1979, this one and one of the sequels to Space Battleship Yamato. Compared to the animation in Yamato (which is flat and often motionless), Lupin is Snow White. There is so much movement (more than some of Miyazaki's later films), and there are some truly incredible "set" pieces (Lupin scaling a sheer castle wall, for instance). One of the things that has always been noted about Japanese animation is that while it's not as fluid as Disney animation (12 frames per second as opposed to 24, not to mention the animation is generally before the voice track), it has incredible style and originality in its design and cinematography. Lupin is a perfect example of this, and it's no wonder the movie is still so well revered in Japan.