On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
A high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she is her own.
When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all Hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.
Director:
Satoshi Kon
Stars:
Megumi Hayashibara,
Tôru Emori,
Katsunosuke Hori
A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.
While protecting his village from rampaging boar-god/demon, a confident young warrior, Ashitaka, is stricken by a deadly curse. To save his life, he must journey to the forests of the west. Once there, he's embroiled in a fierce campaign that humans were waging on the forest. The ambitious Lady Eboshi and her loyal clan use their guns against the gods of the forest and a brave young woman, Princess Mononoke, who was raised by a wolf-god. Ashitaka sees the good in both sides and tries to stem the flood of blood. This is met by animosity by both sides as they each see him as supporting the enemy.Written by
Christopher Taguchi
Many speculate that various things featured in the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) were greatly inspired by this film. For example, in the first 10 minutes of the film, the clothes Ashitaka is wearing closely resemble both look and color pallete of Link's tunic. Ashitaka has a sword, and also uses the bow and arrow as his main weapon, which are also the weapons Link uses in this game and the previous ones. Another example is the wooden observatory tower which is destroyed by the wild demon. It closely resembles a similar wooden tower with a ladder overlooking the land of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild. Other similarities include the villager's hats, wild monsters/demons, and simply the vastness of the land, similar to the "open world" concept of Breath of the Wild. See more »
Goofs
When Ashitaka spots San for the first time at the river spitting out a mouthful of Moro no Kimi's blood from the bullet wound in her chest, the number of large wolf teeth on San's necklace changes from four, to three, back to four. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Narrator:
In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed. Those that remained were guarded by gigantic beasts who owed their allegiances to the Great Forest Spirit. For those were the days of gods and of demons...
See more »
Crazy Credits
The 2014 Blu-ray release uses the Disney logo, instead of the Miramax logo. See more »
Alternate Versions
Although most versions of the film are missing the Toho Company, Ltd. logo (especially home video releases), the version shown in the U.S. on Turner Classic Movies in 2006 had the logo intact, as did the original Japanese film release. See more »
The first time I saw Princess Mononoke I was completely moved and surprised. Since it was a Studio Ghibli film dubbed by Disney I liked the fact that it wasn't a "they all lived naively ever after" film. There were no complete "good" or "bad" guys. Even Lady Eboshi the most antagonist character in the movie had a reasonable motive for trying to get rid of the animal gods and cutting down the forest. Although it her actions were environmentally damaging and wrong in general, she did it to help her people survive which is what all the species on Earth strive for. Another wonderful aspect of the plot is that it sends a message - Protect the Earth and all will survive in peace - a message either discreetly or strongly portrayed in many of Miyazaki's films. Perhaps the portrayal of this message (and the tiny hint of San and Ashitaka's romance and Moro's views on nature) was what made the film so touching to me.
Like many Miyazaki movies, the animation (as always) is wonderful and nicely detailed which is also another quality that genuine Disney films lack (thank goodness for Studio Ghibli). The music was beautiful and well suited to the movie.
The only predicament to the movie is that it is a bit downbeat and does not contain much happy laughter (oh well, I can watch My Neighbor Totoro - also a good movie - for happy laughter.).
10/10 - And my favourite movie of all time.
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The first time I saw Princess Mononoke I was completely moved and surprised. Since it was a Studio Ghibli film dubbed by Disney I liked the fact that it wasn't a "they all lived naively ever after" film. There were no complete "good" or "bad" guys. Even Lady Eboshi the most antagonist character in the movie had a reasonable motive for trying to get rid of the animal gods and cutting down the forest. Although it her actions were environmentally damaging and wrong in general, she did it to help her people survive which is what all the species on Earth strive for. Another wonderful aspect of the plot is that it sends a message - Protect the Earth and all will survive in peace - a message either discreetly or strongly portrayed in many of Miyazaki's films. Perhaps the portrayal of this message (and the tiny hint of San and Ashitaka's romance and Moro's views on nature) was what made the film so touching to me.
Like many Miyazaki movies, the animation (as always) is wonderful and nicely detailed which is also another quality that genuine Disney films lack (thank goodness for Studio Ghibli). The music was beautiful and well suited to the movie.
The only predicament to the movie is that it is a bit downbeat and does not contain much happy laughter (oh well, I can watch My Neighbor Totoro - also a good movie - for happy laughter.).
10/10 - And my favourite movie of all time.