Board 8 > Best Hayao Miyazaki movie?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Great: Nausicaa > Princess Mononoke
Good: Spirited Away
Fine: Boy and the Heron > Ponyo
Bad: Howl's Moving Castle

I have been meaning to watch The Wind Rises for a bit but haven't done so yet.

The ones I've seen:

Spirited Away > Kiki > Ponyo > Mononoke > Howl's

I understand there's only so many slots allowed in polls, but why would you choose Nausicaa as the third movie to leave off? That's definitely one of the more popular ones.

Anyway, rankings:
Great: Kiki > Totoro > Heron > Spirited > Porco > Mononoke
Good: Laputa > Caglistro > Nausicaa
Fine: Ponyo > Wind
Bad: Howl

10/10
1) Ponyo
2) Boy & the Heron

9/10
3) Castle of Cagliostro
4) Spirited Away
5) Totoro

7/10
6) Howl's Moving Castle
7) Kiki's Delivery Service
8) The Wind Rises
9) Porco Rosso

6/10
10) Princess Mononoke
11) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
12) Castle in the Sky

Big_Bob posted...

Originally I had Arrietty on this list, but apparently he wasn't Director on it.

Nope. And I found it reeaaalllyy boring, 3/10.

pyresword posted...

Bad: Howl's Moving Castle

Xeybozn posted...

Bad: Howl

WHOA. whoa.

Xeybozn posted...

I understand there's only so many slots allowed in polls, but why would you choose Nausicaa as the third movie to leave off? That's definitely one of the more popular ones.

It's older and I haven't seen it. That's it. I debated whether it or CitS should be on here. Don't read too much into it, the decision was arbitrary.

5-stars:
Spirited Away (my #3 movie all-time)
Princess Mononoke (#14)
My Neighbor Totoro (#85)

4.5 stars:
Nausicaa (#346)
Castle in the Sky (#539)
The Boy and the Heron (#643)
Howl's Moving Castle (#772)

4.0 stars:
Kiki's Delivery Service
The Wind Rises
Porco Rosso
Ponyo
The Castle of Cagliostro

I came out of theaters watching heron saying "what the hell was that!?"

Spirited away is my favorite

jcgamer107 posted...

WHOA. whoa.

To clarify, I only think Howl's Moving Castle is bad by Miyazaki standards. Maybe I should've called that tier "Meh" instead of just stealing Pyre's format.

GTM posted...

I came out of theaters watching heron saying "what the hell was that!?"

Spirited away is my favorite

I did kinda like Heron in spite of that but yeah pretty much my reaction exactly (and yeah Spirited Away is still my favorite)

probably spirited away but kiki holds a special place in my heart

I do consider it bad by absolute standards, for the record.

It's possible "bad" is a bit strong--I do still have it in the 4-4.5 range (out of 10) which is better than it could be, but that's still like a solid 1-2 standard deviations below my mean rating (~6.5) on Myanimelist

(edit: For comparison, my "fine" category is about right at that 6.5 average; "good" is at ~7.5; and "great" is at ~9)

Of the ones I've seen:

Princess Mononoke > Spirited Away > Howl's Moving Castle > The Wind Rises > My Neighbor Totoro

I watched Princess Mononoke for the first time last week and it blew me away, easily my favorite film of his. I'd like to rewatch The Wind Rises at some point, since I hardly remember it.

Ponyo, Nausicaa, Kiki's and The Boy and the Heron are all on my short list of films to watch soon.

When I was like six or seven years old, my babysitter rented Castle in the Sky for my siblings and I to watch, and I remember thinking it was unbearably boring and I could've sworn it was at least four hours long. I'll have to give it another shot one of these days lol

GTM posted...

I came out of theaters watching heron saying "what the hell was that!?"

same

voted Ponyo

Nausicaa

I've only seen a handful, but the only one of those I liked a lot was Castle in the Sky. Kiki was good, too.

I know it's sacrilege but I don't quite understand why he's so beloved.

Castle in the Sky for me, but there are many good options. The back half of Howl is a mess.

I'm more of a Takahata man though, I'd like to see a poll for him!

jcgamer107 posted...

WHOA. whoa.

Yeah I was so surprised to see this move being so bad after I heard so much good things about it
It was such a mess

Castle in the Sky is probably the most underrated Ghibli movie
Spirited Away is second best and popular for a good reason

Totoro

I also really don't like Howl's Moving Castle, for some reason that I've never been able to put my finger on. Glad some others feel the same. Not as huge on Ghibli overall as many others are, but there's something beautiful and tranquil about their movies that no other studio can replicate, and Howl's doesn't capture it for me.

My understanding was that Howl's was INCREDIBLY popular with teen and young adult girls getting into the medium, this why it was so well known even amongst Ghibli stuff. This was definitely reflected in my high school and extended friend group shortly after.

I will say Howl's might be my favorite (well, probably until Boy and the Heron) from strictly the visuals perspective, but that is a pretty small factor in how I judge movies overall.

I don't care for Howl's Moving Castle.

It's well made and aesthically great, but is such a poor adaptation.

For me, the soundtrack is the best aspect of it, but I do still like the story & visuals

smh at no Porco on the poll

Of the ones I've seen:

Nausicaa > Castle in the Sky > Spirited Away > My Neighbor Totoro

I probably need to re-watch Spirited Away and Totoro. I've seen those a long time ago.

(Of those I've seen)

S Tier: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away

A Tier: Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke

B Tier: Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle

C Tier: My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart

Porco Rosso

I know these aren't all Miyazaki but I'm posting the full ranking of what I've seen anyway. I didn't hate Spirited Away, I just couldnt get into it at all. Castle in the Sky was such a fun adventure.

Castle in the Sky > Whisper of the Heart > Kiki's Delivery Service > When Marnie Was There > Princess Mononke > Howl's Moving Castle > Spirited Away

Jeez, the opinions are all over the map here!

Here's my ranking, all ghiblis 'cuz I'm too lazy to learn which ones are directed by who:

---awesome---
1. Totoro
2. Princess Mononoke
3. Cat Returns
---great---
4. Kiki's Delivery Service
5. Ponyo
6. Whisper of the Heart
7. Princess Kaguya
8. Porco Rosso
---good---
9. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
10. Spirited Away
---meh---
11. Howl's Moving Castle
12. Castle in the Sky
13. Pom Poko
---bad---
14. Secret World of Arrietty
15. The Wind Rises
---terrible---
16. From Up on Poppy Hill
17. Tales from Earthsea

I hated The Wind Rises so much (and anything released after Ponyo?) that I don't think I'll bother to see any future Ghibli movie. Mildly curious about Heron, but this thread is mostly confirming for me that I would hate it.

My Ghibli ranking

Nausicaa
Castle
Mononoke
-
Porco
Howl
Spirited
Kiki
-
Totoro
Arietty
-
Whisper
Cat Returns
-
-
Earthsea

The Howl hate disturbs me.

Howl's almost feels like it wants to be too much and can't deliver. Like it should have been an hour longer.

I'm surprised by all this Howl hate.

I've only seen 5.

Nausicaa is my favorite by a hair. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Porco Rosso were all excellent as well. Howl's Moving Castle was my least favorite of the five, but I still enjoyed it. Getting some pretty harsh treatment in this topic.

I don't want to dislike Howl's but everytime I watch it I get really bored halfway through

what's good about howl movie tho? i think maybe it went over my head each time i watched it. i was just like "what is this. that flame is cute i guess."

I mean, I don't think explaining why I like it is really going to influence your opinion on it if you don't. I've just never seen so many people call the movie "bad" like this, even Miyazaki himself has said this was his favorite creation in the past. I always figured most everyone had it at the very least in the upper echelon.

Porco Rosso wasn't an option so I went with Spirited Away. I haven't seen Princess Mononoke in quite a while though. I'm sure I'll still like it. Beyond Miyazaki, my favourite Ghibli is Whisper of the Heart.

I enjoyed Howl's but I never understood how ride or die some fans are are over it, so seeing hate for it is weirdly cathartic even though I don't agree. I'm absolutely nuts over the novel though..

Miyazaki's worst film (either Howl's Moving Castle or Ponyo) is still better than 99% of anything else out there.

If we count Miyazaki as a writer and not director then my vote is for Panda Go Panda

Mobilezoid posted...

I know these aren't all Miyazaki but I'm posting the full ranking of what I've seen anyway. I didn't hate Spirited Away, I just couldnt get into it at all. Castle in the Sky was such a fun adventure.

Castle in the Sky > Whisper of the Heart > Kiki's Delivery Service > When Marnie Was There > Princess Mononke > Howl's Moving Castle > Spirited Away

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/05f8b228.jpg

Just swap Whisper and Castle and throw in Nausicaa at 4th.

v_charon posted...

I mean, I don't think explaining why I like it is really going to influence your opinion on it if you don't. I've just never seen so many people call the movie "bad" like this, even Miyazaki himself has said this was his favorite creation in the past. I always figured most everyone had it at the very least in the upper echelon.

I'm very swayable! My opinion of Spirited Away, for example, did drastically go up, after I read a long article that interpreted the movie as a pro-marxism anti-capitalism thing. That whole movie pretty much did go completely over my head. So it seems likely to me that I'm missing a lot about Howl's, because my media comprehension skills are hilariously bad (which is probably part of why I like Totoro, the dumbest movie ever, lol).

can't believe nausicaa and porco rosso got snubbed wtf

anyway barely nausicaa over laputa then i can never decide past that. shoutout to On Your Mark though

It's between Mononoke, The Wind Rises, and Boy and the Heron for me. It used to be Howl's but after a rewatch it's not as high tier as the other 3.

It may be recency bias but I had to give it to Heron which is just better Spirited Away to me. I think I'm just a fan of his more grounded style, and the way TBATH makes it directly clash with his more fantastical side is just super cool.

Also, idk if Whispers of the Heart counts because Miyazaki only wrote but didn't direct, but it's easily better than most of these. If we include all Ghibli it's my #4 or 5.

My favorite to least of all the Ghibli films I've seen:

Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Pom Poko
Secret World of Arietty
When Marnie Was There
Return of the Cat
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Nausicaa: of the Valley of Wind
Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Castle in the Sky/Ponyo/Porco Rosso

Everything after Kiki I didn't like.

Xeybozn posted...

To clarify, I only think Howl's Moving Castle is bad by Miyazaki standards. Maybe I should've called that tier "Meh" instead of just stealing Pyre's format.

The book is much better.