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Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 148
Fresh: 128 | Rotten: 20

Exquisitely illustrated by master animator Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle will delight children with its fantastical story and touch the hearts and minds of older viewers as well.

82

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 32 | Rotten: 7

Exquisitely illustrated by master animator Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle will delight children with its fantastical story and touch the hearts and minds of older viewers as well.

audience

93

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 220,543

My Rating

Movie Info

Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animation director who wowed audiences worldwide with his award-winning film Spirited Away, brings another visually spectacular tale of imagination to the screen. Sophie is an 18-year-old girl who toils in the hat shop opened years ago by her late father. Often harassed by local boys, one day Sophie is unexpectedly befriended by Howl, a strange but flamboyant wizard whose large home can travel under its own power. However, the Witch of the Waste is displeased with

Mar 7, 2006

$4.5M

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All Critics (148) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (128) | Rotten (20) | DVD (26)

A stunning example of a pure, disorienting dream logic that cinema provides all too rarely.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Time Out New York
Time Out New York
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Palaces and shimmering lakes, warplanes and fire sprites all come to life at the breath of Miyazaki's graphic genius.

September 7, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The risibly cloying closing scenes are likely to nix any remaining goodwill, blotting out such delicate early touches as a stroll through the air far above a town square.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There is giggling, belly-laughing, and gasping to be done watching Howl's Moving Castle.

December 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Magazine
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Howl's Moving Castle moves -- in short, choppy, jumpy jerks that will never make anyone forget how fluid the truly great hand-drawn cartoons look by comparison.

June 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comments (8)
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With such an unfocused, impenetrable center, the film grows dull.

June 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Miami Herald | Comment (1)
Miami Herald
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Although the movie's anti-war framework naturally lends itself to good guys and bad ones, Miyazaki avoids drawing clear lines.

May 23, 2013 Full Review Source: AV Club
AV Club

A handsome fantasy movie with only a nod in the direction of the rich, all-encompassing humanity and emotionality of Miyazaki's greatest work.

April 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy
Antagony & Ecstasy

Howl's Moving Castle is a perfect epitome of Miyazaki's work, in all its strengths and weaknesses: it's filled with heart-felt themes...but how these elements connect on a plot level is subjugated to how beautifully they are rendered on screen.

February 5, 2009 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comment (1)
ESplatter

Another work of great imagination and beauty from Hiyao Miyazaki.

September 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

The film gains a sense of visual wonder almost completely freed from the strains of a narrative-driven film.

October 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Projection Booth
Projection Booth

few other films, or indeed filmmakers, would dare take a scene in which two elderly women struggle to climb a staircase and turn it into an extravagant and memorable set piece.

July 10, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film
Eye for Film

Another example of how this film maven easily holds the crown in the sadly ever-shrinking traditional animation genre.

October 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons
Dark Horizons

A delightfully fanciful movie with engaging storytelling, visual wonders, and such worthwhile themes as contrasting wisdom and perspective with age.

September 25, 2006
Christianity Today

Miyazaki's stunning animation and characteristically vivid colors make the film a visual feast...

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review

Click to see review.

March 11, 2006 Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire
SPLICEDWire

Miyazaki has done better, and his epic style might get the best of him in this film a bit. Still, it is nonetheless a journey worth taking.

March 7, 2006 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

If it weren't for "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," "Howl's Moving Castle" would be your winner for this year's Academy Award for Best Animated Picture.

February 16, 2006
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

As a lover of Fantasy and Sci-Fi books and movies, this cartoon appealed me to with its detailed plot and unique world.

February 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs
Three Movie Buffs

Miyazaki has an appeal that crosses generations. Adult audiences are drawn to the depth and variety of his vision, but so are kids, and for exactly the same reasons.

January 17, 2006 Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Morning Herald

Miyazaki's latest epic (and that's just what it was... epic) lived up to every expectation.

December 20, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

A compelling story is the main ingredient missing from Howl's Moving Castle.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

Audience Reviews for Howl's Moving Castle

In a magical steampunk kingdom, a witch turns a girl into an old woman; a wizard embroiled in a war and a fire demon hold the key to returning to herself. This beautifully animated Hayao Miyazaki fantasy has the casual incoherence of an authentic folk tale, with the magical transformations around every corner making the plot truly unpredictable.
June 14, 2013
366weirdmovies
Greg S

Super Reviewer

the complete inconsistency and incoherence of howl's background and story line is the only drawback to this film, its just too bad he was so important to the overall plot. otherwise, the film is wonderful. the characters are engaging, the animation stunning, and the story so unique. i loved the castle, although i would have loved to see more of it, and the scarecrow. the war planes were unique, and the subplots that we hear little about, such as the war, add some very interesting background noise. very good film.
January 11, 2007
sanjurosamurai
danny d

Super Reviewer

    1. Howl (English Version): You're looking well, Madame Suliman.
    2. Madam Suliman: Rather weak disguise. Didn't I teach you better?
    3. Howl (English Version): I'm not trying to outwit you. I kept my oath. I reported when summoned. Now 'mother' and I will go.
    4. Madam Suliman: I think not.
    – Submitted by Ceara R (7 months ago)
    1. Howl (English Version): You're wearing that hat after all the magic I used to make your dress pretty?
    – Submitted by Ceara R (7 months ago)
    1. Howl (English Version): Go away.
    2. Sophie (English Version): No. I'm not going away. I'm going to help you break this spell that you're under.
    3. Howl (English Version): You? You can't even break your own spell.
    4. Sophie (English Version): But you don't understand. I love you.
    5. Howl (English Version): You're too late.
    6. Sophie (English Version): Howl no!
    – Submitted by Ceara R (7 months ago)
    1. Sophie (English Version): Your head's a turnip. I've always hated turnips, ever since I was little. Well, at least you're not upside down now. So long.
    – Submitted by Ceara R (7 months ago)
    1. Howl (English Version): Sophie! Sophie, you're beautiful.
    – Submitted by Ceara R (7 months ago)
    1. Sophie (English Version): They say that the best blaze burns brightest , when circumstances are at their worst.
    – Submitted by Rebecca H (8 months ago)

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August 21, 2008:
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Foreign Titles

  • Das wandelnde Schloss (DE)
  • Howl's Moving Castle (UK)
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