Castle in the Sky (1986)

Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta

Hayao Miyazaki have worked him self into a position of well deserved fame through his animated movies, as I myself learned through Howl's Moving Castle (a movie which review I haven't gotten around to yet of those backlogged, sorry!). Castle in the Sky doesn't manage to capture me in the same way, but it's still a quite good story.

The life of an orphan mining boy change when a girl fall from the sky, all though rather slowly as she's protected by a force he reckons comes from a stone amulet. She's hunted by pirates as well as by strange agents helped by the army. The boy (Pazu) helps the girl (Sheeta) escape, and find them self in a strange race involving the mythological castle in the sky, Laputa.

Interesting and well worth a look, but it lacks the magic and greater interactions seen in Howl's Moving Castle. I'll definitely keep checking out Miyazaki's work though, because there's no doubt he's extremely talented.