Where Happy Feet failed miserably to make a statement in the midst of entertaining, Nausicaä proves Miyazaki always had a special talent for masterful and meaningful storytelling. It also demonstrates many of Miyazaki's trademark elements, such a beautiful flying animation, a strong female lead character, a dude with a big mustache, and an old woman.

Nausicaä is set 1,000 years after the "Seven Days of Fire," which destroyed human civilization. A toxic jungle infested with bugs sprouted up which constantly encroaches on the remaining human settlement. Princess Nausicaä finds herself trapped in a conflict between the Pejites and the Tolmekians. The Pejites are baiting a swarm of giant potato bugs called Ohmu while the Telmekians are trying to revive a giant God Warrior (which caused the original devastation).

Nausicaä, being the peace loving girl that she is, is just trying to save her Valley. She discovers that the toxic jungle is actually purifying the world, and in a way, the bugs are helping too by protecting the jungle. The world is trying to find balance and restore itself.

The films greatest feat is that it never preaches, while dealing with a potentially preach subject matter. The Ohmu are an awesome creation and the whole world is imagined with a depth of mythology that draws you into the story. The film reminds me a lot of Princess Mononoke, but not quite as polished. On the other hand, its is less existential as well. Another nice touch is the 80's style (fitting as it was made in 1984) synthesizer music. It gives the movie a bit of a retro feel, while the themes and setting of the movie are more timeless.

This is a great gateway film into anime or at the least into the incredible world of Studio Ghibli films (though technically this film predated the studio). Nausicaä may only be in the top 5 of Ghibli films (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Whisper of the Heart and Grave of the Fireflies are better, but they are also perfect films), but that still qualifies it as an A, and well worth your time.

PS, avoid the edited down version Warriors of the Wind, which cut 30 minutes of "slow-moving" story. Never mind that the edits removed the story. Miyazaki was pretty unhappy with the adaptation and made Disney promise "no edits" in their current North American distributions of his films.

Much like its successor, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa is an adventure that is well-animated, well-written, and well-told.

I love the environments that Miyazaki invents for this movie. The emphasis on flying, wind, and air in general is somehow soothing, and keeps a kind of free spirit throughtout the film. Nausicaa herself is a wonderful character who's easy to fall in love with, because she has all the qualities of a hero: She's fun, brave, strong, independent, sensitive, and open-minded. The townspeople know this and practically worship her. But even she is not perfect.

I have mixed feelings about this movie, however. The first time I saw it I would have given it 3 stars, maybe less. I enjoyed it but honestly I had a hard time sympathizing with or otherwise relating in any way to all the races of giant insects. But the second time I somehow paid more attention to the attitude and persona of the character of Nausicaa, and I was fascinated by the way in which she perceives her "enemies" and the chaotic affairs of the world around her. She seems almost like a pacifist who, rather than running away from warfare and then mourning or protesting it, would more likely run into the middle of a battlefield, bunker down, and defiantly raise her own flag. I walked away with a lot more to think about and now I'm tacking on another half-star.

WOW! This film is probably the best film i've ever seen. It's fantastic, i'm trying to get hold of a particular piece of music from it for ages. It really is a MUST SEE film!!!!!!!!!!! I won't spoil the plot but the animation is fantastic (I like all Ghibli films but this one is my favourite).

EDIT: After rewatching the film projected on a wide screen, I have to raise my rating. The film does get off to a slow and cludgy start, and too many people go through the various forms of saying "Ooh, Princess Nausicaa is soooo cool!"

But it grows steadily in intensity and suspense, and the beauty of its ending can't be denied. Perhaps, after all, it's still not QUITE the equal of Princess Mononoke, but it's a wonderful, enchanting film.

----Original review below.

Just wanted to note, in relation to Lupercal's statement, that it HAS been released by Disney now.

It's not Princess Mononoke by a long shot--Nausicaa lacks the intense drama, unpredictability and unique characterization for that. But Nausicaa is a beautiful and lyrical work with the same anti-war/pro-environment message to it. The animation is choppy, but the backgrounds are beautiful. The story holds your attention, and the future-world is illed with fascinating critters.

I would call it at least the equal of Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky. My own personal opinion, of course.

With such a dedicated fan base, and so much profit being made by his name, no would dare say Miyazaki had a 'bad' film. Only the few and realistic would recognize a good film from an 'uhhh,' one, no matter who made it. Valley of the Wind, is by far his worst piece of work. Even Miyazaki himself gave this film a 'D', and was unsatisfied when compared to the 13 year project manga. However, because of the film's distinctive premise, and unique science-fiction/fantasy/agnst-based tale, it was quickly accepted and a huge success. The film has some very rich and detailed ideas, with some conveyed very well throughout the story, but ultimately, the mellow drama, plus/or the over dramatic elements felt purposeless, or unneeded, simply to keep the film going. The characters have a great look to them, but also fall short of true connection and affection. Add this to the loose-ended and jumpy storyline, and you get Nausicaa, Valley of the Winds, a film with potential, but lacking in ALOT. I would only recommend this film to anyone that is interested in the history of Miyazaki, and how he got started off.

The first thing to establish is that this is a science fiction epic. It has more in common with 'Dune' or any number of SF novels, than it does with a typical Disney film. Therefore one's expectations should be a little different, and ultimately this is what tipped Nausicaa over into the 3.5 stars category for me. Whereas it didn't have quite the emotional clout that I look for in an animated feature, it was a stupendously told SF story.

Technically not a Ghibli film (Miyazaki actually used the studio which did most of 'The Last Unicorn', and which more or less became Ghibli when 'Laputa' was made a couple of years later), 'Nausicaa' is a far-future SF story with a princess/warrior/nature-lover heroine and strong environmental themes. There's also an opposing princess/leader trying to use technology to overcome the apparently hostile environment. If you're starting to think 'Princess Mononoke', you'd be on the right track. In some ways 'Nausicaa' seems like an early stab in the direction of 'Mononoke', though the latter would delve far more into spirituality and mythology, eschewing the SF aspects.

There aren't really any major weak points in Nausicaa - unless you count the frustrating 12 drawings per second animation which I constantly complain about in Japanese animation. The backgrounds aren't as amazing and the animation not as good as the last few Ghibli films, but for 1984 it was plenty good enough. I have a fairly trivial complaint in that the character of Kuratowa is drawn in a slightly more 'anime' style, ala Lupin III, whereas all of the other characters are done in a realistic style. He just seems a little out of place, though he's quite delightfully drawn.

The really strong points of the movie are its pacing (at least until the very end), its story telling, which manages to be sophisticated without being impossibly complex, its engrossing background drawings and settings, - and most of all in the amazing attention to detail in the fully realised post-apocalypse SF-fantasy world in which the story is set. Every little thing is worked out and placed such that you find yourself admiring inventions, ideas, structures, creatures, etc which don't draw attention to themselves, but simply exist as part of the backdrop of the movie. Of course 'Nausicaa' had existed for several years as a serialised Manga, so Miyazaki no doubt knew its universe inside-out.

There's a very clever plot, which I won't give away, but which involves humanity's relationship with the Earth and nature.

It's the sort of movie which you can get thoroughly caught up in, and which will stand repeated viewings. As Miyazaki's second feature film it is also, rightly or wrongly, usually considered the start of Studio Ghibli, and is arguably worth watching for historical reasons, too.

Not the best from Miyazaki or Ghibli, but an auspicious beginning.

PS, in case you didn't know, there was a heavily butchered US version floating around called 'Warriors of the Wind', which is universally reviled as a disgrace. Just to make it confusing, some of the Japanese copies are also called 'Warriors of the Wind'. The thing to look for is the 116 minute running length. If you get that, you've got the right one. At the moment the only way you can get the film is in Japanese dialog with English subtitles. Personally I'd go ahead and do that, rather than wait while Disney squats on the US distribution rights (Amazon gives it a release date of 2010 for God's sake). You can always replace it later.

Good stuff.