Laputa, Castle in the Sky is a classic Studio Ghibli production, and will be enjoyed by anyone who liked the charming tales of Totoro or Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro). It has an environmental/political slant like Mononoke or Howl's Moving Castle, but that never interferes with the story. The heros are a young boy who dreams of seeing the legendary flying city, Laputa, and the girl who carries the secret to finding it. The supporting characters of Dola's gang of pirates are some of the best in the Ghibli world. Like many of Miyazaki's heroines, Sheeta overcomes the princess in distress role, and plays a strong leading role in her own fate.
I don't give this movie five stars, because the edition, while well cleaned up and presented, falls short of my expectations for a double-dvd special edition. The second dvd is only the original storyboarding sketches played out against the audio track, so you can see how Miyazaki planned the visuals of the movie. There are almost no extra special features. All of the new Ghibli releases are like this, though, so if you want to own the movie, this is probably the edition you'll end up buying.
Includes english dubbing and subtitles. Only playable on region-free or Japanese players.