Publisher: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Ages: eight and up
Parental
Advisory:
Some violence
The title character's appearance might be a bit off-putting, but don't let that convince you to pass Porco Rosso over. Possibly one of Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki's most personal films, this fun and oddly touching movie has everything one might expect from the highly praised animation director: planes, pigs, strong-willed female characters and a magnificent attention to detail.
Taking place during the post-World War I era, aerial bounty hunter Porco Rosso (Italian for "Crimson Pig"), whose face has been transformed into a pig's by a spell, rocks the sky and the water in his red seaplane, thwarting the sky pirates who would be ruling the sea if it weren't for him.
Tired of being humiliated by Porco's antics, the pirates conspire to get rid of him, hiring loud Texas pilot Donald Curtis to get the job done. However, taking down the Crimson Pig is not Curtis's only goal; he has an eye for Porco's lovely friend Gina, the owner of the island hotel. As Porco evades-and eventually confronts-Curtis, he teams up with the cute redheaded engineer Fio and takes to the skies in a series of breathtaking aerial dogfights over the Mediterranean Sea.
Miyazaki's love of planes is very evident in this movie; every aircraft, each from the World War I time period, is lovingly drawn and beautifully animated-a difficult feat considering that the planes are very detailed, and even in long shots, you can see every last support on the wings. Without any help from computers, the aircraft never lose their perspective or dimension, and they are all the more convincing for it. Similarly, the costumes and sets beautifully represent the 1920s, in everything from the old-fashioned telephones to the flapper dresses the women wear.
The characters are given new voices in the English dub featured in the DVD: Michael Keaton provides Porco Rosso's voice, the very British Cary Elwes dons a Southern accent to play Donald Curtis, Susan Egan is the voice of the exquisite Gina, Kimberly Williams lends a bright, cheerful delivery to Fio, David Ogden Stiers is Fio's grandfather, and Brad Garrett plays a funny mixture of bully and comic relief as the boss of the sky pirates. The dub is overall very fun to listen to, and there are no badly acted or overdone voices to be irritated about.
This is probably a good pick for watching with your family. As far as violence goes, there is a fistfight between Porco and Curtis, as well as several exciting dogfights in the air, but otherwise, there is no reason that kids (or former kids, for that matter) shouldn't be able to watch this charming and thoughtful movie.
Be warned; while the advertising on the box says that Porco Rosso is a "two disc special edition", don't be expecting a large amount of special features. The second disc consists solely of storyboards from the movie, coupled with the soundtrack from the film. The majority of special features, ironically, is found on the first disc. There are some Japanese theatrical trailers, a featurette on the making of the English dub, and an interview with producer Toshio Suzuki. Though the bonus features are kind of sparse, the film is a lot of fun, and definitely worth watching.
3/13/05 Alysha Kawamoto
