Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

dbborroughs Isao Takahata director of the animated Grave of Fireflies and founder of Studio Ghibli first feature film is set nominally in a Norse country, but it sure seems like old Russia to me. Hols, a young boy/man/teenagerish kid lives with his father on the edge of an ocean. Not long after he removes a thorn, actually the sword of the sun, from a giant rock man, Hols father dies. He tells his son the story of how a devil named Grunwald had spread evil in their old village and had caused things to fall apart. Hols father wanting to keep his then infant safe fled into the wilderness. As a dying wish Hols father urges him to go back and find his people. Traveling with Coro his friend who is a bear he sets out to find his people. In the process he meets Grunwald who wants Hols to join him and Hilda, a girl with a lovely singing voice and a dark secret.Moving like the wind this is an 80 minute movie that has enough plot for at least another hour. This isn't a bad thing since the film keeps moving at all times. Its a beautiful film, filled with an endless series of set pieces. Actually I don't think there is a bad sequence in the entire film. To be honest the film's script is a real mess. Its doesn't move at time so much as lurches from thing to thing. The dialog is also often stilted, which I'm guessing is the result of too faithful a translation from the Japanese (there are times when you really need to reword things. And no this is not a bootleg or a print from Asia, its the official UK release DVD).Messy script or no I think this is a masterpiece. This is a great grand adventure that hooks you and drags you along for 80 minutes. As I said the set pieces are spectacular and the sense of magic is wonderful. We have a hero is truly heroic and some characters who are very close to being real. The design of the film has echoes of later anime projects, not just Ghibli which helps give it a nice feel of familiarity when its not being wholly original. Strangely the film feels very much like the Russian fantasy films of directors like Aleksandr Ptushko. Its suppose to be set in a Norse country but the design of the costumes is very Russian.I really liked this a great deal. to be certain its flawed, deeply, but there is something about the central story thread that allows the film to survive as something wonderful. I recommend it.

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) I have watched this anime film on YouTube and I find it an excellent anime film from 1968. I have also found out that this film was one of the first movies that anime legends Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata worked on. And being that the film is set in the Norse lands, I am a fanatic on Norse folklore and myths; though I didn't see any trace in the film.While watching the movie, I found the little children (Philip and Mauni) and Koro the bear cub to be very, very cute. I also love Hilda too even though she can be a bit evil (under The Frost King's control); but she does have a great singing voice. So overall, this is a great film for anime fans and fans of Toei Animation.

carolyn-25 With so much anime coming to the States in DVD, I don't know why this great film (possibly my first animated foreign film) hasn't recieved greater acclaim.I love the music to this film, I love the storyline, and the multi-faceted characters. I wish some studio would get on the ball, and get this a bit more attention.It's a great film. And a great intro to anime before there was "anime." Sincerely,JThree carolyn@dia.net

Zohariel This was one of the first movies that legends Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata worked on, and probably the first movie that suggested animation might be more than just for children. I understand a copy of the video is not easy to find. I was lucky enough to see it at Anime Society last night at the local university.The film is important for its place in anime history. As a story, it's slightly weak (there are several subplots that didn't quite seem to fit), but nevertheless very enjoyable. This was partly due to the fact that the fansub I watched was, um...rather poorly translated, and some of the subtitles caused me to break into fits of hilarity. The animation itself seems mediocre nowadays, but must have been exceptional for the time. There's a slightly Disney look to it, but the anime style is definitely there...and the film is much darker than anything Disney could come up with. I mean, there's an Ice Demon whose dream is to kill everyone in the world. ! I'm thinking also of the part when Hilda's squirrel companion says something like, "But Hilda, if you save this girl she will live a life of rejection and hatred! Just like your whole life has been!" (That's nowhere near an exact quotation, but it's as close as I can remember.) And then there's the scene when Horus enters the Forest of Delusion...It's fun to see the early development of Takahata and Miyazaki. You can see ideas just forming that would manifest in their later films. The film in itself is quite good, and in fact one of the better anime (animes?) I've seen. [Certainly it was better than the other feature at Anime Society that night, an inexplicable, boring, badly animated mess about a detective who is his own client and airplanes turning into fish and a two-year-old who is God...no, I didn't get it either.]In conclusion, if you ever get the chance to see "Horus, Prince of the Sun", don't hesitate. I just wish there was a way I could see it again...