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.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Donald F As a fan of animation and fantasy, Japan is a bottomless pit of potential. There are hundreds of works spanning the decades, every genre represented, every show appealing to someone out there. Where does one even start? Which are the classics, which are lowest common denominator? Which are bad, which are so-bad-its-good? Which are forgotten treasures, which deserve their obscurity? My first world problem is answering these questions.I just came across Windaria. Never heard anyone talk of it. It apparently did have an English dub, disastrously executed. I did find some small discussion, most notably a 2/5 star review from a trusted source. I didn't think it was that bad...but I see where that comes from.Windaria is almost a Studio Ghibli quality film. I'm not joking when I compare their similarities. It develops an interesting fantasy world, has solid animation and a nice orchestral score, has similar technology, and even shares the anti-war, pro-environmental themes of Miyazaki. However, Windaria is not a family-friendly adventure. It delves into ambition, how it can take over one's mind, ruining their relationships and selling their soul for fame, power, and fortune.Too bad we can't believe these changes of heart.The main characters start out as likable, then suddenly 180. You are left wondering why they're acting so cruel, or with blind stupidity. Halfway through, all the problems of the film could have been solved, yet they keep fighting. This is probably due to their ambition...but it feels like we're missing 10 minutes of dialog. Its a shame that an otherwise great film screws itself over with such a simple mistake.But I still got goosebumps at the ending. I still felt the devastation.There's writing issues, yes. But if you fill in the gaps yourself, I think Windaria is pretty good, especially for its obscurity. Its beautiful, yet somber. Just make sure you watch it subbed!

vigorousjammer So, I just finished watching Windaria. To be specific, it was the original Japanese version, subtitled by the "Live-eviL" fan-sub group.Well, let's start with the art. For a film from 1986, it looks VERY nice. The animation is smooth, varied, and has a lot of nice, subtle touches. It still looks dated by today's standards, but is still pretty easy to appreciate. The world is also pretty beautifully realized, with some gorgeous looking background art. The character art is all pretty standard for the era, but the quality of the animation makes them stand out more than they otherwise would.As for the story, this is where it really falls apart for me. The movie starts off fine, and the characters start to develop. You start to get a feel for the world, and the story arc, and despite it being paced somewhat slowly, it still seemed pretty well put together. However, about halfway through the story, things change. Characters that were developed early-on start arbitrarily changing their motivations left and right, seemingly for no reason. Yet, other characters feel lifeless, like an empty shell, with no real depth to them whatsoever. This makes it difficult to like any of the characters, and as such, the story ends up falling flat.The pacing also seemed to get slower and slower as the film went on. There's a lot of filler shots, and it made me feel like I was just waiting for the next thing to happen. However, even when that next thing happened, I wasn't satisfied with it, because it usually involved one of the characters, who are all so completely unlikeable that anything that happened involving them didn't matter to me. The film entirely failed to be captivating, and by the last 30 minutes, I was kind of just waiting for it to be over. Then it ended, and I still didn't feel satisfied. I felt like the ending was supposed to make me cry, but it didn't, because I wasn't emotionally invested in any of the characters. After all was said and done, I kind of just felt like I wasted my time.Yet, despite all that, I still find the movie oddly charming. I don't think it's good by any stretch, but it has a few decent moments in the beginning and middle of it. Also, the animation probably would have really wowed me 10 or 15 years ago, and it's still good today, but it's not good enough to push everything else to the side and focus solely on that. However, that seems like exactly what this movie tries to do. It substitutes well-formed characters and a well-paced story arc for some visual flair. It ultimately ends up being far less than what it could have otherwise been, if a little extra care went into the story and the characters.I give Windaria 2 out of 5 stars.

Angel Meiru Normally, I cannot stand stuff that gets too romantic. Most of the time, it just gets too mushy and sappy. However, "Windaria: Once upon a Time" is not one of those movies.*SPOILERS*This movie is a beautiful Fantasy/Parable that warns of the ultimate futility of violence and war. It is told from the point of views of a poor farming couple, Isse and Marline, a royal couple, Jier and Ahnas and a lone woman named Druidess, the bride of the God of the Afterlife. The two couples in the film get torn in war, bloodshed and corruption. Isse gets brainwashed by the ruler of Palo, while both Jier and Ahnas are forced to fight each other, after Jier killed his dad and Ahnas' mother dies of an illness.*END OF SPOILERS*But just to let you all know, "Windaria" is a tragedy. It is not sugar-coated and no one turns into cutesy little SD figures. Out of the total of 6 times I watched it, I never left with a dry eye! I cried! It is that powerful.Watch "Windaria: Once Upon a Time" with an open mind.

JeffG. While it might not be the right film to cheer you up when you're feeling blue, I found Windaria to be a good movie. The dubbing left something to be desired (this is Streamline, after all) and I suspect it may have been edited somewhat for the US release. Still a film worth checking out. I hope an unedited version will be released someday.