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Another great one from Miyazaki I admit, I came late to Miyazaki's work. I first saw things like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, and now I'm working my way down the list of his older movies. Nausicaä is a welcome addition to that list. It has the Miyazaki trademarks of a strong young girl as the lead character, and a fascination with flight. This time, the girl (she's Nausicaä) is princess of a small band of people. The live on the edge of the Toxic Forest, a lethal piece of ecological wreckage from some hinted-at catastrophe a thousand years before. Nausicaä has a unique affinity for the beings in that forest, including the Ohmu who guard it. The forest and village come under attack, and she discovers just how her people depend on that forest despite its hazards. This movie is a very likeable and reasonably kid-safe, despite some monsters, fighting, and mildly graphic injury. It's also clear that this is one of Miyazaki's earlier works, a step on the way to his current greatness. A lot of the plot, especially early on, is driven by a "talking to myself" mechanism instead of real visual storytelling. The Nausicaä character is closer to the long-legged, micro-skirted anime standard than his later characters, and the animation lacks the fluency of his later work. These are minor problems, though, and it's interesting to see how Miyazaki outgrew them. This is another enjoyable film from Miyazaki. I fault it only for not meeting the standards that Miyazaki set in his later work, but it's still miles ahead of most other animation. //wiredweird