The Castle of Cagliostro (Region 1 Import DVD, Special)

The feature film debut of Hayao Miyazaki (NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, PRINCESS MONONOKE), THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO depicts one adventure of the master thief Lupin and his rough-around-the-edges gunman, Jigen. Something of a cross between Batman, James Bond, and Cary Grant's character in TO CATCH A THIEF, Lupin is a suave ladies' man who is also given to feats of athletic daring, aided by a gadget filled belt that gets him out of more than a few scrapes. The plot has Lupin and Jigen traveling to the sleepy little country of Cagliostro and coming to the aid of the unwilling fiance of the diabolical Count Cagliostro. After CAGLIOSTRO, Miyazaki stopped creating "slapstick" feature films in favor of more serious fare; CAGLIOSTRO shows, however, that he is quite capable of delivering the goods in this genre. Based on the Lupin comics by the artist Monkey Punch, CAGLIOSTRO is a great heist/chase film that surpasses most similar live action fare and breezes by with more than a couple of inventive set pieces, as well as some excellent comic dialogue.