The film is the technical first film of Studio Ghibli film by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. It is not taking the man vs nature theme in quite the way Miyazaki usually does. We have a more complex debate on technology and ambition. The movie is almost like two films harmonized in perfect sync. A combination of fantasy and sci-fi (of the steampunk variety) and one where the character are all the more complex than we are initially led to believe. The strong female character are featured here as is usual for a Miyazaki movie.
The movie ask if people really deserve paradise. The protagonists and antagonists are searching for a secret floating city called Laputa and when they find it are presented with a hard choice. The ideas and aesthetics of the movie brought steampunk into the mainstream of anime and directly influenced Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water by Miyazki's acolyte Hideaki Anno. It is a sharpening of the design of the animation from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) (though the plots are similarly strong). I am very torn between Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke (1997) for my favorite Miyazaki film.
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