Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
ハウルの動く城
Fantasy, Animation, Adventure • 1h 59m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mitsunori Isaki, Yo Oizumi, Akio Otsuka, Daijirō Harada, Haruko Katō, Makoto Yasumura, Manabu Muraji, Keiko Tsukamoto, Tsuzuki Kayako, Seiji Sasaki, Hiroshi Takahashi, Mayuno Yasokawa, Rio Kanno, Kojiro Takahashi, Akiyoshi Sakurai, Momoko Kurita, Mina Meguro, Yasuhiro Ohara, Akio Tanaka, Rina Yamada, Tomoe Hanba, Naoto Kaji, Teruo Seki, Shinobu Katabuchi, Masako Inui, Yohei Ohbayashi, Takeshi Miyajima, Yukiko Mizuochi, Maki Koizumi, Nobito Nishioka, Teppei Akashi, Reiko Onishi, Yumiko Ogata, Hiroyuki Kamikawaji, Tomohiko Kiyota, Kaori Kaneko, Aiko Nakajima, Jun Kuwahara, Yuta Kobayashi, Yuko Nomura, Tamayo Fukushi, Atsushi Takeya, Yoshifumi Nakagawa, Hiroki Tanaka, Yohei Matsukado, Akane Fujisaki, Izumi Matsuoka, Tomonori Yanagibashi, Ken Yasuda, Hiroyuki Morisaki, Shigeyuki Totsugi, Takuma Otoo
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 3 months ago
Compare the discs
slow.pics (opens in a new tab)Overview
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
2026 Japan Studio Ghibli (remastered) Blu-ray
France 4K Blu-ray announced
Remastered Blu-ray only included as a pack-in with the 4K Blu-ray. Includes English subtitles and a dub, which the 4K Blu-ray does not.
Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray
UK StudioCanal Blu-ray for the English dub
4K Blu-ray includes the original 5.1 mix in its unaltered form, all other releases after the LaserDisc, as well as the remastered Blu-ray, had its dynamic range lowered.
For the English dub, the UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the least limited mix.
2014 Japan "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Blu-ray
Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray announced for a November 25, 2026 release
Japanese audio: 2014 Japan "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Blu-ray/US GKIDS Blu-ray
English dub (Disney): 1998 US Disney VHS has better sounding vocals despite altered music and sound effects, the US Disney LaserDisc has limited audio, and 2003 DVD is a fake 5.1 upmix
Releases from 2010 onward have the original music and sound effects, but distorted vocals
English dub (Streamline): 1996 Japan remastered LaserDisc, available in Ghibli Ga Ippai Collection boxset
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray or US Disney Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · lddb.com (opens in a new tab)
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray
Comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/6JWnlfit
All sources are within margin of error. Comparisons: Japanese, English
Alternate Streamline English dub is available only on 1994 Fox LD.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Ghibli The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki Blu-ray
The Ghibli ga Ippai SPECIAL Short Short 1996-2016 Blu-ray has a different video transfer that has a tealer tint and slightly tighter framing.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
2014 Japan Hayao Miyazaki boxset Studio Ghibli Blu-ray
Japanese audio: 2014 Japan Hayao Miyazaki boxset Studio Ghibli Blu-ray has 6.1 discrete
English audio: Cinema DTS-ES, 2010 US Disney Blu-ray as an alternative
Director: Michael Arias
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
GKIDS 4K Blu-ray is a sharpened upscale. Caps
GKIDS 4K Blu-ray has a true lossless English dub and correct volume levels for the Japanese audio
Director: Mamoru Oshii
US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray authored by FiM
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
US GKIDS/Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray authored by FiM with identical encodes
UHD vs BD comparisons
4K restoration includes a high-fidelity Dolby Atmos remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.
Umbrella/GKIDS 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new Dolby Atmos remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159
Only the GKIDS 4K Blu-ray has the English dub.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Director: Jérémie Périn
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray
US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub
US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts, it also includes the theatrical cut (:2.0) on standard Blu-ray as a bonus.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray
US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub
US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts, it also includes the theatrical cut (:1.0) and the DVD cut (:1.01) on standard Blu-ray as bonuses.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Caveat: Songs are only in Japanese, even with the English dub selected.
JP Toho 4K Blu-ray for the alternate Japanese audio with English songs, and US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the English dub with English songs
(US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray has a higher bitrate than the Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray, but improvements are minimal, if visible.)
Directors: Katsuichi Nakayama & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Hideaki Anno
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray for both the original Japanese and the Amazon English dub
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray has higher bitrate and better encoding than the Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray. Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray on the box set has inferior encoding, but includes the theatrical (:3.0+1.0) and streaming (:3.0+1.01) cuts on standard Blu-ray as bonuses.
Majority of the episodes: US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray
Episode 16: US ADV Perfect Collection DVD Box Set
Original broadcast versions of E21-24: US ADV Platinum Edition DVD Box Set
Sources: x.com (opens in a new tab) · movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Majority of the episodes: US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray
Episode 16: Japan 1999 DVD for the original LaserDisc/VHS master (all "remastered" releases including the Blu-rays use a low quality 35mm internegative as it's main source after the original 16mm negatives became lost. Comparison)
Original broadcast versions of E21-24: Japan King Records Blu-ray Comparison of both cuts for each episode
US ADV Perfect Collection DVD Box Set uses the same master as the Japan 1999 DVD, but it's at a lower bitrate and slightly altered colour grading
More Fantasy on Blu-ray
Director: John Boorman
Sources: highdefdiscnews.com (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
(Arrow 4K Blu-ray's mono seems to be out of sync, suggested by comparisons. Issue is TBC officially)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is FiM encoded, see caps
Arrow LE will have an exclusive 3rd disc which will not be on the standard edition
Theatrical Cut: Austria NSM Blu-ray
Director's Cut: France Metropolitan Blu-ray
Metropolitan got better picture (higher bitrate + better grain + more detail) than Lionsgate
Director: Victor Fleming
3D: Warner Bros 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
Director: F. W. Murnau
2006 Restoration: Eureka Blu-ray
1995 photochemical restoration: BFI Blu-ray
Eureka with Murnau institute restoration featuring score based on original score, BFI uses Photoplay restoration with James Bernard score
Both Eureka and BFI Blu-rays are worthy of owning. Each restoration has unique positives and extras. The James Bernard score on the BFI is outstanding and the image tinting is different to how the Murnau institute official restoration was done. The Eureka MoC Blu-ray is stuffed with extras and remains one of the best-made Blu-rays of all time. Whatever you do: AVOID THE Kino Lorber Blu-ray!!! It uses the same Murnau institute restoration but drops frames for the whole feature - thus it loses a significant portion of the film! This was never acknowledged or addressed. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray remains one of the worst Blu-rays of all time for this reason.
Director: Tommy O'Haver
Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray (includes Extended Cut on regular Blu-ray)
Original theatrical 6.1 mix: 2009 Warner Bros Blu-ray Ultimate Edition (Theatrical Cut only)
Extended Cut 5.1 mix: Warner Bros Blu-ray
DTS:X remix: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
The film is titled Sorcerer's Stone in the US, India, and the Philippines.
Wizard's/Hogwarts Collection has all the bonus features for all the 8 films.
The lossless version of the original 6.1 mix is only available on the ultimate edition blu-ray not to be confused with the ultimate collectors edition blu-ray.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
See chris's review
1991 Daiei LaserDisc
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vanshady,JojoTheMovieOtter,cbc,Daniellemgm,Hydra Spectre· last reviewed 3 months ago
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