Since the first chapters debuted as a direct-to-video release in 1990, this sprawling sword-and-sorcery epic has delighted fantasy fans with its ancient prophecies, lost kingdoms, enchanted swords, dragons, and wizards. The tangled story line borrows heavily from The Lord of the Rings, the Star Wars films, and numerous other fantasy works. Six mismatched characters find themselves thrown together to protect the land of Lodoss from imminent destruction: Parn is the impetuous young warrior with heroic potential who typifies the genre; in place of the usual spunky girl, there's Deedlit, an elf with magical powers. They're joined by Etoh, a young priest and healer; Ghim, a dwarf-warrior with a heavy heart; Slayn, a wizard in training; and the rascally thief Woodchuck. Their allies include the dashing lord of a desert realm, a mercenary and her Berserker companion, and a benevolent, Arthurian king. They're pitted against an array of villains that includes human warriors, an evil sorcerer, dragons, kobolds, zombies, and Karla, the mysterious "Gray Witch" [sic]. An elegant art nouveau sensibility runs through the designs of Lodoss War, especially the extravagant armor of the warriors. But the film lacks a coherent plot, probably the result of producing so much animation in a short time with multiple directors. Characters are forever dropping in and out of the story: the initial villain, the evil emperor Beld, is replaced by his henchman, Ashram, who is superseded by the dark sorcerer, Wagnard. The last three episodes build to a titanic climax that leaves a lot of plot points unresolved. Hard-core fantasy fans will love Lodoss War; but other viewers are likely to tire of its drawn-out and needlessly complicated story. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up; considerable violence and an extremely complicated plot. —Charles Solomon

The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history (more than $234 million), Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Lewis Carroll's Alice, Chihiro (voice by Daveigh Chase—Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch) plunges into an alternate reality. On the way to their new home, the petulant adolescent and her parents find what they think is a deserted amusement park. Her parents stuff themselves until they turn into pigs, and Chihiro discovers they're trapped in a resort for traditional Japanese gods and spirits. An oddly familiar boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) instructs Chihiro to request a job from Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the greedy witch who rules the spa. As she works, Chihiro's untapped qualities keep her from being corrupted by the greed that pervades Yubaba's mini-empire. In a series of fantastic adventures, she purges a river god suffering from human pollution, rescues the mysterious No-Face, and befriends Yubaba's kindly twin, Zeniba (Pleshette again). The resolve, bravery, and love Chihiro discovers within herself enable her to aid Haku and save her parents. The result is a moving and magical journey, told with consummate skill by one of the masters of contemporary animation. MPAA Rated: PG ("Some scary moments") —Charles Solomon

This epic, animated 1997 fantasy has already made history as the top-grossing domestic feature ever released in Japan, where its combination of mythic themes, mystical forces, and ravishing visuals tapped deeply into cultural identity and contemporary, ecological anxieties. For international animation and anime fans, Princess Mononoke represents an auspicious next step for its revered creator, Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service), an acknowledged anime pioneer, whose painterly style, vivid character design, and stylized approach to storytelling take ambitious, evolutionary steps here.

Set in medieval Japan, Miyazaki's original story envisions a struggle between nature and man. The march of technology, embodied in the dark iron forges of the ambitious Tatara clan, threatens the natural forces explicit in the benevolent Great God of the Forest and the wide-eyed, spectral spirits he protects. When Ashitaka, a young warrior from a remote, and endangered, village clan, kills a ravenous, boar-like monster, he discovers the beast is in fact an infectious "demon god," transformed by human anger. Ashitaka's quest to solve the beast's fatal curse brings him into the midst of human political intrigues as well as the more crucial battle between man and nature.

Miyazaki's convoluted fable is clearly not the stuff of kiddie matinees, nor is the often graphic violence depicted during the battles that ensue. If some younger viewers (or less attentive older ones) will wish for a diagram to sort out the players, Miyazaki's atmospheric world and its lush visual design are reasons enough to watch. For the English-language version, Miramax assembled an impressive vocal cast including Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup (as Ashitaka), Claire Danes (as San), Minnie Driver (as Lady Eboshi), Billy Bob Thornton, and Jada Pinkett Smith. They bring added nuance to a very different kind of magic kingdom. Recommended for ages 12 and older. —Sam Sutherland

Isao Takahata's powerful antiwar film has been praised by critics wherever it has been screened around the world. When their mother is killed in the firebombing of Tokyo near the end of World War II, teenage Seita and his little sister Setsuko are left on their own: their father is away, serving in the Imperial Navy. The two children initially stay with an aunt, but she has little affection for them and resents the time and money they require. The two children set up housekeeping in a cave by a stream, but their meager resources are quickly exhausted, and Seita is reduced to stealing to feed his sister. Despite his efforts, she succumbs to malnutrition. Seita painfully makes his way back to the devastated city where he quietly dies in a crowded railway station.

The strength of the film lies in Takahata's evenhanded portrayal of the characters. A sympathetic doctor, the greedy aunt, the disinterested cousins all know there is little they can do for Seita and Setsuko. Their resources, like their country's, are already overtaxed: anything they spare endangers their own survival. As in the Barefoot Gen films, no mention is made of Japan's role in the war as an aggressor; but the depiction of the needless suffering endured by its victims transcends national and ideological boundaries. —Charles Solomon

The skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master."

Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles, explosions) with static dialogue scenes that allow the characters to sort out the vaguely mystical and rather convoluted plot. Kusanagi's final quote from I Corinthians suggests that electronic evolution may compliment and eventually supplant organic evolution. The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating. —Charles Solomon

The special edition DVD of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within can keep you occupied for hours. The first disc includes two feature-length commentaries. The first was recorded by co-director Motonori Sakakibara, sequence supervisor Hiroyuki Hayashida, sets and props lead artist Tatsuro Maruyama, and Phantom supervisor Takao Noguchi the day after the film was finished. They speak Japanese so you might have to read subtitles, but it's fun to hear them laugh as they enjoy the film. The second commentary, which is less giddy and more informative (and in English), is by animation director Andy Jones, editor Chris S. Capp, and staging director Tani Kunitake, who discuss technical elements of the animation, notes on the casting, and subtle details you might not have noticed. There's also an isolated version of the powerful score with infrequent but interesting comments from composer Elliot Goldenthal, and 11 scenes (81 minutes total) that alternate among storyboard, rough animation, and final film, with optional filmmaker commentary or subtitled factoids.

The bulk of the second disc is a 30-minute making-of documentary supplemented by numerous easy-to-find Easter eggs. There are also profiles of the seven major characters (including personal background, as well as voice actor and lead animator info), sketches and explications of three of the film's vehicles, DVD-ROM content, and an editing tool that allows the viewer to rearrange parts of the council-conference scene and play them back. Even the menu intros are interesting to watch! —David Horiuchi

The "Extras" disc includes brief interviews with director Kazuki Akane, composer Yoko Kanno, voice actress/singer Maaya Sakamoto, English voice actress Kelly Sheridan (Hitomi), and three of the film's producers. Most of the subjects limit their remarks to "we tried to do our best, we hope you like the film." But one really spontaneous moment occurs when Kanno turns to Akane and tells the interviewer, "He's an inarticulate person; he puts into the project whatever he does not say face-to-face in real life." The footage of the first U.S. screening at the 2000 Anime Expo in Anaheim, California, and of a Korean/Japanese preview in Fukoka is awkwardly shot. On the CD of Kanno's eclectic score, the Carmina Burana-esque theme song from the TV series occurs near the end as "Dance of Curse II." This nicely packaged set is for hard-core Escaflowne fans, rather than general viewers. —Charles Solomon

As the eagerly awaited Cowboy Bebop feature film reunites the original director, screenwriter, composer, and vocal cast, it's not surprising that the film plays like an expanded TV episode. What should be the routine capture of a two-bit hacker by Faye escalates into a deadly game of cat and mouse, as Spike and the gang struggle to prevent the evil Vincent Volaju from murdering every human on Mars. Director Shinichiro Watanabe handles the action sequences with his usual panache. Inside the sinister Cherious Medical research facility, Spike fights a beautiful agent, using a push broom in a series of maneuvers Jackie Chan might envy. The climactic duel between Spike and Vincent plays against innocent yet eerie images of a Halloween carnival, recalling the amusement park setting of episode 20, "Pierrot Le Fou." Knockin' on Heaven's Door will delight fans of the series and provide an excellent introduction for the uninitiated who want to know why Cowboy Bebop is so popular on both sides of the Pacific. (Rated R: violence, brief nudity, minor profanity, tobacco use) —Charles Solomon

Once the early '80s ushered in the video age in earnest, few artists embraced the medium as willingly, or effectively, as Genesis. In fact, Genesis - The Video Show, a collection of 32 of the veteran British group's videos, includes more than a few items that pre-date MTV by several years, making this the comprehensive record of Genesis' post-Peter Gabriel era. There are all kinds of videos here, both black & white and color, somber ("No Son of Mine") and silly ("I Can't Dance"), topical ("Tell Me Why") and romantic, some with storylines and many that are simulated (i.e., lip-synced) performances, from both onstage and elsewhere. Song-wise, the best tend to be the hits, like "Misunderstanding," "Paperlate" (taken from England's "Top of the Pops" TV show), "That's All," and "Invisible Touch" (one of no less than six tracks taken from the 1986 album of the same name), although the '70s material, particularly from A Trick of the Tail (when the group was a foursome, with guitarist Steve Hackett), is also strong. On the other hand, the lesser-known tunes yield some of the better videos, including "Land of Confusion" (with its bizarre puppet versions of Genesis members Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks, not to mention Ronald and Nancy Reagan) and others ("Illegal Alien," "Jesus He Knows Me") that give Collins, a pretty fair actor, an opportunity for some full-on mugging. Granted, there isn't a lot of ground broken here; for the most part, Genesis has been a solid, journeyman band, and Genesis - The Video Show reflects that. But the 5.1 Surround Sound is excellent, there are full writing and production credits for every song and video, the packaging is classy… founding member Gabriel even turns up on a 1999 version of "The Carpet Crawlers," perhaps the most imaginative video of the bunch. If you're a Genesis fan, this has to be the motherlode. —Sam Graham