Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)

Dreadfully Boring

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A Disappointing Continuation

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I have to say, I never expected to enjoy such a slow paced anime film, I'll tell ya it made me crave to watch even more! I even love Giovanni and Campanella's bromance throughout their journey on a train. I thought the English dub actors Veronica Taylor (who voiced Ash in Pokemon) and Crispin Freeman (who voiced Alucard in Hellsing) were absouletly excellent in voicing the cat's! There were some scenes that nearly made me cry which was the titanic scenes and Campanella abandoning Giovanni even if he promised that they'll stay together forever. With the titanic scenes, I have never expected this anime would show a bit of Irish tragedy because like most anime, it concentrates solely on Japan. Although this does concentrate on Japan but it managed to involve a European tragedy that's part of our history which is amazing but very sad! The children who boarded the train with Giovanni and Campanella were going to heaven. Honestly typing that last sentence there is making my eyes nearly water because so many children have lost their lives on that fateful day. When the 3 children left on the next stop to the heavens gate, my heart sank like i didn't want them to get off the train at all!As for Campanella, I was so mad and upset that he left Giovanni on the train. I know he had to attend to his mother and like it seems he didn't want to leave his buddy behind as he did cry when Giovanni considered him a best friend. I swear, them two are just the best kitties ever like i definately would name my cats if i ever get two named Giovanni and Campanella haha.I do have to say for this anime, I wouldn't recommend this to children younger then 12 because it is pretty slow moving and could get bored straight away. However it depends on every kids personality but in general, I would rather show this one to tweens in my personal opinon. Brilliant anime, it was very well done especially since I'm a cat lover lol. 9/10 I give it!

As soon as I finished watching this, I knew it had become my third favorite movie of all time. The characters are very cute, and I especially grew attached to them because they were cats. The animation and effects can be underwhelming but at the same time impressive for a 1985 anime.Giovanni is an anthropomorphic kitten who tackles a lot of responsibility since his mother is sick and his father is away, and to make his trouble harder, he is bullied at school. He has a friend called Campanella. I find it unfortunate that the friendship between Giovanni and Campanella isn't expressed very much. Campanella does do a "favor" for Giovanni at the beginning of the movie. (Giovanni didn't answer the teacher's question, and so Campanella didn't answer it either so that Giovanni doesn't seem stupid). But Campanella spends time with the cats who bully Giovanni and he doesn't seem to have any interest in spending time with Giovanni.After a seemingly ordinary introduction, the movie becomes a surreal and dreamlike adventure through mystical worlds of imagination. A galaxy train appears while Giovanni is resting on a hill and perhaps he is dreaming in some way. While he is on the train, Campanella slowly appears out of thin air and starts saying some mysterious things. Giovanni doesn't seem very bewildered considering what is going on. He asks questions but Campanella doesn't answer directly. The two of them ride the train together and sometimes other passengers appear / disappear.One of the passengers, a bird-catcher, has a sack of herons. When he opens the sack, the herons seem to be flat. When he takes a heron out, he pulls it leg off but it's not as morbid as it sounds. He gives a piece of the leg to both Giovanni and Campanella and it turns out the heron is candy. The scene where it shows the cat catching birds is really beautiful. It seems cruel at first, since the herons seem alive, but in your mind you know they're candy in some kind of way. When they land on the ground, they seem to dissolve.The scenery that the train crosses is full of magic and wonder. There's a place where magpies land in the trees and turn into apples, and a place where there's nothing but a cross in a weird blue sea of light. Many passengers appear out of nowhere apparently praying to the cross. Yes, there are Christian themes in this movie but that's one of the things that makes the movie so special. The movie revolves around heaven and that there are many different heavens, so I think including the Christian heaven was a good idea.A human passenger and the children he is guarding arrive. I think one of my favorite parts of the movie is when he talks about how he and the children died on a ship that crashed into an iceberg and sank. He talks about how he tried to decide what to do for the children as the ship was sinking... it really touched my heart for some reason. He is obviously a Christian since he mentions God and it makes me wonder, are Giovanni and Campanella Christians? They don't pray to the cross like the other passengers did when they passed it, and they didn't get off at the Christian heaven that the man and the two children get off at. Of course, this is just an idealistic movie, but there are many questions you can ask and it's interesting to think about the movie and come up with your own answers.Soon Giovanni and Campanella are the only two passengers on the train. Giovanni talks about how they'll always be together, and Campanella seems sad. He tears up but Giovanni doesn't seem to notice. Then it's time for Campanella to go to "his" heaven, where he says his mother is waiting. He leaves Giovanni without saying much else besides goodbye, and he doesn't seem to be sad as he leaves poor Giovanni alone and crying. I think the music it plays during this scene is very unfitting. It seems like happy or action music; I think it would be a lot better if they put sad music or even no music all so it doesn't disrupt viewers from reflecting these events in their mind.In the real world, Campanella has drowned. It's a pretty devastating ending but Giovanni says he knows Campanella is out there and that they will always be together... even though he's in his own heaven far far away. Will Giovanni enter that heaven too when he dies? I'm not sure if it's implied in the movie.Anyway, this is a wonderful movie. It manages to have death, heaven, and religion as themes while being about two cute colorful kittens. It's beautiful and creative, opens up your imagination, and touches your heart. It's also depressing.If you're after comedy or action, this movie isn't for you. But if you don't mind a long, deep, sentimental film with an upsetting ending and some religious references, you need to watch this movie. It's a masterpiece.

This film is up there with all of Miyazaki's works, including "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," and "My Neighbour Totoro."It has a very surreal quality and a deceptive cuteness to it, which may trick you into thinking it trite or superficial. However, like some of the best Anime out there, "cute" can leave you open to some horrifying consequences. Obviously it's not as heavy as "Grave of the Fireflies" or as light hearted and uplifting as "Totoro", but this film lies somewhere in between. I haven't read the book, but I'll bet it's similar in theme and scope to "Le Petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.I'm certainly not a Christian, and often tire easily when confronted by blatant Christian imagery in film, literature, and music. However, this film requires a degree of spirituality to get its point across, and the Christian images present, while overpowering at times, represent a nebulous kind of spirituality -- as if it's saying "there is a force out there which helps determine our fates, but I can't define what it is."For example, the film takes place in some alternate European world (most likely Italy) and the characters have Italian names. But they're anthropomorphic cats and don't appear to practice any kind of Christianity (they celebrate moon festivals, and sail lantern boats in the river). However, they later meet up with human children on the train, and listen to Christian hymns on the wireless ("Nearer my God to Thee"). They pass several different layers of Heaven, and Giovani, the main character, has a special ticket that allows him passage to "the one True Heaven".The film, like the train, takes its time to get where it's going, and some powerful messages come across to the viewer. Unlike many Anime and Western films, this one does not end with a happy and neatly tied-up ending, nor does it take pains to explain the things that go on inside the train. It leaves that to the viewer. This is what makes good art films. This is what makes a film worthwhile.

In my opinion, "Night on the Galactic Railroad" is an outstanding piece of animation. Many reviewers will note, and accurately so, that this movie is both heavy and slow as melted gold. It's true: in our current world of sound bites and media clips, fast action and short attention, this movie stands alone. This is especially so when the movie is compared to other anime, a category under which fall some of the fastest and slickest movies in the world. If nothing else, "Night on the Galactic Railroad" gets points for sheer originality and ingenuity. Gisaburo Sugii (the director) has taken Kenji Miyazawa's children's story and created for it a living atmosphere. While highly detailed backgrounds are nothing new for anime, "Night on the Galactic Railroad" combines its finely crafted images with a brilliant use of frame shots, pacing, and audio montage to create a surreal and ethereal viewing experience. While often advertised as a children's movie, "Night on the Galactic Railroad" most certainly does not tell a very light story. With both religious and nihilistic imagery, Sugii presents us with a powerful treatise on death and life. However, even if you do not appreciate the story itself, the beauty in the dream-like artwork and animation cannot be denied. If this is the kind of movie that you'd just as soon sleep through, then you're missing out on some amazing cinema. Admittedly, most people these days would probably rather numb their brains in front of the "Tomb Raider" movie, than sit through the likes of "Don't Look Now" or "Blow Up." But, who knows.... If you want to be pulled into a beautifully crafted and mesmerizing world, then watch "Night on the Galactic Railroad."