Tales From Earthsea

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Tales From Earthsea

PG-13

2010

1h 55m

Adventure

Fantasy

Anime

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37%

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41 Reviews

46%

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25,000+ Ratings

In the land of Earthsea, a mysterious force threatens to plunge humanity into destruction and chaos. A powerful wizard named Sparrowhawk seeks the source of his world's imbalance, and along the way rescues a runaway prince named Arren. When Sparrowhawk's powers begin to weaken, he and Arren must join forces with a former priestess and her daughter to defeat an evil foe whose quest for immortality will destroy Earthsea.

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Steven D. Greydanus

Decent Films

A flawed but ambitious film, full of potent mythic images — battling dragons; a shadowy doppelganger — but one that fails ultimately to resolve those images in a satisfying way.

Rated: B-

Sep 5, 2010

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Amy Nicholson

Boxoffice Magazine

As dark as The Last Unicorn or The Dark Crystal, though a shade less lyrical.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 18, 2010

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Kirk Honeycutt

The Hollywood Reporter

A workmanlike, humorless cartoon.

Aug 13, 2010

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The painterly backdrops and detailed scenery are the highlights of an otherwise slow-moving narrative told in a staid, formal style deficient of humor or passion for the material.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 31, 2023

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Carla Monfort

Espinof

The ending reveals a surprise that isn't enough to be satisfying since no one has evolved and it seems this is where the movie should've started. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/5

Jul 24, 2023

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Rachel Wagner

rachelsreviews.net

Think of this as a very lightweight Princess Mononoke.

Rated: B-

Apr 12, 2019

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Shane K

The main character Arren was perplexing at times. But overall I enjoyed the animation and story. Not Studio Ghibli's best, but still worth watching in my opinion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/25/25

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Momo A

I have seen this movie exactly three times. The first time, I was just confused, the second I tried to focus on it harder, and the last time, I tried to piece together the plot as best as I could. Throughout the movie, the plot is unexplained, the characters have no clear motivations, especially the hero-type characters, and the story kept adding random facts about the characters that have no foundation in the story and have never established as something that can happen in this world. I do not reccomend for regular or repeated viewing. Watching once is all that's needed to say you did.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/23/25

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Lucas O

Rating: 39%. This anime had beatutiful animation and voice acting as usual with Ghibli films, however it did not have the Ghibli vibe. At its best it was entertaining and had some interesting plot points. Thats pretty much where the good things end. The plot was very confusing. It seems like they had several different ideas for the plot and just threw them together. Some parts seemed totally random and didn't mix with other aspects. The dragon aspect was barely mentioned and just thrown in. Same with the main character's dark side, which after his first scene, it is hard to be on his side. That part was never really reconciled either.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/08/25

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Waniya S

Loved the aesthetics of the movie and I've noticed a pattern in ghibli movies (Two ppl on same adventure for some reason and they literally trust these stranger with their lives) and I think this movie tried to copy it too but it just didn't make sense. Sparrowhead or Sparrowhawk whatever his name was, didn't understand his motive for helping Arren. Didn't understand Arren's lore AND character at all. Murder of his father like what was the reason?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/28/25

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Audience Member

This movie is so bad, goro Miyazaki is a failed nepo baby, the quality between this and up on poppy hill is crazy, he also made earwig and the witch how does that even happen. I couldn’t even finish the film because it was so boring

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/18/25

Full Review

Vedran P

This is one of the best Ghibli movies in my opinion. The setting reminds me so much of the Mediterranean coast and cities. The story is deep and profound and the animation is flawless as in most of Ghibli movies. Definitely a must watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/10/25

Full Review

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Goro Miyazaki

Director

Timothy Dalton

Sparrowhawk

Willem Dafoe

Cob

Mariska Hargitay

Tenar

Cheech Marin

Hare

Matt Levin

Arren

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Synopsis

In the land of Earthsea, a mysterious force threatens to plunge humanity into destruction and chaos. A powerful wizard named Sparrowhawk seeks the source of his world's imbalance, and along the way rescues a runaway prince named Arren. When Sparrowhawk's powers begin to weaken, he and Arren must join forces with a former priestess and her daughter to defeat an evil foe whose quest for immortality will destroy Earthsea.

Director: Goro Miyazaki
Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Screenwriter: Goro Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa
Distributor: Walt Disney
Production Co: Studio Ghibli, Walt Disney Studios
Rating: PG-13 (Some Violent Images)
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Anime
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 13, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 19, 2019
Runtime: 1h 55m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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