Captivating movie !

Absolutely brilliant

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"Naruto" was favorite show of mine growing up. It has great action, memorable characters, and intriguing storylines. I was 11 years old when this movie premiered on Cartoon Network. I fell in love with it and watched it multiple times. Re-watching this movie as an adult, I find that there is still a lot to like.I found the story to be fun and interesting, and it moved along at a good pace. Princess Yukie is a very sympathetic character, and the interactions between her and Naruto as he tries to make her come to her senses provide some nice drama.The animation is still spectacular 14 years after its release, and the direction and cinematography is hugely impressive and really lets the audience take in the gorgeous snowy scenery. They did a good job of making sure that the series' first theatrical outing doesn't feel like an extended episode.Doto doesn't necessarily raise the bar as far as villains go, but I still thought he was decent. He has an intimidating presence, and he is as evil as they come. I thought his three henchmen were cool, although I would have liked for them to be fleshed out a bit more. I really like the concept of using Chakra armor to make them more dangerous.This movie takes place during the time in the show when Sakura and Sasuke were Naruto's teammates. It was a treat to see Sasuke (my favorite character) in the good old days.The action scenes are great fun and really give every character a chance to do their stuff. Anime fans will be kept on the edge of their seats. The music is terrific and really adds to the movie's feel.Of course, the line Yukie yelled out to Naruto during the climax made me absolutely CRINGE, and it did take away from the climax just a little.I'm very glad that this movie holds up as well as it does. It starts the "Naruto" movie franchise on a pretty strong note, and I recommend it to all anime fans.RATING: A-

In this movie, we follow the adventures of a princess from a land of eternal winter. She was forced to flee her kingdom after her father wisely sealed up all the countries wealth in a vault somewhere, and her uncle cruelly took over to restore both economic and military prosperity as well as bring back springtime to the land (which was also somehow sealed away). It turns out that the key to the vault is a crystal the former king gave his daughter before she fled. She arrives in a nearby nation where she immediately goes into hiding by becoming the MOST FAMOUS MOVIE ACTRESS OF THE NATION. The villain pretty much immediately identifies her since it's the equivalent of finding out that Robert Downey Junior was really an exiled king in hiding.Her producer, who is actually a former servant of hers, decides to trick her into going back to her homeland by having a movie take place there. After she tries to flee so she doesn't have to risk certain death for the sake of cinematic art, he hires the main characters, a trio of ninjas and their teacher, to knock her out, kidnap her, and put her on a boat to her old country against her will. Also, the teacher steals the key to the wealth of her nation from her and replaces it with a fake he just happened to have lying about. After trying to escape from her ninja escorts, and literally being carried back against her will, she is then kidnapped by the villain who gives her food and wine, and even refuses to kill her after she freakin' stabs him in the chest. In fact, in the entire movie the only people the villain kills are a bunch of idiots who charge at his knife-shooting train wielding swords and screaming like idiots. Even the main character, having failed in an assassination attempt, is merely locked up. Anyways, at the end he releases springtime back into the land, turning the snow to grass, the sun to come out, and rainbows to shine. However, after releasing the effects but immediately before they came into effect, he is beaten up, and the princess takes all the credit for it. The heroes leave the princess in charge of the nation she wanted nothing to do with, and the villain is presumed dead, having saved them all from an endless winter. So, all things considered, it's a happy ending!In all seriousness though, this isn't that much of an exaggeration. The princess acts like a jerk the whole movie, and has legitimate reasons to do so (kidnapping, threat of assassination, nobody listening to her) but her complaints are completely unrelated to those. The main characters do every single thing I said. And while the villain DOES act like a jerk (he IS the villain after all), his overall goal seems to be bringing back spring to the land. I finished this movie very confused about what I just watched. A skilled director would have made this seem like a very moralistically gray movie, making us realize we might be following the villains after all, but they throw just enough clichés and drawn out mindless speeches about 'not giving up' that it's obvious who we are supposed to think the villain is... but from the beginning the 'good guys' do reprehensible things, and the villain even says at the beginning that the former king sealed away all the countries wealth in a vault. The fact that the same king apparently sealed away springtime as well (not an exaggeration, they bring it up several times) just makes him seem cruel and stupid. Yet we are meant to hate the guy trying to fix it. *sigh*

Naruto is one of those animes you can either take for what it is and enjoy it, or expect something more and generally not care for it at all. I have not watched a proper episode of Naruto properly, but I understand Naruto both has legions of some surprsingly varied, devoted fans varying from ages eight to eighteen, and Naruto has legions of dislike from certain people.Whilst this movie: "Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow" was the first thing I properly watched something related to Naruto, and I didn't really know what to expect from him, I can both see why Naruto has become such a big anime icon, and another, I really don't understand the hype he has, and why he is boldly compared to animated gems like "Princess Monoke". However though, "Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow", if you take it for what it is, is a fun, entertaining film that both has some slick, impressive action, and generally is a well-made piece of fan service.The plot of 'Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow" involves Naruto protecting a famous, popular actress named Lady Yukie. Lady Yukie is the actress who plays a character in a series of films called Princess Gale, and, to Naruto's surprise, she is also the princess of the Land of Snow. One of them is secretly taking Lady Yukie back to her home the members of the film crew named: Sondayu, so she can continue to rule the land, and Naruto tries to prevent Yukie from running away from her fate. However, an evil man named Doto is after Yukie's hex crystal, so he can unlock the treasures of Yukie's home.Judging by the plot, you can probably guess 'Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' isn't the most revolutionary or complex plot ever, but, you can sense Naruto doesn't really need it. 'Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' generally makes the most out of the simplistic plot, by having both old and new characters, such as Yukie herself, have generally strong character development, and register many types of different emotions generally well at the right times. 'Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' also keeps itself full with energy, and the plot has generally good pacing, and has a plentiful balance of satisfying, slick action, and some well-written, humorous dialogue between Naruto and Yukie, and other characters alike.Of course, a Naruto film wouldn't be complete without having stellar visuals and character animation, and 'Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' arguably, has the strongest animation the Naruto team has done. The action scenes are all slickly done, and all have smooth, consistent fight choreography. Each environment in the Naruto film, from the sweet, peaceful home of Naruto, the icy caverns of Snow Land, all have stunningly attractive colour design, and are strong in detail.Those reasons aforementioned are the reasons why I can understand Naruto is so popular. However, Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow has some glaring weaknesses on how I cannot understand why Naruto is so big. Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow has a plot that generally treads on thin ground, and Naruto tries to hard to do sudden, dramatic changes in tone and it seems like Naruto is lost on its audience. The film simply tries too hard to be something else at times, but it is faithful to the show's original spirit.Whilst Naruto himself, is a generally likable character, his English dubbing is incredibly grating and forced. Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow generally offers nothing spectacular, but it doesn't really need to.Overall, as somebody who is new to Naruto, and appreciated this film for what it was, 'Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' is a fun, surprisingly well-done spin off for Naruto devotees. Whilst this film will not get me into the franchise completely, I do generally like and respect Naruto, and he really is cool, and not as bad as some people making him out to be. If you go in not expecting anything more than what you get, for both newcomers and Naruto fans, "Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' is generally a good time.

I really enjoyed this flick, however, I probably gave it a higher score than necessary mainly because unlike every Dragonball Z movie, this film actually has a rather good running time of more than an hour and a half. So it has a better developed story, good action scenes, and of course some good comedy as well. The story has our gang having to escort a bit of a spoiled actress to a realm known as the land of snow. However, as easy as this sounds it does not play out this way as a strong gang of ninjas attacks again and again. Seems our actress has a secret and it is up to Naruto and pals to defeat this ninja clad in special armor. The fights are great showcasing all the young ninjas special talents as well as their teacher and there are a couple of surprises along the way as well. The animation is to be expected just like the television show with a few nice visuals along the way. Though I may only be saying this because I love snow and living here in Alabama I haven't seen any first hand in ten years or so. The characters are their usual selves and you will probably find the actress annoying at first then feel for her then dislike her again. The bad guys are typical, nothing to special about them, in fact Gaara from the television show is more menacing and a way better bad guy than any displayed here. Still, I really enjoyed this movie and hope to see the other Naruto movies released soon.