The Flying Ghost Ship is a Japanese animated film, made by the same creator of Animal Treasure Island, Hiroshi Ikeda. And animated by Miyazaki and Mori.
The whole thing is a weird blend of Sci-Fi Flying Dutchman Pirates, Robot Kaiju, and a weird High Fructose Corn Syrup induced conspiracy...to take over the world.
The story begins when a fisherman and his son witness a car crash, and act quickly to save the man in the wreck, who just so happens to be one of the most rich and powerful men in the country, and also the father's boss.
The man's wife- who was thrown clear from the wreck- claims a ghostly skeleton was seen on the road, inevitably causing them to crash.
It begins to rain, so they make their way to the closest house, which just so happens to be a haunted house...haunted by the captain of a ship that burned at sea.
And it turns out it was his presence that caused the crash, when he shows up again with an ominous warning...that he, his wife and child, were murdered...and he's out for vengeance.
Shortly after this, a giant robot named Golem shows up in the city causing havoc, claiming to be sent by the phantom ship.
The military is sent in to fight it, but all they do is cause destruction themselves, before the robot wipes them out.
And during the melee, both the boy's mother and father succumb to deadly injuries.
But not before his father tells him that he isn't his real dad...that he was found washed up on shore after a shipwreck, and taken in.
And given a picture of his real parents.
He is then adopted by the rich family he and his adopted father had saved.
After the phantom ship attacks the robot golem, he quickly discovers that it was this man that was behind the robot attack, and also the culprit responsible for murdering his real mother and father.
Turns out he has plans for world domination- and that his true father was standing in his way- even though he is subservient to a mysterious corporate entity that exists in an Atlantean style base on the sea floor, known as Boa.
Boa is a company that supplies a soft drink that the population is being force fed and becoming addicted to...with deadly consequences.
Because consuming too much causes you to melt.
The boy tries to reveal the Truth to people, but is only laughed off...that is, before he is to be interviewed on tv about wanting to destroy the phantom ship (which he had thought was responsible for sending the robot that killed his adopted parents)...during which he spills the real beans for the whole world to hear.
Pissed, Boa sends an army of robotic crabs and centipedes to kill his rich lackey- who is no longer any use to him- and attack the city, hoping to force them into capitulation.
But the phantom ship, which had been sinking shipments of their military weapon exports, intervenes to try and stop them once and for all.
The boy joins forces with the phantom ship, only to discover that it's ghostly captain is really his real dad in disguise.
The ship is equipped with a lazer beam raygun, missiles, and a magnetic cannon designed to fry computer systems.
And together, they make their way from the air, to the sea, in an attempt to take out the heart of Boa's operation.
But his father is injured when they strike a mine, so it's up to him and a young girl- whose parents were also killed- to get the job done for themselves.
Ready and willing to sacrifice themselves in a kamikaze mission to save the world...the captain intervenes to help them escape at the last second.
For a children's film, it has highly political undertones, and is way ahead of it's time on the futuristic sci-fi front.
And with it only clocking in at an hour, it's wildly entertaining, despite the storyline being a bit rushed and disjointed.
In the end, it's a great little sci-fi adventure for all ages to enjoy.
7 out of 10.
