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Night on the Galactic Railroad isn't your traditional family film. It deals with some incredibly deep themes, as well as having a slow meditative pace. We follow a young cat (changed from human in the original book) called Giovanni. Giovanni has no time for himself. His father is away, his mother is sick, and when he isn't at school he has to work. One evening the family's delivery of milk never comes, so Giovanni goes to get it. He rests on top of a hill before being confronted by a train. He gets on and finds his friend Campenella. From there the duo encounter a number of passengers each with a strange story to tell. This film is certainly all about the metaphysical. Each story strengthens the themes of religion and sacrifice. It gets highly emotional at times. The imagery is often surreal but always memorable. The animation is calm in both colours and movement. This film is presented in chapters, which I think may be a better way to digest it. It's something no country but Japan would try, and the ending is so powerful it really does make the journey worth it. Mature and thoughtful, if sometimes a little slow.

This is a review of the English-dubbed version, and I'm sorry, but the voices aren't a great fit to the characters. However, the film as a whole is intriguing and beautiful. It also gets a little unsettling at times, but in a good way.

One shortcoming common to all versions, however, is the lack of facial individuality of the characters. They don't show much in the way of expressions and when they do, they are a bit samey.

But this is still something I'd recommend on the whole. A leisurely trip through a very strange galaxy.

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."

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.

Most of the story is very dream-like or, more accurately, nightmarish. The story is aimed at very young children but, bearing this in mind, is incredibly dark. It deals, in a clever and allegorical manner, with the up-coming death of someone close to the main character... though the film keeps you guessing as to who it will be. I found this film has images and feelings which stayed with me long after the finish, and is genuinely haunting. However, the pace is excrutiatingly slow, and the film could have had at least half its length cut out. Many children's movies earnestly commit this error. That is, too much screen time is spent on "real world" happenings, taking much too long to get to the fantasy. Another quite good Japanese anime which suffers from this same problem is Totoro. There are many parallels with the earlier "Galaxy Express 999". NOTGR appears to be a sort-of kiddy version of GE999. I would recommend GE999 as by far the far better movie, but NOTGR is still worth some attention, faults and all.

Kenji Miyazawa intended "Ginga tetsudo no yoru" as a book for children. But in it are truths that everyone big and small look to find. No one is comfortable with death. Everyone searches for answers. As I read the book before seeing the movie, I was amazed to see how accurately and wonderfully the director and animators were able to capture the feeling of this fantasy. It may be too arty for some, but I feel that more often than not, viewers will come away with a deeper sense of what death can do for life and what life can mean if given a chance.

As for the cat characters, this seems to be a consistent image that surrounds Miyazawa. Some of the stories he wrote were populated by cats that would take human roles. Interestingly enough, in Kenji Miyazawa's biographical anime (Shoji Kawamori's Spring and Chaos) Miyazawa is portrayed as a cat. Maybe the cats exist to shield children from the pain that these harsh truths might bring. But not shield too much

Sometimes it is easy to look at a work like Night on the Galactic Railroad and say, this is just a fantasy. Perhaps Miyazawa wanted us to think that, maybe at first anyhow. But the true beauty behind this animation is that by creating a fantasy world so wild and vibrant, it forces us to see who and what we really are.

I was very surprised to find, as I watched this with my young daughter, that it is full of dark themes (VERY dark for a small child) and a kind of messed-up (at least from a North American perspective) take on Christianity. Someone had recommended it to me based on our love for Studio Ghibli films like Kiki's Delivery Service and Whisper of the Heart. It's not at ALL like those. It is religious (of a sort) and contains themes of loss and death.

That being said, I would have enjoyed the film had I been watching on my own. I like films about loss and death.

It's beautiful and strange.

Just dark.

I have noticed that everywhere I look for reviews on this movie I see people confused and, sometimes, offended by the use of Christian symbols and themes used throughout this movie. I watched this movie as a child and remember being the only kid in my family who loved it and found it fascinating, but i was a Christian back then (that being the only thing I knew). As an Atheist, I rewatched this movie a few days ago and was completely overwhelmed by its use of Christian symbolism throughout the film, but I kept watching and noticed that almost as abruptly as that had started, the subject had dropped. Upon sitting alone in my room I thought it over in my head and I noticed something: The Christians on the train went to Christian heaven, while another character on the train went to his own heaven to join with one of his family, and Giovanni had a ticket to the "One True Heaven". I rather like this idea, and it makes me love the film more than I already did. Truly one of the best animated movies of all time, what a masterpiece!

Also, the Heaven Giovanni can't see might be his one true heaven, just something to think about. ;)

Summary: Night on the Galactic Railroad is a very dull ride, but it is still extraordinarily dark and has a lot of heart. 60/100 (C+)

On the night of a cat village Festival of the Stars, a kitten and his friend go on an celestial journey on a magical space locomotive. On that trip, they have various stops where they meet strange sights, even more unusual fellow passengers and learn some lessons of life on their trip to the terminus of the Galactic Railroad. First of all I want to say that it was not as depressing as I thought it would be. It was a good movie, but it did not live up to my high expectations. I am not a fan of anime, but I liked this film, it was dark and deeply uncomfortable. The film is slow, very slow. Also, the character development was pretty confusing because I did not felt a connection between Giovanni and Campanella they were supposed to be friends. But I did felt sorry for Giovanni, the whole story about his father and his sick mother was touching.

The second act was less dull to me, but still slow. There was a scene where Giovanni is quite surprised as he sees the train for the very first time and it was loudly effective. The second act continues having some boring issues and confusing moments. The third act was profound, unexpected and extraordinarily dark. Some people say that the film itself is disturbing and children should not watch it, but for me it was not disturbing at all, it was poignant. Moving on, the voice actors did a great job. The animation was stunning and looked fascinating. My only issue with this film was its boredom and inactivity. Anyway, I am glad that I watched it. While at times it lacked direction, and it was slow-paced, this little animated feature delivers a payoff and a reflective message. (C+)

Coming in just under two hours, you'll feel like it was four because of the nonsensical storyline and long pauses between lines of dialogue. The two main characters seem to have the same facial expression nearly the entire time and almost never blink. It is so slow-paced that you'll find yourself doing other things with it playing in the background. Half the dialogue in the English dub consists of sighs and grunts (eh, uh, ah, uh?). It reminded me of that one Tom and Jerry cartoon where they were on the space station and you're sure the animators must have been on mushrooms. It's kind of religious but then not in a weird mixture of various faiths and psychology. I was relieved when it was over.

This by far is the best anime I have ever seen. With its slow moving and oft disturbing plot this is not a movie for everyone, especial the adolescent/short attention span types who have only seen slasher/action examples of anime.

This movie is so slow yet it sucks you in and you can't stop watching. I have never heard or seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will again. No movie I have ever seen has affected me half as much. Its amazing visuals, sounds and eerie plot make this fascinating movie hard to describe and do justice to it.

This movie definitely deserves a 10 out of 10.

P.S. If you are the crying type have tissues handy.

Watching this while it's late and you're on the verge of passing out feels like the ideal way to experience it. I mean, maybe not. Maybe there are lots of things about Night on the Galactic Railroad that can be appreciated when you're a little more alert. But I kind of liked watching this that way, since it's such a nocturnal movie. The closer to midnight you can start this, the better.

It had a unique feel and aesthetic to it, and the music was really striking at times as well. A young cat escapes his life and meets people who talk about fairly lofty and philosophical things for a family(?) movie. Everyone is grappling with some level of existential despair. The world bends and feels like something that's a bit too eerie to be a nice dream, but also not traumatic enough to be a nightmare. And that's not the only time I thought of liminality while watching Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Not easy to love, but very easy to admire. It would be interesting to revisit it another time when less tired. I could see it going either way - might be better or might well be a little less compelling.

Beautiful at times, but sick at heart. Watch it for the graphics and sometimes-aura, not for the Christian death-cult sentiments and moralizing, unless you want to have a view into the psychology of some of the Japanese/Christians.

The first time I watched this movie I had to see it in two parts because my friend got sick of it after the first half. This movie is definitely not for everyone. The pacing is extremely slow and thoughtful. If your not the sort of person who spends time contemplating the mysteries of life, you will not enjoy this movie. If you watch this movie, don't watch it by yourself. Find a friend who you think might enjoy it, and set aside a quite relaxed evening to watch it. You will want someone to talk it over with afterwards.

One thing that must be noted is the character design. You may be initially turned off by the extremely cute, childish-looking characters. It doesn't take long to realize that the film is much darker and deeper than it seems at first.

Something to think about when viewing this film: It's interesting to see the strong use of Christian imagery in this film. I can't help but feel that as a westerner I'm getting a different reaction than the primarily Buddhist original audience and perhaps losing a bit of the mysticism.

I would suggest this film to anyone who enjoys spending a quiet evening lost in thought.

Superior to almost every toe-curling art-house flick that touches on similar territory Night on the Galactic Railroad says more and presents itself better than one would expect coming from a mere animated movie. Indeed if this was re-shot in live action, maybe in black and white and dubbed into French it would become a canonical post new-wave classic: to be fawned over by leagues of pea-brained cineastes. However it remains a little known and rarely talked about anime that has been seen by more fans of Galaxy Express 999 than by fans of Alan Resnais. Based upon the short children's work of the same name by Kenji Miyazawa the tale is ostensibly of a young cats (Giovanni) coming to terms with death by means of a surrealist adventure along the titular Galactic Railroad. The film contains a sequence of superbly realised vignettes that gradually paint the picture of Giovanni's life at home; his ill mother and itinerant father, bullying classmates and later the fantastical sights and stations he encounters on his one way ticket to the edge of the universe. The train he boards carries with it passengers of many creeds and persuasions: some disembark at the Pliocene Coast to further the cause of science others exit only to blithely tramp towards an afterlife of either Pagan, Christian or Buddhist contrivance . . . but young Giovanni stays on until the end. The less alert may mistake this film for some sort of religious allegory but it is nothing of the sort: Giovanni's revelation at the end seems more a triumph of moral philosophy. All text in the movie is written in Esperanto and the locations on Earth are reminiscent of small town medieval Europe. Beautifully scripted, animated and immaculately directed by Sugii Gisaburo, Night on the Galactic Railroad is one of the unsung masterpieces of cinema.

The best thing about this movie is the dreamlike quality of it. Lots of fiction texts--novels, comicbooks, movies, whatever--take place in the world of dreams, but this is the first movie I've seen that really felt like it. Things happen one after the other in a drifting, diffuse pilgrimage on a train that goes to the end of the universe: migrating herons that fall to the earth and turn into candy, apples that reproduce themselves, an Italian village populated by cats. Being that they're passing through the night sky, some of the stations are named after constellations, and some are just...places. It's like reading The Old Man and the Sea--you feel like you're there for days and wake up to find that it was only a few hours. To me, that's a measure of a really good story.

One of the funnier bits was when the human characters appeared and didn't bat an eye at sitting next to anthropomorphic, pastel-coloured cats.

If you enjoy picking apart movie texts, you can always have a fun argument with your friends about the religious motifs that pop up in an oddball way throughout the story. Were the filmmakers taking stabs at Christianity, or just appropriating its symbols for the story's own kind of mysticism (a la Neon Genesis Evangelion, maybe)?

Gisaburo Sugii sure has had a eclectic career, starting out with children's fare like Jack and The Beanstalk. Here he takes Kenji Miyazawa's children's story and creates 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.

If I tell you that this is the same guy who did Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie you wouldn't believe it, right? Well it is the same person. But this is without any doubt his best film. I have never had such an experience with an animated movie before (I particularly dislike most of anime) but this was enlightening. A must see.

In researching this movie before I watched it, I noted some mention of Christian themes, and assumed that there would be some recurring religious motifs in it, something on the order of the Matrix. However, I was wholly unprepared for the almost abusively forward religious imagery that seems to randomly crop up. Accordingly, this is just a general warning to other viewers, that if giant galactic crosses and esperanto hymns aren't your thing, you may want to skip this. I can't in good conscience rate this lower than a 5, because (as every other reviewer has noted) this is still a terribly beautiful movie, with heart-wrenching scenes and a fine message. But seriously, the Christianity pops up all over the place, and just when you think "oh, that's not so bad, I can ignore that part," everyone starts talking about praising god again.

I'm usually pretty conservative when it comes to dishing out stars, but this is one of the few films to which I would give ten without hesitation. The original story (by Japanese children's author Kenji Miyazawa) is a masterpiece in itself, but Sugii's screen interpretation is nothing short of amazing. Some of the best scenes are the quietest, such as when the protagonist is setting type in the printer's shop, or when he goes to the dairy to get milk and finds only an old woman there. Thought-provoking and moving, this is one I pull off my shelf and watch every couple of years.

There have only ever been 2 movies that I had trouble sleeping that night due to the complete mind screw the movie gave me. And those movies were AI and this one.

This movie is very surreal, but at the same time is AMAZINGLY boring. That is the biggest issue with this movie. I vaguely even remember the plot. The only thing I really remember from this film was being bored off my butt and then not being able to sleep afterwards. The music was unsettling, the animation was creepy, and I didn't like the sense of isolation the movie gave me. It kind of made me unnerved.

Also it had space trains. I have come to hate space trains.

This isn't a film to show your kids I will tell you that much. Then again, I wouldn't show this to my friends either. I honestly don't know WHO this movie is for, but I will tell you, it is not for me.