It's not a bad movie, and yet at the same time it makes me angry. As in Nausicaa, non of the warring factions are really "villains", and the only true "Bad Guy" is some sort of alien or demon that calls itself the "Deer God" which is either Miyazaki's idea of a bad pun, or something that just doesn't translate into English and retain it's straight-faced-ness.
Now why it made me angry? Well. The "Deer God" loses its head. Literally. And then it's body goes on a rampage, killing everything in sight... And rather than destroying it, (which probably would have taken weapons more sophisticated than what's available to the characters of the era in which the film is set) they appease the monster by giving it's head back...
Seriously, I was hoping for some sort of climactic battle between Ashitaka and the Deer God-cum-Sludge Monster... but no such luck there. Not only do they give the murderous monster what it wants, but then everything's OK, and the land is restored and the grass grows again. The "Deer God" dies, but in an odd selfish suicide rather than paying for its destruction and all.
Anyway, it was odd, but it had a good plot until the end. It finally made sense, at least. It's also urprisingly violent. Had it not been animated, it would have been rated R. Seeing the pyschotic Boars get blown to bits was nice
, though.All in all, I reccomend it if for nothing more than it's weirdness. 8/10.