This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

My mum bought this for my when I was young by accident instead of the Disney version. When Marina died at the end I remember sobbing my heart out so much my mum threw the tape out! Now I really want to see it again and I've been looking for the tape everywhere, does anyone have any ideas where this can be bought from I've looked on ebay and in second hand shops but to no avail. Also it would be great to have it on DVD, is it by anychance on DVD???Does anyone have any other recommendations of other great anime older anime films? Maybe from western fairy tales like the little mermaid.Lunare

When I first saw this film, back in 1989(?) I thought it was the Disney version. Then I watched it and saw how different it was from what Disney had done. I had always read the original story, and this was a great representation of it. And since I have been an anime' fan since I was five (1984, people!) The style of animation appealed to me. The song that Marina sings for her father and grandmother was so melancholy and haunting that it always stuck with me. The fact that they did not try to cover the mermaids with "seashell bras" was cool too. Even though it was a "children's film" it had a mature feel that was unlike anything Disney could HOPE to achieve. I recently found this movie on DVD and snapped it up for *my* daughter to watch. Good stuff, man. Classic.

Wow! This was the best mermaid movie I have seen, although the animation, not the greatest! This was the absolute original story about the Little Mermaid. The Disney Version has a happy ending, and this one does too! Well its not Happy Happy for the viewer as much as for the main character- Marina! Well her sacrifice for him was the sweetest thing! "Her" happiness is "His" happiness. Awe! It melted my heart! Who would have thought self-sacrifice could be soo sweet and charming and soo beautiful! Romantic Suicide, but not just suicide. I loved this film soo much more than I did the Disney version. The music is so wonderful! I wish I could play the harp! and that song she plays is soo amazing. Wow! It gives me hope! Lots of it! How she could just jump like that into her own conscious mind and soul (the ocean-where she belongs)! My last words are...(speechless)

I would like to defend this movie as user Josephine left a very angry review. I'm sorry if you saw this as a small child and are forever traumatized but your review is very incomplete, not to mention the you speak of things that were never in the movie including saying that the prince "marries another prostitute" the mermaid drowns herself, and that there is beheading in the film. I don't really understand why you would lie about what happens in a movie on the review. Perhaps you just really hate this movie..anger issues?This movie is early anime. It is not bad anime, the animation simply is not as complex as the animation we see today, after all, the movie was made in 1975. The movie is definitely for older children, I saw it as a little girl when I was five and loved it, however it is important to realize that the end is very tragic. It can be very upsetting for young or sensitive children. There is no happily ever after, nor was there in the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. The movie begins very much in the way a child's movie would..juvenile dialogue, etc. but takes a rather tragic and serious turn. Understand that anime tends to be very different from Disney.It is not the happy, fictionalized fiction you would see in Disney's Little Mermaid or Aladdin. Clearly, many like this movie, as it is always selling on eBay, sometimes at rather high bids. There was something about this movie that I loved as a little girl, and still do. I can't clearly define what it is. Perhaps it was refreshing to see something so different. It could be a little cheesy at times, but all children's movies are to a degree. I enjoyed it, many of my friends enjoyed it, I certainly would not recommend renting it for your Friday night dinner and a movie. But is it worth seeing? I think so. It depends on what you are looking for.