Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - 4/5
I hadn't seen this in a very long time. It's not Miyazaki's best - the dialogue (or at least the localisation) is a bit artlessly expository in the same way a video game's can be (apparently everyone in this world talks to themselves incessantly!), at least at the start where the world's being established. But calling this a dry run for Mononoke - a better movie with similar themes - would be doing it a massive disservice.
The movie centres on a planet (earth?) that is being slowly engulfed by a toxic jungle, which began spreading after a catastrophic war that basically glassed the planet and ended industrialised civilisation. The anti-nuclear and environmentalist message is not subtle, but it's handled subtly. Its depiction of nationalist squabbling in the face of an environmental catastrophe that requires collective action and a radical change in our relationship with nature is, unfortunately, probably more relevant now than when the movie was released.
The art has this real 70s prog sci-fi vibe that distinguishes itself from almost everything else in Miyazaki's oeuvre, and seems like it it was blatantly lifted by,, like, every JRPG in the 90s (Lavos just straight up is an Ohm), not to mention BOTW (which is just, aesthetically if not thematically, a synthesis of this, Mononoke and Laputa). That the ostensibly horrific giant bugs are made sympathetic, and, in a weird kinda way, almost cute, is an incredible testament to the artistry on display here.
I generally think the music is the weakest part of Ghibli movies - some hotel bar-arse piano - but Hisaishi does great work here. I've been listening to the theme non-stop since last night: