Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ Kaze no tani no Naushika) is a 1984 film by Japanese writer, illustrator, and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, based on his manga of the same name. The movie has environmentalist undertones and was presented by the World Wide Fund for Nature when it was released in 1984. Nausicaä is ranked as one of the 50 greatest science fiction films by the Internet Movie Database.

The story takes place 1,000 years after the "Seven Days of Fire," an event which destroyed human civilization and most of the Earth's original ecosystem. Scattered human settlements survive, isolated from one another by the "Sea of Corruption" (fukai, sea of rot/fungus in Japanese), a lethally toxic jungle of fungus swarming with giant insects which seem to come together only to wage war.

The title character, Nausicaä (Naushika transcribed into Japanese; pronounced NOW-shka), is a charismatic young princess of the peaceful Valley of the Wind. Her name comes from the princess in the Odyssey who assisted Odysseus; part of her character comes from a Japanese folk hero known as "the princess who loved insects", while another part was inspired by the writings of Bernard Evslin, as he had written a more indepth extrapolation of character of Odyssey's Nausicaa. Although a skillful fighter, Miyazaki's Nausicaä is humane and peace-loving. She has an unusual gift for communicating with the giant insects (particularly with the Ohmu, the gigantic armored caterpillar-like insects who are the most intelligent creatures in the Sea of Corruption). She is also noted for her empathy toward animals, humans, and other beings, and for her skill at "windriding", flying with an advanced glider-like craft with a jet assist called a mehve.

The Valley of the Wind is threatened when another state, Pejite, unearths a God Warrior (kyoshinhei) which is then stolen by a more powerful state, Tolmekia. The God Warrior is one of the lethal giant bioweapons used in the ancient war. Pejite and Tolmekia hope to use the God Warrior against each other and, ultimately, against the Sea of Corruption. While transporting the Warrior back to their realm, the Tolmekians are attacked by insects and subsequently crash-land in the Valley. The very next day, the Tolmekians invade the Valley to secure and revive the Warrior, eventually forcing the peaceful people of the Valley into armed resistance. The situation deteriorates as the fight to possess the God Warrior escalates out of control and the inimical fukai strikes back against those who attack it.

The story holds deeper meaning than its depiction of war; there are both humanistic and ecological subtexts in Miyazaki's narrative. Even the insects seem to be working toward some secret harmony and the lethal fungal forest seems to have a vital role in Earth's new ecosystem.

As she is forced to aid prisoners, villagers, enemies, mutant insects, and artificial bioweapons, Princess Nausicaä increasingly becomes a Joan of Arc figure—a warrior maiden inspired by a supermundane vision to defend all life against destruction.

A heavily edited and English-dubbed version of the film was distributed and shown on HBO and released on video in the 1980s as Warriors of the Wind (Japanese: 風の戦士 or Kaze no Kishi). According to Nausicaa.net, the voice actors and actresses were not even informed of the film's plotline and more than 30 minutes of footage were cut from the film. As a result, much of the film's narrative meaning was lost; much of the environmentalist themes were purged as was the main subplot about the Ohmu being altered to turn them into aggressive enemies. Most of the characters were renamed (Nausicaä became "Princess Zandra"). The cover for the VHS release featured a cadre of male characters, who are not part of the film, riding the resurrected God Warrior — including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. It was released around the world under various different titles for example, in German, it is Sternkrieger (Star Warriors).

Most fans of Nausicaä, along with Miyazaki himself, dislike that version; Miyazaki suggested that people should put it "out of their minds."  Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki has asked fans to forget its existence, and has subsequently adopted a strict "no-edits" clause for future foreign releases of its films. (A common rumor tells of Miyazaki sending Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, overseeing the distribution for the Disney release of Princess Mononoke, an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts" when he heard that Weinstein would try to cut the film to make it "marketable.") An uncut and re-dubbed version of Nausicaä was released on DVD by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on February 22, 2005 for Region 1. This DVD also includes the Japanese audio track with English subtitles. Optimum Home Entertainment released the film in Region 2, and Region 4 DVD is distributed by Madman Entertainment. The 2005 DVD version made it around the world uncut.

The Nausicaä manga is published in English by VIZ Media. Earlier editions of the English manga and fan translations often used the title Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, omitting the definite article.

From Wikipedia