Ghost in the Shell

[Overstreet]

Spielberg has set in motion a Dreamworks plan to bring this series back to the screen as a live-action production.

[Phill Lytle]

This scares me. I really respect the original anime version, but I don't see how they can do it live action. I'm sure they can pull it off technically speaking, I just don't know if live action is the best medium for this story. The anime is a classic film in that genre and in the action genre. Why mess with it? Oh yeah, I forgot. We have to remake everything!

[opus]

This has already been done. It's called The Matrix.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Link to the thread on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

[Overstreet]

It's been almost five years since this thread got quiet.

 

Start 'er up again.

 

DreamWorks has made a deal with Snow White And The Huntsman helmer Rupert Sanders to direct Ghost In The Shell, a live action film based on the Japanese manga futuristic police thriller that has a new script from William Wheeler. The film is being produced by Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul. Fueled by the personal passion of Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks acquired the project several years ago with ambitious plans to shoot it in 3D.

 

[Jason Panella]

Anchor Bay recently released Ghost in the Shell: 25th Anniversary Edition. Before you pull out your cyberpunk wallet, consider these points:

 

• 25th anniversary of what? Masamune Shirow's manga, not the film. Clever, Anchor Bay.
• This is the first time the original cut of the film has been available in high definition. It mostly looks glorious. That said, this new transfer has a windowboxing effect that's consistently distracting.
• The new release has a wonderful, nuanced 5.1 surround track....in English dub only. There's also a paltry stereo Japanese track (and poorly translated subtitles) for the rest of you.
• Extras? Nope.

I can see a completest wanting this, or someone who just wants to see the original version of the movie, but that's it. I hope that someday there will be a release that combines the past few releases (this one and the controversial Ghost in the Shell 2.0, at the very least). Until then....

[Overstreet]

This has been on my must-see list for so long, but it lives in that grey area of the queue... always too low on the list for me to select on any given evening, but always too high for me to give up and delete it. Hmmm. Do I need to make this a priority?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Yes. This is a wonderful film.

[Jason Panella]

It's been years since I've seen it, so I'm glad I got to watch it again. I think it's a weirdly paced movie, and the giant blocks of philosophical rumination are sometimes too much. But Ryan's right, it's a great movie. 

[Mr. Arkadin]

I think it's a weirdly paced movie, and the giant blocks of philosophical rumination are sometimes too much. But Ryan's right, it's a great movie.

If it weren't for its pacing or the heavy rumination, I'd probably not be too fond of it (and its fine sequel, which is also very much worth seeing).

Ghost in the Shell nicely breaks away from what you would find in a Hollywood treatment of the same material, or even the manic madness you sometimes find in other sci-fi anime with similar narrative material (like Akira). This is an unusually contemplative action film.

[Jason Panella]

If it weren't for its pacing or the heavy rumination, I'd probably not be too fond of it (and its fine sequel, which is also very much worth seeing).

Ghost in the Shell nicely breaks away from what you would find in a Hollywood treatment of the same material, or even the manic madness you sometimes find in other sci-fi anime with similar narrative material (like Akira). This is an unusually contemplative action film.

 

 

I probably need not say more, but I should add that I love the contemplative nature (which is why I also love the sort-of sequel Innocence and Stand Alone Complex). It's just that some characters spit out three-to-four minute monologues and then wait while someone responds the same. I love this is happening, but it's just goofy in some aspects, especially when characters do this in dangerous situations. 

[opus]

The 25th anniversary's release details sadden me. I still have a two-disc set on DVD that Manga released years ago and would love to get a remastered, cleaned up version on Blu-ray.

 

And I wholeheartedly agree with the strangeness and contemplative aspects of the movie. My absolute favorite part of the movie occurs when Kusanagi and Batou are hunting down an invisible gunman in a crowded marketplace, and as they slowly walk down the street, the entire film slows down and becomes as dreamlike as anything I've seen. At one point, the shadow of a giant airliner fly overhead, and it fascinates me every time.

That being said, and at the risk of being sacrilegious, I think the first season of Stand Alone Complex is my favorite animated incarnation of Ghost in the Shell.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I couldn't get into Stand Alone Complex. It's so aesthetically inferior to the feature films.

[Jason Panella]

 

That being said, and at the risk of being sacrilegious, I think the first season of Stand Alone Complex is my favorite animated incarnation of Ghost in the Shell.

 

I'm with you. I love the original film, love Innocence, but really dig SAC. The second half of the season is riveting. 

[opus]

I couldn't get into Stand Alone Complex. It's so aesthetically inferior to the feature films.

 

Animation-wise, it's nowhere near the movies... which shouldn't be too surprising, though it's head and shoulders above a lot of anime series. However, it felt much more character-driven than the movies, which are all about the Big Ideas (hence the over-the-top monologues dripping with philosophical treatises). SAC deals with plenty of big ideas, too -- esp. when the tachikomas start becoming self-aware -- but it also has lots of nice character moments (e.g., glimpses of Togusa's home life and backstory, Batou dealing with the ghosts of his past) that make Section 9 feel like a real team with real personalities.

That being said, and at the risk of being sacrilegious, I think the first season of Stand Alone Complex is my favorite animated incarnation of Ghost in the Shell.

 

I'm with you. I love the original film, love Innocence, but really dig SAC. The second half of the season is riveting. 

 

I didn't care much for Innocence when I first saw it, but I've had a recent hankering to watch it again. Is there a recommended release/edition?

 

Also, did you know that Ghost in the Shell: Arise is streaming on Netflix? Or at least the first two episodes are. There are some cool moments, but there's something about the animation that really throws me off; it feels really stiff compared to the other series.

[Jason Panella]

 

I didn't care much for Innocence when I first saw it, but I've had a recent hankering to watch it again. Is there a recommended release/edition?

 

Also, did you know that Ghost in the Shell: Arise is streaming on Netflix? Or at least the first two episodes are. There are some cool moments, but there's something about the animation that really throws me off; it feels really stiff compared to the other series.

 

 

I still have the original DVD release of Innocence, and I haven't really paid too much attention to subsequent reissues. 

 

As for Arise, I just learned about its existence the other day! I'll have to check it out. 

[Tyler]

Starring Scarlett Johansson. In Japan or something.

[Tyler]

First look at Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi (yeah...).

[Tyler]

 

[Joel Mayward]

There's this recent trend in trailers to play a haunting, melancholy cover of a well-known or classic pop song. I think I'm growing tired of it. 

That being said, between this, Besson's upcoming film, and the new Blade Runner and Alien: Covenant movies, 2017 might be a year of epic, ambitious sci-fi.

[M. Leary]

One can now see the first five minutes: https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/ghost-shell-first-five-minutes-clip/

It is pretty disappointing, in that it all feels a bit flat despite the ornate CGI. Parts of it are frame for frame copies of the original, but something is just not translating into the live version (at least these five minutes).

And I hope I am wrong, but I wager the 1 Cor 13 references scattered throughout the film are absent in this script. This would be a shame, given that this interplay between Paul's theology and post-humanity in the original made for one of the best pop culture biblical references in the 20th century.

[Joel Mayward]

I just rented the original from the library, and hope to watch it this week before seeing the new version. I posted this question on social media, but I'll do it here too: should I go with subtitled or dubbed?

[NBooth]

I answered this elsewhere, but for the record I watched the original dubbed and was extremely unimpressed with the quality of the voice acting. 

[M. Leary]

Right, subtitled for this one. Sounds like you have watched it by now, what did you think?

[Peter T Chattaway]

Embedding the clips: