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Ghost in the Shell Actors: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi Director: Mamoru Oshii Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Animated, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 115 minutes Studio: Palm Pictures/Manga Video Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 1998-03-31 Buy from Amazon |
 "The Martix, Before the Matrix"Ghost In The Shell was The Martix with different charcters before the Martrix came out. The movie was known for it's physcologic aspects even over actions squences. This film caters for the nerd population so in buying it you most likly are one. As that most people have to watch the film a few times before understanding it. I give this 4 stars only because it's a classic but not a true classic like Fist Of The Northstar. The story line is not that great. This and Armitage were the exact same concept as the matrix so I hope no one ever calls the matrix inovative. I would suggest this to anyone who likes war or miltary movies(or if you love the Matrix(American Film)I hate that movie!).  "One of the best movies EVER"I have seen this movie both on TV and on DVD, and it's still one of my favorite anime films ever. People keep conparing it to the Matrix series, but it's NOTHING like the Matrix. It's a sci-fi/mystery story instead of a crazy sci-fi saving man-kind form the obvious forces of "evil". Instead it deals with human psychology and with mystery. It follows the two main characters(the Major and Batu)as they try to hunt down a new hacker calling himself "The puppet master" who has been cyber-brain hacking cyborgs all over the place. The story is really good, and the art is incredible. Ghost in the Shell is one of those anime cult classics(much like Akira or Macross) that leaves you breathless everytime you see it. The action scenes are very well done, and very smooth. The scenes where characters are talking(and let me tell ya, they talk a good amount of time) are informative to the plot and the background of the world these people live in. If you want jsut wild shoot 'em up action, then I would suggest something more like Akira. This film has a good amount of talking, and a good amount of action. All in all, this is still one of the best films ever made(I like anime and live action films) that i've seen. On a scale of 1-10 it gets a 9.5(only because it was a little too short). If you enjoy this movie, i'd check out Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It's a good series that follows the exploits of the Major, Batu and everyone else at Public Securtiy Section 9. Great show, great movie.....great series in general. Check it out. "Both DVDs are missing the original ending song..."FYI, both the original DVD and the Special Edition are missing the original ending song. Also, I have seen pictures comparing these two version. They look exactly the same, and I mean exactly. So in the end, I would recommend buying the Special Edition over the original if you dont already own this film, otherwise the original DVD is just fine. The movie itself is great. Short and sweet with some beautiful visuals and gun battles. Defintely not for young kids though as there is pervasive nudity, but absolutely no sex.  "Breast-tacular"I would have never thought to watch this, but my husband rented it. Was it my imagination, or did the main character's breasts get bigger in every shot? This movie never passes up the chance to show nipples, and in ever more gory ways. Yuck. "Excellent movie"I've watched Ghost in the Shell several times and have never gotten bored with it. The heroine, the Major is an ususal character. She's a tough girl, whose body is entirely machine. Her life is all business. She solves crimes and saves Japan everyday and yet because this is a Japanese movie she's not happy. Although her brain and soul are still human there's something missing and when she's not kicking butt she goes into these marvelous long soliloquies about the nature of individuality and the state of mankind. Her huge partner, Batou who is also 90% cyborg acts as sort of a stand in for the audience. He's the one who breaks into her speeches and moodiness and he's the one who points out that being super strong with parts that can just be replaced with a quick trip to a hardware store is pretty cool. Batou is smart, just as tough as the Major and he's the character that the audience comes to care about the most. Out of the blue comes a character named the Puppet Master who might be a hacker, or a virus or AI or something else who is extremely interested in the Major. The final scenes are beautifully done. You have action, you have sacrifice, you have suffering and beautiful, dreamy music. Another reviewer compared Ghost to Blade Runner and that's a good comparison except the future depicted in Ghost is far more dark. There's no happy ending in Ghost. Innocents get hurt, the bad guys get away with it in part and the Major is required to make a decision that changes her life forever. It's a gorgeous film. Even if you're one of those people who would never look at anime check this one out. It's a classic. |
