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Special Features
• Ghost In The Shell 2.0 (Original Movie)
• Making of Ghost In The Shell: Production Report
• Theatrical Trailer
• Character Profiles
• Creator Biographies
• Making of Ghost In The Shell: Production Report
• Theatrical Trailer
• Character Profiles
• Creator Biographies
Editorial Reviews
A film that has spawned a thousand imitations but never been bettered – Mamoru Oshii’s legendary anime film GHOST IN THE SHELL returns in a stunning new edition remastered by Oshii himself. For this definitive Version 2.0 release, all the original animations are re-produced with latest digital film and animation technologies, including 3D-CGI. Set in a re-imagined Hong Kong at a time when cyberspace is expanding into human reality, the story follows top cyberwarrior Major Motoko Kusanagi as she hovers on the border of total immersion in the digital world.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
241 of 251 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I'm going to break this review down into two parts.
The movie itself:
This is Ghost In The Shell in HD. It's beautiful, but for a smoother translation into the look of Innocence the greenish colors of the original film have been touched up and made to be more of an amber color like that seen in second film. This isn't really a change that I mind, and it's pulled off fairly well. I assume that several scenes were cleaned up digitally because the line art looks amazingly clean.
Sadly, someone felt it would be appropriate to replace some of the most iconic and stunning animation from the original with CG. A few scenes are done well like those where the CG is only helicopters or buildings, but whenever it replaces characters with crappy looking CG models it becomes stunningly bad. If you watch the making of the original movie you can see that their limited use of computer assisted animation was carefully planned and fit in with the other artwork and improved the film. The CG in 2.0 sticks out like a sore thumb in most cases. The only CG part that I liked was the pan over the cityscape at the end of the film.
If you have a bluray player and haven't seen GitS yet 2.0 isn't a bad way to see it, but fans of the original will probably be disappointed with the lack of any significant changes and the quality of what was changed.
The bluray by Manga:
Somehow Manga Entertainment never ceases to screw something pretty major up on their releases. The box lists a commentary with Oshii, an interview with Oshii and a making of GitS 2.0. None of these features are present on the bluray. You get throw away character profiles, glossary, and the old english trailer. The original making of GitS is here in VHS quality along with the unlisted bonus feature of the original cut of the movie. When I heard that I was pretty excited because in all honesty it's the only version I truly care about, but it looks to be taken from non-HD masters and only includes 2.0 audio tracks. If memory serves me correctly I believe that my GitS DVD looks better upscaled than this version does.
It would have been nice to do a re-dub of the film with the SAC cast, but I guess most of them were in the original anyway and it's a nice dub in it's own right.
This whole release just makes me want the original film untouched in HD. I can't give this less than three stars if only because seeing this movie this way is better than not seeing it at all because it's a one of my favorite films ever, but be aware of the problems with this release before deciding to buy it.
The movie itself:
This is Ghost In The Shell in HD. It's beautiful, but for a smoother translation into the look of Innocence the greenish colors of the original film have been touched up and made to be more of an amber color like that seen in second film. This isn't really a change that I mind, and it's pulled off fairly well. I assume that several scenes were cleaned up digitally because the line art looks amazingly clean.
Sadly, someone felt it would be appropriate to replace some of the most iconic and stunning animation from the original with CG. A few scenes are done well like those where the CG is only helicopters or buildings, but whenever it replaces characters with crappy looking CG models it becomes stunningly bad. If you watch the making of the original movie you can see that their limited use of computer assisted animation was carefully planned and fit in with the other artwork and improved the film. The CG in 2.0 sticks out like a sore thumb in most cases. The only CG part that I liked was the pan over the cityscape at the end of the film.
If you have a bluray player and haven't seen GitS yet 2.0 isn't a bad way to see it, but fans of the original will probably be disappointed with the lack of any significant changes and the quality of what was changed.
The bluray by Manga:
Somehow Manga Entertainment never ceases to screw something pretty major up on their releases. The box lists a commentary with Oshii, an interview with Oshii and a making of GitS 2.0. None of these features are present on the bluray. You get throw away character profiles, glossary, and the old english trailer. The original making of GitS is here in VHS quality along with the unlisted bonus feature of the original cut of the movie. When I heard that I was pretty excited because in all honesty it's the only version I truly care about, but it looks to be taken from non-HD masters and only includes 2.0 audio tracks. If memory serves me correctly I believe that my GitS DVD looks better upscaled than this version does.
It would have been nice to do a re-dub of the film with the SAC cast, but I guess most of them were in the original anyway and it's a nice dub in it's own right.
This whole release just makes me want the original film untouched in HD. I can't give this less than three stars if only because seeing this movie this way is better than not seeing it at all because it's a one of my favorite films ever, but be aware of the problems with this release before deciding to buy it.
94 of 102 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
There are a couple of issues but it is still worth buying for the Ghost in the Shell Fan..
November 8, 2009
Format:Blu-ray
Ahh...Ghost in the Shell. The 1995 movie based on the manga that was called by some the second coming of Akira. I can't help but agree with that. So here we are almost 15 years later and we now have a sequel, a spin-off TV show, with a TV movie and it's influence is seen in movies such as "The Matrix." Now we have GitS 2.0, which is not a sequel (though I can see why people could be misled into thinking that.) but a redone version of the first movie. The colors has been changed and some CG has been brought in to replace the old animation. Its supposed to look more like the sequel, "Innocence," but honestly it looks weird since the original movie was made 9 years before the sequel. But I'm not going to review the movie itself, I'm just going to tell you why you should buy this on Blu-Ray.
The first thing all you purists need to know, the original Ghost in the Shell is included on the disc in HD. It doesn't look that great but it looks better than the DVD for sure. Also, the transfer is not the DVD master from the 2005 re-issue simply upconverted (contrary to popular belief), it is the Blu-ray master from Japan. They didn't really clean up the film but this is pretty much the best it's ever going to look unless Bandai, Manga or Production IG want to put up the money for a full re-master.
Which brings us into the new 2.0 version. This puppy has demo worthy video. The animation has been nicely cleaned-up, the new CG pops, and the re-mixed soundtrack (which I'll get back to in a minute) can bring the house down. This is one of the best animated Blu-rays out there, up there with "Cars," "Wall-E," and "Akira." While consistency is off thanks to the new CG, new colors and old animation, but this is not the fault of the transfer.
The soundtrack for the original Japanese version has actually been thrown out the window completely. Not only are there new sound effects, but the original cast has re-recorded all their lines, with one exception: the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master was originally voiced by a man, and has now been replaced by a woman. Also the song that plays in the background during the market chase with Batou has been removed. It is such a small thing that people probably won't notice (but I brought it up for a reason).
Now, I'm going to be honest, I'm a fan of the English dub of GitS in all of its forms. When this was announced I thought for sure they would re-dub the movie with the new GitS: Stand Alone Complex cast. This is not the case. They used the original dub from 1995 for this version (So Mimi Woods is playing Motoko, not Mary Elizabeth McGlynn from the SAC dub.) with the new sound effects thrown in. Which brings us to a inconsistency because in the 2.0 version the Puppet Master is supposed to be played a female, but instead, is still played by a man, since this is literally the same dub. This isn't the only inconsistency, the song from the marketplace is now back in the movie. There some other small gripes but only the hardcore fan would notice.
Now onto the extras. They consider the old version of the movie as a extra, and it is a pretty cool extra, having both versions in HD. Then we come into a couple of weird quirks. On the box, it says there is a commentary with the director, as well as a making of feature for 2.0. What we get is a making of feature....for the original movie and a theatrical trailer...for the original. Along with come bios and glossary. The features on the box are no where to be found, which is quite a big gaff. Maybe future re-prints will correct this but as of now, the features on the box are not there. To me, it isn't a big deal, but it kind of sucks that we don't get what the box promises.
All in all this is a must buy for every GitS fan. Not only do you get the new version of this movie, you get the original in HD. That way, you get the best of both worlds. Everyone else, give this one a rental, because this is really for the fans.
EDIT: 9/29/11 - The included original version of Ghost in the Shell is not the HD master from Japan. It is a laserdisc master, upconverted to 1080i. Also, they've fixed the back cover in later prints to have the correct features on the back. I still recommend this if you're a fan.
The first thing all you purists need to know, the original Ghost in the Shell is included on the disc in HD. It doesn't look that great but it looks better than the DVD for sure. Also, the transfer is not the DVD master from the 2005 re-issue simply upconverted (contrary to popular belief), it is the Blu-ray master from Japan. They didn't really clean up the film but this is pretty much the best it's ever going to look unless Bandai, Manga or Production IG want to put up the money for a full re-master.
Which brings us into the new 2.0 version. This puppy has demo worthy video. The animation has been nicely cleaned-up, the new CG pops, and the re-mixed soundtrack (which I'll get back to in a minute) can bring the house down. This is one of the best animated Blu-rays out there, up there with "Cars," "Wall-E," and "Akira." While consistency is off thanks to the new CG, new colors and old animation, but this is not the fault of the transfer.
The soundtrack for the original Japanese version has actually been thrown out the window completely. Not only are there new sound effects, but the original cast has re-recorded all their lines, with one exception: the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master was originally voiced by a man, and has now been replaced by a woman. Also the song that plays in the background during the market chase with Batou has been removed. It is such a small thing that people probably won't notice (but I brought it up for a reason).
Now, I'm going to be honest, I'm a fan of the English dub of GitS in all of its forms. When this was announced I thought for sure they would re-dub the movie with the new GitS: Stand Alone Complex cast. This is not the case. They used the original dub from 1995 for this version (So Mimi Woods is playing Motoko, not Mary Elizabeth McGlynn from the SAC dub.) with the new sound effects thrown in. Which brings us to a inconsistency because in the 2.0 version the Puppet Master is supposed to be played a female, but instead, is still played by a man, since this is literally the same dub. This isn't the only inconsistency, the song from the marketplace is now back in the movie. There some other small gripes but only the hardcore fan would notice.
Now onto the extras. They consider the old version of the movie as a extra, and it is a pretty cool extra, having both versions in HD. Then we come into a couple of weird quirks. On the box, it says there is a commentary with the director, as well as a making of feature for 2.0. What we get is a making of feature....for the original movie and a theatrical trailer...for the original. Along with come bios and glossary. The features on the box are no where to be found, which is quite a big gaff. Maybe future re-prints will correct this but as of now, the features on the box are not there. To me, it isn't a big deal, but it kind of sucks that we don't get what the box promises.
All in all this is a must buy for every GitS fan. Not only do you get the new version of this movie, you get the original in HD. That way, you get the best of both worlds. Everyone else, give this one a rental, because this is really for the fans.
EDIT: 9/29/11 - The included original version of Ghost in the Shell is not the HD master from Japan. It is a laserdisc master, upconverted to 1080i. Also, they've fixed the back cover in later prints to have the correct features on the back. I still recommend this if you're a fan.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By AMP
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
Movie: 4.5/5 Video Quality: 4.5/5 Audio Quality: 5/5 Extras: 2.5/5 Overall: 4.1/5 (rounded down in total star ranking)
This was the second genuine anime film I ever watched, and even after repeated viewings I've been confused and confounded by it. It may be short and it may boast some cool action scenes, but for the most part it is a tight, complex, and highly cerebral thriller. The combination of philosophy, psychology, technology, and politics is often overwhelming in this film.
Only recently have I been able to understand the movie's plot and issues, and I must say that it is a very sublime picture with some very deep issues concerning the human soul, technology, and society. For that matter, each viewing does reveal deeper meaning. On this basis, the movie not only makes for quintessential anime, but it is also an essential (and influential) piece of cyberpunk sci-fi.
The movie's plot and characters may seem muddled, but they have nuances and complexities of their own. I do find that other features in the "Ghost in the Shell" series (namely, "Innocence," "Stand Alone Complex," and "Solid State Society") offer easier storylines and more understandable characters, but they are not quite as original or distinctive as what's in this film. The movie is slowly-paced, but has lots of interesting visuals and some brilliant action scenes. Production design features some very interesting and original sets, props, costumes, vehicles, and weapons. Music is interesting.
For better or for worse, this disc showcases the 2.0 version, which offers enhanced CGI effects to replace certain scenes, as well as an enhanced soundtrack and a new music score. These changes do offer a different color palette than the theatrical cut, and the image overall looks cleaner, sharper, and more detailed. Above all, it is visually and conceptually more compatible with other features in the "Ghost in the Shell" series.
This disc offers decent quality. The video looks very clean, with excellent color and contrast. It is sharp with plenty of details; textures are strong and pencil lines are thin. I saw no signs of visual noise, pixilation, or aliasing. The only issue worth noting is that some scenes may have bright auras, but this is notably less intrusive on Blu-Ray than it is on DVD. A few scenes showed some slight banding as well. Sound quality is excellent (DTS-HD MA 6.1, lossless), and you have a choice between English dubbing and the original Japanese, with optional subtitles. Extras include a making-of feature, character profiles, creator biographies, and a trailer.
One of the special features is the original theatrical cut of the movie. Video quality on the original film in 1080i is notably weaker, for it shows greater pixilation, aliasing, and film artifacts. Colors are also more washed-out, but some colors are notably different than the 2.0 version (more blues and greens in certain scenes). Regardless, it is still a sharp and clean image. Sound quality is good, and it has the same language and subtitle options as the 2.0 feature.
This was the second genuine anime film I ever watched, and even after repeated viewings I've been confused and confounded by it. It may be short and it may boast some cool action scenes, but for the most part it is a tight, complex, and highly cerebral thriller. The combination of philosophy, psychology, technology, and politics is often overwhelming in this film.
Only recently have I been able to understand the movie's plot and issues, and I must say that it is a very sublime picture with some very deep issues concerning the human soul, technology, and society. For that matter, each viewing does reveal deeper meaning. On this basis, the movie not only makes for quintessential anime, but it is also an essential (and influential) piece of cyberpunk sci-fi.
The movie's plot and characters may seem muddled, but they have nuances and complexities of their own. I do find that other features in the "Ghost in the Shell" series (namely, "Innocence," "Stand Alone Complex," and "Solid State Society") offer easier storylines and more understandable characters, but they are not quite as original or distinctive as what's in this film. The movie is slowly-paced, but has lots of interesting visuals and some brilliant action scenes. Production design features some very interesting and original sets, props, costumes, vehicles, and weapons. Music is interesting.
For better or for worse, this disc showcases the 2.0 version, which offers enhanced CGI effects to replace certain scenes, as well as an enhanced soundtrack and a new music score. These changes do offer a different color palette than the theatrical cut, and the image overall looks cleaner, sharper, and more detailed. Above all, it is visually and conceptually more compatible with other features in the "Ghost in the Shell" series.
This disc offers decent quality. The video looks very clean, with excellent color and contrast. It is sharp with plenty of details; textures are strong and pencil lines are thin. I saw no signs of visual noise, pixilation, or aliasing. The only issue worth noting is that some scenes may have bright auras, but this is notably less intrusive on Blu-Ray than it is on DVD. A few scenes showed some slight banding as well. Sound quality is excellent (DTS-HD MA 6.1, lossless), and you have a choice between English dubbing and the original Japanese, with optional subtitles. Extras include a making-of feature, character profiles, creator biographies, and a trailer.
One of the special features is the original theatrical cut of the movie. Video quality on the original film in 1080i is notably weaker, for it shows greater pixilation, aliasing, and film artifacts. Colors are also more washed-out, but some colors are notably different than the 2.0 version (more blues and greens in certain scenes). Regardless, it is still a sharp and clean image. Sound quality is good, and it has the same language and subtitle options as the 2.0 feature.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great addition for any anime fan
The remake is very good, though some of the newer effects don't blend as well with the old effects I fell they did a great job overall with keeping with the feel of the first film. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chris Z. Samaripa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great streaming video
The video has a great storyline of law enforcement in the future with breaking edge technology. Gives a new view to the cyberworld.
Published 2 months ago by David M Chudzinski
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Tier Sci-Fi
This is one of the best films of all time. The blu-ray looks and sounds great although the "2.0" part is kind of confusing. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Samuel A. Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superstellar
This version 2.0 has awesome graphics. . .so detailed. One of the best anime's ever. Great visualization of a future that could potentially exist.
Published 3 months ago by J3F
3.0 out of 5 stars
Deserves Better Treatments
For such a classic anime to be upgraded in a less than stellar way is quite sad, I say this in comparison to the Evangelion series of upgrades which are flawless.
Published 3 months ago by Fred
4.0 out of 5 stars
great film
This is a great film to watch. The blu ray version has some problems, like being to bright sometimes, but it didnt really bother me. Read more
Published 3 months ago by C-rod
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Update to an Anime Classic!
Great Update to an Anime Classic! I already owned the original Ghost in the Shell on DVD, but after viewing some clips of 2.0, I decided to buy the 2.0 Blu-Ray version. Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Frugal Gearhead
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, provocative, needlessly complex
Im not going to get really in depth with this review, as there is enough literature available via the internet to fill you in on any details i dont touch upon, but ill start by... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Vance
3.0 out of 5 stars
Why CGI?
As much as I like the classic movie, the CGI in this version seems kinda... pointless. There really aren't that many scenes done inf Full CGI- at least not enough to make it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Samantha Murray
3.0 out of 5 stars
While Some New CGI Was Decent Didn't Feel Needed
While it was nice to see that they remastered the video quality somewhat the new CGI effects that were added in seemed an unnecessary attempt, overall for the price I'd say go... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Rich(Trolls Must Perish!)
