Rating: 
Summary: A befuddled mess
Review: This is supposedly considered by many "otaku" as one of THE anime films out there. When I finally saw it...I had to wonder why.The main character spends most of her time naked. In fact, the opening of the film she says one line and then strips down. The reason she does this is to turn invisible for her stealth mode, and you accept that...then later on a man she's chasing simply has to put a hood over his head and BAM! He's invisible. You have to wonder why if a common street thug can put a hood over his face and become invisible, a government agent has to strip down nude to do it? It sounds like the animators just wanted an excuse for nudity. Perhaps the main reason people call this a great anime is because they can barely understand whats going on or what the storyline is. Well, that doesn't always mean its good. "Ghost In the Shell" is a bit of a typical manga-to-anime tribulation in which the writers assume the audience has read the manga and knows it by heart, hence there is no reason to explain backgrounds or why some one is doing this. Also, the action is not that great. Its too few, and the supposedly famous scene between the heroine and a tank at the end isn't worth watching. First, its not a tank, its a mechanical spider. Second, there is no "showdown," just her running from point A to point B, then jumping and trying to pull open the door and, failing to do so, ripping her arms off. End of fight. Wow. I thought the showdown between Hiro and the ACTUAL tank at the end of "Venus Wars" deserved more credit than that fight. And some one tell me why there is at least ten minutes of random shots of the city and weird, annoying girl choir chanting in the background? I had to fast forward through that. Its like Oshii is telling us, "I can do art! Really! See? Art!" Once again, "Ghost In the Shell" taught me to go with my gut on animated films, not what the "otaku" class tells me to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Mind/Body Duality Explored
Review: I'm hooked on anime. The movie is fantastic. Drawn in by the similarity between Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded, this stylistic exploration of an issue that constatnly defies resolution -- the mind/body duality -- is certainly getting a strong revisit here. Ghost in the Shell is Kazunori Ito's futuristic vision where the confluence of the body (the shell) and the ghost (the mind) meets cyborg technology and all we are left with is angst. The film is certainly aimed at adults. I am new to the phenomenon of anime so I am still wondering about all the nudity and violence playing to a particular theme. My sense is that the intimate nature of man and machine and the particular threat that cyborg technology poses is considered real and immediate. Reference is made to the high maintenance nature of the cyborg and the technology in this movie. However, despite lines like "Aside from a slight brain augmentation, your body's almost entirely human" and "You're treated like other humans, so stop with the angst!" we are still confronted with the mind/body duality. Framed in a stylistic space where characters like Maj. Kusanagi run after such unlikely characters as "The Puppet Master" and similarities of movies like Bladerunner and the X-Files I can't help but grin at the irony of so "western" (and I use this word cautiously here) a consideration played out in such an "eastern" space. Despite all that, Ghost in the Shell is a cinematic event and should be treated as such. With the fertile cross polination between the east and the west, who knows, we might see a new entity which is a simulacra of the androginous characters that inhabit this genre. Am I hooked? Absolutely! Can't wait for the sequel. If you have not seen this movie -- watch it! It will change your perspective on animation entirely. Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: Top 5 movie
Review: If you like a combination of action, (oriental) philosophy and beautiful women, you're definitely going to love this movie. It's definitely in my personal top 5, and I think it can only be compared with "the matrix 1". If you liked that movie, you're probably gonna like this one too.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much ghost drama in one shell.
Review: Ghost in the shell was a good movie however it was kind of a disapointment.It seemed like the guys who made the movie tried to put in too much of "the meaning of life" and "do i have a soul?" drama in too little of a film.The movie had a couple okay action scenes and a cool plot and the story had a style similiar to sci-fi/cyberpunk authors like william gibson and neil stephenson.Id say the only reasdon i gave it 3 stars instead of 1 or 2 is because the main character was so cool and just kicked so much rear.She was alot like Max from the series Dark Angel.Overall this is the kind of anime where you rent it once and dont have much ambition to watch it again(in my opinion that is.)
Rating:
Summary: The 1st Anime you should watch...
Review: This is it, folks. Accept no substitutes... well, at least not until you've seen this one. Akira is a masterpiece, IMHO, but one targetted at the juvenile, which is no bad thing, really. Ghost in the Shell is aimed fairly and squarely at the adult audience. The characters are adults, the themes are adult, and the plot is very very adult. Not in physical imagery, just in adult needs, angst and ponderings. Also, the craft that went into the movie is adult... Check out the instrumental scenes, for example the one that links the chase scene with the diving scene. Not simply a work of art, nor a superb sensory experience, it's actually a peerless demonstration of animation expertise. Take a pair of scissors and trim off the rest of the movie, and that particular two minute scene still warrants a viewing in itself. Also, check out the scene with the Robocop-style battle tank. Never, but never have I seen such a dangerous looking machine. You really wouldn't want to stumble across one of those on the way home from work. Drop one of those on your foot, and you'd never walk again. And that's before it fires any guns in your direction. Check out the way that the editors depend on your intelligence to figure out what's going on. No Hollywood-style spoon-feeding here. No corny narrator: no artificial lines inserted into one of the characters mouths; no overt explanation at all. Great. A movie to get yourself involved in. A movie that requires your brains as well as you eyes. Buy the DVD. Watch it. Watch it a few more times. Show your friends. Think about it. Oh, and then get Akira, and enjoy that too. But first: Ghost in the Shell. Enjoy...
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Anime (so far)
Review: What made Ghost in the Shell surprising was it's new-look hi-tech animation to create quite a beautiful and realistic city. It doesn't look like the jumpy stop animation motions of Disney, it has a lot of 3D, a lot of video tracing, to help make the main character - a cyborg - be convincingly human. She's more human than anything we've seen on animation cel yet! As with all Japanese Sci-Fi this film is very derivative, the Blade Runner comparisons are accurate, read any William Gibson cyberpunk novel and Ghost in the Shell obviously fits right in those worlds. Other great Manga (japanese comic) of this genre include Appleseed, Battle Angel Alita, and of course Akira. However Ghost in the Shell is the only one (so far) that is pretty AND easy to relate to AND well written. Newer anime have come along since, such as Totoro and Spirited Away that are arguably better films, though more in the realm of Fantasy than Sci-Fi.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection
Review: Ghost in the Shell was just simply the best anime that I have ever seen. This movie is so good that it is an untold rule that if you are new to anime this is the first anime that you should see.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Along with Akira, this ranks as my favorite anime movie of all time. The animation is incredible. Very detailed with excellent use of CG. Also, the character design is also very good, not quite like any other anime I've seen. The plot revolves around the cyborg Motoko and a mysterious hacker. It gets quite complex, with all kinds of political machinations, so it may take a few viewings to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe "The Matrix" hype - Just Buy This DVD!!!!
Review: Ok, first off I would like to say that any reviews that put this movie down, saying that this movie is too confussing to understand should be put aside. This is a classic, and should have a spot in everyone who watches Animie's heart. The concept was so original for the time that it was made (1996) and some could say that it was part of the inspiration to today's box office smash "The Matrix." I do not want to realy say what the movie is about because I could go on and on about it which would totally ruin the movie for those of us deprived souls who have not seen this one. This movie is at the top of my favorite Animies of all time (along with Akira and the original Vampire Hunter D) and I highly recomend it to everyone that is into Animie. For all of you fans that have allreay seen this movie, there is also a animated series (I believe 13 episodes or so) for "Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex" that will be relesed in the states probably within the next year. If you cant wait (like me), the original Japanese w/ English subtitles is allready relesed in Japan, you can find it at various online stores. So in short, if your into Animie buy this movie, and when the series is relesed in the U.S. buy it too, I promise you will truly enjoy them!!
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: i my friends am an anime fanatic and collector. i loved this anime and feel that many more like it should be created!!
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