Rating: 
Summary: A little bit too short for profundity, yet still wondrous.
Review: This is perhaps the best-made anime I have seen, yet somehow not the best animated film as a whole. The artwork is truly sensational at times. It would seem that the music is not for everyone, but I found it to be very good, and often play it in my head (especially in the rain). The story is more complex than it first seems, and is slightly more coherent when viewing the subtitled version. There are some probing questions and intellectual stimulation, but the movie fails to be completely mind-boggling due to its rather short length, and ends abruptly. The fact that it still stands as one of the best animated films I have seen speaks well of the quality of direction, artwork, and scenery. You will find yourself recalling a particularly meaningful still shot, and wondering if we are all headed for the world depicted here. The DVD was released rather early in the grand scheme of things, yet still has a lot of goodies, and is well worth it if you are considering it over the VHS version.
Rating:
Summary: YOU MUST OWN THIS MOVIE!
Review: I have just recently begun to immerse myself in the wonderful world of anime, and I must say that this movie has changed the way I look at movies. The great thing about anime is that it provides an outlet for great stories to be told that Hollywood would never have the guts, or resources in some cases, to make. When you first watch this movie you will be mezmorized by the music, art, and most of plot. I cannot express how much I enjoyed this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: ghost of confusion....
Review: i just saw this the other day for the first time even though ive heard so much about it....good effects story line but i was confused thru some parts, one of my friends had to break down some parts of the story but all and all it was ill. you have to pay attention to the story or u will be thoroughly lost if u dont, all and all check it out. peace Mika
Rating: 
Summary: Good, some coherency every now and then would be nice.
Review: Ghost In The Shell was an anime that I have been wanting to watch for a long time now. Have heard rave reviews from not only fellow friends and critics alike, I figured that I would like this. And concidering I have recently seen some of Mamoru Oshii's earlier works(the Patlabor movies were excellent. The second one was better than the first, in my opinion), I figured that there was no way I couldn't like this. So after seeing it, why do I feel just so, 'eh...' about the whole "experience"? First off, I guess I went into the movie blindly. I have never read the manga, nor did I have any previous knowledge when I watched the film. Unfortunatly, in the begining, I felt like was dropped into a world completely alien from my own. Things would happen seemingly like they would all the time in this universe, leaving me to scratch my head in a stupified mannor(this happens alot to me). As the story progress, it lets you in on more and more of what is going on. The only thing is, in the short span of this movie, tons of dialogue and information is thrown at you. You kind of have to be able to weed out the unnecessary things and pay attention to the more important plot keys. But ultimately, it becomes too confusing and sometimes boarders on incoherency. One thing that would have helped the film maybe was more time to develop. Everything in this movie's 80 minute splendor seems just so rushed. In some cases, that's fine. Pi(another short, stylized film)was movie that did it perfectly(it also helped keep the pace of the movie frantic, which was what the director was trying to do). But everything here just seems like the budget wasn't big enough or the script had holes that were not filled by the time this film went into production. The end result is a mess of a movie that just has you staring at you screen wondering what just happened. Despite that overly-long rant(it was a bit winded, don't you think?) there are still plenty of good points to this movie. The animation is high-caliber and is quite smooth. This movie deffently could hold its own visually on the big screen. The action is very well directed and creates a great tension when needed. Speaking of direction, Mamoru still does a great job of trying to bring this future to you in a very stylized way(if only the script were better). And as usually, Kenji Kawaii's music fits the tone of the movie perfectly. So in the end, what do you have? You have a short movie that is seemingly thin on plot but rich in underlying messages. As usual, I think for the most part, anime is still probably one of the best media to get that message accross(you know, aside from books). I know tons of you enjoyed this movie more than I did, and I think its far from being as over-blown like EVA was(that "ending" still doesn't sit well with me. Mainly because it wasn't an ending!), but it just didn't do it for me like Patlabor 2 did for me. Still, it's worth watching just to see if you like it. But you'd be wise to note that you might want to turn your thinking cap all the way up. As you are about to imbark on one of the most confusing rides of your life.
Rating:
Summary: If your an anime-niac you must have this.
Review: The latest evolution of anime, a landmark achievement in the genre, nuff' said.
Rating:
Summary: Listen up, disgrunteld poet is here.
Review: Oshii Mamuro began his career working on the animation series Patlabor and continued to direct several films. Recently two new movies (Jin Roh and Blood:the last vampire) have been made based on stories and screen plays by Oshiisan and he directed the live action film "Avalon" (not available in the US to my knowledge). Ghost in the shell is the last Anime film directed by Oshiisan and it stands as the apex of his directing ability. The story has many complex philosophical levels that deal with;(bear with me) the nature of individuality (Practicallity stressed over romance), the desire to find "self" (the origins of romance), the apathy created by human expansion, future-shock (the flood), and the nature of experiences (simultainious reality and fantasy). The animation, directing, and musical score are all masterfully blended into an experience that goes beyond simple movie watching and becomes a profound pyscological debate. On top of that, the mundane plot (as opposed to the thematic progression) is ultra complex, dealing with politcal intrigue and high technology. The downside of the film is that appeals to a very select audience. long time japanese cinamatography meathod was to use paced plots, in which the story progressess through several very slow moving and overly detailed scenes. American audiences will often find the movie slow, or feel that "nothing is going on". Their complaint is justified. To enjoy this film you have to "argue" with the screen, atempting to passively absorb the message will result in a very boring experience, broken by examples violent deaths and instances of nudity. I like paced plots, because they feel rewarding to me. The very legitimate opposition says that paced plots are on a lower level than normal western paces that can convey the same message without requiring a huge attention base. I can`t decide for you, so I recomend you rent before you buy. Good Luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Ghost In The Shell
Review: I bought this movie expecting awesome animation, great action scenes, and the coolness of anime characters. This was a major letdown. The plot is interesting, but the horrendous English dubbing spoiled the movie for me.
Rating:
Summary: Great animation, but where's the story?
Review: "Ghost in the Shell" is one of the classics of anime, and it's not hard to see why. This film boasts a groundbreaking blend of traditional and computer animation. Others have tried, like some of our American animation studios, and failed miserably, to mix cell animation with cgi. That isn't the case here. The effect in "Ghost" is a cohesive, masterful mix, without the jarring, obvious boundaries between the hand-drawn and the computer-rendered. The overall effect is a style that's too realisic for words. The animators even added the moire lines to shots of video screens in the film! Now THAT'S detail. Now, with such great visuals, you'd think the story would be just as enthralling, right? Wrong. Now, I'll admit that the writers weren't going for your regular adolescent male-oriented shoot-em-up action hero storyline. They obviously wanted to touch on the issue of technology today, and how it can insinuate itself into our lives to the point where it first controls us, then devours us. Or something along that line. It just so happens that they bucked the kiddy, Disney-ish trend, and chose animation as the medium to convey this message, and for such a monumental undertaking I applaud them. But I think the story was just too nebulous. At times there didn't seem to be a story at all, and what was there seemed odd and disjointed. The ending simply confused the hell out of me. "Ghost in the Shell" can definitley be considered an anime classic, but only for its visual transcendence, rather than its story. If you want to see the zenith of what nearly a century of animation has wrought, then watch this film, but don't expect your traditional storyline.
Rating:
Summary: One of my best animes
Review: Ghost In The Shell offers a blend of suspence, thrill and above all non stop intregue of the unknown. The animation is superb, the storyline is quick and the plot is well weaved. I strongly reccomend it to new anime fans who are starting this magnificent journey.
Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff Maynard!
Review: This is a sleek, dark and intelegent anime. It pulled me in and I still find small details that make this one of my favorite movies.
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