Ghost in the Shell

Rating:
Summary: What a drag...
Review: You know, guys, part of the reason that anime is not taken seriously by the populace at large is that people like you keep insisting that awful stuff like this is great, brilliant, sheer art, the form at its best. Is it just that you have no critical thinking abilities, or is it that your brains just for some reason shut off when presented with Japanese animation? Regardless, the truth will out: this is a plodding (god knows how they got an eighty-minute film to plod, but there you are), pretentious, and terribly dull piece of work.

In many ways, Ghost in the Shell reminded me of The Matrix, another bad film that put style wholly over subtance, and deserves to be mercilessly ridiculed for its obvious and oh-so-shallow stabs at 'depth.' I'm not saying that it would have been impossible to make a decent film built around the hoary old 'what does it mean to be human?' cliche this is emphatically not that film (that film would be Tezuka's Metropolis, which is polite enough to at least not beat you over the head with it). And, regrettably, the shalowness of the philosophy is only matched by that of the characters, removing another element by which the film could have been made to appeal. Do the action scenes succeed, then? No. They are dull and poorly paced, with no really feeling of excitement at any point.

To be fair, it's not all bad: some of the visuals are sort of decent, and the soundtrack is good (the ending theme is apparently by U2 and Brian Eno...whaddaya know about that?). These are nowhere near enough to overcome the film's prevailing badness, though. Not recommended to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: May be the best anime movie I've ever seen
Review: This movie shows all the potential that anime has. Its not your average "accion" anime, this has it all, great caracter disign, great plot and GREAT ending. If you're looking just for the big robots or just something to loose an hour and a half of your life, this one is not for you (great accion secuences though)but if you like to think on the true meanning os existence then this is a must have

Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Anime
Review: This is truly a great anime, with stunning graphics, great action sequences and marvelous characters. The first time I saw it, I didn't understand the story or what the characters were trying to accomplish. The second time I understood more of the story itself, and noticed little details I skipped when I viewed the movie the first time. Even though I viewed this movie countless times, there are still new things I discover every time I see it, and more of the story I understand. Still the story seems somewhat confusing to me, especially with the extremely confusing ending. I recommend this movie to any anime fan whose looking for a serious movie, with a lot of mystery in it. There isn't too much fighting in it, but the few action sequences are marvelous. The graphics were stunning, with amazing enviorments, and beautifully textured characters. I recommend borrowing or renting it if you aren't serious about anime...yet. To completely get the whole movie, you have to watch it three, or at least two times. But overall, this is a fantastic movie.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, it's as great as you've heard
Review: Ghost in the Shell was the first movie that piqued my interest in adult anime. It also seems to be the benchmark by which other such movies are judged. Just look around and see how many people compare lesser movies to it.

This movie is full of action. The graphical detail is incredible, and every time you watch this movie, you will probably see something new. The only downside is that the character development is slightly weak. If you haven't read the manga, you initially might need help figuring out who is doing what, and why.

Motoko Kusanagi is a great heroine. She is motivated, introspective, and fearless.

Batou's character does a great job in the supporting role. Clearly he is not as philosophical as Motoko, but he knows where his heart is.

If you want to see a futuristic sci-fi thriller which is not afraid to confront the philosophical origin of human existence, then Ghost in the Shell is for you. It is directed towards the more sophisticated audience--not people who are satisfied with mutated exploding teddy bears or gundam mechs.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, drab and tedious.
Review: There have been great existentialist works in the past, and there have been mediocre ones. Here's one way in which they can be distinguished - in the great works, the existential themes of the works are _never_ delivered literally by one of the characters, speaking in monotone, in a dialogue that is so contrived that it sounds like a series of monologues, addressed directly to the reader or viewer. That is not profundity. That is incompetence. That, however, is exactly what happens in Ghost in the Shell.

I have not read the book this was based on, and after seeing the film, I will never have any desire to. Even if I charitably grant the possibility that it was good, the film still failed entirely at presenting its content. There is no reason to care for anyone in this film. It supposedly poses some profound existential questions, but it does so in such a self-important way that I could almost hear the sound of the director patting himself on the back, congratulating himself for his own coolness. Since the time that could have been used for character development goes to use for these affected monologues (complete with quoted scripture), at the end of this film I felt no closer to its protagonists than I was at the beginning. I also felt no desire to get any closer to them, since they never serve as aught else than wooden mouthpieces for the director's profound existential questions (which, when treated in this manner, are not anywhere near as profound, or as original, or as worth pondering, as he would like to think).

The result is drabness and tedium. The screenplay is dry, the characters and their drama are so stilted and forced that they may as well not exist, the action scenes are boring (since there is no reason to be emotionally involved), and the film doesn't even have the saving grace of looking good. I vaguely remember one or two scenes when it was raining that I might have perhaps considered visually appreciable, but I have more recollections of scenes that induced headaches. And the nudity is nothing but gratuitous - bafflingly so, since Motoko Kusanagi is so unlike a real human that she is not only unattractive but vaguely repulsive.

There is one good line in the film, and even this line is only good relative to the rest of the screenplay. It is this: "You're treated like other humans, so stop with the angst!" There you go. Now you have no need to see this film any longer. This could have been a thought-provoking, beautiful, profound film that might have given Japanese animation some much-needed credibility in the arena of world cinema. Unfortunately, the director of Ghost in the Shell was blissfully unaware of what makes a film any of these things. The result is thoroughly unlikeable.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie for fans of the genre
Review: I first saw this movie at my university's theater during a "classic anime week." I'll admit that the first time I saw the movie it bored me to no end. Though I was impressed by the two main action sequences, I lost track of the plot early on and couldn't get back into it. Big mistake.

So I watched it again. Now I find the pace to actually be very, very good. The movie is fast-paced, even in dialogue scenes as the viewer is almost drowned with information (very fitting to the setting, IMHO). As I don't watch much anime, I can't really comment on the quality of the animation, though I was impressed. If you liked "The Matrix," you'll probably like this movie, even if you have to see it twice (it's worth it).

And a brief comment about the nudity. The first time I saw the movie, it turned me off. The second time, it seemed completely natural and realistic. And it is, if you think about it. Other than contrasting our preception of her sexuality with the reality that she is mostly machine, the nudity is just a simple necessity when the Major wants to pull that invisible trick. There's nothing else too it. She even manages to look androgenous a lot of the time.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly intelligent and deep
Review: Ghost in the Shell's awesome. The computer graphics are so well integrated into the animation that the only visible difference is the framerate. The plot was incredible, too. There are very few anime works which I actually have to sit and think about. Neon Genesis Evangelion was one. This is the other, to date. It also carries the distinction of being the only movie I've seen that views the onset of technology as a good thing. I'd put this in my top three anime works, along with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

Rating:
Summary: The Picture is worth to SEE!!
Review: The graphic was wonderful. I love the quality of pictures! It was just amazing. In DVD version, they talk about how they made the pictures and it's worth to see. Especially, I love the fighting scene. They fight on the water. The shadow, lightening make up all the beautiful pictures.

Ghost in the Shell was made in 1996. I say, it wasn't quite successful from the money perspective in Japan, however, it was more successful in the US.

I thought the story was too complicated. One of the voice actors said "you should see this movie from your heart" or something. I think that is very right. I tried to understand what was going on there, but it was just too complicated; I guess I need the booklet to read the story setting etc. I was thinking "why were Japanese government people in Chinese city (you can assume that city is probably in Hong Kong by the writings and houses etc)??" Also, in some part, the main character says some phrase from the Christian Bible. The voice was so low that I couldn't understand what she was saying. Even if I could hear, I wouldn't know that was from the Bible. I think if you have some knowledge about the Bible, you might be able to see something in the story other can't see.

The theme music was made base on Shinto music. Shinto is the Japanese religion, basically believe in spirit everywhere. However, it is more emersed in people's daily lives. So that, most of the people don't know they are practicing Shintoism. Anyways, the music was very mysterious and I think it fits to the movie very well.

Well well well, I hope my review helps. When you get DVD, I recommend to see the appendix part talking about how they made the movie.

Rating:
Summary: A great BIG mistake..
Review: Ok people there are lots of [bad] anime out there, and this movie is one of them. I bought this because all the reviews were good and now it is so overrated and boring. Watching it was like going through ancient chinese torture. In a nutshell, it was a plotless, computer-animated piece of ... And the music? My ears almost burst from that nasty high-pitched nuisance called singing. It was confusing and uninteresting. If I can give it ZERO stars, I would in a heartbeat. By the way I sold this [stuff] to my friend ...boy was I happy from getting that out of my house. If u like Escaflowne, Utena, Gravitation, or Yami no Matsuei...stay away from this movie. If you want to see more [stuff], watch the second part and don't even get me started on Princess Mononoke.

Rating:
Summary: A must have.
Review: This is an EXCELLENT movie. The scenes are so vivid, and the storylines are amazing. The animation is great, and the movie itself even creeped me out at some points because of how deep the plot was. I reccoment this movie to everyone, even to people who don't like animation that much. You forget its animated after a while. You get lost in the plot. It's deffinately worth your time and money to watch.