Ghost In The Shell [Blu-ray]

Anime is something I have always been passive on. I've never been a fan of that computer generated cuteness that passes for the genre now. The darker hand drawn stuff of old is what has always attracted me to the genre. Despite this, I have unintentionally managed to avoid Ghost in the Shell all my life and it's a decision I have quickly come to regret. For those not in the know, Ghost in the Shell is a cyberpunk anime movie from 1995. The movie was directed by Mamoru Oshii and features a screen play written by Kazunori Ito. The concept is based on the manga of the same name. The film follows the cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi as she tries to track down a mysterious hacker, simply known as Puppet Master. It's a classic cel animated production with a few CGI animated scenes sprinkled in for good measure. As a film, I found Ghost in the Shell to be a slow but mesmerising movie. It's a fairly simple movie on the surface. But when you look a little deeper, you'll find an interesting philosophical theme on self identity sitting just far enough for it to go unnoticed. It's a nice subtle layer that some people will miss. I personally thought it brought a nice bit of maturity to the movie and worked well with the main plot. It's only eighty two minutes long, which made it a very easy watch. Personally, I would have loved to have seen the film get drawn out a little longer. Just enough to get more back story on the characters, the world they live in and see how this Puppet Master came to be. But as it is, it's a very easy movie to watch. It's paced very quickly and doesn't feel over an hour in length. This is of course helped by the beautiful animation and haunting soundtrack. It makes for one big memorable experience. The quality of this bluray is quite on point. The colours are strong, the image is very clear and there is very little dirt or anomalies through out the running time. I wouldn't hesitate to say that it's the best it's going to look, without upgrading to the apparently impressive 4k disc that is. It was certainly an absolute bargain for the five pounds that I paid and I can easily see myself coming back to it a lot. Most people by now know of Ghost in the Shell. It has came from being a flop, to a cult classic and is now one of the most highly regarded anime films ever. If you're like me and have never seen it, I do highly recommend it. It's quite an interesting experience and one that is well worth having.

This one is for anyone who likes to think while consuming their media. Plot itself isn't very complicated, your usual military vs internal affairs set in cyberpunk world. But main characters touch upon some philosophical topics, like what it means to be human, what is self, what can be defined as a life form. If you think you have the answers, think again. The movie doesn't offer them either, it's entirely up to the viewer to make that judgement which is what I love about it. Very different way than what Hollywood does with flattening everything to a simple answer. Visually it's still good, despite of its age. Semi realistic character designs are simple but good. What really pops though are the gorgeous backgrounds! Vibrant and detailed, they seamlessly join more traditional elements of city with futuristic, creating a world that looks realistic. Also worth mentioning is the music, which merges traditional Eastern European elements with Japanese, creating something unique. It's an interesting choice, given how most cyberpunk productions opt for electronic vibes. GitS is one of those movies that I love coming back to every now and then, which is why I got my own copy of it. I highly recommend it!

Good animation for its time and good animation movie

One of the best anime action films ever made, honestly have to say and thats not just word from me. Another really great one is Akira and Street Fighter 2 (the dvd edition of SF 2 is much better than the blu-ray by the way, thats for anyone whom happens to be really into SF memorabilia when it comes to films). This is probably the best edition of GITS when it comes to choosing between editions. There is the 3d and updated edition which I myself am not necessarily a major fan of, thats because the older edition being this one is as everyone with sense knows, the best one. In the newer and more updated version, they made everything look fancy but left out many very important aspects and traits to the film that should always have remained true but didn't. Thats why I would recommend this edition, either dvd or blu-ray format, this one is probably the best one unless you are lucky and happened to come across something but better, but just don't go near the newer and updated 3d version is all, avoid it like the plague and enough said at that.

A fantastic movie on blu ray, with a low price that is almost too hard to believe. Brilliant.

Manga earned their reputation from foreigners like me watching their cartoons and reading their comics for years, it was a cult following that few know about and only these who experience it went to special shops like drug dealer for their fix. Now at last Manga has come of age and is not longer regarded as kids stuff but a serious art form. Ghost in the Shell. This is the almost pure form of Manga with out the irritating of sub-titles at last. A mixture of excellent colour graphs, animation and computer graphic that has to be seen to be believed. Slow motion, fires, sunset and explosions in fantastic effects . I did no have HD but if i did it would have been way better. If you only see one Magna then this should be it.

Ghost in the Shell is a brilliant film adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga of the same name. It provides a compelling view of the future. The film handles the future carefully layering on future elements over older architecture. The Blu-Ray conversion brilliantly captures these details which adds to the already brilliant story.

This is one of my favourite animes of all time, I have watched it so many time I can't count but each time I do I find new nuisances and I still can not truly claim I fully understand the story but it a stylistic masterpiece of a cyberpunk future