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Ghost in the Shell 2.0 [Blu-ray]

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 [Blu-ray]Director: Mamoru Oshii
Actors: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera, Tesshô Genda, Masato Yamanouchi
Studio: Manga Video
Category: DVD

List Price: $29.97
Buy New: $12.99
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 34 reviews
Sales Rank: 1775

Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Media: Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5

MPN: 3095
UPC: 013138309587
EAN: 0013138309587
ASIN: B002NUULNG

Theatrical Release Date: 1996
Release Date: November 24, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Features:
  • GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0 BLU-RAY (BLU-RAY DISC)
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Product Description
A film that has spawned a thousand imitations but never been bettered Mamoru Oshiis 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:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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5 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
Jose Argumedo (Miami, FL USA)
36 out of 38 found this review helpful

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.


5 out of 5 stars GITS Reloaded   January 15, 2010
J. Alford (Atlanta, GA. United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

You can not talk about cyberpunk without bringing up this one! This is the movie that even anime haters have seen and liked. Mamoru Oshii, director of Sky Crawlers and Patlabor pioneered anime sci-fi in the 90s with this film adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga series.

Set in a future where androids and cyborgs are commonplace, a special Japanese enforcer unit called Section 9 gets called into handle cybercrimes and sticky foreign affairs. Matoko is a major on this team, and she and her partner Batou get called into handling a case on the illusive hacker known as the Puppet Master. After trailing some unsuspecting garbage collectors, they think they have their man, but he turns out to be another puppet himself. Then, a robot body escapes from a government cybernetics lab, and is brought into Section 9 headquarters. Two agents from the rival Section 6 show up to claim it saying that was now hosting the cybernetic essence referred to as a "ghost" of the Puppet Master. It reveals itself to be a living entity that was created by Section 6 to control people's ghosts, and its come to Section 9 seeking asylum. Commandos make off with the body, so Matoko and Batou take off after their getaway car. Matoko corners them in an abandonned church, although the car is protected by a robot spider tank(not a Tachikoma, BTW). She almost gets crushed by the tank, but Batou manages to stop it with a bigass gun. Matoko then dives into the Puppet Master, and he reveals to her that arranged all this in attempt to merge his programming with her ghost in order to create an entirely new lifeform. Matoko doesn't get a chance to disagree as both she and the Puppet Master's body's are totalled by Section 6 agents. Hours later, Batou was able to salvage what there was of Matoko's ghost into the robot body of a young girl, although she claims she is now longer Matoko or the Puppet Master, but their composite prodigy. She then leaves planning to spread herself throughout the net.

This movie was one of the few to actually be released in U.S. theatres in the 90s. The blend of computer graphics with Oshii's dynamic animation direction is superb. It's influence is apparent in several other American productions like Batman Beyond, The Matrix and Equilibrium. The film itself spawned off a sequal, Ghost In The Shell: Innocence, plus the Stand Alone Complex anime TV series which has a movie followup and two compilation movies. The original was recently redone in a new version, Ghost In The Shell 2.0, which is the same film, but now with new 3D graphics which add a definate bonus to it, and not in some lame Star Wars: Special Edition way. The dub is pretty good, although most U.S. otaku probably ally themselves with the English cast from the TV series instead. All in all, the 2.0 version is a paramount acquisition for your personal anime ark!


5 out of 5 stars A Welcome update to an Anime Classic.   February 9, 2010
M. Hassan (New jersey)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

To someone who have seen the original GiTS and is thinking of buying this movie, just remember that the term 2.0 merely refers to some graphical changes done to some scenes. Otherwise its largely the same movie. The opening scene, where we are introduced to the Major is done completely in CG now and its NOT CHEAP CG as some might like to call. In fact its very well done, the hand drawn animation is left largely in tact, the opening and the creation of Major is completely redone and so is her scuba diving scene and some others. Don't buy this movie, thinking its a complete CG GiTS. It was done mostly to promote Oshii's new movie, The Sky Crawlers. However I personally loved and appreciated the changes. I can see why some people complain that disposition between CG and cel animation is a bit Jarring but to me it didn't mattered. But maybe that's just me. Buy it only if you are a die hard fan otherwise consider it a rental. Since there's anything new. The new CGI scenes look much better on the Blu-Ray as compared to the DVD counterpart. My only complain is the lack of extra features, you get a measly making of GITS 2.0 and some bios, nothing extraordinary. Considering how much people and filmmakers can say about this movie. Though a cool thing about the Blu-Ray is that for those of you who haven't seen the original, the Blu-Ray comes with both the original and the enhanced version. So you basically get two movies for the price of one. Which is not a bad deal, but it would have been a killer deal if Production I.G would have done some kind of enhances to the hand drawn animation. But what's there is pretty good stuff. But i can say with confidence that GITS 2.0 would be a worthy addition to your collection and don't forget to pick up GITS 2: Innocence on Blu-Ray as well.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent remaster!!!   January 18, 2010
E. Ringgold (metairie,la)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

After watching the new remastered 2.0 version and have seen the original Ghost in the shell movie the only complaint is some of the CGI scenes being replaced by some of the anime.The video compared to the 2 disc remastered release has been very notiably cleaned up.The director also brought back the cast from the original movie to do the voice recordings and compared to the original sounds alot better also.The original actors are older now so the voice over being redone gave this remastering a more mature sound to the movie and if your a fan appreciate that the director used the same actors again to do the voice overs again.The sound has also been redone.If you have a nice Hi-Def TV and surround sound this movie sounds and looks excellent!!The director also remastered the original musical score with a higher sounding tone that sounds alot better than the original score.I had the original Manga release from sometime ago and picked up the 2 disc original rerelease of the movie when it came out on dvd.I still like the original presentation without the CGI but, being treated to a fully remastered version of the film was a visual and audio treat.What I did not like about the release of the Ghost in the shell 2.0 is this is a bare release with no special features at all and should have been released onto dvd much better by the publisher.If you have never seen this movie at all I recommend watch the original version of the film without the CGI then watch this version to fully appreciate the movie.What I hope what will happen and since Dreamworks got the ok to do a live action 3D version of Ghost in the shell is maybe the original version of the anime without the CGI can be remastered and a Box set release along with the live action release of the film can be done with both movies and special features included in the set would give this movie a well deserved release.Hopefully the end release of this movie will be the same way Blade Runner was done countless times on DVD.For now if you don't own either version of the movie get both of them watch the original first then the 2.0 remaster.This is a very well done movie ahead of its time!!!


5 out of 5 stars Happy GITS fan, here   November 24, 2009
Robert W. Scott (Luray, VA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I'm happy that a new generation of viewers may get the chance to see this groundbreaking Sci-Fi/Art movie with fresh eyes. And ears. I remember putting the film's audio on a cassette tape years ago so I could listen to it at work and in my car.. it was one of the first anime I remember that had a brilliant ambient score that drenched the film in a really eerie stoic mood. The remastered Skywalker sound soundtrack and effects track are a total joy to me, the music's dynamic range is captured better than ever, and a plethora of miscellaneous background effects flesh out the action better than ever.
In nearly every scene, the colors look deeper and more genuine than the original print.. there is alot more simulated depth of field, not only from newly inserted visuals, but just from some clever color and contrast tweaks.
And NO, I have no qualms with the added CGI elements. Mamoru Oshii approved all of them, and Oshii's ever reiterated themes in the series has always been disassociation, dehumanization and the philosophy of making dolls in human form... so for this viewer, having a few scenes where Major Kusanagi is re-visualized in an even more stylized and antiseptic digital shape doesn't bother me at all. It's the whole point of her character.

The cropping that appears in some shots bothered me a little, but I get the feeling this wasn't done because it looked good, but because there wasn't another way to fix or alter color timing in the frame without it.

The collector in me would also have preferred if the original cut of the film was included on a separate disc, but at the same time, as it's just a HD rip of the original film that I've seen a bazillion times anyway, it's not a deal breaker.

I'm happy with this version.

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