Ghost in the Shell 2.0 Blu-Ray Review

Director: Mamoru Oshi

Starring

JAPAN:  Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ohtsuka and Koichi Yamadera

ENGLISH: Mimi Woods, Richard Epcar and Christopher Joyce

Original Release: November 18^th 1995

 2.0 Release: 2008

Based on the Manga by: Shirow Masamune

Ghost in the Shell is one of those special anime films, not only was it a  major hit in Japan but it was able to reach a boarder audience stateside besides the very low demographic that anime fans were at the time.  The film had a very limited theatrical run but that was all it took to get the ship to sail, Ghost in the Shell became a huge cult-hit and over the years it has fallen under the same league as Akira as one of the greatest anime films of all time. Seeing Ghost in the Shell is one of those “requirements” to prove your anime street cred, even if you don’t care for the film anyone can admit what Ghost in the Shell did for anime both on a technical aspect and helping the anime medium as a whole was anything but extraordinary. Even filmmakers like James Cameron and the Wachowskis have admitted their admiration for Mamoru Oshi’s science fiction classic. Next year will mark the films 20^th anniversary and still to this day love for Ghost in the Shell stands strong, it’s a testament to the incredible work that went into creating this film. Want to know what the funny thing is? The movie is not even under 90 minutes the film incredibly short yet for some reason feels like it’s a lot longer than that. This is probably because Ghost in the Shell is science fiction at its finest with deep philosophical conversations on what it means to be human and if machines can truly achieve sentient status, of course if you love science fiction than this is a been there done that, but Ghost in the Shell really is special in that regard.

In 2008 Ghost in the Shell 2.0 was released, it was the films first foray into Blu-Ray and I quickly jumped at the chance to get it. I already own the film on DVD but it’s like I always say “if it is a movie you really love than you can make an exception”. 2.0 has Ghost in the Shell completely transferred into an HD formant and Oshi even went as far as to add new CG elements to the film, it even says there is a new track from the films composer Kenji Kawai. But are these new additions a possible hindrance to the film? The answer is yes and no.

For those of who you have yet to watch Oshi’s masterwork the premise is fairly simple. Taking place in the year 2029 ad, where almost everyone is either a cyborg or has been augmented in some way. Ghost in the Shell focuses on the public security agency known as Section 9 who are stationed in Hong Kong. The team is lead by Major Motoko Kusanagi who is tasked with catching a dangerous hacker known only as the Puppet Master. In a world where everyone’s brain has been cyberized the Puppet Master can easily hack into the mind of anyone he wishes, manipulating their memories to make them do his bidding.  As Motoko and Section 9 quickly catch on to the trail of this mysterious hacker Motoko begins to lose her sense of singular identity in the constant stream of the net. Ghost in the Shell is Cyberpunk at its finest, dealing with robots, corrupt politicians and strong philosophical themes that you would expect from any good science fiction tale.

The chief character in all of this is Major Motoko Kusanagi who has become one of the figure heads for strong female characters in anime; she is a badass through and through. Of course she has become a sort of sex symbol over the years, this is probably due to the constant nude shots of her in the film, but the shots are not for sexual purposes, in fact every time Motoko is nude in this film it’s in order to activate her thermoptic camouflage which acts as a sort of light see through film that goes over her entire body. Of course this is changed drastically in the television series for obvious reasons, Motoko is one of my personal favorite anime characters of all time and the journey that she embarks on in this film is not simply a simple man hunt, it quickly turns into a journey through her own soul as she tries to find a perfect meaning to her existence on Earth and if she really is Human to begin with.

Following with Motoko there is the hard ass Batou who is the muscle of the group, Batou has always had a crush on Motoko but she never really acknowledges his advances and their relationship is strictly work related/friendzoned. There is also Togusa, who was transferred over to Section 9 from the police, what makes Togusa stand out from the trio is that he has hardly any augmented body parts aside from a small augment to his mind which is a requirement when joining section 9. He’s a family man at heart and is another one of my favorite characters. All of Section 9 is run by Daisuke Aramaki who is an old man but also another complete badass. His role in this film is pretty minor compared to his involvement in other branches of the series. The sad part is most of Section 9 is completely shafted in this film, other than the four characters I just mentioned they really don’t get screen time. The rest of the ensemble has their time to shine in the series, but for the film its strictly Motoko’s story.

As I mentioned above, Ghost in the Shell 2.0 has had some changes regarding animation. Studio IG has had a very strong relationship with the Ghost in the Shell franchise and has helped to create the cg components to the film. This does make the computer and future tech aspects of the film look more up-to-date compared to the gritty green grids from the first film, but it also takes away the charm that was in the original film.  You see originally the computer aspects were a hybrid of live action components and-at the time-state of the art animation. To completely change all of that to cg completely demolishes the hard work that went into the original release of the film and ruins what made it such a great advancement for anime in the first place. While I can sort of live with some of the cg added into the film one thing that really bothers me is that certain animated scenes have been completely changed to cg! Now I am not talking about the technology in the world, no, I mean that complete animated sequences that were originally 2D are now cg. It’s almost like Oshi went completely George Lucas on the project, these scenes didn’t need to be changed at all! Sure it looked nice six years ago when 2.0 was released, but going back on it now, the cg has not aged well at all. The original animation has stood the test of time so far, and still looks vastly superior to whatever Oshi decided to do in 2.0.

Cg aside the normal animation is gorgeous to look at; Ghost in the Shell has some of the most beautiful animated scenes I’ve ever seen. The climax to the film is so gorgeous that I can continue to watch it on repeat.  The HD transfer has only helped the amazing artwork that was presented in the film, colors have been subdued to grey and orange, but Ghost in the Shell was never a hyper realistic anime to begin with. Many of the areas and characters are pretty realistic looking despite being in a cyberpunk world. The animation and characters are all weaved meticulously in this film and of course I can’t give enough praise to the animators who made this film. You see cell shaded animation has become quite the common practice in anime, but Ghost in the Shell was the first film to fully utilize this technology while combining it with cg, that is why Ghost in the Shell has been such a stepping stone in the history of anime.

The music in the film is scored by Kenji Kawai, and the theme for Ghost in the Shell has become a classic among anime themes. You can always hear the track and be sent right back to the incredible opening sequence of the film. Now 2.0 apparently is supposed to have a new track from Kawai, and that’s sort of true. The track never plays in the film at all, instead it’s the menu music for the film, the track itself is very soothing but I think it would have been better suited to be placed somewhere in the film itself. The HD remastered soundtrack however makes the film sound better than ever! The audio is very clear down from soundtrack, effects, and dialogue.  

Now 2.0 has become the standard release for the movie, so if you are trying to just find the original film you might want to try out eBay because Manga Entertainment- who has the rights to the film -only have this version circulating at the moment. But have no fear, if you do want to watch the original film 2.0 does come with the original feature. Unfortunately the movie is only in standard definition, why this decision was made has yet to be seen but the movie is there in its original glory if you want to view it. Regardless of what version you watch Ghost in the Shell will be a great ride.

I’ve seen the movie both in Japanese and English, and while the English dub is pretty decent it does come off as clunky and forced. Cuss words are randomly added to make the movie seem more hardcore but the Japanese version has none of the unnecessary vulgarity that was added to the dub. I am not saying that the dub is completely unwatchable, I’ve watched it quite a few times myself, it’s just that after watching the television series I can’t really see Mimi Woods as Motoko anymore, although her work in this film is exceptional I have to admit that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Television Motoko) is the quintessential English version of the character.  Richard Epcar who plays Batou is a phenomenal voice actor, and has played the role in almost all of the franchises incarnations. This was one of his early works but you’ve more than likely heard his deep voice before in games like Mortal Kombat and Kingdom Hearts his voice is very recognizable.

The Japanese version however is superior, Atsuko Tanaka has been playing this character for almost 20 years now and is a veteran voice actor, and most will recognize her as the voice of Konan from Naruto. However with the new rebooted franchise called Ghost in the Shell: Arise she has been replaced by Maaya Sakamoto, I have yet to see Arise but it will be hard to think of anyone else voicing Motoko. Akio Otsuka supplies the voice for Batou I personally am familiar with his work from Bleach (a favorite of mine) where he plays the voice of Captain Shunsui and of course he is the original voice actor for Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series.  As you can see the two leads in this film are pretty well respected Japanese voice actors with projects ranging from the 80s to now. But Ghost in the Shell is that one project that put them on the map in North America.  2.0 however has had the original cast record new lines for the 2.0 release, however if you watch the movie in English you will be stuck with the original audio from the films localization.

As far as special features go there really isn't much to write home about. If you already own the film on DVD than you've already seen what 2.0 has to offer feature wise. The making of the movie is presented that was originally part of the VHS release but was added to the DVD. I was expecting something more when it came to this release but it looked like Oshi didn’t want to add anything new with this release. I guess if it's not broke don't fix it.

Ghost in the shell is a fantastic movie, not only is it one of my favorite anime films and franchises of all time but a personal favorite science fiction film. The movie does not hold your hand and leaves much up to the imagination of the viewer. There is a sequel to the film called Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence; I have yet to see this movie unfortunately, it isn't a direct sequel to the film but it does continue the story of Batou. If you're interested in checking it out you will unfortunately have to stream it/download it. The film is now out of print making finding a physical copy almost impossible, your best bet is probably eBay. 

Now for this movie I am going to give two scores, one complete score out of 10 for the actual Blu-Ray and what comes with it and another score for the film itself. Now while Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is a very good HD adaption the lack of new features and the strange addition to some of the scenes make it feel like a prettier but inferior version to the original. The film is also available on a DVD but I think it can only really be appreciated in HD. I give the actual Blu-Ray itself a

7.5/10

I want to give it an eight but the unnecessary cg that was added and the lack of any special features really bogs down by grade for the Blu-Ray.

And I give the actual film itself a

8/10

Ghost in the Shell is still a spectacular anime film, if you are looking for more of a shonen type fare then look elsewhere you wont find anything like that here. But if you do give Ghost in the Shell a chance you might be surprised with what is has to offer.  Hollywood is also planning on making a live action adaptation of the film which in all likelihood will probably be horrible, so just stay clear from that monstrosity and watch this version instead