The GHZ Forum

So I was in Suncoast and I noticed a new "special edition" rerelease of the Ghost in the Shell DVD. I don't have much interest in the second disc of bonus material, but it claims on the back of the box that the movie has been "digitally remastered". This could be important, because the only version of the movie I have is the original DVD release from 1998 or something, and it's a pretty low quality compression. So what's up with this? Is it, like, a real remastering, or is it like the Beautiful Dreamer special edition, just a slightly cleaner version of the same print? Pep, I would venture to assume you have information?


I watched Innocence another couple of times since I first posted impressions, and while I still think it's a good movie, very lush visually, it's really not even in the same league as the original. Alot of the subtlety is gone, and while it's true that Oshii has never been shy about lengthy exposition, for better or worse, it really feels like he's hitting the viewer over the head here. There's also the fact that I don't really agree with it, or would prefer not to - ignorance can't be the answer - and the conclusion is a bit dry. Still good stuff altogether, well-directed and quite engaging, but there's something that happened with the original that, and I find myself saying this more and more lately, I don't think is ever going to happen again.

Plus, utter lack of nekkid boobies, which is, as far as I'm concerned, an essential element in the Ghost formula.

I haven't seen it myself, but while not an enormous improvement, the new disc is apparantly of noticably higher quality.

But I'm not really a fan of the movie. I think the TV series is a lot better.

But I'm not really a fan of the movie. I think the TV series is a lot better.

You get a D- for effort.

"Having passed over the first DVD release, I have no basis of comparison how this recent release compares. However, this release is far superior to the picture I have seen in the years of watching it on VHS or on broadcast television. The colors are vibrant and sharp allowing a lot of detail to shine through. There were no noticeable artifacts from the digital transfer. One only has to view the original scenes from 1995 used in the bonus material to appreciate how clean and crisp this transfer is."

From AnimeOnDVD.com.

No, Pep's right. The TV series kicks both the movies' asses.

Am I the only person in the universe that prefers Innocence over the original Ghost in the Shell?

Probably. I thought Innocence was just awful. But at least now I know where to go when I want to see a fifteen minute plot stuffed to feature length entirely by using random philosophical and literary quotes. I felt like I just sat there while some Japanese writer yelled "LOOK HOW FUCKING SMART I AM" for over two hours.

The first film definitely managed to say a whole lot more with a whole lot less.

Boy, that was the other thing that pissed me off about it. It would be okay if it were, like, one character who's prone to using obscure quotes, but it was every goddamn character in the movie who had dialogue. It's like watching the Pengo movie.

Plus, the subtitlers were too lazy to go to the original sources for the quotes, so a lot of them were worded totally wrong because they had been translated from English to Japanese and then back to English again.

So it's the Matrix Trilogy in Japanese?

I think it's safe to assume that the Wachowski brothers... brother and sister I should say... got a fair amount of influence from Ghost in the Shell for their Matrix movies, but in Matrix, the philosophy outside of the original was fairly facetious and just there to make the movie seem more intelligent. In constrast, Ghost in the Shell actually managed to integrate its existential philosophy well, considering that Matoko was practically all android except for a small piece of her grey matter inside her artificial skull. The only thing I don't like about the original is of Matoko occasionally fighting naked for no apparent reason whatsoever except for lame fanservice. I have yet to see Innocence, so I can’t comment on it, but I still want to see it.

The only thing I don't like about the original is of Matoko occasionally fighting naked for no apparent reason whatsoever

Banned.

And she isn't even hot, for that matter.

And she isn't even hot, for that matter.

Douched.

Dark Crow wrote:And she isn't even hot, for that matter.

I'd hit it... twice.

I'd cyber-hit it.

I think it's that scene when she tries to rip open the top of that tank at the end of the movie that turns me off. She looks too realistic in the movie, compared to the Stand Alone Complex series and manga.

But she's still hot.

If you were made out of electronics with no coolant system, you'd be hot too.

How do you know she doesn't have a coolant system?

She has a cooling system. Every 40 minutes, her cunt expels a clould of by-processed gasses from it.

Don't forget the lubricant or should that be lubriCUNT.
Baadoom-shh.

I have to second the anti-GITS sentiments. I haven't seen Innoncence, but I found the first movie to be spectacularly boring (not to mention all the irritatingly self-indulgent nudity which I was somehow expected to take seriously). I'm currently watching SAC, but I have to say I don't think it's too hot either. Fantastic soundtrack, mind.

Dude, you are so full of shit I don't know how you can walk without leaving brown stains on the carpet. How many times did you even watch the movie?

The comic is the best because it has lesbian sex. The TV series is good because it implies lesbian sex.

But the movie?