{Kokaku Kidotai}
 Tagline: It Found A Voice... Now It Needs A Body Mamoru Oshii's futuristic animated masterpiece, Ghost in he Shell, is the perfect film to experience on Digital Video Disk. Seamlessly merging traditional cel animation with the latest computer grapic imagery, this stunning sci-fi spectacle has broken boundries of mainstream animation with its detailed direction and uniquely intelligent story. Ghost in the Shell took the world by storm in 1996, introducing a new wave of Japanese animation through its mesmerizing cinematic expression. A movie that questions our own human existance in the fast-paced world of the information age, this remarable, award-winning, cyber-tevh thriller has gone on to become one of the leading Japanese animation films of all time. Storyline: The year is 2029. The world has become intensively information oriented and humans are well-connected to the network. Crime has developed into a sophisticated stage by hacking into the interactive network. To prevent this, Section 9 is formed. These are cyborgs with incredible strengths and abilities that can access any network on Earth. Written by L.H. Wong Mamoru Oshii's futuristic animated masterpiece, Ghost In The Shell, is the perfect film to experience on Digital Video Disk. Seamlessly merging traditional cel animation with the latest computer graphic imagery, this stunning sci-fi spectacle has broken the boundaries of mainstream animation with its detailed artistic direction and uniquely intelligent story line. Ghost In The Shell took the world by storm in 1996, introducing a new wave of Japanese animation through its mesmerizing cinematic expression. A movie that questions our own human existence in the fast-paced world of the information age, this remarkable, award-winning, cyber-tech thriller has gone on to become one of the leading Japanese animation films of all time. (a "ghost" in this movie is a soul-like entity) Cast Notes: Atsuko Tanaka (Major Motoko Kusanagi [JPN]), Mimi Woods (Major Motoko Kusanagi [ENG]), Akio Ôtsuka (Bateau [JPN]), Richard George [II] (Bateau [ENG]), Tamio Oki (Section 9 Department Chief Aramaki [JPN]), William Frederick [II] (Section 9 Department Chief Aramaki [ENG]), Iemasa Kayumi (Project 2501 aka 'The Puppet Master' [JPN]), Abe Lasser (Project 2501 aka 'The Puppet Master' [ENG]), Kôichi Yamadera (Togusa [JPN]), Christopher Joyce (Togusa [ENG]), Tesshô Genda (Section 6 Department Chief Nakamura [JPN]), Ben Isaacson (Section 6 Department Chief Nakamura [ENG]), Michael Sorich (Ishikawa [ENG]), Hank Smith [III] (Foreign Affairs Minister [ENG]), Steve Davis [X] (Diplomat [ENG]), Phil Williams [II] (Dr. Willis [ENG]), David Conrad [IV] (Bad Guy [ENG]), George Celik (Old Man [ENG]), Tom Carlton (Garbage Collector 'A'), Doug Stone [I] (Garbage Collector 'B'), Steve Bulen (Section 9 Staff Cyberneticist [ENG]), Joe Michaels [III] (Additional Voice [ENG]), Roger Canfield (Additional Voice [ENG]), Lia Sargent (Additional Voice [ENG]), Toni Burke (Additional Voice [ENG]), Sam Sheffer (Additional Voice [ENG]), Dorothy Gabriel (Additional Voice [ENG]), Joan Mason (Additional Voice [ENG]), Ben Parks (Additional Voice [ENG]), Donald Salin (Additional Voice [ENG]), Amy Wong [II] (Additional Voice [ENG]), Leo Gray [II] (Additional Voice [ENG]), Michael Porter [I] (Additional Voice [ENG]), Scott Prensor (Additional Voice [ENG]), Meg Hamilton (Additional Voice [ENG]), Stephen Platt (Additional Voice [ENG]), Gilbert Navarro (Additional Voice [ENG]), Murray Williams (Additional Voice [ENG]), Gina Connell (Additional Voice [ENG]), Gloria Oldman (Additional Voice [ENG]). User Comment: Jeff (greenerjeff) Olympia, WA • I don't know how anybody can so strongly disrespect this movie as many who've commented here have, but I do agree with the comments made by "a guy who likes movies": anyone who criticized it negatively must not have understood it. This is a really good movie and I'll tell you why: it IS extremely intelligent (doesn't just try), entertaining, and imaginative. Most importantly, it takes the dialogue on artificial lifeforms to a whole other level. It asks the questions "If one can create a soul, then what is the importance of being human?", "What defines humankind?", "What constitutes life?", and "Once artificial life forms are able to become sentient and procreate, where do we -- WE pertaining to both the human species, as well as our technological advancements -- go from there?". These are serious questions that are really difficult to provide answers to, but are really interesting to ponder over. Just remember: the movie opened by saying "Some time in the not too distant future." As you watch this movie and mull over its philosophy, think about that. 8/10 Summary: a great contributor to the philosophical dialogue User Comment: Hopper-2 • Ghost in the Shell is a visually stunning animated masterpiece. Japanese animation has always been in a class of its own so I won't even attempt to describe the incredible attention to detail and beautiful imagery in this movie. In this case the animation is merely icing for what is one of the most important works of science fiction in recent years. Every generation has had books and movies that have contributed to our collective understanding of reality. Prior to World War II this included books like Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We", Huxley's "Brave New World" and Orwell's "1984". Today most warnings about the future fall into the category of science fiction. Science fiction began to fill this role when Arthur C. Clarke's "2001" warned us of the potential for humanity to create intelligent, even sentient computers which could murder their human creators. "2001" envisioned computer intelligence imprisoned in the physical body of a computer. Where "2001" left off Ghost in the Shell begins. Ghost in the Shell tells the story of a future in which a computer program, Project 2501, becomes self-aware and begins a quest to fill basic needs it feels are qualifiers of being alive by controlling computers and people to achieve its ultimate goals. Whereas the HAL-9000 computer was relatively harmless owing to its confinement in the Odyssey space ship, Project 2501 is a recognition that the global internet could have dire consequences for all of us. By comparison this new villain is virtually invincible. But is Project 2501 a villain? Most people who have told me that they didn't like this move said that they didn't understand it. Indeed, the story and concepts are very complicated. I have watched it several times and still get new things out of it every time. Roger Ebert called Ghost in the Shell "Unusually intelligent and challenging science fiction, aimed at smart audiences". Ghost in the Shell is full of fascinating dialog such as this one from Project 2501. "A copy is just an identical image. There is the possibility that a single virus could destroy an entire set of systems and copies do not give rise to variety and originality. Life perpetuates itself through diversity and this includes the ability to sacrifice itself when necessary. Cells repeat the process of degeneration and regeneration until one day they die, obliterating an entire set of memory and information, only genes remain. Why continually repeat this cycle? Simply to survive by avoiding the weaknesses of an unchanging system." Thus Ghost in the Shell goes beyond simply a prediction or warning for the future: it attempts to contribute to our understanding of reality by breaking existence down into biological terms and making us question along with the characters in the movie whether or not any of us has a soul. The characters in Ghost in the Shell are unusually deep and are a refreshing change from the one-dimensional stereotypes we've become numbed by in recent years. Ghost in the Shell would be required reading in many high school and university courses if it weren't for the lucky fact that it can be enjoyed in this beautifully animated feature film. This is one of the few movies ever made that everyone should watch at least once. Summary: Important science fiction IMDb Rating (03/14/15): 8.0/10 from 65,714 users IMDb Rating (11/01/01): 7.7/10 from 3260 users
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_1.jpg)
