Ghost In The Shell 2.0 (Redux)
Label: Manga Entertainment.
Certificate: 15
Discs: 2.
Running time: 79 mins approx
Video: 16.9 anamorphic
Sound: English 5.1 + 2.0, Japanese 5.1 + 2.0
Subtitles: English.
Release date: 26th October 2009
DVD RRP: £19.99 – Amazon – Play
Blu-Ray RRP: £24.99 – Amazon – Play
Brief synopsis:
The year is 2029. When a mysterious terrorist known only as “The Puppet Master” begins hacking into the brains of innocent civilians, the elite agents of Newport City’s counter-terrorist organization – Public Security Section 9 – are tasked with bringing him in. Unfortunately every suspect they pull in turns out to be a just another unwitting pawn, normal people whose cyborg bodies have been hijacked by the puppet master for his own purposes. When a fully mechanical body is brought it that seems to be acting as if it contains a living soul, cyborg agent Major Motoko Kusanagi believes that she may have finally come up against the real Puppet Master. However, other agencies, including the government’s own Section 6, have other plans for the Section 9’s newest suspect.
Comments:
Ask any sci-fi fan to name a good cyberpunk anime movie and you’ll probably hear about Ghost in the shell. It doesn’t matter if they’re an anime fan or not, the answer will probably still be the same. Arguably, over the last 14 years, the original Ghost in the shell has gone from just being A cyberpunk anime movie to THE cyberpunk anime movie and to this day it remains to many the yardstick against which all others are measured. It’s surprising then to note then that when Ghost in the shell was first released onto the cinema going public back in 1995 it didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Garnering only one hundred thousand paying customers during it’s first theatrical run in it’s native Japan, it could easily have been considered something of a failure. Even today there’s a huge amount of fans who’ve never had a chance to see this modern classic as it was meant to be seen; up there on the big screen. But, like many good movies, quality shines through and once it was released on VHS, and later on DVD, it quickly became a firmly entrenched fan favourite. Unfortunately, short of catching it at a festival – such as such as at SFL 2004 – or an anime season hosted by the likes of the BFI or the Barbican, your chances of seeing this movie in a UK cinema over the last decade were somewhat slim.
But, and here’s the good bit, to celebrate the release of Ghost in the shell director Mamoru Oshii’s newest movie, Sky Crawlers (which will be making at appearance at this year’s Oktoberfest), Ghost in the shell was recently revisited by the studio, given a spiffy new lick of paint and some tweaking under the hood before being sent back out into the world with the bold – though slightly confusing – new title of ”Ghost in the shell 2.0”. We were lucky enough to be able to be able to include this re-release as part this year’s SFL festival back in May where the response from the audience was, to say the least, outstanding.
If I had to sum this movie up in a two words then they would be thus: “Bladerunner… Animated”. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Ghost in the Shell could easily be touted as the Bladerunner of the anime world. Adapted from Musamune Shirow’s popular manga, which drew heavily from the likes of Issac Asimov, Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson, a lot has also been borrowed from Ridley Scott’s classic, visually, thematically and even musically. But as always, what goes around, comes around, and there’s much of Ghost in the Shell that’s been borrowed by Hollywood since with the Matrix Trilogy being a major example of this movie’s influences on western moviemaking.
So what’s been done to the old girl to warrant this rampant re-badging? Well, for this new “Director’s cut” all the original animation has been reprocessed with new digital technology and up-to-date re-mastering processes. The colours are clearer and cleaner, the lines sharper and the whole look and feel is generally much crisper. There are entire sequences that have been reanimated with 3D CGI, much of the opening title sequence has been completely replaced and any instances of a cyberspace environment or a holographic display being portrayed has either been re-coloured or reanimated entirely.
The upgrades aren’t just visual either; the entire original soundtrack has been remixed, taking it up from the original 2.0 stereo to 6.1 DTS (though limited back down to 5.1 on the DVD and Blu-Ray versions) while the Japanese language dialogue has been completely rerecorded. This new version of the Japanese language track includes some quite subtle differences, and the recasting of one major character which brings a slightly different spin to the proceedings. Apart from the aforementioned recasting, all the original Japanese voice actors have returned. They’ve had two Ghost in the shell TV series’, two theatrical movies and a couple of video game since they first voiced these characters and anyone familiar with the original version will be able to hear how the actors have really settled into these roles over the years and, much like donning a comfortable pair of old shoes, they take to them again with amazing ease and skill.
Now, as usually happens at this point in the review, I’m going to have a whinge about something. When the original Ghost in the shell was released it did a really good job of integrating the 3D CGI into the traditionally crafted animation. In fact, seeing as animated 3D CGI was a fledgling technology back then the animation company, Production IG, did an outstanding job at making the meld between the two techniques almost seamless. However, in crafting Ghost in the shell 2.0 there’s a couple of instances where the new CG is so noticeably better than the original animation that they no longer gel together as well as they did before.
Also, with all the time and effort that went into re-recording the Japanese version, why did they not do something about the English dub as well? It’s not that the existing dub is inherently bad, it’s just that, like their Japanese counterparts, the English cast have had a good few years to get into their roles and could probably do a much better job if given another crack at it. Mind you, after the trouble they had dubbing Ghost in the shell: Innocence a few years back – which apparently took the English cast three full weeks to complete to the Japanese cast’s two days – perhaps it was decreed not to be cost effective.
And while I’m at it, a subtitle option for “signs only” wouldn’t have gone amiss as, unless you’re watching with the subs on you’ll never know what the message that springs up in kanji during the first few seconds of the movie says.
All that aside, if you’re a Ghost in the shell fan looking to upgrade your old DVD version to Blu-Ray then this is what you’ve been waiting for. However, if you don’t already own Ghost in the shell then now’s a good time to buy the old version on DVD as it’s currently being sold off cheap as a double pack with Ghost in the shell: Innocence and can easily be snapped up from most online retailers for less than a fiver.
Extras:
Making of Ghost In The Shell; Theatrical Trailer; Character Profiles; Creator Biographies.
Ghost In The Shell 2.0 will be available from most high streets and online retailers on both DVD and Blu-ray from 26th October 2009. To mark these releases there’s a small number of theatrical showings being held at various locations around the country and this is a movie which really deserves to be seen on the big screen, even if only the once. Londoners can catch it at the ICA from 2nd to 8th Oct and as an extra bonus they’re also showing the sequel, Ghost In The Shell: Innocence, on 3rd, 5th, 8th Oct.
Reviewer: Penfold