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Ghost in the Shell |OT| I was born in the sea of information

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Mobius 1

Member
I walked in wanting to hate it and I didn't. In fact, they've handled some things rather well. Have to think more about it but is not a travesty.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
If we do get a sequel, which we won't cus this movie isn't making much money, I would love for it to be focus on her and the squad more. I thought they were one of the cooler parts of the movie but we didn't really get to see them much because of what this movie was about.
 

Trago

Member
If we do get a sequel, which we won't cus this movie isn't making much money, I would love for it to be focus on her and the squad more. I thought they were one of the cooler parts of the movie but we didn't really get to see them much because of what this movie was about.

So basically a Stand Alone Complex movie.
 
If by some miracle they get to make another one, I hope they don't treat the audience like children. Seeing how the ghost is represented in this movie give me little hope though. I doubt there will be another one, maybe 15 years from now a awesome adaptation will happen.

So, on to that Blade Runner movie...


...that's actually directed by a REAL director.
 

Kite

Member
I don't see an issue with a Alita being cast as a Hispanic. Seems a bit unfair to jump the gun and say that. I don't know if there'll be others who'll go ahead and claim it's whitewashed or whatever though.
The people claiming whitewashing in GitS would be hypocrites if they didn't also protest when hispanics do the same thing. Realistically though I doubt it'll happen cus people are hypocrites and it's not trendy to.
 

hirokazu

Member
this confuses me too. this is set in japan, right? everyone speaks english which is fine if they either decided that it was the dominant language or tech translated for them but then you had kitano's character speaking in japanese, which again everyone understood. nobody else spoke in a different language.
consistency people!
It's solely a business decision.

He's popular in Japan, and they want this movie to do well in Japan. Making him try to say his lines in English would be a mistake, so they just did what they did.

No need to make a up story about it that fits in the world. It is what it is.

The people claiming whitewashing in GitS would be hypocrites if they didn't also protest when hispanics do the same thing. Realistically though I doubt it'll happen cus people are hypocrites and it's not trendy to.
Why's that? There are people who cry whitewash at everything, but there are also times when a movie is legit whitewashed.
 
Came out thinking yea that was ghost in the shell. Thought they did a good job given the source material. I love the anime but it's not like it was brimming with great characters. The actors pretty much fulfilled their end of the bargain.
 
Does anyone else find it crazy that ScarJo feels more like the Major in the Marvel movies than she does in the actual GitS movie, WTF?! Everyone seems to think the Major was a downer questioning who she is when she really wasn't. She was smart as fuck and owned her place in the world. There was a reason they called her Major.

The Major... was never that great a character. Sorry to say. Love the anime but she's always been boring
 

Volimar

Member
There were a couple of iconic shot recreations that would have benefited from them using even a few seconds of Inner Universe.
 

hirokazu

Member
I don't think they ever say where it takes place. I just think it's supposed to be a futuristic hub city. The blurring of boundaries is a common cyberpunk trope. There is a line about arriving on a boat, so there must be a port, which may be a reference to SAC since Section 9 is based in Niihama/New Port City. There is also apparently a prime minister like Japan has... but really I think it's supposed to just be Cyber City.
I dunno if the setting is Japan. In the original wasn't it set in Hk? I never saw the anime.
The setting for this film is unspecified. If it follows any of the previous works, it's set in New Port City, Japan, but we can't assume it does. Visually, it borrows a lot from Oshii's previous films by basing the design of the city on Hong Kong.

If there's one thing this movie has going for itself is the amazing visuals. It's a tour de force for practical and CGI work. How anyone can come out of this movie thinking it looks like a video game is beyond.
I certainly enjoyed the visuals a lot. Weta are amazing at their craft.

The movie just felt really...presumptuous, I guess. Like I was automatically supposed to care about the characters, world, and villain right off the jump. It doesn't do much to earn any of that. Even The Major's identity crisis is fumbled along the way.

...

I never really got the chance to give a shit about what was going on.
This is one of the bigger problems with the film. It just felt like it was on rails, going through the motions and ticking off plot points. I never felt like I cared for any of the characters, what they were doing, where they were going. Most of the characters didn't seem like they knew or cared what they were doing either. It was only broken up by some token bits of humanity, like feeding Batou's strays and hiring a hooker to feel what a human is like.

If we do get a sequel, which we won't cus this movie isn't making much money, I would love for it to be focus on her and the squad more. I thought they were one of the cooler parts of the movie but we didn't really get to see them much because of what this movie was about.
It did okay internationally, racking $40m. Not great, but maybe what you'd expect. Don't count it out yet, we still have China and Japan.

Though I didn't enjoy it much in this outing, when I think about it, I don't mind a sequel. It needs to get a better director though, this guy was rubbish. Take the visuals and own it, evolve it. It doesn't need to ape scenes from the older films anymore. Major should be much better at her job by then. No mystery past to dog her.
 
She works as an anchor to ground the crazy world around her with stoicism and determination. Its up to the characters she interacts with to be weird and colorful.

Right. And this movie didn't have the time to give the side characters a ton of play obviously. My main point is that I'm not sure what people wanted from Scar Jo. She did her job well enough.
 

rpmurphy

Member
Just came home from watching it. It felt like a hot mess of ham-handed dialogue and character development. My brain was trying to crawl its way out the door about 30 minutes in while the film was attacking it with repeated blows with a hammer.
 
Wow at the ending revelation, it's like a slap in the face.

I thought it was moderately enjoyable as a GITS fan, but I don't recommend it unless you're a curious fan.
 

oni_saru

Member
Saw this today. Found it absolutely boring. I tried coming into this with an open mind. But it was just really boring and was missing something.

Initially I wasn't sure about ScarJo playing the Major but surprisingly I found she did a decent job. What sucks is just the overall plot. I wish they wouldn't have done an origin story. Section 9 was disappointing. I love Beat Takeshi but didn't really feel him as Chief Aramaki. I didn't like the lack of relationship b/w Aramaki and Major in this. I didn't feel the trust between them like in the series.

I kind of liked the movie's version of Togusa. I wanted to see more. Frankly I wanted more of Section 9.

Also I didn't like the technology or lack of cyber technology. It seemed like the world in the movie was behind compared to the tv series. Batou seemed new to the mind intercom or whatever they called it. The Major had zero hacking skills from what I recall. She didn't even use a dummy machine to hack into the geisha robot.

As a stand alone alternative take to the GitS story, it really sucked.



I think I finally figured out my main gripe with the movie. It's not the story, or the whitewashing, it's that the Major in the movie is not the Major from the GITS series.

UnemployedVillain, pretty much feel the same.
 

Vlaphor

Member
Saw it today, thought it was entirely alright. Nothing amazing mind you, and I doubt I'll ever see it again, but I feel I got my $10 worth.

Pros: Loved the world. I have a huge thing for cyberpunk-aesthetic (this is where I tell all of you fellow cyberpunk lovers to go check out

http://rekall.me/

which is a japanese-cyberpunk themed tumblr that I could spend hours looking through. Warning though, it can occasionally be a bit NSFW, as classic J-Cyberpunk could be at the time) so this film gets extra points just for that. Thought ScarJo did an decent job with her rendition of the character, and I'm always down for more Beat Takeshi, so him being in this movie is a plus. The cg was really good.

Cons: The pacing felt weird and hurried as hell. Everything felt like an excuse to go to the next thing as quickly as possible, with little time for reflection or understanding of what just happened. The big plot twist near the end is fucking stupid and completely unneeded...
We know why Motoko Kusanagi isn't the main character, and it's that you aren't going to get a film like this bankrolled without a major actress signing on. I can understand the current realities of that, unpleasant as they may be, but to then say "Oh no, she was really Motoko this whole time", is just pointless and idiotic
.

Still, all in all, I had a good time with it.
 

Paganmoon

Member
Cyberpunk is so good.

Too bad there's not a lot of new media coming out that's cyberpunk.

I think one of the reasons is that Cyperpunk has a pretty special aestethics, I had discussion about this with my friend after watching the movie yesterday, in which he said he wished the visuals were more "up to date", as in more futuristic, from todays standards. But Cyberpunk isn't just science fiction, it's a special subgenre, it's the future of the 80's, not the future of today, and that isn't really as popular in the mainstream as "futurism" or science fiction.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
I think one of the reasons is that Cyperpunk has a pretty special aestethics, I had discussion about this with my friend after watching the movie yesterday, in which he said he wished the visuals were more "up to date", as in more futuristic, from todays standards. But Cyberpunk isn't just science fiction, it's a special subgenre, it's the future of the 80's, not the future of today, and that isn't really as popular in the mainstream as "futurism" or science fiction.

Very true.

Cyberpunk needs CTRs, it needs some rocking synths, it needs UIs that look like this.
nbDuciXl.jpg


Which is why I really love the way this movie looks.

I know they got it, at least in the visual department, when they showed Batou's car in some early press release photos and it looked like it came straight out of '85.
 

wondermega

Member
Yeah I think that was what hit me shortly into the beginning of the film, and I might have mentioned it in the thread elsewhere.. they just do not make 'em like that anymore. GITS has a particular style, it's always futurist but the style it was borne out of - and often the style of the original manga creator - it's all very rooted in that early 80s, glitzy/analogue "Neo Tokyo" motif which has honestly been considered out of date for a very long time now. Even though the movie had plenty of issues, it felt like they made a strong, conscious decision to root the style in this fashion and it was so refreshing in that way. I would love to revisit it more with this modern take, but I won't get my hopes up. People want to see this film (and everything attached to it) get wiped off of the map for many reasons.
 

Aranath

Member
I walked in wanting to hate it and I didn't. In fact, they've handled some things rather well. Have to think more about it but is not a travesty.

That's my view so far. I went in looking for pretty things and action and got both. I guess I kept my expectations in check.
 

stoff

Member
I watched it yesterday in 3D and quite liked it.
Sure, it irked me that they reduced Makoto's existential conflict to an easily solved backstory mystery and introduced a lackluster cardboard villain.
However, the World GitS portrays is so interesting that I felt well entertained throughout. The set-pieces were very faithfully recreated and really gave the atmosphere of rewatching the original - surprisingly sloppy editing and Cannotact Johansson aside.

It was enjoyable for what it was worth. Certainly not a Magnum Opus like the original, but honestly, nobody could've hoped for that.
 

sun-drop

Member
The main bad guy was pretty generic, but over all I thought it was a smart rewrite.

They had to make it more Blockbuster friendly ,it never would have played well in it's original state. The whitewashing has been grossly over played in the media. I actually came away thinking the casting was pretty great over all.

And the full circle ending , complete with the OG theam ...Kinda brilliant.

Even the over the top holographic ladien city scape I can accept ...I mean if you've been to shinjuku present day.. it's not hard to imagine what that place would look like if holograms where on offer.
 
Went in after ignoring the negative threads about it and really enjoyed it.

It looks fantastic as well par for some spotty bad CGI now and then. Seen it in 3D and there were time where I was seeing double vision. No idea if it was the cinema screen or not but it was very off putting.
 

jett

D-Member

Oh I'm just saying I hope they didn't spend that much on Blade Runner. I wonder what kind of box office potential it has. Arrival with all its critical acclaim and word of mouth only barely crossed 100M domestically. Harder-edged sci-fi seems to have a low-ish ceiling.

I think I thought this was the box office thread too. :p
 
Just saw this on Saturday. Went in semi optimistic but in the end I really wasn't a fan at all. Some of the effects were great, but some really missed the mark for me and weren't blended at all. Not helped by the fact I found it really washed out looking in places due to the brightness/contrast choices in some scenes. Also thought the action direction to be really hammy too in places and ultimately it just didn't sell me on the authenticity of the world they were trying to (re)create.

Story wise feel like they jumped the shark. And as with the visuals, seemed to try for too much at once in areas without really nailing anything. It just ended up feeling a little too shallow/cheesy and bereft of any real sense of nuance or gravity. Overcooked and less would certainly have been more.

Scar Jo was ok but wasn't a fan of the main villain casting choice at all. Some support performances (e.g. Juliette Binoche) also felt a bit phoned in despite usually being solid actors.

Summary, had its moments here and there but overall found it to be a squandered opportunity. A real shame. Doubt I'll watch it again.
 

LosDaddie

Banned
Watched it yesterday in IMAX.

Overall, pretty enjoyable. The visuals were damn good. And damn, ScarJo is a fine woman. It's not a movie that I'd buy, but I'll definitely watch it again once it hits Netflix bluray.

I think my only complaint would be the forced 3D in IMAX. It added nothing to the movie. Fuck you, studio execs for the extra tax.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Watched it yesterday in IMAX.

Overall, pretty enjoyable. The visuals were damn good. And damn, ScarJo is a fine woman. It's not a movie that I'd buy, but I'll definitely watch it again once it hits Netflix bluray.

I think my only complaint would be the forced 3D in IMAX. It added nothing to the movie. Fuck you, studio execs for the extra tax.

I thought the 3D was pretty great, there were a handful of scenes where stuff was flying right out of the screen at you, and really enhanced a lot of shots that were right from the '95 film. It was also crystal clear, I can't remember the last time 3D was so in-focus, usually I'm adjusting my glasses the whole film.
 

sun-drop

Member
It's there a consensus yet? I feel like the most hate comes from anime-movie and/or manga purists.

Those often also shit on SAC so I can't take their opinion regarding GitS seriously :p

I think when you look at as a decent mash up of the events of Gits and arise, and sac it works. No one seems to have too much of an issue when say... Game of thrones does the same dam thing . Why does it have to word for word exactly like the original ? I for one like the fact it's different. I've already seen the OG movie and series..It's nice to watch a different spin on it.

this movie ends pretty much where the first begins

But so what..They hit the main points while trying to keep a good pacing for a big budget action flick.
 
Saw the movie and it was great. Really enjoyed it even though they changed a few things...

Wish they had used more original Soundtrack music though..
 

Starviper

Member
Saw it in 2d and really wish I went and saw it in 3d because a lot of those rendered CGI city scenes felt like they were missing a lot of pop and didn't seem all that detailed.

Also found the story sort of hard to follow // boring? There was a number of reference scenes that called back to the original animation but the storyline in the movie was different.

I think what was most jarring is there was some level of disconnect for why the
spiderbot
was there in the movie. Also felt sort of dumbed down, like the whole bit where they
were on the boat. Originally I recall them talking about the case and the Major was afraid of water; hell she's a heavy ass cyborg. How can it swim??
 

jorgeton

Member
I saw this Friday night in Imax 3D and thought they did a great job. I'm a huge GiTS fan (the OG film is one of my favorite movies of all time), and I think they translated the universe really well. It felt closer to the TV show than the films though, which is not a bad thing. You could tell the filmmakers really respected the source material.

Would love a sequel where they could really dig into Section 9 as a squad. But that may never happen sadly :(
 

IMGF

Neo Member
Saw it Saturday and I don't get the praise anyone is giving this movie. The plot makes no sense at a basic level even if you've never seen the original.
So, Kuze escaped Hanka Robotics... how? He specifically says his body was dismembered. If just his ghost escaped into a network, why is his body bits from Hanka Robotics. They're the only ones making shells in this universe.
The plot hinges on this detail, everything is set into motion because of it, and either I fell asleep during the explanation, or they decided to gloss over the details and hoped you wouldn't notice the glaring plot hole.

And then the motive of the bad guy is never explained in a way that makes sense. He says he wants to protect his company but acts in a way that's destructive to the company.
His company engages in terroristic activities to make their robots with the government's approval (we know this because the government informed Motoko's mother it was a suicide) but then tries to kill Section 9 because if they find out they'll arrest him by the power of the Prime Minister? So the Prime Minister wasn't aware of the actions of Hanka Robotics even though Cutter has control of a lot of the government's military forces? That's supposed to be believable? And it's made all the worse when Cutter says to explicitly give Major memories that will inspire her to hunt down and stop terrorists. Way to shoot yourself in the mouth, dude.

Like, this is all stuff that has nothing to do with the series and just flaws in basic storytelling. The plot is designed to get to the action scenes, it's written exactly like the last few Fast and the Furious films. Think of cool action scenes, figure out how to get the plot to those scenes, don't think much about the details or consistency or character logic.But unlike the F&F films which has always been tongue in cheek with its plots and knows the audience knows the plot is silly and over the top and doesn't hold up when you apply thought, this movie wants to be taken seriously like its story is good and well written.

And the cinematography in this movie is so boring. Why are people giving this credit at all? Visual effects are what's decent in this movie, but the camerawork is so boring and safe. Every conversation uses shot reverse shot. We get good shots and angles that last three to five seconds before switching to a center framed portrait shot of an actor's face. Some action scenes (mostly lifting shots and angles from the original) are good, but then there's scenes where the camera just stays still and focuses on faces rather than action. This director has an obsession with faces. Major walking down a hallway? Show her face the whole time. Driving through this supposedly gorgeous city? Better keep the camera in the car the whole scene so we can shot reverse shot people talking in the car. There are hardly any risky cinematic shots in this movie, barely any wide angle shots or off center frame compositions. They had this gorgeous looking city to play with and it barely gets showcased other than a few procedural fly over shots of the city.

Its a really really mediocre film, and I haven't even talked about what a poor adaption it is for its source material and how it completely insults the Ghost in the Shell IP. But I don't even want to get into that right now, since I feel like all the other flaws just as a film demonstrate how bad it is.
 
Saw it Saturday and I don't get the praise anyone is giving this movie. The plot makes no sense at a basic level even if you've never seen the original.
So, Kuze escaped Hanka Robotics... how? He specifically says his body was dismembered. If just his ghost escaped into a network, why is his body bits from Hanka Robotics. They're the only ones making shells in this universe.
The plot hinges on this detail, everything is set into motion because of it, and either I fell asleep during the explanation, or they decided to gloss over the details and hoped you wouldn't notice the glaring plot hole.

Pretty sure he meant
his original human body.
I could be wrong though. They didn't go in to detail about it.
 

IMGF

Neo Member
Pretty sure he meant
his original human body.
I could be wrong though. They didn't go in to detail about it.
That can't be it because Kuze at that point still doesn't have any recollection of who he was before he was put into the shell.
He doesn't know he was Hideo, so how would he remember being cut apart as him? Why and how would he be conscious through all of that?
He's upset at Hanka Robotics for discarding him as a failure, and that's why he's on a mission to kill the scientists involved with his project before ascending to robot Nirvana, but we don't get how he escaped from them after being "destroyed." It's a really sloppy plot hole when it's the main thrust of the film's plot.
 

Jarmel

Banned
I thought the 3D was pretty great, there were a handful of scenes where stuff was flying right out of the screen at you, and really enhanced a lot of shots that were right from the '95 film. It was also crystal clear, I can't remember the last time 3D was so in-focus, usually I'm adjusting my glasses the whole film.

The 3D was absolutely fantastic. Quite possibly the best quality I've ever seen in a theater. There were times when I was a bit stunned how clear things were. Did they shoot the film with a special type of camera?
 
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