Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3317 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-03-31
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 82 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
The skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master."

Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles, explosions) with static dialogue scenes that allow the characters to sort out the vaguely mystical and rather convoluted plot. Kusanagi's final quote from I Corinthians suggests that electronic evolution may compliment and eventually supplant organic evolution. The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Thought provoking and visually stunning
I am reviewing the DVD version.

The story is light, but metaphysically deep. Its about cosmology and what defines "self." The animation is top notch and blends seamlessly with CG.

The surround sound audio mix is is one of the best you'll ever hear because it is totally immersive.

Awesome anime.
I saw this for the first time a few days ago when I bought it. I'm new into the world of anime and after buying all the Studio Ghibli stuff, this was recommended to me when I stated I wabted to branch out more. I like the animation style, and the fact that there's gore where the second movie didn't have much.

That Great Cyberpunk Anime
Ghost In The Shell' (released 1996 in the U.S.) by director Mamoru Oshii was a real butt-kicker for its time and brought renewed interest to Japanese Animation from North American film critics long after the landmark emergence of Akira (1988). The highly cerebral and detailed scriptwriting brought raves from some critics, while the sometimes altered translated English-dubbed version brought baffled reviews from others.

While there are some great animated cinematic-styled action sequences, the film is still also an intellectual and philosophical mystery maze with characters struggling with the meaning of survival in a cybernetic world - themes that would years later influence and inspire the Wachowski brothers as they explored similar themes in 'the Matrix' trilogy.

Along with possibly being one of the first original and sophisticated cyber-mystery thrillers, 'Ghost in the Shell' was also one of the first anime that appeared to integrate the old ink, cell, and paint methods into computer CGI digital graphics thoroughly and successfully to a seamless level of cinematic film mastery.

(Back in the 80's, 'Akira' was still heavily using cell graphics and original BG paintings, while other anime in the 80's like 'the Lensmen" and 'Phoenix 2772' still had CGI technology in its underdeveloped early stages - the differences between CGI and Cell animation could be easily observed by the viewer.)

Kanji Kawai's striking operatic music beautifully enriches and enhances the mood of 'Ghost in the Shell'. The music classically and digitally bridges the new with the old.

Still, the qualitative uniqueness of the movie comes down to its detailed and highly complex science fiction screenplay, which is similar in sophistication and spirit to the ones that exists in films like 'Blade Runner' and '2001 A Space odyssey' (and also to some limited degree to Pixar's new 'Wall.E'). These are the type of films that force the viewers to think at times while going along for the ride. (And it appears that films like these just don't come along very often.)

But if that gets too boring for some viewers there's still always enough stylish but brutal butt-kicking by Motoko (Major) Kusanagi and Batou to keep any viewer tuned into the cyberpunk thriller right to the very end.

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