Anime: Ghost in the Shell (2008)

WRITER’S NOTE: *SPOILERS* This review assumes that you’ve seen Ghost In the Shell(1995), as it simply focuses on the changes between the original film and this version.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is to Ghost in the Shell what the Special Editions are to Star Wars, and while GitS 2.0 is nowhere nearly as egregious as the Special Editions, it still feels like a pointless exercise in updating a previous work.

GitS 2.0 was released in 2008 in celebration for the release of The Sky Crawlers in theatres that same year, as a way for it’s director, Memoru Oshii, and studio Production I.G. to cross promote both projects. The intention of 2.0 was to “remaster” the original film in away, but it doesn’t really feel like a remaster, it feels like a project intended to make money of an established franchise. And what we got was a weird mix of 2D animation from 1995 mixed with 13 years worth of advancement in CGI attached to a film never intended to have it in the first place.

The main difference between Gits 2.0 and The Sky Crawlers, besides the obvious subject matter and presentation, is that The Sky Crawlers was planned from the start to have CGI integrated with the 2D animation, and as a result, the mix between the CGI and the 2D animation for that movie mesh a lot better in that film.

The biggest and most obvious change in 2.0 is that a few scenes have been replaced with fully 3D animated versions of those scenes. These new scenes conflict with the original, not only because the switch between the 3D and 2Dcan be a bit jarring, but the 3D is presented in a different style to the 2D. This wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the conflicting film making styles between the 2D and the 3D.

The original film is almost entirely simple static shots, while the 3D animation has sweeping camera shots that don’t fit the style of the original at all, simply because the 2D animation wasn’t capable of these shots. The film was working with what it could the time it was released. It just feels weird going from smooth flowing movements with the CGI, to all of a sudden staring at a static couple of characters talking or plot happening.

There are several other shots throughout the film that have had parts of them replaced with CGI, such as aircraft or certain background features like an aquarium. I guess these were used to heighten scenes, but like I said before, the original Ghost in the Shell film was never meant to have CGI, so it just feels out of place.

I wouldn’t call the CGI awful, but it’s definitely just OK. It’s pretty clear the team behind the CGI added shaders onto it to try and give it a bit of a 2D feel, trying to wash out any detail the 3D models had, but it doesn’t help. A minor nitpick i have is the difference between look of the digital picture. It doesn’t match the grainy filmic look of the original footage. That sounds like a weird complaint, but it just shows the difference between something made in a computer and something made in an analog format by human hands (ironic).

The only change that i thought looked good were the holograms throughout the film being replaced with the CGI. They were the only things in the original meant to look digital to begin with, so the replacement CGI is the least intrusive CGI in the whole thing.

Another minor grievance I have is the framerate difference between the 2D animation and the 3D animation. It’s just another reason on the pile of reasons that mixing the 2D animation and the 3D animation wasn’t that good of an idea.

Everything else that wasn’t completely replaced with the CGI has also been modified to varying degrees. Every shot of the film has been tinted with a warm orange color, with varying intensity. Some shots it’s barely noticeable, and in some shots, it’s overpowering to the point of washing out a few scenes. It completely ruins the cold clinical blue look that the original film was going for, that was supposed to help heighten the sense of some characters losing their identities and becoming more robotic with how modified their bodies were. I assume it the color tinting was to help the older 2D animated scenes match the new CGI, but it just ruins the stylistic choices the original had.

The weirdest thing about this new version is the way it was re-edited. Several scenes have been changed, and there doesn’t seem to be a reason why. All of the edits are simple trims, cutting anything from a couple of frames to about a second of time off at most. But the fact that these edits were made make no sense. They add literally nothing to the whole experience. I don’t know if it was done to make the whole experience feel different or was done just to make a change for changes sake, but it just felt unnecessary.

The other obvious and significant change is the new audio mix. The original soundtrack was re-arranged and re-recorded, and the whole thing was remixed into 6.1Channel Surround, done by Randy Thom over at Skywalker Sound,previously working on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. For the most part, I don’t really have any problems with this. A lot of the new sound effects are not terrible, but nothing to complain about.

Along with the remixed audio, the Japanese voices were also re-recorded to try and modernize the dialogue. I don’t speak Japanese, but from what I can tell compared to a decent amount of Japanese performances that I’ve heard throughout the years, the performances are fine. The biggest change is that the original voice of The Puppet Master, played by Iemasa Kayumi, the male voice, was replaced by Yoshiko Sakakibara, a now female voice. This isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but it feels like another change in a long list of unnecessary changes.

I could see the argument that since it’s a robot intended to be female, it would have a female voice, but then why does the Major’s voice change back to her previous voice at the end of movie when she’s in a new body? And since the new sentient AI was born in the sea of information, it would either go with whatever voice it happened to be “born”with or pick something that represented itself.

I have no idea if this change was done with some sort of intent, but considering how many weird changes that 2.0 gets seemingly without much thought, I’d be surprised if there was any intent in the change of voice besides changing something for the sake of it, like maybe a perceived error in casting a male voice.

When it comes down to it, this whole 2.0 experiment feels a little pointless. If the entire film was redone as CGI, it would have at least been consistent in it’s quality. It still might have been a pointless shot-for-shot remake, but it would have felt less intrusive. But instead, what we got was a mixed bag in terms of a “remaster”. None of the changes feel like they enough of a change to justify their existence.

Best case scenario,Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is a companion piece to the original and is for fans only. Worst case, it’s entirely skippable, but doesn’t exactly ruin the film. I have a hard time recommending this when it’s incredibly easy to find and watch the original version of GitS over 2.0. The only people who would be interested in this version of the film would be fans of the original version anyway, and those are the people who would complain about this the loudest. And this version is not exactly a good way to introduce more people to a classic movie like this.

Hoo boy, what HAVE they done...

I really liked the original, a classic movie, but this "special edition" would make even George Lucas mad.
Biggest change is the random smattering of CG all over the movie, replacing all of the quite adequate animation that made the original movie so glorious. So instead of the classic celluloid animation, we get animation inferior to Innocence, the sequel to the original movie. The worst part is that there is still lots of the old pea soup green 1994 CGI and old optical effects left in the movie, such as the hologram shot of the cyberbrain when it’s in the background, and the scene in the van when the camera zooms out of Motoko’s neck. This is most likely because they didn’t have access to the original celluloid, and thus had to add the effects on top of the original movie. This also results in an extremely soft transfer, blurry lines and loss of detail, as opposed to the original movie Blu-ray, which is also available. Also, several scenes, especially the old CGI shots have been toned orange, for reasons completely unknown.

Only really GOOD thing about this thing, is the new audio mix. The original has the classic 90s “pang”, with outlandish sounding machinegun barrages, and an otherwise tired list of foley effects, all in a mono mix. The new mix is in glorious surround, with all the sounds redone. Most of the voice actors also return, except for the voice of the puppet master, previously an old man, now a thirty-some woman, due to personal choices of the director. I really like the creepy feeling of the naked busty torso with the old guy voice, but that is a personal choice.

All in all, it’s still GitS, but I would by FAR recommend the original, which except for the sound mix isn’t dated at all, this “redux” already looks old with its subpar CGI and the failed integration of old and new.

Rate me! This review is based on the THORA HD Blu-ray subs and is considered final and fair.

Quick Take: If you're a fan of colorized classics (like a tan Bogart with in Turner's version of Casablanca), you might like and even admire what the way that Mamoru Oshii's 1995 classic Ghost In The Shell has been updated. It's essentially the same 82-minute movie that started the GITS franchise (as well as influencing hard-sf movies such as The Matrix), but it's been updated. It is cleaner, clearer and the transfer has details in shadows that I don't remember from the original. But there are several sections where 3D CGI have replaced the original footage (though not materially different shots). The opening, for example, has a 3D Matoko jumping from a 3D roof, sporting her 3D nipples and not much else. It's a breathtaking shot, but I have seen it before, and so I wonder, "why fix a classic?" Inevitably, it invites comparisons, some of which will be favorable, some not, and largely because there are purists who hate any changes from a classic they grew up on. Tell that to Lucas and his many changes to Star Wars.

The 2.0 edition has new computer graphics and many digital effects added. It's cast was a reunion of most of the original members but it boasts a new 6.1 surround sound recording. Then again, Academy-Award-winning sound mixer/editor Randy Thom (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, The Incredibles, The Right Stuff) has overseen the new soundtrack with Kenji Kawai's original music and the final mix that has been produced at Thom and Lucas Digital's Skywalker Sound studio in California. You think, "with that pedigree, how can it go wrong?" and you'd be right. It's good, even great in places, but it's not new. It is a good collector's item, but the original is still that: original. I think the age rating on this one would be 13+ due to nudity and adult themes. Children younger than that might have nightmares, as well as questions about Matoko's cyberjacks.

Animation: I assume you will be familiar with the original movie, which is a standard classic and quite worthy of your viewing. In a side-by-side comparison, it's obvious that the animation has been cleaned, slightly changed and brightened. The movies run almost exactly the same time, but there are many differences. The opening credit roll, and the opening iconic jump from the roof, are full of new 3D CGI material, and it's great (if unoriginal). The computer graphics have been updated. The exit from the water is updated. Without going through a complete scene-by-scene comparison, it's obvious they have given this much the same treatment as Neon Genesis Evangelion was given in Evangelion 1.0.
So, it's not bad, it is in fact excellent 3D CGI, but it's also got that lingering question of why. I cannot answer that, except to say, it was your destiny, Luke.

Animation gets a 10 for technicals and a 8 for judgement in NOT changing many good scenes from the original, and for presenting the best-looking GITS around. However, I do deduct points for unblended 3D CGI (the color palette for the 3D is not exactly the same as the 2D, causing a slight jarring) and for the result is a mixed bag: very pretty, but slightly askew. 8.5 points for animation, losing points for fluidity and color palette, and gaining points by cleaning and perhaps changing the gamma of the transfer.

Sound: I will not presume to review the full animation of the movie (you can find good reviews of Ghost In The Shell everywhere), and they have made no big changes to the story, so the only major changes are in sound. They re-dubbed the voice part of the Puppet Master with a new actor, but most of the rest of the cast is the same. There is a new 6.1 soundtrack that is absolutely awesome, no quibbles or point reductions. The soundstage is immersive, the bgm is award-winning, the foley and sfx are excellent, and I found no fault in the sound whatsoever. I felt the original was worthy of a 9 on sound, and this is quite an improvement by being even more immersive and the voices are more mature (13 years ages a voice). I give 2.0 a 9.5-10 on sound.

Story: In 2029, cybernetics has resulted in the blurring of distinction between man and machine. People can move memories and emotions from person to shell and back and forth (a cyberpunk staple). When an international hacker known as 'The Puppet Master'' begins terrorist hacking, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppet Master. Their investigation will expose the problems of deciding what is really life, and will blur the distinctions between what is human and artifice.

As far as I can tell, the story is exactly the same as before, with perhaps some clarity in the translation. I watched this (as I do most anime) in the original, and the translation is very good. Since there are no material changes to the original, I will be happy to have you look at the GITS page for further comments, but suffice it to say that. while complex, the original movie was not nearly as dense and convoluted as the 1st Gig or 2nd Gig TV series were. The franchise is taking on a life of it's own, much like Star Trek or Star Wars.

I felt the original story was worth a 9, and I have not modified my opinion for this outing.

Character: no change from my original impression of a 9 on character. Matoko is an icon, spawning numerous imitations, and is as recognizable a character as Kirk in Star Trek. The strength of the series is the strength of the characters, from Matoko to Batou to Togusa. The antagonist is the Puppet Master, but you have to root for him in places, and the final solution to the problem is both curious and enevitable. I did not find that the 3D CGI additions or changes made the characters any different, with the possible exception of a purient interest in what Matoko looks like in 3D.

9 points for great, iconic characters.

Value and Enjoyment: It's an excellent transfer, has wonderful sound, and the 3D CGI is technically excellent. Why isn't it selling better in Japan? Perhaps because you don't change a standard that started the franchise, just because you can. It's a great original film, and purists would find the additions and changes to be slightly jarring. People who are viewing it for the first time might enjoy this outing, but I suspect otakus will debate the merits of changes for many years.

It's the wave of the future, however, as anime houses seek to make low-cost changes to their flagship animes and release them in hopes that the dry well will bear more oil.
8 for value, 9 for enjoyment. The sound alone is a reason to buy this edition, it's that good. But let us not forget that the original visuals were stunning, and they still are, if not more so.

Conclusion: If you like cosmetic surgery, or colorizing a classic, this is your edition. Otherwise, get the original and watch either one with fresh eyes. It's a glorious ride.