Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
jlzap
This movie is a whole bunch of nothing. There is ZERO character development and world-building throughout the whole thing. They throw you straight in but never give a backstory. You don't get attached to anyone or anything throughout the whole film, there are no stakes involved for the viewer. It makes for things to be either confusing, boring, empty, or all of the above.
The first actual bit of emotion we get from any character is an hour and fourteen minutes in; and as a viewer, I didn't even care what happened in that scene. It's a shame because this concept is great, but it was totally wasted. It was slow-paced, which was annoying some times and cool other times. I mean, it really shouldn't take over 30 minutes to actually begin the movie. The sound design was great and I really liked…
Read at the source1stDecame4Danime
You have to look at older media through the lens of understanding that before modern internet there was a severe scarcity of porn such that any media depicting high-quality pornographic material wrapped within the veneer of a socially acceptable production would be regarded as a masterpiece. That is what has happened here with Soul(Ghost) in the Body(Shell) just like it did with A Clockwork Orange(A Machine in the Fruit, if you will).
Getting to the actual review: How do we start? Director's masturbational intro cinematics of naked female body bodying (very important). Followed by long directorial vomit of self-indulgent concept art of the city in which nothing happens. Oh-yeahh, waste my time harder, director daddy. Then they stumble through pointless stormtrooper action scenes and expos…
Read at the sourcehonzoslav
In the year 1920, a Czech writer named Karel Čapek released a sci-fi play called R.U.R. (short for "Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti"). As you can tell from the title, this play introduced the world to the word robot. The play is about a robot uprising causing the extinction of the human race. The last act of the play tries to answer a simple question. Can a machine become human? The play was met with negative reception from critics, although that probably had more to do with the author's political leanings than the work itself. Either way, the play turned out to be a massive hit and its influence can be seen in sci-fi media to this day. Sci-fi as a whole has obviously changed over the years, yet to this day many authors try to tackle the same question Čapek did more then a hundered years ago.…
Read at the sourceHanezeveAbyss
The 1995 Ghost in the Shell Movie had an interesting setting and concept, but weak execution. The first 20 minutes of the movie didn't grab my interest; it didn't established why should I care about the characters and the story. The characters are presented badly; I would label them as pretentious and uninteresting. There is a modicum of time or no time given to show the viewers the important characters' intentions, backgrounds and personalities.
Story-wise, it is just plain boring. They didn't manage to create a compelling threat or a stake to the plot. I didn't feel the presence of the main antagonist which should be a big driving force to make the story interesting . The dialogue is decent and has some valid points regarding its themes, but the characters who delivered it have no chari…
Read at the sourcegodBrother
I watched this two times and fell asleep both times.
This is just another steaming pile of overrated, overpraised mediocre anime.
There's nothing here worth anyone's 2 hours of their lives to spend. More enjoyment and wisdom could be found in a series such as JoJo, because unlike Ghost in the Shell (and something like Evangelion) it doesn't take itself too seriously. The only people I could see enjoying this work is someone who finds Nietzsche profound.
Japanese people need to stay away from philosophy for they have obviously been inspired by malignant demons. Shirow-san clearly needs to visit his local Church.
The soundtrack was pretty good though.
Read at the sourceAndoCommando
‘’And can you offer me proof of your existence? How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life is?’’
Ghost in the Shell is an anime film adaptation of the cyberpunk manga of the same name by Masamune Shiro. Both the anime and manga have received critical praise for decades now and have built a strong fan base in Japan and the West alike. But while the manga is more comedic and light-hearted overall, the anime is much more serious and mature, with the film’s tone making it feel completely different from Shiro’s original work. Part of this is probably due to the director, Mamoru Oshii and if you haven’t heard of the name before, remember it because he is one of the most thought-provoking filmmakers the industry has ever seen (e.g. Angel’s Egg and Jin-Roh) and…
Read at the sourcegum_rummy
I'll level with you- this movie is boring as fuck. I've been trying to get through Ghost in the Shell since I was 11. I'm 26 now. I still fall asleep every time. With the exception of the action scenes and opening credits, I can't say that this film is worth watching.
The delivery of the story leaves a lot to be desired. The scene structure is, essentially:
-> Gorgeous animated sequence that ends too quickly
-> Characters giving long, monotonous explanations of things that would have been better represented through gorgeous animation sequences, or at least not through what is essentially "radio"
-> Rinse, repeat
I know anime doesn't grow on trees and there are budgets, but it takes a lot away from the experience of the film when so much of it consists of talking heads. There's almost n…
Read at the sourcekarlstein12
I took the time watching the highly acclaimed Ghost in the Shell, which is pretty famous for its philosophical and thought-provoking themes.
The story is set in a futuristic world where cyber-hacking exists, and one can control a person's actions through hacking their brains with an element known as "ghost". The film moves on a very slow pace almost throughout, alas a key factor in one deciding to drop it midway.
The script is the weak point of the movie. It it too short and it fails to explain just what is going on in this movie. It starts well, it has great pacing and it builds nicely, but then it grinds to a halt about midpoint and it never gets going again.
The main premise of the movie remains unexplained: just what is a ghost and how does somebody hack into it? Are all humans cyb…
Read at the sourceDanteMustDie8907
Ghost In The Shell - 5/10
It's just shit really. I can understand what is it trying to do, and i appreaciate it but honestly it's way too direct. Shows that try to follow this whole "Show, don't tell" concept, which essentially means passing thought without saying it using visual means only and asking the audience questions are cool i know, i love them, but GiTS kinda just failed it overall, probably due to just being short with no bulid-up and the way it did the things it did, ugh it just didn't feel right.
Ok i agree it explored enough through the issues of a cyberpunk society like "if anybody can get the body they want, what is the point of gender?" "if nothing other than a little piece of your brain is there, what really makes you human?" " You haven't seen inside your head, how can y…
Read at the sourceModeratelyHuman
Philosophy is timeless, ideas and concepts are things that can be honed and perfected. Some classics are pioneers that introduce novel ideas that are then further improved upon by later works. Other classics are timeless masterpieces that define entire genres as the gold standard; Ghost in the Shell isn't something that is able to meet that standard. The overly simplistic philosophical narrative of GITS just doesn't hold up very well in modern times while other classical pieces have. Ghost in the Shell is a movie driven by concept, a concept that is shown, not told, in a slow, vague approach that requires attention, thought, and patience. Yet, despite the effort needed to fully understand the film, it offers a surprisingly simple and disappointing payoff.
This is a movie that did not pro…
Read at the sourceAnimatedGuru
I find "Ghost in the Shell" just as a concept AMAZING. The combination of the this idea of what the world could be like in 2029 and the psychological game that this story plays as you move through the movie.
STORY:9/10
I'm not going to lie, but after reading the synopsis for this movie i felt that i would be a classic group of bad ass special forces soldiers that hunt down the villain "The Puppet Master". But it is so much more than that!! This movie goes further, they don't just set this movie in the future just to display some cool future military tech(but i will say the future tech they do display is pretty bad ass). The entire plot revolves around that there are human cells in-planted into cybernetic bodies to give human consciousness to a robot (aka cyborgs). The stories main charact…
Read at the sourceiSuckAtWriting
“If you don’t know where you’re from, then you don’t know where you are, and you don’t know where you’re going.” It’s a clichéd if truthful saying, especially for this film. Well, sort of. This film knows where it’s going, but it doesn’t know how to get there, it doesn’t know where it is, and it doesn’t know where it’s from. This film is a voice pining to speak, but it studders at every word.
So where does this leave Ghost in the Shell? Read on to find out.
In the year 2029, cybernetic technology has strengthened the human body and connected the human mind. Barriers have been broken as people can access the Internet with just their body alone. But with this new tech, comes cyber criminals looking to exploit it, and Section 9, a group tasked with stopping cyber criminals. One criminal, th…
Read at the sourceKingFlabadingdon
Story- 9/10
Puppet Master: ‘’And can you offer me proof of your existence? How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life is?’’
The story and themes present in Ghost in the Shell (GitS) are both striking and very relevant. GitS takes place in a more than possible future world where cybernetics and AI have become a social norm. The amazing detail given to the universe and the true to life reflection of today’s society makes the themes in question incredibly applicable. The different opinions in GitS are argued with a certain potency and precision. The maturity and skill of the characters in putting across their arguments will encourage the viewer to contemplate these ‘philosophical’ issues from a very serious stance.
The ‘main’ story (when I say main, it i…
Read at the sourcemykk
I’ve seen Ghost in the Shell 6 years ago and I hated it.
Watching it 6 years later was amazing experience. One week after watching, I’m still haunted by the cold atmosphere it created and existential questions it raised.
The movie is very slow, there are few action scenes and they are really cool, but the strength of the movie is not action. In fact, if you expect action, ass kicking, fast cars and stuff like that, you will be greatly disappointed.
My favorite scenes are the slowest ones, accompanied with excellent music, they blew me away. They have something cold, atmospheric and even sad about them.
However Ghost in the Shell is nothing without its philosophical touch. When human is no longer human? Are we still human? Is artificial intelligence human? What’s consciousness? Maybe we…
Read at the sourceLockensocke
Ghost in the Shell is one of the reasons(besides akira) animes became so populare in america and in europe, because it shows how anime are suppost to be. This isnt a commercial product full of clichees and overused artstlye-types, its a beautiful masterpiece of art. But this anime is not made for everyone. It is made to appeal to mature audience, since the majority of anime ( and nearly ever recent made anime) is for teenagers or children, i would suggest you think about it twice before you just randomly start watching this anime, else you will just get confused.
Ghost in the shell shows a realistic description of an idea of the future with better technology, humans with cybernetic modifyed brains and an connection of brains over a huge network. And besides presenting you this amazing fut…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Ghost in the Shell is a franchise that needs no introduction. Shirow Masamune's work has been adapted into several movies, video games, anime and even a line of toys. It's been one of the most influential cyberpunk franchises out there. Whether you like or dislike it, you have to respect how much it's influenced the genre. I remember liking this film okay when I first saw it. However, it has been quite a while since then. So it's time to re-watch the movie and see how it holds up.
The story opens in a futuristic city with an attempted defection being thwarted by a group of largely cybernetic federal agents known as section 9. Section 9 is quickly charged with bringing in a hacker known as the puppet master who's trying to hack the brain of a secretary who works for an important official.…
Read at the source_Rika
Based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell is an account of a not-so-distant future when it’s not uncommon for you to walk on a busy street and bump into cyborgs— humans who have been ‘cyberized’ to such an extent that every aspect of their functioning is taken care of by high-tech equipment within their ‘shell’, the prosthetic body, and ‘ghost’ which is the slang term for consciousness. So what was it that you really bumped into? What is it that differentiates a human from a cyborg? What makes us human— the biological matter, the consciousness or the memories? These are the questions which Ghost in the Shell explores. On the surface, it’s a cybercrime story. Rapid progression of cybernetics has resulted in various complications, particularly ‘ghost hacking’…
Read at the sourcekiriska
So I finally saw this movie. I've seen both seasons of Stand Alone Complex, Solid State Society, and Innocence, but I hadn't seen the original until now. And you know what? I'm kind of disappointed.
STORY - The central plot and concept is fine. As a cyberpunk fan, I think the human/machine divide is a fascinating topic that should be touched on more often and that Ghost in the Shell treats the subject well for the most part. Unfortunately, the storytelling and pacing in the movie is downright terrible. Sure, the movie's more than a decade old by now, but storytelling isn't really something that changes with time -- people have been telling stories for as long as they've existed, so I won't buy age as an excuse for all the awkward silences, scenes that were way too long, and scene transiti…
Read at the sourceFirestorm2117
I just want to start off by saying that "Ghost In The Shell" loves to asks it's audience questions. What is it that makes us human? Is it the soul (refered to as 'ghosts' in this film)? Or is it flesh and bone? What happens when your memories can be erased and replaced like music on your iPod? If your body is entirely mechanical, can you still call yourself human? If your consciousness is active, yet your body is nowhere to be found, do you still exist?
Okay, I'm giving myself a headache. Let's get to the review.
Story
Cyborg cops battle an anonymous super-hacker who takes control of people's computerized brains and forces them to do his bidding. It's a wicked sci-fi thriller, yet it's also so much more. Not only is it a refreshingly original take on the standard Cops vs Criminals plot,…
Read at the sourcePhill-z
Ah...Ghost In The Shell. I'm writing this JUST after finishing it. If you watched the original Matrix and went "Holy Jesus this is the most amazing movie i've ever seen IN MY LIFE" then Ghost in the Shell will dropkick you in the face. Seriously.
Story: This is the kind of stuff that university essay could be written about. I'm going to have to watch this again just to completely understand everything about this movie. Now, just so you understand, the storyline isn't amazing. But the science and the mythology this anime is based on is so incredible. I believe, according to a few sources, that if you took all the footnotes in the manga they total to over 30 pages. Or was it 200? The point is that the science that's used in this movie is absolutely amazing.
Art: The art is old. The art is.…
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