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GITS 2.0 High Def picture with 6.1 DTS Master Audio in both English & Japanese, plus Ghost In The Shell The original movie, Standard Def picture, upscaled. In 2029 a sentient computer virus is smuggled into an unspecified country. Several prominent scientists from the project also try to defect. Meanwhile, Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg agent with the government's secret Internal Affairs team Section 9, is troubled by a series of crimes committed by the Puppet Master a terrorist who hacks into the minds of innocent citizens. The Puppet Master proves difficult to track leaping from the brain of a ministerial translator to a humble garbage man, to a small-time criminal. Though all the suspects are eventually apprehended, they are mere shells the crucial soul, or ghost of the Puppet Master has already found a new host by the time the squad arrives. In fact, the Puppet Master is not a foreign criminal at all, but a creation of Section 6, a rival espionage wing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Section 6 has been using the Puppet Master to create terrorist incidents and crimes that are then used by the government to justify unwelcome new policies and laws, but the artificially-created intelligence has now turned on its former masters. The Puppet Master asks for political asylum, but its latest body (a new cyborg fresh off the assembly line) is stolen by agents of Section 6. Kusanagi and Bateau track it down to a remote location, where a gravely wounded Motoko is finally able to link with the Puppet Master. She has become troubled by the false memory incidents around her, and wants to question it about what makes it sentient. The Puppet Master reveals that to truly be alive, it must gain the ability to reproduce and die. It proposes that the two of them merge their souls to form a new being... In terms of CGI, there are over 90 cuts that have been altered and enhanced. And what with extensive use of filter effects and colour correction techniques throughout the rest of the film, it s fair to say that pretty much the entire movie has been enhanced in some way. Mamoru Oshii is talking of his latest cinema release, an enhanced director s cut of his 1995 masterpiece Ghost in the Shell, intended for a new generation of filmgoers, and a new generation of film technology.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'm a great fan of GITS, and have seen most of its incarnations. The digitally-remastered version of the original is available as an "extra" on this DVD, and I think I prefer it to the "Redux" version, although the new CGI is interesting. It doesn't fit all that well with the original cell animation, though. For fans I'd say it was still worth a look, especially at a reduced price. But if you've never seen the original I'd go with that.
I agree with several others that, whilst the improved sound and visual resolution (and colouring) is welcome, the CGI just distracts from the flow of the movie. Don't be too put off though: it is worth watching, as the visual quality of the original was fairly low compared with current standards and it's nice to see it all looking brighter and clearer.
Note that Amazon have (as of Oct 2010 anyway) put the Synopsis for GITS2: Innocence rather than for GITS2: Redux, i.e. they give the impression that this is the recent sequel, whereas Redux is a re-working of the original movie. Not surprising given the obviously confusing names: both are called GITS 2 despite being a different product altogether. There are also several rather confusing editions of the two films: for example a Blu-ray double box set of both Innocence and Redux, which adds nothing to the individual DVDs except a bigger sleeve; the two movies, individually packed; the original is still available; and the separate Blu-Ray versions of each film. All appear to have the same review and synopsis regardless of which is which!
I agree with several others that, whilst the improved sound and visual resolution (and colouring) is welcome, the CGI just distracts from the flow of the movie. Don't be too put off though: it is worth watching, as the visual quality of the original was fairly low compared with current standards and it's nice to see it all looking brighter and clearer.
Note that Amazon have (as of Oct 2010 anyway) put the Synopsis for GITS2: Innocence rather than for GITS2: Redux, i.e. they give the impression that this is the recent sequel, whereas Redux is a re-working of the original movie. Not surprising given the obviously confusing names: both are called GITS 2 despite being a different product altogether. There are also several rather confusing editions of the two films: for example a Blu-ray double box set of both Innocence and Redux, which adds nothing to the individual DVDs except a bigger sleeve; the two movies, individually packed; the original is still available; and the separate Blu-Ray versions of each film. All appear to have the same review and synopsis regardless of which is which!
80 of 95 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
If you've never seen 'Ghost in the Shell' then please do one of two things. Either buy the DVD version of the original film or, if you can, import the Japanese Blu-Ray of the same. Do NOT under any circumstances buy this item instead unless you've first watched the original and want to compare the two. Here's why:
I have every GITS incarnation in print, audio, games and film. I'm a collector because I love the concept and execution. I have a very extensive selection of collectibles too (figure models, Tachikomas etc) so I know the full context. The reason I can review the 2.0 version of the first GITS film is because I spent £100 on a Japanese set containing 2.0 AND (thankfully) the original version on Blu-Ray. I have watched 2.0 and apart from the English dub (that might not appear anyway) the film is identical to the UK/USA releases.
It doesn't work!
I really wanted to like this release. I'd hoped it would be similar to the recent Star-Trek Blu-Ray set that incorporates new SFX scenes that actually work and seem to belong in the original footage. That isn't the case here. The opening sequence of Kusanagi (or a Kusanagi type prosthetic body, it's never clear) being built is flawed from the off. It's been redone in CGI but there are major (no pun intended) continuity errors, mainly involving missing hair. The scene when Motoko is atop the building and then dives into combat works as a standalone (no pun intended) clip and looks great BUT it doesn't smoothly fit into the existing cell animation at all. It's a radical as two different movies bolted together such is the difference and it completely detracts from the experience. I ran the original to compare it straight away and THAT works beautifully. In fact, because it fits the film, it looks better than the new CGI work! Also, there's an unhealthy amount of overscan on the image at times. Again I compared the original and some scenes have been cropped for no obvious reason and to the detriment of the composition. The audio IS much improved but my version has only Japanese dialogue. The Dolby True-HD soundtrack is glorious and significantly better than the stereo of the original version. That's the only gain here, everything else is either pointless or just plain wrong and I can't recommend this release to anyone other than collectors. You will get a better experience by watching the original version than this one with new graphics because the enhancements detract from and often ruin the mood of the story.
I wanted to like this but I don't.
I have every GITS incarnation in print, audio, games and film. I'm a collector because I love the concept and execution. I have a very extensive selection of collectibles too (figure models, Tachikomas etc) so I know the full context. The reason I can review the 2.0 version of the first GITS film is because I spent £100 on a Japanese set containing 2.0 AND (thankfully) the original version on Blu-Ray. I have watched 2.0 and apart from the English dub (that might not appear anyway) the film is identical to the UK/USA releases.
It doesn't work!
I really wanted to like this release. I'd hoped it would be similar to the recent Star-Trek Blu-Ray set that incorporates new SFX scenes that actually work and seem to belong in the original footage. That isn't the case here. The opening sequence of Kusanagi (or a Kusanagi type prosthetic body, it's never clear) being built is flawed from the off. It's been redone in CGI but there are major (no pun intended) continuity errors, mainly involving missing hair. The scene when Motoko is atop the building and then dives into combat works as a standalone (no pun intended) clip and looks great BUT it doesn't smoothly fit into the existing cell animation at all. It's a radical as two different movies bolted together such is the difference and it completely detracts from the experience. I ran the original to compare it straight away and THAT works beautifully. In fact, because it fits the film, it looks better than the new CGI work! Also, there's an unhealthy amount of overscan on the image at times. Again I compared the original and some scenes have been cropped for no obvious reason and to the detriment of the composition. The audio IS much improved but my version has only Japanese dialogue. The Dolby True-HD soundtrack is glorious and significantly better than the stereo of the original version. That's the only gain here, everything else is either pointless or just plain wrong and I can't recommend this release to anyone other than collectors. You will get a better experience by watching the original version than this one with new graphics because the enhancements detract from and often ruin the mood of the story.
I wanted to like this but I don't.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
If you're a GITS fan wanting the HD treatment of the original masterpiece then you have 2 choices, this or the far more expensive Japanese version.
The disk has 2 versions of the film on it, GITS 2.0 and the original. 2.0 features some newly created cgi scenes that competely replace the original animated ones, but these are only small in number, replacing a few key scenes and never lasting more than a few seconds.
The rest of the film looks and sounds stunning, lots of the 'net view' visuals have been changed from green to a golden yellow colour and there are other subtle enhancements that work well and add to the film. The cgi scenes feel a little disjointed however, never seeming to fit in seemlessly and it leaves me wondering why they bothered, nice but not at all necessary.
The reason why I have only given this a 4 star rating is because the original, and obviously superior version of the film lacks HD surround sound and remastered visuals, and compared to 2.0 it almost looks as bad as VHS quality. Why they couldn't have merged the HD video of the Japanese version with the new audio from 2.0 to create a difinitive original version in english is beyond me.
If you're a GITS fan this is well worth it, but get the Japanese bluray version too or at the very least one of the earlier DVD versions.
The disk has 2 versions of the film on it, GITS 2.0 and the original. 2.0 features some newly created cgi scenes that competely replace the original animated ones, but these are only small in number, replacing a few key scenes and never lasting more than a few seconds.
The rest of the film looks and sounds stunning, lots of the 'net view' visuals have been changed from green to a golden yellow colour and there are other subtle enhancements that work well and add to the film. The cgi scenes feel a little disjointed however, never seeming to fit in seemlessly and it leaves me wondering why they bothered, nice but not at all necessary.
The reason why I have only given this a 4 star rating is because the original, and obviously superior version of the film lacks HD surround sound and remastered visuals, and compared to 2.0 it almost looks as bad as VHS quality. Why they couldn't have merged the HD video of the Japanese version with the new audio from 2.0 to create a difinitive original version in english is beyond me.
If you're a GITS fan this is well worth it, but get the Japanese bluray version too or at the very least one of the earlier DVD versions.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good but could have had more...
In a straight lineup from v1 to v2... Most of the newly rendered scenes are in the first 30 minutes.
The scenes are very much improved and fit perfectly. Read more
The scenes are very much improved and fit perfectly. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Captain Fizz
why the cgi?
Ghost In The Shell 2.0 Redux [DVD] as a fan that has recently discovered this film i have to say it is brilliant granted the story can be at times a little confusing like why do... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr J.Richards
Shoddy....
OK, This isn't a review of the movie itself.. it's a classic, what more can be said about that, I'm going to give my opinion of the disk itself. Read more
Published 11 months ago by John
Ghost In The Shell
I saw Ghost In The Shell at a friends and I enjoyed it. The BluRay has really made the film better to watch.
Published 20 months ago by Hugh Donaldson
Great transfer...but...
One of my all time favourite films on blu-ray - nerdy heaven right?...well, only sort of...this 2.0 redux edition makes a number of George Lucas style alterations which simply... Read more
Published 21 months ago by James Cameron
The Logical Conclusion...
Ghost in the Shell explores the logical conclusion of human technology and I have never seen such a thorough exploration of an idea in any film. Read more
Published 21 months ago by neutrino
You're an idiot if you don't like this film.
I started watching this film prepared to be disappointed as I've heard from many reviews online that it had ruined the original film. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jehuty
Excellent remake
La refonte graphique fait du bien à GITS, car l'anime commençait à se faire vieux et on peut le comparer grâce à l'original fourni dans les bonus. Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by Streptos
Ghost in the Shell Redux
This is a revised version of Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime masterpiece. For the people who are unaware of the story, the film follows the work of Section 9 (an anti-terrorist and... Read more
Published on 29 April 2010 by J. Cook
IT's GITS
It's GITS with a minor makeover, think CGI quality along the lines of the CGI remake of Appleseed and you'll be close to the mark. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2010 by Allen Clarke
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