Arrakis

I saw the live action trailer back in the days and it did not look interesting at all to me. I'm sure the anime film is a lot better.

There is also "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" which is a anime series taking place in-between the two anime films. It also has the major, but not seen it so far.

MsPerfectionist

Stand Alone Complex was good. i highly recommend it.

2nd gig meh i got bored and never finished the series.

None of it is as good as the 1995 anime film

canflam

Here's part of a review from Roger Ebert's site about the 2017 ''Ghost in the Shell'' film: ''The visual landscape of “Ghost in the Shell” suggests a host of fascinating questions. What does the chance of being hacked suggest about the quicksilver nature of identity in this world? If you don’t have cybernetic upgrades what does that mean for your life personally and professionally? The team members of Section 9 seem to be diverse—has technology affected the way people relate to their own race and gender? Unfortunately, these questions are only momentarily considered or blithely ignored in order to reiterate just how special the Major is, in case you forgot from the twenty other times characters mention it.

This lack of detailing extends to the characters themselves. The Major spends a considerable amount of time with her Section 9 teammates but I honestly couldn’t name one single personality trait for any of them beyond being dedicated to their work. The only one who gets enough focus to rise above being completely forgettable is Batou (Pilou Asbæk). He has a comfortable rapport with the Major that causes her to crack a smile and some occasional jokes, suggesting she has more humanity than she gives herself credit for. As Dr. Ouelet, the Major’s chief creator, Juliette Binoche imbues a warmth and nearly neurotic sense of overprotection that suggests an interesting mother/daughter dynamic. This isn’t enough. The lightning pace of the film means that just when a scene is about to touch a nerve it moves on to the next. The score buzzes and swells with intrigue that the action on-screen doesn’t communicate. Typically, a strong lead performance can make even the most cumbersome film have charm and merit, but Johansson struggles to create a meaningful emotional through line for the Major.

In recent years, Johansson has proven to be a mesmerizing actress who brings an intelligence and fearsome quality to her work. “Ghost in the Shell” is a continuation of the roles she’s excelled at playing in “Under the Skin,” “Her,” and various turns as super-spy Black Widow in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. It marries her impressive physicality as an action star, emotional vulnerability, and steely determinism. Yet, even she isn’t skilled enough to imbue the Major with the depth necessary for her arc to feel moving and profound. She also can’t sell me on the ridiculous philosophy the film peddles about how memories are inconsequential to human identity; apparently, only our actions matter.

All these issues—poorly thought out moral quandaries, surface level world building, scant character development—come to a head in the film’s queasy racial politics. A dark cloud has hung over “Ghost in the Shell” since Johansson’s casting was announced. The debate over whether her character, who in the source material had the name Motoko Kusanagi, should reflect the racial origins of the manga and subsequent anime films was intelligently explored in an essay for The Verge by Emily Yoshida. No matter where you come down in the debate over this, it becomes hard to ignore when you notice how the most important characters are white or that every time Aramaki speaks Japanese the Major only replies in English. “Ghost in the Shell” makes the troubling decision to use Japanese culture, visual flourishes, and source material but decides that a Japanese actress as the lead would be a step too far. At times, “Ghost in the Shell” is beautiful, even stunning. But these visual pleasures can’t mask the narrative emptiness. Never has there been a film so obsessed with the human soul that proves soulless itself.''

MsPerfectionist

nice

Arrakis

Interesting, yeah i guess like many anime live action films it can't really capture the feeling of the original anime or manga. And yes they should've cast a japanese or japanese american actress in that role not scarlett.

I might check the first series out at some point.

The og film is truly a cyberpunk masterpiece like akira.

MsPerfectionist

capturing the feeling, yep well said.

masterpiece

canflam

MsPerfectionist

Major's eyes there

Arrakis

Was this meant to show her eyes are artificial?

canflam

Unsure if that was the purpose. They look like contacts I think.

MsPerfectionist

she is a cyborg lady, why would she need contacts?

Arrakis

I tend to think it's supposed to show her robot eyes, they are more like cameras than actualy eyes.

canflam

I think that there are such things as cyborg contact lenses.

MsPerfectionist

oh really? hmm...i don't remember it.

canflam

People I think wear them actually.