I hated Ghost in the Shell (2017) a lot, and would recommend that those of you who may have been temporarily swayed by some recs ITT go back to your original position, which was likely that you weren't interested.

Action isn't good (it's Matrixy stuff but that was 18 years ago), action "setpieces" are lol, future Tokyo isn't particularly interesting (Back to the Future II does a better job with this), writing and plotting is bad, scenes should be cut, scenes should be shortened. It's a bad video game.

CGI landscapes suck blah blah blah don't care, mad af that I wasted my time with this. Please don't see it.

Also the whitewashing thing is not just an issue bc of ScarJo, it's an issue because many prominent characters who live in Tokyo and should probably be Japanese, are white. Sure you can argue for a global future as (I guess) depicted in the film and it's credible, but you're making the film in 2017 when this stuff is still a concern; you have to do better. ScarJo is the only box office draw and no other performance (except maybe one who was Asian) is good or memorable, so just hire more Asians. (That's to the people who say 'there are no good Asian actors and they need to make money with popular white actors'.)

ScarJo almost literally strips nude to do her fighting; **** you.

The film was made for boys.

Set the movie in an American city if you're going to cast all white; would have been more interesting too, seeing a future version of an American city rather than Tokyo which is already "futuristic" to many of us.

Please note that the film is bad long before any issues of sex or race come into play. Those are just a little bit of icing on the cake.

Baltimore, have you watched the original 1995 version? I just dont undersand your complaints on race and nudity.

It is Hong Kong not Tokyo. It is in the future where the races are much more mixed. Out of the main characters, both Aramaki and Togusa are Asian and Batou looks as he does in the manga/anime.

While i didnt like the 2017 version as much as some in this thread, it was better than I expected.

Some flaws that I couldnt get over :

There really is no theme or commentary on technology in this movie. Ex Machina managed to pose a lot more interesting questions on the nature of technology with a much smaller budget.

The only theme i can gather is "you are defined by what you do", which comes off a bit trite.

1995 version, despite its short runtime, managed to put in those quiet contemplative longshots that says more than its admitted didactic and heavyhanded exposition in the finale. 2017 version seems just like action set piece to action set piece with some dialogue scenes that are a bit melodramatic and clunky.

The cityscape seems dead and too fantastical in shots with the 3d billboards. The best shots were all shots from the original. The tech seems very unreal and unlikely. It would have been nice to have some new technological predictions aside from holographic projections with the 20 years of technological advancement from 1995. I would have loved it if the cars were all selfdriving in the 2017 version for example. The holographic meeting projection seems interesting but if that looks so real, why do the 3d billboards look so faded and fake?

The focus is on the Major and in that sense it becomes any other movie about an assassin with a forgotten past. The major could very well be Jason Bourne.

I didnt hate it but I dont have any love for it. There was nothing that made me pause and think afterwards unlike the 1995 version, or Ex Machina, or even The Matrix.

The Matrix is a better homage to Ghost in the Shell than 2017 Ghost.

This is my favorite youtube video on the original and explains much more eloquently than I can why I love it so much

Your Name Is (Kimi no Na wa)

Trigger Warning: Some visuals emulate psychedelica from late-60s/early-70s.
Trigger Warning: Includes realistic depictions of time unstuck-ed-ness.
Trigger Warning: S.M.O'D. makes guest appearance.
Trigger Warning: May contain content from Star Trek and Goodfellas.
Trigger Warning: Ending may not be as advertised.
Trigger Warning: Film transcends genre.

Comet Fu: Check.
I'm a girl: Check.
I'm a boy: Check.
Boobs: Always getting action.
Time: Unstuck.
Searching: Always.
Radwimps: Easy to listen to.

This one surprised me. Innovative, original, weird. I expected to like it, but was surprised by how much. By all means,

Check it out.

Just want to add that the Scott McCloud books mentioned in the vid is well worth reading if you are interested in comics, movies, or in any kind of story telling.

Yea I saw the original most recently last summer and liked it a lot. Oops, I'm just conflating everything with Akira thinking they're Tokyo.

I know the "future with mixed races" thing is the argument people can use. With regards to the manga/anime, I'd argue that racially neutral or even kinda white drawn characters are a different thing than live actors.

Yea I've gotta re-read Understanding Comics. This is another great essay about visual narrative in general:

http://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.4/3.4pages/3.4chung.html

Seems like it's always good movies that get remade, instead of bad or mediocre movies that could use some improvements in various ways.

Yeah,I want a remake of,in no particular order:

Smokey and the bandit 3

Matrix 2,or 3, like it makes a difference.

Lone Wolf mc quade,or just remake Chuck Norris.

And the Godfather,make it the comedy it needs to be.

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godfather needs to be a musical opera... in Italian.

Angry post is angry...

I kind of agree with Baltimore. The more I think about it, the more that Ghost in the Shell was just not good.

And it is still the best western ever made. Angel Eyes and all.....



Once Upon a Time in The West is a close second.

And Yojimbo is best Asian Western every made.

Yojimbo was awesome.... specially kurosawa's hand off of lead characters between his first martial arts movie okochi in sanshiro sugata and mifuni in yojimbo. They are both in the scene where Sanjuro gets paid more than the older sensei.

That being said, Seven samurai is the best Western for my money.... or maybe eastern.

You guys are absolutely right... it wasn't good, it was great.

B can try to marginalize the people that enjoyed the movie by simplifying them or labeling those fans as less then worthy, but it doesn't change the fact that the movie rocked.

Using comparisons being movie that have nothing in common is really ineffectual... and to be honest, I place it well above a weathered and tiresome "Matrix" if truth be told.

Better than the Matrix??

Way too soon to even approach that hill.



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Nah. Matrix has the same problem. If it is compared to what followed with the franchise, it gets dragged down into a slough of ridicule. Even on its own, I don't think it's aged all that well.

Ghost in the Shell has not stayed with me one little bit. It had potential, but it was vanilla and kinda boring.

It has made me want to see the original anime, though.

By all means do. It's wonderful. Also see Akira if you haven't already --
mentioned by Baltimore and others.

Phat Mack, did you catch the intentional or unintentional nod to Cowboy Bebop in GITS 2017?

Mel Brooks at the Wynn June 30/July 1 discussing film and his career.

Hey! I thought I did! You're the first to mention it. I think there might have been more than one. There's a couple of other things I noticed that are sitting in the back of my mind. Who else points his finger like that? A bunch of characters if I'm not mistaken...

Also "Your Name Is" kept reminding me of stuff going all the way back to Astro Boy. It may just be different art styles I am seeing.

There are anime experts, of which I'm not one, who might come along with a whole list of stuff

There's something musical they did that is a pure tribute to Bebop. It lasted about 5 or 10 seconds when they had located Kuze and went to get him. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was.

Happy birthday, Leon!!

You're a sci-fi fan and you haven't seen the original Ghost in the Shell??!? For shame!

lol I have a hard time with Japanese anime where the chicks have giants boobs but also have a face like a 12 year old.