Ghost in the Shell (1995)

A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writers:

Shirow Masamune (based on the manga by) (as Masamune Shirow), Kazunori Itô (screenplay)

Stars:

Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi, Akio Ôtsuka

5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Atsuko Tanaka	...	Kusanagi Motoko (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Batô (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Togusa (voice)
Yutaka Nakano	...	Ishikawa (voice)
Tamio Ôki	...	Aramaki (voice)
Tesshô Genda	...	Nakamura buchô (voice)
Namaki Masakazu	...	Urisu hakase (voice)
Masato Yamanouchi	...	Gaimu daijin (voice)
Shinji Ogawa	...	Gaikôkan (voice)
Mitsuru Miyamoto	...	Daida Mizuho (voice)
Kazuhiro Yamaji	...	Seisô kyokuin (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Seisô kyokuin (voice)
Hiroshi Yanaka	...	Kenshi-kan (voice)
Ginzô Matsuo	...	Ossan (voice)
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Jikkô-han (voice)

Storyline

It is the year 2029. Technology has advanced so far that cyborgs are commonplace. In addition, human brains can connect to the internet directly. Major Motoko Kusanagi is an officer in Section 9, an elite, secretive police division that deals with special operations, including counter terrorism and cyber crime. She is currently on the trail of the Puppet Master, a cyber criminal who hacks into the brains of cyborgs in order to obtain information and to commit other crimes.

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Plot Keywords:

cyborg | hacker | cyberpunk | anime | philosophical | 

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Taglines:

Mamoru Oshii's animated thriller

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lyrics to the title song "Making of a Cyborg" were written in ancient Japanese. The romanized Japanese lyrics are as follows: A ga maeba, kuwashime yoini keri A ga maeba, teru tsuki toyomu nari Yobai ni kami amakudarite Yoha ake, nuedori naku. Tôkamiemitame (x4). English translation: When you are dancing, a beautiful lady becomes drunken. When you are dancing, a shining moon rings. A god descends for a wedding And dawn approaches while the night bird sings. God bless you (x4).

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Goofs

Before Kusanagi leaps off of the building in the opening, she is wearing black gloves and black boots. In the next shot, she is suddenly wearing white gloves and white boots, both of which seemingly came from nowhere.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: In the near future: Corporate networks reach out to the stars, electrons and light flow throughout the universe. - The advance of computerisation, however, has not yet wiped out nations and ethnic groups.
Dispatcher: [on radio] To all units: Code 2-0-8 in district C-13, Newport City. Air space is closed. I repeat...

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Alternate Versions

The original Japanese version has the song "Reincarnation" played over the ending credits. This song was replaced with "One Minute Warning" by Passengers (a collaboration between U2 and Brian Eno) for the English version.

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Connections

Referenced in Appleseed (2004)

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Soundtracks

See You Everyday
Composed and Arranged by Kenji Kawai
Lyrics Pong Chack Man
Vocals Fang Ka Wing
Chorus Junko Hirotani

User Reviews

At the top of its genre...

I was a huge anime fan in highschool but as time progressed, my interests and focus in media have changed. A few days ago I re-discovered my forgotten anime collection. Behold, Ghost in the Shell.

Watching this fine piece of animation again brought back the reasons why I was attracted to anime in the first place. It is obvious that a lot of work went into Ghost in the Shell; the attention to graphic details creates some remarkably realistic animation.

Though the major reason to see this film is for the animation, there are also other fine points to consider. It has a fairly complex plot. The science it focuses on is definitely modern though, albeit, fantastic.

I recommend the subtitled version because the dubbed dialog is sometimes over wordy and odd-sounding (as are most dubbed versions).

Some viewers may be turned-off by the many scenes that aren't accompanied by music, especially the action sequences. The music, however, is outstanding. There are a couple of scenes that are basically slide shows of various themes. These are accompanied with music and no dialog. The animation, to say the least, is beautiful and seems to be the focus.

In summary, Ghost in the Shell is very satisfying.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan UK

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 March 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghost in the Shell

Box Office

Budget:

JPY600,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,736, 4 February 1996

Gross USA:

$515,905

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$516,540

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kôdansha, Bandai Visual Company, Manga Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (Original Japanese) Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1