Kôkaku kidôtai 2.0

Just like other reviewers have said, I can not recommend this remake of Ghost In The Shell to people who like the visuals and the sound of the original. For me, the original GITS was near-perfect in look and feel. The color palette, visual designs, animations and sound design were all strong, hard-hitting and rough.

In the 2.0 remake, the color palette was changed to a earthy, brown look that we know from so many video games and movies. Additionally the image is drowned in blur and bloom effects. Watching the movie you can clearly tell which scenes are CGI and which are hand-drawn, whereas these elements integrated well in the original. To make matters worse, many of the CGI scenes do not hold up to the original hand-drawn scenes. The jaw-dropping intro and title sequences from the original GITS are ruined for that very reason. The city has lost it's dirty, melancholy mood and is now indistinguishable from designs in other movies.

A similar treatment has been given to the audio. All new sounds are toned down in impact. Vehicles, machinery and weapons now sound like plastic. The new sounds alone destroy the combat scenes beyond recognition. On the upside, the original voices and music were preserved.

Why Ghost In The Shell received this treatment I can not understand. Supposedly it was to adapt GITS to the look of it's successor "Innocence" (Ghost In The Shell 2). The merits of such an undertaking can be disputed on a general level, yet GITS 2.0 is a perfect example of how not to execute such a task. Viewers should be able to recognize "Ghost In The Shell" as "Innocence"'s predecessor from the title, the story and promotional material.

As many have noted in their comments, the new CGI in this remastered version of the original Ghost in the Shell movie do more harm to the film than good. I mean, they are nice and all, but they don't add anything to the story and they contract strongly with the original animation.

This being said, the movie is almost the same, so just as great. As a subject it is one of the masterpieces of modern sci-fi. One of my favourite films, GitS spawned two films and a series just as great, all adding more to the initial exploration of the human soul in the face of ever more complex and intrusive technology.

I believe its beauty stands in the many levels that the film can be perceived at. If you are looking for flashy technology, police procedure and explosions, you have them all. If you are looking for dark political intrigue, there is plenty of it. If you are going for more philosophical aspects, like the source of the self, the true spring of identity and consciousness, that is at the very heart of the story. It's a win win situation. I can hardly wait for the film that is to be filmed in 2011. I just hope they don't turn it into some mellow brainless thing, like so many movies nowadays.

Bottom line: I've seen the original a long time ago, so I can hardly comment on the differences. My advice to you is to watch either of them, because it is totally worth it.

Basically, if you've seen the first one, you've seen this one. Lines are the same, acting may be a little less wooden given how much the cast has played these same characters by now, and any faults the first one had, this one has.

That aside, the movie is gorgeous, more so if you've seen the original a few times. Not quite Innocence, but close. The new CG scenes aren't disjointing as they are only in places one would expect them, and the new dubbing is solid.

Even though one can tell the cg was added as an after thought, it doesn't detract from the score, which is redone. From what I could tell, it is all newly recorded and rearranged, especially the theme, and is a step above and beyond the original score. Sound effects are great if subtle as well.

The movie is still extremely sensory minded, and that is what this is for. It is gorgeous to watch and to listen to, but does not act a replacement for the original. They both have a place on the same shelf.

The wonderful story is intact, but why does this exist? The original is just slightly better in that it doesn't have random bad CG. There's nothing special to make this version stand out.

There is not much to say. 2.0 is an unnecessary, invasive and generally destructive "remaster" which violates the tone, breaks the immersion and adds strange 3D scenes, attempting to unite the original with the sequel in style, all the while their stylistic differences were so important to highlight the advancement of the story.

Avoid this and watch the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell.