5/5 There are a couple of issues but it is still worth buying for the Ghost in the Shell Fan..
  by Jose Argumedo (Miami, FL USA)
Ahh...Ghost in the Shell. The 1995 movie based on the manga that was called by some the second coming of Akira. I can't help but agree with that. So here we are almost 15 years later and we now have a sequel, a spin-off TV show, with a TV movie and it's influence is seen in movies such as "The Matrix." Now we have GitS 2.0, which is not a sequel (though I can see why people could be misled into thinking that.) but a redone version of the first movie. The colors has been changed and some CG has been brought in to replace the old animation. Its supposed to look more like the sequel, "Innocence," but honestly it looks weird since the original movie was made 9 years before the sequel. But I'm not going to review the movie itself, I'm just going to tell you why you should buy this on Blu-Ray.

The first thing all you purists need to know, the original Ghost in the Shell is included on the disc in HD. It doesn't look that great but it looks better than the DVD for sure. Also, the transfer is not the DVD master from the 2005 re-issue simply upconverted (contrary to popular belief), it is the Blu-ray master from Japan. They didn't really clean up the film but this is pretty much the best it's ever going to look unless Bandai, Manga or Production IG want to put up the money for a full re-master.

Which brings us into the new 2.0 version. This puppy has demo worthy video. The animation has been nicely cleaned-up, the new CG pops, and the re-mixed soundtrack (which I'll get back to in a minute) can bring the house down. This is one of the best animated Blu-rays out there, up there with "Cars," "Wall-E," and "Akira." While consistency is off thanks to the new CG, new colors and old animation, but this is not the fault of the transfer.

The soundtrack for the original Japanese version has actually been thrown out the window completely. Not only are there new sound effects, but the original cast has re-recorded all their lines, with one exception: the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master was originally voiced by a man, and has now been replaced by a woman. Also the song that plays in the background during the market chase with Batou has been removed. It is such a small thing that people probably won't notice (but I brought it up for a reason).

Now, I'm going to be honest, I'm a fan of the English dub of GitS in all of its forms. When this was announced I thought for sure they would re-dub the movie with the new GitS: Stand Alone Complex cast. This is not the case. They used the original dub from 1995 for this version (So Mimi Woods is playing Motoko, not Mary Elizabeth McGlynn from the SAC dub.) with the new sound effects thrown in. Which brings us to a inconsistency because in the 2.0 version the Puppet Master is supposed to be played a female, but instead, is still played by a man, since this is literally the same dub. This isn't the only inconsistency, the song from the marketplace is now back in the movie. There some other small gripes but only the hardcore fan would notice.

Now onto the extras. They consider the old version of the movie as a extra, and it is a pretty cool extra, having both versions in HD. Then we come into a couple of weird quirks. On the box, it says there is a commentary with the director, as well as a making of feature for 2.0. What we get is a making of feature....for the original movie and a theatrical trailer...for the original. Along with come bios and glossary. The features on the box are no where to be found, which is quite a big gaff. Maybe future re-prints will correct this but as of now, the features on the box are not there. To me, it isn't a big deal, but it kind of sucks that we don't get what the box promises.

All in all this is a must buy for every GitS fan. Not only do you get the new version of this movie, you get the original in HD. That way, you get the best of both worlds. Everyone else, give this one a rental, because this is really for the fans.

5/5 Okay, I understand the complaints, but....
  by Donald D. Mahanna
I can see the problems the other reviewers have written about, and I can't argue that the new CGI doesn't match the look of the old film. I got this BluRay because I love the movie, and just wanted to see it (not expecting much). But I got to tell you, I had a blast watching it. The new (or redone might be more accurate) opening scene is amazing. Even though the new visuals might not match, they are a welcome addition. It doesn't replace the original version (which is included on the disk, standard format, under special features. Note: It is not listed on cover), but it is really well done.

Most impressive, is the new 6.1 mix. They have completely re-done the sound mix, re did sound effects, and remixed levels and speaker placement. It sounds amazing. One of the best sound mixes I have ever heard on Bluray. Actually, looking for a stronger word than amazing, but can't think of the proper adjective. If you are a audiophile, this reason alone is enough to buy it. You will not be disappointed.

3/5 A few problems here...
  by Patrick Robertson (Groves, TX United States)
I'm going to break this review down into two parts.

The movie itself:
This is Ghost In The Shell in HD. It's beautiful, but for a smoother translation into the look of Innocence the greenish colors of the original film have been touched up and made to be more of an amber color like that seen in second film. This isn't really a change that I mind, and it's pulled off fairly well. I assume that several scenes were cleaned up digitally because the line art looks amazingly clean.

Sadly, someone felt it would be appropriate to replace some of the most iconic and stunning animation from the original with CG. A few scenes are done well like those where the CG is only helicopters or buildings, but whenever it replaces characters with crappy looking CG models it becomes stunningly bad. If you watch the making of the original movie you can see that their limited use of computer assisted animation was carefully planned and fit in with the other artwork and improved the film. The CG in 2.0 sticks out like a sore thumb in most cases. The only CG part that I liked was the pan over the cityscape at the end of the film.

If you have a bluray player and haven't seen GitS yet 2.0 isn't a bad way to see it, but fans of the original will probably be disappointed with the lack of any significant changes and the quality of what was changed.

The bluray by Manga:

Somehow Manga Entertainment never ceases to screw something pretty major up on their releases. The box lists a commentary with Oshii, an interview with Oshii and a making of GitS 2.0. None of these features are present on the bluray. You get throw away character profiles, glossary, and the old english trailer. The original making of GitS is here in VHS quality along with the unlisted bonus feature of the original cut of the movie. When I heard that I was pretty excited because in all honesty it's the only version I truly care about, but it looks to be taken from non-HD masters and only includes 2.0 audio tracks. If memory serves me correctly I believe that my GitS DVD looks better upscaled than this version does.

It would have been nice to do a re-dub of the film with the SAC cast, but I guess most of them were in the original anyway and it's a nice dub in it's own right.

This whole release just makes me want the original film untouched in HD. I can't give this less than three stars if only because seeing this movie this way is better than not seeing it at all because it's a one of my favorite films ever, but be aware of the problems with this release before deciding to buy it.

5/5 Worthy remastered version - looks great on blu-ray
  by TOYnn (Seattle, WA)
Anime and GITS fans rejoice with this must have remastered blu-ray version of the original movie. Certainly the CGI additions though good at times are a bit inconsistent in what they add overall but the remastered original animation for blu-ray is fantastic as is the audio. The spoken audio appears to be original (re-mastered I'm sure) so don't expect the flow of any scenes to change. This isn't like Evangelion: 1.01 remakes just an very strong update to the original classic Ghost in the Shell. Special features include the original version of the movie but it does seem to me a bit rough in part going straight to blu-ray. With this blu-ray edition Ghost in the Shell as perhaps regained its place (if it ever lost it) of being what all other anime is judged against. Watch it.

5/5 a timeless classic redone & includes ith original too
  by Paul Bartholomew
The CG reworking done to the 2.0 version of this movie is probably not needed. A good comparison is what George Lucas did with the original star wars trilogy. Things were added here and there, some made things look better other times it made the movie itself worse. It's also very similar to the limited edition star wars releases on dvd a few years back. Like those discs this also includes the original theatrical release. So if you are a purist and much rather watch the movie as originally intended you are able to do so. I watched 2.0 once through but I imagine any further rewatching will be done with the theatrical version included as a special feature.

Anyway, With how this disc was handled I can't help but highly recommend it to any fan of Ghost in the shell. Even if you already own the original dvd this is a worthy upgrade even if you only watch the theatrical version for the higher bitrate. The original GITS movie had some severe macroblocking issues that this disc does not have. I never saw the re-release done a few years back so I can't compare but it's a vast improvement over the original.

If it wasn't for the inclusion of the theatrical I would have given it 4 stars instead of 5. Even with the all the issues I have with the 2.0 remake, I still feel this is the definitive release of the movie for now.