5/5 May not be for everyone, but for me its pro.
  by D. Knowles (NY, NY)
This title divides fans a lot, and understandably so. When compared to the original, there is a distinct sameness present as well as a the mostly missing Major. While this detracts from many people enjoyment of this film, I still liked the characters, and plot enough to wholeheartedly recommend a viewing. Though not up to the standard of the original (and really, not much is) this effort forwards the tale exceptionally well.

5/5 Amazon, quit blending the DVD releases with the Blu-ray!
  by D. Herron
The Blu-Ray of this movie is awesome, they have fixed the mistakes of the orginal DVD version, and should be rated overall five stars, the problem, Amazon, has mixed the reviews from the old dvd with the blu ray, skewing the star results and reviews, Amazon, needs to keep the review for DVDs and Blu rays seperate, even if its the same movie the format is different an offers different things, and I would like to see reviews for the blu ray not the old dvd. If you agree Let your voices be heard..

5/5 Visually Stunning, Brain Recommended But Not Required
  by Jason Roberts (Albany, Or.)
This movie is called both "Intellectually Weak," and "In love with its own intelligence" Clearly, that alone makes this film worth your time and worth forming your own opinion about.

The thing is, this is not a stupid film by any means. 'Visually stunning,' it is constantly called, but it's not just that: It's an assault on the senses (in a good way), both visually and aurally. The sound is incredible, the images stick with you. Even a simple, seemingly underthought image like the final two shots of the movie will stick with you long after the closing credits roll.

But how is the story? I haven't seen the original in years, but this one held my attention, and kept my brain engaged. I give this one an enthusiastic thumbs up, plus a wink and a smile. It FEELS like the middle chapter in a story... there is too much left unresolved, and while seeing the first one isn't necessary to understanding this one, there ARE many references the original "Ghost in the Shell." It's not so much a continuation of the story, as it is a continuation of the characters. Which I think is the better call.

Constant quotes from literature is not a sign of intellectual weakness, I don't think. People accuse the movie of not having a brain of its own, but I think any movie that engages the brain of its audience needn't make apologies. This one remains interesting on all levels; I just hope it doesn't take them another nine years to produce part three.

5/5 Awesome the best graphics ever
  by Kent Albert (Wyoming)
Some guy wrote about Dreamworks. Dreamworks had nothing to do with this film. As for relating to the original film, I understand it. I understand the plot. I have watched a lot of films in my 52 years and by far this is the best of the best and anybody who could possibly put this film below a 4 should reconsider. The audio is awesome. The graphics are breath taking. I see nothing wrong with this film at all I give nothing but praises to it.
I was entertained to the fullest. It is truly worth a Blue Ray purchase. There is always something to be said of the purpose of the film. The corporate folks want $$$$ that is a given. But us the watchers, viewers, audience. We are the ones that count. When I watch a film I watch it to see if it affects me in anyway shape or form but more importantly does it affect me visually or emotionally to the fullest. This film did. I have never seen a film with more breath taking graphics in it than this film. Emotionally it did not bring me to tears but I came to know more of the feelings of Batou than before. For folks who cannot even get the company who made the film right. Time to re-read some.

5/5 Much better release than the previous DVD
  by Russell A. Hamann
Truth be told I never used to like this movie, but after being re-exposed to it with this Blu-ray release it's become one of my favorite installments in the GITS franchise.

Maybe when I saw it before with subtitles I had trouble understanding the crazy plotline. (GITS is hard enough to understand English) For those of you who've seen the movie before and not liked it, you owe it to yourself to give it another chance like I did in flawless 1080p video quality and English dub.

People have been complaining that this release is a "disgrace" because it doesn't have lossless audio tracks and one of the 2 English tracks is completely messed up. These problems didn't bother me at all because I'm not a audiophile by any means and don't even have the hardware to utilize lossless audio. Also while it is true that the UK English dub track included on this disc is so badly off-pitch that is sounds like all the characters have Down's Syndrome, it's a moot point because they've also included a new (and more accurate) English dub that has absolutely no problems and really improved the viewing experience for me.