Ghost in the Shell (1995)

**Ghost in the Shell** is a 1995 action, adventure, drama, psychological, science fiction, cyberpunk Japanese anime

   movie.  It was written by Kazunori Ito, directed by Mamoru Oshii, musically composed by Kenji Kawai, cinematography by Hisao Shirai, edited by Shuichi Kakesu, Shigeyuki Yamamori, distributed by Shochiku in Japan and Manga Entertainment in the United Kingdom, produced by Yoshimasa Mizuo, Ken Matsumoto, Ken Iyadomi, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, and Studio Production I.G., and it starred Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, and lemasa Kayumi.  It was based on a three volume manga series of the same name which was written by Masamune Shirou.  It was followed by a direct sequel Ghost in the Shell 2:  Innocence, as well as an anime series called Ghost in the Shell:  Stand Alone Complex, plus another movie, a sequel to the series, called Ghost in the Shell:  Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society.

## Plot

In 2029, with the advance of cybernetic technology, the human body can be "augmented" or even completely replaced with cybernetic parts. Another significant achievement is the cyberbrain, a mechanical casing for the human brain that allows access to the Internet and other networks. An often-mentioned term is "ghost", referring to the consciousness inhabiting the body (the "shell").

Major Motoko Kusanagi is an assault-team leader for the Public Security Section 9 of "New Port City" in Japan. Following a request from Nakamura, chief of Section 6, she successfully assassinates a diplomat of a foreign country to prevent a programmer named Daita from defecting.

The Foreign Minister's interpreter is ghost-hacked, presumably to assassinate VIPs in an upcoming meeting. Believing the perpetrator is the mysterious Puppet Master, Kusanagi's team follows the traced telephone calls that sent the virus. After a chase, they capture a garbage man and a thug. However, both are only ghost-hacked individuals with no clue about the Puppet Master. The investigation again comes to a dead end.

Megatech Body, a "shell" manufacturer with suspected close ties to the government, is hacked and assembles a cybernetic body. The body escapes but is hit by a truck. As Section 9 examines the body, they find a human "ghost" inside its computer brain. Unexpectedly, Nakamura arrives to reclaim the body. He claims that the "ghost" inside the brain is the Puppet Master himself, lured into the body by Section 6. The body reactivates itself, claims to be a sentient being and requests political asylum. After the Puppet Master initiates a brief argument about what constitutes a human, a camouflaged agent accompanying Nakamura starts a diversion and gets away with the body.

Having suspected foul play, Kusanagi's team is prepared and immediately pursues the agent. Meanwhile, Section 9 researches "Project 2501", mentioned earlier by the Puppet Master, and finds a connection with Daita, whom Section 6 tries to keep from defecting the country. Facing the discovered information, Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Section 9, concludes that Section 6 created the Puppet Master itself for various political purposes. This is why Section 6 is desperately trying to reclaim the body.

Kusanagi follows the car carrying the body to an abandoned building. It is protected by a large walking tank. Anxious to face the Puppet Master's ghost, Kusanagi engages the tank without backup and is nearly killed. Her partner Batou arrives in time to save her, and helps connect her brain to the Puppet Master's.

The Puppet Master explains to Kusanagi that he was created by Section 6. While wandering various networks, he became sentient and began to contemplate his existence. Deciding the essence of humanity is reproduction and mortality, he wants to exist within a physical brain that will eventually die. As he could not escape Section 6's network, he had to download himself into a cybernetic body. Having interacted with Kusanagi (without her knowledge), he believes she is also questioning her humanity, and they have a lot in common. He proposes merging their ghosts, in return, Kusanagi would gain all of his capabilities. Kusanagi agrees to the merge.

Snipers from Section 6 approach the building, intending to destroy the Puppet Master's and Kusanagi's brains to cover up Project 2501. The Puppet Master's shell is destroyed, but Batou shields Kusanagi's head in time to save her brain. As Section 9 closes in on the site, the snipers retreat.

"Kusanagi" wakes up in Batou's safe house with her previous shell's head attached to a new cyborg child body. She tells Batou that the entity within her body is neither Kusanagi nor the Puppet Master, but a combination of both. She promises Batou they will meet again, leaves the house and wonders where to go next.

## Why It Rocks

1. Beautiful animation.
2. The film possesses tones of interesting themes, such as the technology of the future, artificial intelligence, the sentience of technology, moral dilemas, sexuality, corruption in politics, and the nature of humanity.
3. Appealing character designs.
4. While all of the themes presented in this movie have been covered before, some of them all the way back to the black and white silent film Metropolis from 1927, this movie covers them in rather unique and intriguing ways, which makes it seem fresh.
5. Amazing soundtrack.
6. In 2008 the film was re-relerased in five Japanese theaters with enhanced art, animation, music, sound affects, and voice acting, everything in the movie was improved upon.
7. Great voice acting.
8. Mixed in with the philosophical themes are a bit of action, which helps to leviate the thought provoking nature of the movie.
9. Good pacing.
10. This film is famous for inspiring one of the most popular American film franchises of all time, The Matrix.

## Bad Qualities

1. The writer of this film, Mamoru Oshii, typically likes to inject philosophical themes with dense dialogue into his work.  While this is all well and good, in this movie he tends to take it too far and it just becomes mental homework.  It's for that reason that it won't be for everyone.

## Reception

The film was a box office hit when released in Japan. It holds a 96% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 45 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A stunning feat of modern animation, *Ghost in the Shell* offers a thoughtful, complex treat for anime fans, as well as a perfect introduction for viewers new to the genre."[39]

James Cameron cited *Ghost in the Shell* as a source of inspiration: "The first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence". Niels Matthijs of Twitch Filmpraised the film, stating, "Not only is *Kokaku Kidotai* an essential film in the canon of Japanese animation, together with Kubrick's *2001: A Space Odyssey* and Tarkovsky's *Solyaris*it completes a trio of book adaptations that transcend the popularity of their originals and [give] a new meaning to an already popular brand." (note that 2001 is not actually an adaptation). He ranked it #48 of his personal favorites.[40] Clark Collis of *Empire* opined that the film was predictable, but praised its production values.[41] Johnathan Mays of Anime News Network praised the animation combined with the computer effects, calling it "perhaps the best synthesis ever witnessed in anime".[42] Helen McCarthy in *500 Essential Anime Movies* describes the film as "one of the best anime ever made", praising screenplay, an "atmospheric score", and adding that "action scenes as good as anything in the current Hollywood blockbuster are supported by CGI effects that can still astonish".[43] Roger Ebert rated the film three out of four stars, praising the visuals, soundtrack and themes, but felt that the film was "too complex and murky to reach a large audience ... it's not until the second hour that the story begins to reveal its meaning".[14]

*Ghost in the Shell* was the first anime video to reach *Billboard'*s No. 1 video slot at the time of its release.[19] The film ranked as the ninth top selling anime DVD movie in 2006.[44] In February 2004, *Cinefantastique* listed the anime as one of the "10 Essential Animations".[45] It ranked 35 on Total Film's 2010 top list of 50 Animated Films.[46] The film ranked No. 4 on *Wizards Anime* Magazine on their "Top 50 Anime released in North America".[47]

*Ghost in the Shell* influenced a number of prominent filmmakers. The Wachowskis, creators of *The Matrix* and its sequels, showed it to producer Joel Silver, saying, "We wanna do that for real."[48] *The Matrix* series took several concepts from the film, including the Matrix digital rain, which was inspired by the opening credits of *Ghost in the Shell*, and the way characters access the Matrix through holes in the back of their necks.[49] Other parallels have been drawn to James Cameron's *Avatar*, Steven Spielberg's *A.I. Artificial Intelligence*, and Jonathan Mostow's *Surrogates*.[49]