Ghost In The Shell (1995) Blind Spot Review

Ghost In The Shell (1995)
攻殻機動隊
Gōsuto in za sheru / Kōkaku kidōtai (Ghost in the Shell / Mobile Armored Riot Police)

Directed by Mamoru Oshii

Based on Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow

Starring Voice Actors: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, Iemasa Kayumi

Running time: 82 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Ghost in the Shell follows the hunt of the public security agency Section 9 for a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. With the assistance of her team, Motoko Kusanagi tracks and finds their suspect, only to be drawn into a complex sequence of political intrigue and a cover-up as to the identity and goals of the Puppet Master.

My Opinion:

So this was an “alternate” Blind Spot choice of mine (I guess I need to kick one of the main ones off the list now). I decided to watch this because a) the live-action American remake was out recently and b) I noticed the running time of only 82 minutes! Okay – the running time was the biggest reason. Why are so many “worthy” films at least 2.5 hours long? I’m too busy!

I’m glad I did finally get around to watching this. I really enjoyed it. I do want to see the Scarlett Johansson one at some point too just to see how they recreated certain scenes but know that it will of course pale greatly in comparison to the original. I’d be interested to hear from those of you who’ve seen both and from fans of the original.

I’m not going to write a lot about this film as I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to Japanese anime (other than my beloved Studio Ghibli). It’s a genre I’m becoming more & more interested in and want to explore by at least watching some of the most well known stuff. I watched Akira as a Blind Spot choice last year (I decided to dive in at the deep end!). Akira isn’t quite like anything I’d seen before and I loved it (it was my favorite of my twelve 2016 Blind Spot films).

I think Ghost In The Shell is fantastic too and I can understand why it’s so popular but, unfortunately, I wasn’t as blown away as I was with Akira. I think a lot of that is probably thanks to me seeing things like The Matrix and even Ex Machina before seeing Ghost, meaning that Ghost feels almost dated now even though it came beforehand and clearly had a big influence on a lot of later films.

Okay – I don’t think “dated” is at all the right word to use… The animation is beautiful and the story is probably even more relevant now than in 1995. I think anyone who enjoys this type of science fiction would definitely like this film if they haven’t seen it. I suppose it’s just that the themes in Ghost In The Shell have been explored in loads of entertainment over the years (and especially in the years that followed its release), meaning that it doesn’t feel quite as original in 2017 as it will have 22 years ago. But it’s still a damn good science fiction anime & worthy of its status as a classic in this genre. There’s a lot of iconic imagery & an amazing musical montage (I’ve included a clip of this below). I’m happy to say that Ghost In The Shell was well worth my time & a worthy addition to my list of Blind Spot movies.

My Rating: 8/10

Oh, and I love this Mondo poster created by artist Martin Ansin…

Mondo’s Back To The Future Part II Poster Art By Matt Taylor

Hi all! I have nothing ready to post for today (but I suppose no one will be around anyway since it’s Good Friday) so here’s another one of my movie poster posts! I always love the Mondo posters & this Back To The Future Part II one is from artist Matt Taylor (see it at GeekTyrant HERE). He also did the below poster for the first film a few months ago:

Thanks to everyone who has voted in my “Which movie should I review next?“ poll. So far, Spirited Away looks like it’ll be the winner (hey – I DID do a bunch of Studio Ghibli reviews through all of January…). 😉 I’m on vacation at the moment so won’t be reviewing any of those quite yet (plus I have a review of the new Cinderella that’s 90% written which I’ll post first) but I’ll review the ones with the most votes as soon as I can. I’m leaving the poll open so you can still keep voting through next week – I’ll probably start posting the winners the week after. You can vote HERE.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter! 🙂

The Fifth Element Art Poster

Sweet! This poster was created by artist Kilian Eng of DW Design. I’ve posted the alternate color version. See the other poster here: GeekTyrant

Mondo Poster Art for Jaws by Cesar Moreno

Nice! This Jaws poster was made by artist Cesar Moreno for Mondo. Link HERE.

John Hughes Movie Art: Home Alone

Home Alone by artist Adam Simpson for Mondo. Link here: Mondo

Back To The Future Part II Mondo Poster by Laurent Durieux

I want every Mondo poster ever. This one is by arist Laurent Durieux, who is having a show at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas today (February 7th). Read more about it here: GeekTyrant

First Teaser Poster For Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur

The following synopsis and a little more information on the film can be found here (ignore the mention of the original release date – this has now been pushed back to November 2015): SlashFilm

“The Good Dinosaur” asks the generations-old question: What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In theaters May 30, 2014, the film is a humorous and exciting original story about Arlo, a lively 70-foot-tall teenage Apatosaurus with a big heart. After a traumatic event rattles Arlo’s tranquil community, he sets out on a quest to restore peace, gaining an unlikely companion along the way—a young human boy named Spot.

Great Poster Art for It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Something I’ve never blogged about but it’s one of my favorite things: Peanuts! And Snoopy. Snoopy kicks ass! Love this poster from Dark Hall Mansion for It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (which I watch every October). 🙂

Link to poster & where you can buy it if you want: GeekTyrant

Mondo Does Disney’s The Little Mermaid

To commemorate The Little Mermaid showing in some cinemas in 3D and the upcoming Blu-ray release, Mondo is releasing this poster by Tom Whalen. This poster is great! Have to say it’s better than the actual film, which isn’t all that high on my list of My Top Disney Princess Movies.

Link to Mondo poster info here: SlashFilm

This blog is too family friendly lately. I really need to find a picture of Chris Hemsworth’s naked Rush bum…

The Shinning – The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Poster Art by Olly Moss

He always does great posters. 🙂

Link: GeekTyrant

Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz & The World’s End (Cornetto Trilogy Review)

Poster by Tyler Stout for Mondo. Link here for this & alternate poster: SlashFilm

1. Shaun of the Dead

The first and still the best. I don’t have a lot of history with Simon Pegg & Co. I watched Shaun of the Dead in the cinema when it came out and it was my first experience with them. And I thought it was pretty good! I’m a HUGE fan of Romero’s zombie films (especially Dawn of the Dead) so a zombie comedy spoof was something I was more than happy to watch. As I watched The World’s End and Hot Fuzz for the first time last week, I thought it was time to re-watch Shaun as well & review all three.

I appreciate Shaun of the Dead more after this second viewing. I think it starts out VERY strong. I like how it takes a while to actually get to the zombies while they take time setting up the characters (these days not many people have the patience to wait that long for the “action”). The two morning walks where the first morning is normal and the second one is clearly not yet Shaun is completely oblivious to all the zombies lurking about is brilliant and probably my favorite bit of the film. This is closely followed by the other best bit of the film where Shaun & Ed discover zombies in the back garden and proceed to defend themselves with some vinyl records (but not the REALLY good ones…).

Shaun & Ed are of course great characters and Shaun’s girlfriend is fine. I also really liked Shaun’s mother & stepfather but I found Shaun’s girlfriend’s friends slightly annoying. And while the film starts out brilliantly, I do think it loses steam once Shaun & Ed are joined by these friends. I feel this way about all three films, actually. I kind of feel like Shaun of the Dead (and the rest) isn’t sure how it should end. Then it just… Does. Not a horrible ending or anything but just a bit of a let down after such a strong beginning. But still a great movie for its genre.

My Rating: 8/10

2. Hot Fuzz

My least favorite of the three. Not saying I didn’t like it, though – it’s very close between this & The World’s End.

I actually knew next to nothing about Hot Fuzz. I thought it was JUST a buddy cop movie spoof. But it actually ended up being more than that and I liked it better than the film I was expecting to see. I’m not a fan of the “buddy cop movies” that it does spoof (well, other than Point Break. I love Point Break!). So I wasn’t going to go for this one as much as Shaun Of The Dead.

I didn’t buy into Pegg’s or Frost’s characters as much in Fuzz as in Shaun. And while there were some funny moments, nothing really compared to the funny moments in Shaun. I liked the story, though. I don’t know if this is a spoiler but I liked that Fuzz suddenly sort of went all Wicker Man on our asses. Hell, Edward Woodward was even in it! That was fine by me – The Wicker Man is a classic. So, again – not at all the movie I was expecting but that was a good thing in this case. However, I always enjoy a movie more when I feel they’ve done a really good job setting up the characters and I like them or maybe even identify with them in some way. Shaun is superior on story but also far superior when it comes to the characters.

My Rating: 7/10

3. The World’s End

I actually saw this and then immediately watched Hot Fuzz when I got home from the cinema. Although Hot Fuzz is third for me, it’s probably actually a much better “film” than this one. I know it’s not out for ages in America (ha!) but I can see this one dividing people much more than the other two films. Not entirely sure but that’s kind of the impression I get from those in the UK who have seen it so far. I think it’s not going to be for everyone.

So why did I like it more than Hot Fuzz? Well first of all – the genre, like zombie movies, is much more my kind of thing. I love sci-fi. And apocalyptic! Oh I love apocalyptic! (What’s with so much of that this year? You’ll have to check if The World’s End makes my list of My Top Ten Apocalyptic Movies HERE). 🙂 Secondly, as with Shaun, I think the characters are much stronger than they were in Hot Fuzz. Although this time, not necessarily “likeable”. Finally, because of my age, I was able to identify with some of the themes in The World’s End unlike in Fuzz (mainly the fear of getting older and wanting to relive the past but knowing deep down that none of us can). So, that’s why I prefer The World’s End. Oh, and decent music as well. Although nothing tops Grandmaster Flash in Shaun. 🙂

The World’s End suffers the most of the three in “not knowing how to end”, I think. That’s the bit that will probably most divide people. As for supporting characters (so, other than Pegg’s & Frost’s), I think they’re actually the strongest in The World’s End. I really liked the different personalities of the friends in this one (which helped to make up for the two lead characters being a bit weaker & less likeable than in Shaun). I can see people not liking Pegg’s character in this one but I could really feel for him & what he was going through so I found him to be a good strong character. There’s not much more I can say about this as I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free plot-wise. I did quite enjoy The World’s End although I think it’s definitely flawed. I look forward to seeing what people in the US think of it once it’s out there.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Quote from my hubby on the Cornetto Trilogy:

“I can’t believe they got away with making the same bloody film three times”.

(To be honest, that IS a very accurate summary. Much more concise and to the point than my three reviews.) 😉

Recap for those who don’t actually read my reviews & just scroll to the ratings:

Shaun Of The Dead: 8/10
Hot Fuzz: 7/10
The World’s End: 7.5/10

Classic Godzilla Style Pacific Rim Trailer

Poster by Timothy Anderson

Check out the cool Godzilla-style Pacific Rim trailer here: GeekTyrant

Back To The Future Alternate Swedish Poster

I love this alternate Swedish poster for Back To The Future. Such a great movie. Classic. 🙂

The tag line says:

Talking to your parents is easy, as long as you don’t have to do it before you were even born.

Link: GeekTyrant

Wizard Of Oz poster by artist Tom Whalen for Mondo

Check out this excellent Wizard Of Oz poster created by artist Tom Whalen for Mondo.

Link to the above Tom Whalen poster & a couple more here:

SlashFilm

New Star Trek Into Darkness Poster Puts Alice Eve Front and Center

Sexy. Alice Eve is a babe. (I sounded like Wayne & Garth in my head there).

Link: ScreenCrush

Oh yeah – I should include the picture of her in her underwear for the male viewers. To be honest, she seems to have gone the way of too many other actresses here – she was never this bony before. Curves are sexy, girls! Keep the curves!