JUst got back from watching the last matinee showing off GitS and figured I'd share my opinions. My credentials....



The gap to the left of GitS:SAC is where the original movie BR goes but I lent it to a coworker (and please note to the left is my import GitS: Innocence Bluray).

I have no experience with the manga.

Okay, so the movie is just a hair over two hours. PG-13, so no gratuitous sex and violence. Tons of eye candy (ScarJo in skinsuits aside) and lots of nods to the original movie. You even get a glimpse of Tosuga's Mateba and Saito's iSniper rifle (or is that "eyeSniper?").

This is not a remake of the original using live people, though it does borrow heavily from it. It's almost an origin story, and it (IMHO) deviates majorly (no pun intended) from the original. It also explains why ScarJo's Kusanagi sometimes comes off as a little confused and perplexed.

It still annoys the crap out of me when they say "Major" like it's her first name. And if memory serves, in one scene she straight up says "My name is Major and I give my consent."

Gun fights and HTH had potential, but the scenes were usually fairly dark and the scenes had many cuts. But they did reloads and it sounded cool, so I was okay with it.

Anyway....I think people with no GitS experience will find this an okay sci-fi movie. GitS fans will either say "Well, it wasn't the disaster 'Starship Troopers' was to its source material." or they will shred it for all the ways it's NOT like the source material. Both are right. Though they touched on some of the heavy topics of memory, being human, etc. it was a VERY light touch. LOL But I didn't feel like I wasted $8.

Is there shaky cam or blurry cam?

No, nothing like that.

Dude,The live action Major had ears. Totally ruined it for me.

It wasn't a bad film, they captured some of the visuals from the original very well.

They redid the ending to make it more sequel friendly.

I didn't think I'd enjoy it but found it was better than expected. I wasn't annoyed with the CGI at all, and left pleasantly surprised.

Unlike the OP, I have no experience with these type of movies in their original format. My response to the film is that I liked the musical score or soundtrack quite a bit. It is electronic and composed smartly.

The rest of it left me cold. I did not care about the story or the lead character one way or another. We have had many film narratives that play with the idea of the interaction between being human and being a machine. This one added nothing to the matter.

As for the CGI, yes, it is well done. It is impressive that the continual improvement of animation and live action together has become almost seamless. The many artists and technicians who created this effect are to be commended.

It is a Chinese co-produced film. China is now the largest film market in the world. Because of China's strict censorship laws, movies made for that market are devoid of content, character, and politics.

They play it safe with a few melodramatic incidentals such as a young quasi-female cybernetic action figure discovering her "true" identity.
It is about what The State will allow you to have. I do not find it challenging or interesting.

You should probably check out the original then. Especially for the score.

Allen, when you say the movie is over two hours, are you including the playtime for the trailers? Fandango says the movie is 1:42.

Ended up seeing the movie. Wish I hadn't. That is all.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Allen, when you say the movie is over two hours, are you including the playtime for the trailers? Fandango says the movie is 1:42.

Must be. I grabbed the run time off the theaters website.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Ended up seeing the movie. Wish I hadn't. That is all.

I'll wait for blu-Ray then. I think our level of picky coincides.

So, on a kind of related note, how is Arise?

I saw the first Arise a while ago so I've forgotten it. I do remember that once it ended I wanted to watch the second and third, so it must have been interesting. I just never got around to it.

I like Arise, though it has a different look to it than the others do. And I think it's kind of a reboot to the origins of Section 9.

Meh, they should have done one of Masamune Shirow's earlier works - Appleseed. Deunan Knute was a blonde haired, blue eyed American woman and Scarlett Johansson would have been good in that part.



-Tom

And the land battleships!!!

There were some good parts, but as a whole - let's just say I watched Arise the next day to try and scrub it from my memory. I'm going to rewatch SAC too, maybe that will make things better.

quote:

Originally posted by Replacement Tommel:
Meh, they should have done one of Masamune Shirow's earlier works - Appleseed. Deunan Knute was a blonde haired, blue eyed American woman and Scarlett Johansson would have been good in that part.



-Tom