"Ghost in the Shell" to be made into live action film

[JonRB]

I've just read that "Ghost in the Shell" is to be made into a live action film, and Scarlett Johansson is on board to play Major Kusanaigi.

Oh god. I bet it will be crap. It's one of the most seminal Anime ever, along with Akira. Leave it alone!!

[JonRB]

The live action remake of Blood the Last Vampire was pretty awful. Fingers crossed that this won't be in that league.

James Cameron keeps threatening to do a live action version of Battle Angel Alita. Not sure how I feel about that either, since I love the manga so much.

And the less said about Casshern the better.

[JonRB]

entropy said:

Its going to take good casting, script, directing and a lot of respect with the project.

I agree. Which is why it will probably be crap.

[JonRB]

Rick_1138 said:

The big eyed all American doesn't work with this, also, calling her kusanagi when she clearly isn't a bit Japanese looks daft, so I bet they change the name.

True. But have you noticed how nobody in anime who is meant to be Japanese actually looks Japanese? They all have the large anime eyes that make them look Western.

Case in point is "Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse" which I'm currently watching. Think Top Gun with Mecha. They are meant to be an international group of pilots - Japanese, Japanese-American, American, Russian, Swedish, Chinese, Italian, Nepalese, and to be honest they all look exactly the same nationality.

And in Ghost in the Shell (both anima and manga), Major Kusanagi doesn't look the least bit Japanese.

[JonRB]

cirian75 said:

I have zero issues with SJ playing the Major, all she needs is the purple hair and red contacts.

The trouble, for me, is that she is too closely associated with Black Widow who is too similar a character (being an action heroine) and there will be a big temptation to play Major Kusanagi in a similar way.

Also, SJ is quite slim and lithe (or, at least, as Black Widow she is) and I don't see the Major as that. I'm not saying she's bulky although she is a cyborg with full body prosthesis.

It'll be interesting to see how this film ends up. I'm afraid that I don't hold out a lot of hope though. But then again, that means that I can only be pleasantly surprised if it is good.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Now that the 1st trailer is out, I'm becoming cautiously optimistic about it.

This article just published by Den of Geek is even more encouraging:
http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/ghost-in-the-sh...

[ClockworkCupcake]

frisbee said:

Suggesting that she is unique in being a cyborg, that would be an unfortunate divergence from the source material.

Well, Batou is also in it, so she won't be the the only cyborg. But she might be the first whole body cyborg, rather than augmented human, which would still be kind of within the source material.

[ClockworkCupcake]

True. My understanding from the manga and anime was that augmentation was all-pervasive in society, like it is in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

For example, the Laughing Man hacked everyone's eyes in a crowded street and the only person who saw the face of the suspect was a beggar as he was the only one without hackable eyes.

However, perhaps full body cyborgs are a new development.

[ClockworkCupcake]

I'm keeping my expectations low. I'm expecting to see a visually stunning action film loosely based on Ghost in the Shell, rather than Ghost in the Shell.

[ClockworkCupcake]

I just saw it this morning. As I suspected, it was a generic sci-fi action film loosely based on Ghost in the Shell.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but it really only had a passing resemblance to the original, with the occasional bit of fan service thrown in to try to appease people like me who know the original manga and anime.

I saw it in 3D and I don't think that worked. It made it look (ironically) very one-dimensional, like there were several layers of cardboard cutouts being slid left and right independently, rather than actual depth. If I were to see it again then I would see it in 2D.

The plot was paper-thin and very clichéd - your standard Robocop-esque tale of a cyborg with no memories trying to find who they are. Which is a shame because that's exactly what Battle Angel Alita is, so if that film does get made as a live-action film then it will be compared to this one.

Normally I'm not a fan of long drawn-out action sequences / boss battles, but in this instance it felt over almost before it started and actually could have been a little longer. Also, unlike the anime, the fact that nobody was inside the Spider Tank removed Major Kusanagi's motivation for trying to open the hatch and it might have been better if Cutter had been inside and met his demise that way, with Aramaki's blessing (rather than Aramaki shooting him). I don't know.

Batou was well played, but I was convinced it was Dominic Cooper playing him until I saw the credits and saw it was Pilou Asbæk, which was a bit odd.

Anyway, overall it was ok. It fell short of a live action version of Ghost in the Shell but did ok as a film loosely based on it.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Monday 3rd April 16:22

[ClockworkCupcake]

Jim Kart said:

I just watched the film yesterday and I was pretty much content with it. I believe the plot originally came from Japan correct?

I'm not surprised you were content with it if you know so little of the source material that you're not even sure which country it comes from.

The plot came from every sci-fi cliché going - it had very little to do with Ghost in the Shell.

[ClockworkCupcake]

This review sums it up pretty well:

nerd*******s.com/2017/03/31/movie-review-ghost-in-...

[ClockworkCupcake]

Alex said:

Hmm, the PH nanny censors the underlying URL too. One for the Website Feedback forum...

That's annoying. I even crafted a custom URL to try to address that.

Ok, try this link then - https://tinyurl.com/km3o5zj

[ClockworkCupcake]

thebraketester said:

I hope it's not that bad.

Don't get me wrong, it was quite an enjoyable film. I just don't really think it was Ghost in the Shell.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Interesting (and positive) review from IGN here: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/03/30/ghost-in-the...

I must admit, I'm half tempted to go back and see it again (in 2D this time) because despite my earlier comments, I really did enjoy it. I do think it could have been so much more (it really was too dumbed down) but it was a good film nonetheless.

Maybe I will revisit the 1995 film again too - it's been a few years since I last watched it.

Edit: The Verge give some interesting thoughts too - http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15114902/ghost-i...

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Tuesday 4th April 15:01

[ClockworkCupcake]

marcosgt said:

It's very derivative but i guess the original material is from what i read.

It's more a case that what you now consider derivative is derived from Ghost in the Shell. It came first.

The Wachowskis freely admit that it heavily influenced The Matrix, for example.

Also this 2017 film bears very little resemblance to the original 1995 film, and the manga (comic), so it's a little more complicated than that.

[ClockworkCupcake]

marcosgt said:

Yeah, I guess that's a fair point.

When did the original Manga come out?

The manga began in 1989 and the anime was released in 1995.

[ClockworkCupcake]

marcosgt said:

OK then, some of the things were probably the derivation (or at least not derivative of what I thought), but I definitely expected the old Japanese guy to say "Did I fire 5 or 6 shots. You know in the excitement I kind of lost count myself..." at one point

It's fair to say that the plot of this 2017 film did feel like rather a generic cookie-cutter by-the-numbers sci-fi action flick with just enough of the original source material thrown in to satisfy fans of the original. That's not to say it was a bad film, but it could have been so much more.

If you are interested then watch the 1995 anime film - you may be surprised by how different it is apart from key scenes which were duplicated in the 2017 film as fanservice.

[ClockworkCupcake]

generationx said:

I watched this last night having never seen the ´95 Anime. Quite enjoyable, visually stunning, but not a hugely imaginative story. No spoilers here but there were many elements that could have come from so many other movies.

As I said I have never seen the ´95 version so maybe that film´s story is similar and has inspired several others, therefore making the new film´s plot points seem a little familiar.

Have a look at my post immediately preceding yours.

[ClockworkCupcake]

It's been many years since I watched the 1995 anime so watched it again tonight since I just bought the 2017 film on BluRay, and thought it would be nice to refresh my memory of the 1995 film before watching the 2017 one again.

I'd forgotten how slow paced it is, and how much stilted earnest exposition there is. I don't think it has aged very well to be honest.

Dare I say it, but I wonder if the 2017 film is actually an improvement. It certainly has gone in a different direction, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Sunday 13th August 19:18