Ghost in the Shell (2017)

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The Ghost in the Shell IP was refreshed about 8 years ago with the TV series and some films.  It's been a long time since then- people have forgotten about the series.  The TV show was aired in the US and was quite good.

[Michael*]

@Cult Icon Just stumbled upon this walkthrough for a Ghost in the Shell video game that I had no idea existed, was wondering if you'd heard of it. It must have been released while I was in video game retirement.

 

Looks a fairly solid and fast-paced action game, though undoubtedly a product of its time.

 

 

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It seems to be missing something critical: people lol.

 

The cutscenes appear to be ripped from the film itself!

[Michael*]

On 4/2/2017 at 6:30 PM, SympathysSilhouette said:

I actually believe part of the lukewarm critical reception might be down to some critics having waited to savage this film for their failure to cast an Asian/Japanese actress in the lead role.

 

The debate surrounding Scarjo was the clearest manifestation of the negative buzz, but I think a lot of that was borne out of frustration at a perceived unwillingness from the studio to fully understand the appeal of the source material. Whitewashing is the most egregious by-product of that problem, but it's often a sign that there are going to be other problems too.

 

That being said, it's entirely possible that the critics were primed and ready to kick it apart regardless. The knives were seemingly out for Iron Fist recently for similar reasons, although the circumstances were slightly different of course.

[Michael*]

1 hour ago, Cult Icon said:

It seems to be missing something critical: people lol.

 

The cutscenes appear to be ripped from the film itself!

 

The PS1 generation was quite notorious for that.

 

Probably the biggest leap in recent years is one that hasn't changed the nature of gameplay as such, but affects the way you interact with your surroundings, which in turn makes the games feel more alive and dynamic. I'd love to see a Ghost in the Shell game that takes inspiration from something like Gravity Rush.

[Cult Icon]

I think a major reason for using white actors is due to their "star power" being tied to the success or failure of a film.  That's why they don't use the right races even though there are obviously people that can play the role.

 

Ghost in the Shell is cyberpunk and definitely influenced the excellent Deus Ex game series.

[PinkCouture]

On 4/2/2017 at 1:30 PM, SympathysSilhouette said:

I actually believe part of the lukewarm critical reception might be down to some critics having waited to savage this film for their failure to cast an Asian/Japanese actress in the lead role.

 

That might be part of the reason but I think it is a minor one. Yes,  it would have been great if they casted an Asian actress as the lead but I doubt that would increase the numbers by much. I don't think the studio did a good job promoting the film. It seemed kinda half-ass and they barely created any hype around the film. 

[Michael*]

I suppose every now and then, a big budget movie anchored by a famous actor will fail catastrophically. The right lead in the right franchise is golden, but it's hard to say for certain that anybody is a dependable box office draw any more. In this case, I'd imagine they'll still be okay to turn a profit, since two of its largest markets have yet to open.

 

Unfortunately, the casting of Johansson highlighted the filmmakers' disregard for the source material at a very early point. It was as if they hung a sign above the film saying "we don’t really get why people like this thing”, and that seemed to echo through all the decisions they made afterwards. Of course the worst part is that at ground level there were probably people who were incredibly passionate about making a GitS movie, and fought really hard to get it off the ground.

[Cult Icon]

I've watched bits of the CAM and the film resembles Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus: Ex Mankind divided more than Ghost in the Shell IMHO.

[Cult Icon]

2 hours ago, Michael* said:

Of course the worst part is that at ground level there were probably people who were incredibly passionate about making a GitS movie, and fought really hard to get it off the ground.

 

It's an old movie at this point and there has been lots of cyberpunk material since (the TV show, the sequels, and the Deus Ex games).  From what I've seen, it's missing the sense of scale/scope and the feeling/ the superhuman actions of the cartoons.  The cyborgs behave like humans do for the most part and most of the shots are close-up.  They remind me of the robots in Westworld.

 

The visual style of the cyborgs is very Deus Ex ish (the cyborgs have visible enhancements).  The GOT style is that they look like human on the surface.

 

[Michael*]

13 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

It's an old movie at this point and there has been lots of cyberpunk material since (the TV show, the sequels, and the Deus Ex games).  From what I've seen, it's missing the sense of scale/scope and the feeling/ the superhuman actions of the cartoons.  The cyborgs behave like humans do for the most part and most of the shots are close-up.  They remind me of the robots in Westworld.

 

The visual style of the cyborgs is very Deus Ex ish (the cyborgs have visible enhancements).  The GOT style is that they look like human on the surface.

 

Yeah, most of the visual style of GitS '95 feels like it's been superceded now by so many other things, although there's a lot that could have been updated to the modern age while still retaining the original flavour. Some of the underlying themes of technological singularity, which the original sort of dances around a bit, still feel quite exotic today. Instead, it sounds like they've focussed on a rather cliched revenge plot and skipped the AI issue altogether.

[Cult Icon]

On 4/5/2017 at 6:41 AM, Michael* said:

 

Yeah, most of the visual style of GitS '95 feels like it's been superceded now by so many other things, although there's a lot that could have been updated to the modern age while still retaining the original flavour. Some of the underlying themes of technological singularity, which the original sort of dances around a bit, still feel quite exotic today. Instead, it sounds like they've focussed on a rather cliched revenge plot and skipped the AI issue altogether.

 

I'm not familar enough with sci-fi literature but I can imagine that these themes have been explored most completely in the books.  The GITS TV show explored many interesting ones.

[SympathysSilhouette]

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/ghost-in-the-shell-box-office-whitewashing-reviews-1201801224/

 

A Paramount executive admits that the whitewashing probably contributed to its lukewarm reception at the box office.

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Margot Robbie's concept art 

 

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found a lot of great stuff here!

 

http://kotaku.com/the-incredible-art-of-the-ghost-in-the-shell-movie-1794015446

 

[Michael*]

On ‎09‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 9:48 AM, SympathysSilhouette said:

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/ghost-in-the-shell-box-office-whitewashing-reviews-1201801224/

 

A Paramount executive admits that the whitewashing probably contributed to its lukewarm reception at the box office.

 

It's interesting too that the reviewers who never saw the original anime seem to have found the movie somewhat better than those with a longstanding attachment to the franchise. So more of the built-in audience would perhaps have given the story a pass with an Asian actress as the lead, while others would probably have given Scarjo's Major a pass if they'd found the adaptation decent.

[Cult Icon]

On 4/11/2017 at 0:20 PM, Michael* said:

 

It's interesting too that the reviewers who never saw the original anime seem to have found the movie somewhat better than those with a longstanding attachment to the franchise. So more of the built-in audience would perhaps have given the story a pass with an Asian actress as the lead, while others would probably have given Scarjo's Major a pass if they'd found the adaptation decent.

 

here's an interesting analysis (by someone with a film school degree):

 

 

[Michael*]

On 8/4/2017 at 7:41 PM, Cult Icon said:

here's an interesting analysis (by someone with a film school degree):

 

A lot of salient points raised there. I felt like the homage scenes in particular were really misguided. They were presumably meant to be included as a concession to the hardcore fans, but the attempt to then wrangle them into another narrative was just so far off-base.

 

I wish they'd captured more of what makes the animated movie compelling, and then changed things around just enough to justify a retelling. Either they didn't analyse the story in full, or didn't have faith in the philosophical stuff. What we were left with wasn't faithful enough to be a straight-up remake, and too derivative to be its own thing.

[Cult Icon]

13 hours ago, Michael* said:

 

A lot of salient points raised there. I felt like the homage scenes in particular were really misguided. They were presumably meant to be included as a concession to the hardcore fans, but the attempt to then wrangle them into another narrative was just so far off-base.

 

I wish they'd captured more of what makes the animated movie compelling, and then changed things around just enough to justify a retelling. Either they didn't analyse the story in full, or didn't have faith in the philosophical stuff. What we were left with wasn't faithful enough to be a straight-up remake, and too derivative to be its own thing.

 

His points touch on what often happens with bad sequels and adaptations.  

 

The TV series was really quite good  (at the same level as the film).  

 

I wonder if Blade Runner will screw up in a similar way. I don't get good vibes from the trailers.  

[Michael*]

On 8/8/2017 at 5:09 AM, Cult Icon said:

I wonder if Blade Runner will screw up in a similar way. I don't get good vibes from the trailers.  

 

Hopefully not. I still think Blade Runner could go either way, but I've more faith in Villeneuve than I had in Sanders, who, although he was clearly very good at creating sci-fi visuals, had a hard time avoiding that slippery slope of homage/pastiche/imitation.