Don’t have a Descartian existential crisis,
because Ghost in the Shell is the Greatest Movie EVER!
This movie contains:
Naked Bungee Jumping.
Basset Hounds.
Batou, probably my favorite character in cinema. (Besides Tank Girl.)
Kusanagi MOE-toko. OMGLOLZ.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you M.O.M.s out there,
and congratulations to FuzzyPrint
for winning the Make M.O.M. watch Ghost in the Shell Contest!
The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast 
Do you also love Dallos?
Yay, the trumphant return of MOM!
Hey, wait…MOM in the podcast…Mother’s Day…a movie directed by MOMoruu Oshii…
IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!
I agree with Ryan; it’s a bodysuit, not “totally naked”. It’s probably just part of the camo system.
Is this supposed to be Hong Kong? I thought it was Tokyo, or possibly the fictional “Newport City” where Shirow sets all his manga.
Sounds like they were trying to make the end be like “Blade Runner”, where it kicks into the Vangelis electronica just as the credits roll.
In fact, I’m surprised that you got all the way through this podcast without even mentioning Blade Runner.
Okay, seriously, cool it. I’m glad you’re enthusiastic, DensityDuck, but next time, please listen to the entire podcast before commenting. Double posting is usually considered a breach of netiquette. 6 consecutive posts is excessive.
And I did mention Blade Runner. I said Ghost in the Shell was it’s successor in terms of visual storytelling.
I can’t edit my posts on this message system. Is it a problem for me to post multiple times? It’s not as though I’m doing “FIRST POST” or single-word posts or any of that stupid stuff.
If you’d rather I just not comment, well, there it is.
Just wait to comment until you’ve finished listening to the entire episode. We don’t need a real-time tally of your reactions as you listen. Posting multiple comments only becomes an issue when you do so many of them in such rapid succession.
Gooberzilla, can you explain away the one real problem I have with GITS? You’ve studied and thought about this film way more than I, so why, WHY does Kusanagi fruitlessly TEAR HER OWN DAMN FOOL ARMS OFF trying to get into the tank? It felt like the dumbest thing I’d ever seen on first view and subsequent times have not improved my attitude. I can see the whole “she attaches no importance to her physical form” thing, but she really comes off as a doofus.
Thankfully, the movie is immediately salvaged by Batou blasting the tar out of the tank with the “standard-issue Big Gun.”
You know, with all the science fiction,social, political, and philosophical questions with which Ghost in the Shell challenges its viewers, my initial reaction to this review was, “Oh look — Batou didn’t have that silly ponytail back then.”
Although I watch SAC and the last two movies all the time, I haven’t seen this one since it first came out, even though I love it. Looks like I’ll have to put off continuing to watch episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and watch GitS again.
Nice as always.
BTW Goob, what’s your handle on Dave and Joel’s forum?
And what’s the best way to send you suggested movies to review?
Roleplayer.
Go to the forums for this podcast. there’s a thread where everyone puts in suggestions.
On another note, YAY!!!!! MOM’S BACK!!!!!!
First off, congratulations FuzzyPrint for winning the contest.
During the Podcast, the density of the philosophy in the movie was mentioned and attributed it to the Director, but the the movie is utterly tame in comparison to the original Manga. Shirow, while a great artist, rams so much of his Techno-philosophy into his works that they often descend into gibberish. The movie is a Sunday school version by comparison.
Now, that you mentioned it. I’ve only viewed the Manga Entertainment release of GitS. I’ve never seen the original with the Japanese OST. I guess I have to find a region 2 and drop $30.
Anyway, great review of a classic anime. I thought GitS was the first movie to seamlessly integrate the 2D and 3D animation.
“It’s art about art!” … I almost died laughing.
Keith, did you get the box set? I’ve been very tempted by The Complete Epic Series Box Set. It’s only $20! As a young sci-fi geek, I used to have a big crush on Erin Gray.
Yeah, I picked up the box set on sale. $14! And the opening credits of the pilot episode will re-ignite the Erin Grey love. All I can say is, “shiny silver space bikini.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ijQ8m9citaQ