Verified Purchase:Yes

The previous release of Ghost in the Shell contained the original cut of the film, presented with PCM 2.0 Japanese and English soundtracks. This release sports an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack and a Japanese LPCM 2.0 presentation. English subtitle options are also included. The 5.1 track is the clear winner. It's frequently dynamic and exciting, with full-featured sound effects and strong spacing. Helicopters zip around the stage, for example, and gunfire is met with considerable heft. Dialogue is clear and focused. Musical delivery excels, with a wide, healthy stage and strong clarity. It's worlds more potent and rich than the competing Japanese PCM 2.0 track. Every instance where the 5.1 track is big and exciting, the Japanese track is puny and narrow. Take, for example, a dialogue scene at about the 12-minute mark. In English, there's is an audible, hearty vehicle engine rumble underneath the dialogue. In the Japanese track, it's barely audible. A computerized voice heard around the 15:50 mark is full and offers a wide reverberating presence in English, whereas in Japanese it's flat and narrow. At the 19:40 mark, English track listeners will enjoy a big, immersive city landscape din that's comparatively flat and a sonic non-factor in Japanese. Examples such as these run rampant throughout the film. Those wishing to listen in Japanese will find a much more narrow, less precise, less robust presentation. English listeners are treated to a healthy, dynamic presentation.

Length of ownership: 66

Mobile Submission: false

I would recommend this to a friend!

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+23points

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This review is fromGhost in the Shell 2.0 - BLU-RAY.

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Customer Rating

Hated it!

on October 5, 2010

Posted by: Dricent

from Lorton, VA

I own the original Ghost in the shell and when this came out on Blu-Ray I figured I would check it out. To my extreme disappointment the new 2.0 has done only 1 thing right and that is successfully butcher a great movie. The new CGI draws away your focus from the story, the new voice are OK but they redid all the sound effects and got them all wrong. A tank is crushing the leads robotic head and breaks some tough metal goggles and the sound of them breaking is comparable to if you snapped a toothpick in half. Along with the new CGI come slight changes to the story line. Instead of driving in a surveillance truck they fly a helicopter now. All in all I would not recommend this as a purchase for anyone. What I WOULD like to see is the original film put on Blu-ray without all the fancy new stuff they put in it. >:(

What's great about it: Its Blu-ray

What's not so great: bad new special cgi that take away from the movie

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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+15points

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This review is fromGhost in the Shell (25th Anniversary) - BLU-RAY.

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Customer Rating

Not as Advertised

on June 17, 2015

Posted by: intelgamer

Verified Purchase:Yes

My comments pertain to the Blu Ray, not the quality of this fine film. I bought this Blu Ray with the understanding that audio had been fully redone with new sound effects in HD quality. This was not the case. I don't recommend this Blu Ray to audiophiles or purists who want the most quality version of this movie.

My Best Buy number: 1045279307

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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+5points

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This review is fromGhost in the Shell [Blu-ray] [SteelBook] [1996].

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Customer Rating

An Awful Blu-Ray Release for an Iconic Classic

on June 11, 2016

Posted by: PleatherJacketCritic

Verified Purchase:Yes

Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite anime movies of all time. I've owned the DVD for some time and was hesitant to buy the Blu-Ray because I had heard it wasn't great, but when I saw this steelbok, I caved and bought it. Let me tell you, this is an awful Blu-Ray release. Manga Entertainment should be ashamed for releasing such a poor product for the 25th anniversary of the GitS manga. Almost everything is better on my DVD than it is on this Blu-Ray.

First off, I will say that in the area of picture and sound quality, it doesn't disappoint. There's nothing to much complain about there. If you want Ghost in the Shell in HD, this is the best option. The only thing I'd note about it is that the picture is significantly brighter than o the DVD, which isn't a big deal, but I feel the darker lighting fits the tone of the movie better. Brightening it up probably wasn't such a good move, but this is a minor gripe.

Now on the my real complaint: the subtitles. I watch Ghost in the Shell with Japanese audio and English subtitles because, honestly, the English dub isn't good at all (and this is coming from someone who likes English dubs). The subtitles on the DVD were fine, actually, they were more than fine, they were perfect, but the subtitles on the DVD are HORRIBLE. Even as someone who knows next-to-none of the Japanese language, I can tell that these subtitles were horribly translated, and a comparison between the subtitles on the Blu-Ray and the subtitles on the DVD just solidifies this even more. They're so poorly translated that lines lose their emotional impact entirely, and some of them are so improperly translated that they don't even make sense!
It's mind boggling to think that they couldn't just take the old subtitles from the DVD and put them on the Blu-Ray, but no, instead they half-hardheartedly re-do them. If you're one of the very few people who likes the English dub for this movie, then you probably won't have a problem with the subtitles being bad, but as for the rest of us, this Blu-Ray release is next to unwatchable.

What about special features? Since this is a release commemorating the 25th anniversary of the manga, you'd think there would be some exclusive features on here, but nope. There are literally no special features on this Blu-Ray. None. This is even more pathetic when you consider that even the DVD had a few special features, even if it was only one or two things. The fact the they couldn't even put in the effort to transfer those special features form the DVD to the Blu-Ray is astoundingly lazy.

As for the steelbook itself, it's pretty cool. The front shows the puppet master (which is weird since the cover has traditionally always been Motoko), and the back is pretty much blank aside from the cyber design that's also on the front. The inside shows a close up of Motoko from the original GitS poster, so I guess the switching of the cover was made up for there.

Conclusion: This is an awful re-release. There are almost no redeeming qualities to it besides the fact the it is in HD for the first time ever. The subtitles are awful and render the movie almost unwatchable and the are no special features at all. There is literally no reason someone should buy this if they have the DVD. If you have the DVD, keep it and don't bother buying this. If you don't own Ghost in the Shell at all, please, for the love of anime, buy the DVD and not this poor excuse of a Blu-Ray transfer. This is probably the only Blu-Ray I've bought where I can say without a doubt that the DVD is superior in almost every way.

My Best Buy number: 4013210494

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

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+9points

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This review is fromGhost in the Shell [SteelBook] [Digital Copy] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray] [Only @ Best Buy] [1996].

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Customer Rating

Rad design with almost perfect execution

on November 13, 2020

Posted by: Storung

Verified Purchase:Yes

Super rad packaging for the 25th anniversary celebration of one of the best sci-fi films of all times. An additional plus with it being the film’s 4K debut release.
The artwork design and final product execution are perfect! Definitely something I’ll have on display for awhile.
My only gripe, the “DISK MADE IN MEXICO” sticker is just slapped on right in the middle of the outer sleeve! Why go through all that amazingly perfect design and execution to RUIN it with a stupid sticker telling me where the disks were made?!! That really “grinds my gears!”

Length of ownership: 9

Mobile Submission: true

I would recommend this to a friend!

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+4points

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Customer Rating

Ghost review

on October 3, 2014

Posted by: CabC

from Sunnyvale Ca.

Verified Purchase:Yes

I have had this movie on VHS and now Blu-ray. The video and audio quality is about the same. There are no extras at all. Which for as famous as this movie is I find hard to believe that some could not have been added in.
I am glad I got the movie so that I can view it again. But there could have been more effort put into it to bring it to the new generation of movie expirance.

My Best Buy number: 0395739448

I would recommend this to a friend!

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+3points

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Customer Rating

Great movie, poor for an "Anniversary Edition"

on February 3, 2015

Posted by: FATman

from Bothell, WA

Verified Purchase:Yes

No special features is a huge disappointment, you would think that there would be something, anything other than just the movie. Huge disappointment.

My Best Buy number: 0405990302

Mobile Submission: True

I would recommend this to a friend!

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+3points

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Customer Rating

Surprised by this anime

on April 17, 2020

Posted by: jeoswald

Verified Purchase:Yes

I was a bit upset at first since I thought I was getting a version that was dubbed but it was only subbed. Besides that, I greatly enjoyed watching this and will definitely look into the series more.

Length of ownership: 10

Mobile Submission: false

I would recommend this to a friend!

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+2points

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