Post by legios on Jun 20, 2010 20:58:51 GMT
Not to be confused with Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is a reworked version of the original theatrical adaptation of Masamune Shirow's Manga.
It is effectively a complete remastering of the original release from, as far as I can tell the original elements. Frankly the work was worth it. A visually impressive and arresting film on its original release it looks even better now than it did then. That being said, they couldn't resist the urge to tamper, with some sequences having been replaced with CG animated versions. For me the success rate of this is......variable. On the plus side the new CG rendition of the Section 9 tilt-rotor looks wonderful - especially in a sequence where it is cutting through the rainy night sky - and the thematically important scuba-diving sequence looks far better in the new rendition. Unfortunately the iconic vertical drop that opens the film has been rerendered in CG whilst the scenes it is intercut with have not, and the switch back and forth in animation techniques is somewhat jarring. (Not that the new version of the sequences is bad in any way, I just think it doesn't work in the way it is edited). But in general the remastering job has to be described as exceptional, the film has certainly never looked better than this.
It is impressive on an aural level as well. It has been released with a nice array of sound options - always nice to see an option for 2.0 stereo for those of us without high end sound rigs - including an 6.1 stereo track for which the music has apparently been remixed by the original composer.
In terms of dialogue tracks the option for an English dub is the English audio track from the original Manga Entertainment release. This is not a bad dub at all. It was decent work at the time and still stands up well today. Not something I will listen to much but it remains a competent job. The Japanese language audio track is where the surprise is. Rather than a remastered version of the original audio the Japanese dialogue track is a completely new recording.
With one exception all of the original cast are present and correct, and arguably sounding as much if not more comfortable inhabiting the characters than they did the first time around. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, as they have also logged two years playing these roles on the Standalone Complex TV series, it's two-hour OAV spin-off and the Theatrical sequel Innocence). The only role recast is the Puppet Master - who is also genderswitched this time. Whilst the replacement is a fine voice-actress I do rather miss the incongriguity of the female cyborg body that spoke with a male voice - it nicely referenced the theme of the separation of identity and physical form.
The dialogue script has also had a few subtle changes. Most of these are, apparently, to do with updating the language a little to give it a slightly more contemporary feel, but there are a few minor substantive changes. On balance these are little nips and tucks to even out some things that were just a little bit too unclear in the original.
I'm often uncomfortable with substantive changes to a film just for the sake of redoing things how they would be done with newer technology. On that basis I think some of the changes to 2.0 are probably less successful than they might be - the replacement of the opening dive being the main example. On the other hand the rerecorded audio, with the benefit both of about ten years hindsight and a cast who have more experience inhabiting these characters is a genuine improvement over the originally. Fortunately I don't actually have chose, because 2.0 isn't even pretending to replace the original. The UK DVD release is a two-disc set which contains both the 2.0 version and the original release, making it the best of both worlds.
Is it an essential upgrade if you own the original version? I'm not so sure. Whilst it is interesting to see and hear a version of Ghost in the Shell with ten years hindsight behind it, the original version is a geniunely impressive piece of work both in its time, and to this day. I'm not sure that I would chose to discard the original in favour of 2.0 but certainly you will never see the film looking or sounding quite as good as this.
I probably wouldn't have paid the original asking price for it but, at the moment it is going for about £8 in the HMV sale, which was far too good a price for me to pass it up at.
Karl
It is effectively a complete remastering of the original release from, as far as I can tell the original elements. Frankly the work was worth it. A visually impressive and arresting film on its original release it looks even better now than it did then. That being said, they couldn't resist the urge to tamper, with some sequences having been replaced with CG animated versions. For me the success rate of this is......variable. On the plus side the new CG rendition of the Section 9 tilt-rotor looks wonderful - especially in a sequence where it is cutting through the rainy night sky - and the thematically important scuba-diving sequence looks far better in the new rendition. Unfortunately the iconic vertical drop that opens the film has been rerendered in CG whilst the scenes it is intercut with have not, and the switch back and forth in animation techniques is somewhat jarring. (Not that the new version of the sequences is bad in any way, I just think it doesn't work in the way it is edited). But in general the remastering job has to be described as exceptional, the film has certainly never looked better than this.
It is impressive on an aural level as well. It has been released with a nice array of sound options - always nice to see an option for 2.0 stereo for those of us without high end sound rigs - including an 6.1 stereo track for which the music has apparently been remixed by the original composer.
In terms of dialogue tracks the option for an English dub is the English audio track from the original Manga Entertainment release. This is not a bad dub at all. It was decent work at the time and still stands up well today. Not something I will listen to much but it remains a competent job. The Japanese language audio track is where the surprise is. Rather than a remastered version of the original audio the Japanese dialogue track is a completely new recording.
With one exception all of the original cast are present and correct, and arguably sounding as much if not more comfortable inhabiting the characters than they did the first time around. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, as they have also logged two years playing these roles on the Standalone Complex TV series, it's two-hour OAV spin-off and the Theatrical sequel Innocence). The only role recast is the Puppet Master - who is also genderswitched this time. Whilst the replacement is a fine voice-actress I do rather miss the incongriguity of the female cyborg body that spoke with a male voice - it nicely referenced the theme of the separation of identity and physical form.
The dialogue script has also had a few subtle changes. Most of these are, apparently, to do with updating the language a little to give it a slightly more contemporary feel, but there are a few minor substantive changes. On balance these are little nips and tucks to even out some things that were just a little bit too unclear in the original.
I'm often uncomfortable with substantive changes to a film just for the sake of redoing things how they would be done with newer technology. On that basis I think some of the changes to 2.0 are probably less successful than they might be - the replacement of the opening dive being the main example. On the other hand the rerecorded audio, with the benefit both of about ten years hindsight and a cast who have more experience inhabiting these characters is a genuine improvement over the originally. Fortunately I don't actually have chose, because 2.0 isn't even pretending to replace the original. The UK DVD release is a two-disc set which contains both the 2.0 version and the original release, making it the best of both worlds.
Is it an essential upgrade if you own the original version? I'm not so sure. Whilst it is interesting to see and hear a version of Ghost in the Shell with ten years hindsight behind it, the original version is a geniunely impressive piece of work both in its time, and to this day. I'm not sure that I would chose to discard the original in favour of 2.0 but certainly you will never see the film looking or sounding quite as good as this.
I probably wouldn't have paid the original asking price for it but, at the moment it is going for about £8 in the HMV sale, which was far too good a price for me to pass it up at.
Karl
