Yep - if it happens it's due to the subtitle rendering system in some cinemas mostly. Japanese subs do stuff projectors just don't like doing and can come thick & fast so it causes hiccups with some. Very hard to tell where and when it will happen sadly!
I will definitely see GitS when it comes out, haven't decided which format I'm going to watch it in but I'm leaning towards watching in IMAX (2D or 3D choice pending based on availability). Also depends on other film times as Free Fire is out at the same time (also may add something else I've not watched and make it a Triple Bill!)
I saw 009 Re:Cyborg in 3D at the cinema a few years ago. It was only showing in 3D, so there was no choice. I thought it worked well, though.
Actually, that was the smallest turnout I've ever seen: just myself and one other person. I do like the film, so I thought that was a shame.
My local independent cinema doesn't seem to be showing Hollywood GitS, though. I might end up having to go to the Odeon for the first time since... 2010?
I watched the five minute clip that was recently shown, honestly I like the costumes, visuals and music they've gone into it. My only concern is the story, because from what I've noticed the origin story doesn't look that great. But either way I'm fine with checking the film out in IMAX at my local Cineworld.
Hoping too see some news about Mary & the witch's Flower which is due in the summer. It could so well if its dubbed and looks like a Ghibili film so could appeal to a wider audience.
Looks like there are some great anime titles scheduled for theatrical release through the end of 2017:
In This Corner of the World - June 30th
Napping Princess - August 17th
The Maiden Galaxy - September 22nd
Perfect Blue (20th Anniversary) - October 27th
Fireworks - November 17th
Lu Over the Wall - December 8th
Japanese names for those interested:
Fireworks - Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?
In This Corner of the World - Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni
Lu Over the Wall - Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta
The Maiden Galaxy - Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome
Mary and the Witch's Flower - Mary to Majo no Hana
Napping Princess: Ancien and the Magic Tablet - Hirune Hime: Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari
(I also added Mary film since we know it's coming but no release date yet)
Saw it last night, and Batou's eyes were about the only stylistic choice I wasn't too hot on, but the movie as a whole was visually stunning and well cast. I think the movie was about as good as it could possibly have been. The story was obviously altered to appeal to a more mainstream audience, so a bit of the nuance was gone and a bit of hollywood cliche was thrown in, but it kept all of the most iconic scenes in some form (some of them almost shot for shot), and many of the individual plot elements were lifted from the original movie, but also from elsewhere in the franchise. I caught many homages to the original movie, but also GITS 2, both series of SAC, and even a brief nod to Arise if I'm not mistaken. All of the homages and the inclusion of the iconic scenes kept me happy, and despite this they still altered the plot enough to make it their own. I know there's not much competition, but it's probably the best western adaptation of an anime I've seen, so I'm pleasantly surprised after going in with very low expectations. I get the feeling that someone going in blind with no knowledge of the franchise would get a bit less out of it, due to aforementioned reverence to the source materials, but it stands well enough on its own too. I'm probably going to buy a copy when the home release comes out.
I read an interview with the director Rupert Sanders, and he claimed to be a big fan of the franchise, as well as many members of his team. In most cases I would take that claim with a grain of salt, but in this case it is very obvious that they knew what they were adapting. I can't see any fans going in and coming out overly disappointed, but maybe I'm just easy to please. If anyone else has seen it I'd love to hear your views on it.
I don't personally buy in to the whole whitewashing notion, at least not in this case. She's supposed to be a cyborg with no real attachment to her artificial body, so focussing on her ethinicity is therefore in my opinion, entirely missing the point of the franchise as a whole. Even Mamoru Oshii and a rep from the Japanese publisher have gone on record stating that Johansson is well cast, with Oshii even saying he thinks she's the best person for the role going by her track record in sci-fi films. If the director of the 1995 GITS has no problem, and it's even being received well in Japan, then I'm not entirely sure on whose behalf lots of people are getting offended for. Short of the mangaka himself putting a word in, that's about as glowing an endorsment as you can get.
I hope I'm not playing with fire by saying that, but people are free to disagree with me.
I know there's not much competition, but it's probably the best western adaptation of an anime I've seen, so I'm pleasantly surprised after going in with very low expectations. ... I'm probably going to buy a copy when the home release comes out.
I read an interview with the director Rupert Sanders, and he claimed to be a big fan of the franchise, as well as many members of his team. In most cases I would take that claim with a grain of salt, but in this case it is very obvious that they knew what they were adapting.
I very much agree with what @Lord Bacchus says; I went into it not expecting that much but walked out afterwards feeling very pleasantly surprised. One of the big things that won the day for me were the styling cues drawn from Innocence, which is still my favourite incarnation of GitS. I absolutely loved the geisha robot: it seemed to take influence from Innocence's gynoids and Arise's "mobile landmines" and actually improve on both. That was one of the standout images of the film for me.
I admit that the characterisation obviously wasn't great, though. I thought that the scene with...
... the interrogation of the garbage truck man...
... was pretty poorly constructed, with some sloppy, muttered dialogue that didn't flow anywhere as near as well or illicit the same kind of sympathy for the character as Mamoru Oshii's take. I was also unsure of the scene where the Major...
... meets Kuze face-to-face for the first time...
... but I'd like to see that again now having seen the whole film once through and knowing where that plotline was heading.
I see now that I had gotten completely the wrong idea about Batou's eyes! The true nature of that really quite shocked me, actually, but also ended up as yet another lack of characterisation. Or maybe not: it's impossible for us to tell in our age just how easily you could shrug off...
... being blinded if your eyes could be so easily replaced (and actually enhanced as a result).
To be honest, though, I'm not sure characterisation (for Kusanagi, at least) was never particularly a strong point of Oshii's 1995 film either.
Regarding the Major's change of name...
... it all makes sense now!
I really liked that element. I thought that in itself added a sneaky (and very clever) extra layer of discussion to the whole "whitewashing" controversy. The manner in which the Major's appearance has been so radically changed with her artificial body, allied to the fact that her memories themselves turn out to have been tampered with, completely robbing her of even her own sense of identity, I thought was very compelling and offered a lot to ponder after you've finished watching the film. I'm still thinking about it now, in fact.
What else...? Oh, I liked Takeshi Kitano as Aramaki. We've never seen the chief...
... kick ass like that before!
And I loved the familiar end credits music as a finishing touch.
I went to see the film with a friend who does not watch anime and had never even heard of Ghost in the Shell before, and he enjoyed it. I offered to show him the 1995 GitS sometime and met with no resistance. (I also threatened to show him Redline sometime as well, since it's so brilliantly barmy. )
The fact that this has turned into such a long post proves to me that there's an impressive amount of stuff to talk about with Hollywood's take on Ghost in the Shell. Who'd have thought, eh?
In fact, I think it would be a real shame if there wasn't a sequel. It feels like there's still work for Section 9 to do.
Just went to the preview screening of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, and here are my thoughts.
As someone who enjoys SAO as a piece of entertainment which doesn't require a great deal of thinking, this movie most certainly satisfies that particular itch. It is beautifully animated, and has some action scenes which are quite frankly eye poppingly gorgeous in their fluidity. The epic sword battles definitely benefit greatly from having a movie budget. As far as story goes, it manages to condense everything that is fun about the franchise, without the pacing issues which plague the two TV series. In that regard it is probably the most consistently entertaining thing the franchise has brought forth.
On a final note, the way the surround sound was utilised during the movie's more climactic scenes was pretty masterful. I don't normally notice that type of thing when watching a standard movie in the cinema, but the way sound was used during those scenes was just perfect. It is to such a degree that I don't think a home viewing could possibly come close without a pretty high tier home cinema setup. All in all SAO is never gonna win any awards for the maturity of its plot, but as a piece of mindless fun, this movie is pretty damn good at what it does.
As an unabashed SAO mark, Ordinal Scale was absolutely typical Shonen movie trash. Yeah, the last third is gloriously animated Shonen movie trash (really this is where most of them are great), the rest though was pretty shoddy to mediocre.
I don't regret having travelled the 2+ hours each and paying the toll to get into Wales to watch the bugger, as that final third being seen on a big screen was hell yeah awesome, but man, it does nothing at all to turn around any of the criticism the show gets.
It is a Shonen movie though, it is the usual formula with a coat of SAO.
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