I just finished watching the first GitS movie and I don't understand why it's so well acclaimed

I just finished watching the first GitS movie and I don't understand why it's so well acclaimed.
It wasn't bad by any means but it didn't impress me either. Is there something about the movie I don't get?

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>Is there something about the movie I don't get
What kind of question is this?

Making of a cyborg felt like a religious experience.

The genesis of a new life, crafted by human hands. That hooked me in immediately.

I love myths and legends, and a common theme is the created surpassing the creator.

What I mean is, is there any reason in particular that made the movie so popular and that I probably missed?

>that I probably missed
Like what?

You're probably not taking when it was made into account

It has spectacular animation, great production quality as a whole, and it's thematically rich and heavy.

Also, it came out while cyberpunk was still a popular thing.

hes saying he doesnt understand why people like it, hes asking for someone to say what is good about it, if someone agrees with him or an explanation for why he feels this way.

Because it was a major anime movie right when anime was getting big.

Yeah no shit sherlock but he didn't even go into detail.
It's literally just, yeah well it was okay. How is one supposed to agree with a literal non-statement?
This isn't how threads on Sup Forums work.

>WAHHH I don't understand why this cultural touchstone watershed film is good, am I special? Do I fit in yet? G-guys....

It's an atmospheric, philisophical techno-thriller directed by a famous auteur with a lengthy resume and animated by a top tier studio (90s Production IG took hyperrealistic animation and effects animation and set the standard for high quality). It has a fantastic cyberpunk sci fi aesthetic that permeates the whole film, and the science fiction content of it is as relevant if not more today than it was when it was created--an important attribute for sci-fi to stand the test of time. It was the first major anime film to get mainstream critical attention in the US (Akira was the first commercial theatrical release but GitS got a lot of attention). Overall it is an interesting film with a good balance between action and atmosphere and can be appreciated by both a casual action fan and a fan of cinema. Considering how sparse the table is for good anime films, it deserves its popularity and recognition.


I do love the film, but its not one of my favorites. In my opinion, Patlabor 2 is Mamoru Oshii's crowning cinematic achievement because the content reaches a level of sophistication Ghost in the Shell could not hope to achieve. GitS's philosophical content is, in Sup Forums parlance, entry level. The whole mind-body dichotomy and the nature of the soul have been the topic of philosophers for centuries. It's not breaking much new ground. On the contrary, Patlabor 2's examination of Japanese realpolitik in a post-Cold War world is strikingly unique and scarily accurate. There are very few overtly political anime, and Patlabor 2 outshines them all with its excellent storytelling and brilliant cinematography. Of course don't tell that to /m/ as they'll sperg out that there aren't enough robots in it.

It pioneered the digital animation in anime that has become standard today.

This Patlabor 2 is cinema

I personally prefer the first movie's somewhat less ambitious story, more a commentary on the then current and today still relevant nature of progress in a city the size and density of Tokyo. Rather than being so overtly political, it just muses on the nature and speed of progress and its impact upon society, as well as those left out or unseen as a result of it. It certainly ties into the rest of the franchise better, being a natural extension of the IP's focus on the way that society does or does not change in response to emerging technologies becoming a part of daily life. My main issue with Patlabor 2 comes in how it has to work against the IP rather than with it.
Patlabor 1 also has more and better robots in it.

It's really dated you didn't miss anything. It's like when people say "Doom and Metal Gear Solid are amazing games"

>It's really dated you didn't miss anything.
What the fuck is this shit?

Being dated doesn't somehow negate its significance. Whether or not you think it's legitimately good or bad doesn't change the fact that it was an influential piece of work during its time.

"Dated" is literally not an actual thing. Something is either good or not.

Being dated means it shows its age either from a technical standpoint or if its ideas/themes were a product of its time.

> It's like when people say "Doom and Metal Gear Solid are amazing games"

I can't say I disagree with your there. P1's focus on the city is a fascinating commentary on 80s Japan (and postwar Japan in general, I guess). My issue with the first film is that it's halfway between the tone of the series and the "Oshii" tone, for lack of a better word. The mecha action towards the end gets a bit campy. Don't get me wrong, I love how it plays out as an 80s action flick towards the end. But I can't say that it works entirely in the context of it being a serious film. Whereas the second is more consistent tonally (although the action scenes are nothing to sneeze at). The complaint about the source material is valid. It's a hard balance, because the movie wouldn't work without the characters returning with our knowledge of them, but at the same time it does not mesh well with the rest of the series. I like both movies for different reasons.

movie fucking blew. only reason it's a 2/5 instead of a 1/5 is because of the animation

Patlabor 2 was shitty, it just sucked all the life out of the Patlabor franchise to make it another generic Oshii production.

I'm going to have to 100% agree with you.

It came at me out of left-field. I did not expect Headgear to take advantage of the paradigm shift in geopolitics in between P1 and the production of P2 so deftly.
Unlike other Oshii works which seemed to take age-old observations approached many times in fiction already and bring them to the sci-fi setting, P2 seemed like a warning more urgent and insistent. The previous titles just asked the audience to 'wonder' and 'question' - and I'm sure plenty of people felt plenty smart after watching GitS.
But P2 was a call to action for not only Japanese society, but the democratized, militarized parts of the world. It didn't care if you got bored. It didn't care if you thought the topic irrelevant.
I respect the risks Headgear took. The end product haunts me many years after I've seen it.

Its been a very long time since I've seen Ghost in the Shell; over 10 years. I definitely remember it leaving nearly no impression on me. Other anime movies did; Akira was instantly memorable down to nearly every scene. Hell, I still remember many of the scenes from Perfect Blue and its been nearly as long since I saw that.

I'll probably rewatch GitS in the near future to give it another shot, but its honestly one of the weaker anime features I've seen.

It's good.
Just not amazing.
You're not missing anything.

Just have fun with the lot of it.

I tried to watch it, but nearly fell asleep

watch youtube.com/watch?v=gXTnl1FVFBw
Or similar videos. You might have to be into the artform and subject a bit more to fully appreciate the first Ghost in the Shell.

Ghost in the Shell is basically an art house film. It isn't made to be just "this summers big action hit" it is very much made to be "experienced" and absorbed. It isn't something that makes you go "FUCK YEAH Awesome!" It's something that is supposed to invoke thoughts and feelings. What does it mean to be human? With becoming more and more machine can you preserve your humanity? Can A.I. have a "soul"? Can you have an Identity as a human if your memories can be faked? The list goes on.

All that is topped of with wonderful animation, masterful cinematography and a beautiful soundtrack. Even the Sci-fi world is made in a beautifully realistic way. It isn't just all flying cars and super robots, with new technology come new problems, cyborg slums and hacker-criminals both small and large. It all in all looks like a world that could be ours in a few decades.

If you want something that has similar themes but is a bit more action and "cool stuff" I recommend you watch Stand alone Complex.

>Ghost in the Shell is basically an art house film. It isn't made to be just "this summers big action hit" it is very much made to be "experienced" and absorbed. It isn't something that makes you go "FUCK YEAH Awesome!" It's something that is supposed to invoke thoughts and feelings. What does it mean to be human? With becoming more and more machine can you preserve your humanity? Can A.I. have a "soul"? Can you have an Identity as a human if your memories can be faked? The list goes on.

This wasn't considered arthouse when it was called Blade Runner.

First things first.
Which version did you watch?

I have to agree with here. Some shows and films are so much children of their time that you can't help but be very aware of the year they were made in. Watch Dr. No for instance. Not a bad but you can't help and be aware how very 60s it is most of the times.

But funnily enough, the dated thing works in positive ways too. Try re-watching Demolition Man, or Cable Guy. Originally not very successful both make way more sense today than they did when they came out.

>I don't understand why it's so well acclaimed.
Put it simply, you watch this movie in 2016.

Dr. No contains the most stone cold bad ass James Bond moment of all time when he baits the would be assassin into trying to shoot him with an empty gun and then executes him.

But Blade Runner is also considered art house. Largely for (as you pointed out) focusing on the very same scenes. I would go as far as saying that Blade Runner was one of the genre defining pieces for sci-fi and boy am I glad that we got the proper version in 07

The animation looks incredible,
the art style of the city is beautiful,
the themes are intelligent and interesting
and most importantly it managed to capture a powerful atmosphere from start to finish which matches the best examples of not just anime, but all visual mediums.

It's the anime version of "The Matrix"

Blade Runner is one of the most influential sci-fi movies ever, but more for its lasting aesthetic influence. Hard to name too many movies that so perfectly captured the look of the future as extrapolated from the present and were so widely copied.

holy shit the fedora in this post

please be bait

It's overrated. No heart. Only for the angsty edgy hipster pseudoint /lit/ crowd.

I was thinking "this sounds fedora as fuck" as I was writing it but honestly if you're describing what is great about a film with these themes how can you NOT sound like some fedora nerd? You can't say "existentialism" in a way that sounds like you still get pussy. You can't really mention these philosophical aspects of it without growing a virtual fedora. maybe I should have put "bro" in there a few times.

You watched an incredibly influential movie after having likely seen a lot of the things it influenced over the last 20 years

I'm actually disgusted I share a board with you shit-taste faggots.

or maybe you should have realized your discussing tiawanese cavepaintings and no better than anyone else here

To think that just before I wrote that post I was looking for some really filthy ecchi manga

You should be disgusted that you are an angsty edgy hipster pseudoint idiot. You will never reach my level until you accept that this is who you are.

But the future in that movie looks nothing the real future (now)

Nothing ever does. The look of Blade Runner captivated so many people that it became the defacto "look of the future" for at least a decade and a half. It is still recognized and imitated, though it is no longer a fad to do so.

Because it was a light bulb in an age of candles and now that we got LED, it doesn't shine as bright

user, OP just wasn't particularly fond of the film and actively wanted to know what others felt about it, he didn't even remotely shit on it. No need to sperg.

What does this even mean? The definitive cyberpunk anime movie is a half a decade older than GitS.

Patlabor 1 is the best movie I.G. has ever made

So you weren't impressed by some of the highest production values the anime industry has to offer?
The movie is mostly about the visuals; if you don't enjoy nice scenery I guess there's not much else in it to impress you.

People who like something tend to make a hyperbole out of it to express their fondness.

>muh telekinesis

nah