7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In 2024, the terrorist incident known as "The Laughing Man Incident" occurred in which Ernest Serano, president of the groundbreaking micromachine company, Sereno Genomics, was kidnapped and ransomed. One day, the case having remained unsolved for six years, Detective Yamaguchi, who has been investigating "The Laughing Man Incident," sends word that he wants to meet with Togusa from Public Safety Section 9. However, soon after sending this message, Yamaguchi, crucial to the success of the case, dies in an accident. Many days pass and in the midst of a police interview relay concerning suspicions behind interceptors, a forewarning is received from "The Laughing Man" of his next crime. The incorporeal hacker begins to move once again.
Starring: Atsuko Tanaka (I), Akio Ôtsuka, Osamu Saka, Kôichi Yamadera, Yutaka NakanoForeign | 100% |
Anime | 98% |
Action | 52% |
Sci-Fi | 45% |
Mystery | 1% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Both tracks are 16-Bit
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The Ghost in the Shell franchise is not for the faint of heart, or at least for those who want mindless entertainment. As is perhaps evidenced by the Westernized title (the original Japanese is better translated as “Mobile Armed Riot Police”), Ghost in the Shell is an unusually philosophical enterprise which deals with all sorts of Big Questions, including, as the western title itself hints at, the interplay of spirit and matter. If Shirow Masamune’s original manga series was a serious and thought provoking affair, once it was adapted into two films by Mamoru Oshii, the ante was considerably—as in considerably—upped. Oshii imbued the series with a hyper-intellectualism that was both bracing and frankly annoying. This futuristic police thriller became a piece where characters would stop and reflect, sometimes seemingly endlessly, on those selfsame Big Questions, usually without coming up with any similarly Big Answers. Nonetheless both Ghost in the Shell movies really should be seen by anyone who loves anime, as they are both among the best in this far reaching and increasingly disparate, hard to pin down genre. In a sort of Star Trek: The Next Generation way, young Japanese auteur Kenji Kamiyama helped develop a television series based on the original concept which aired for two seasons in 2002-2003 and then again in 2004. The first season was entitled Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and it’s from that season’s 26 episode arc that this The Laughing Man compilation film is culled. Set in 2030, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man (is that enough colons for you?) deals with several characters and elements which will be familiar to fans of Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell films, including the special ops team Public Security Section 9 and its members, the cyborg Motoko Kusanagi and her partner Batou. The Laughing Man of the title refers to a terrorist who has disguised his identity under a sort of Joker-esque logo, but whose motives may not be as nefarious as they would seem to be on their surface.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.85:1. This distillation of the television series' first season looks remarkably clear and crisp and is testament to Kamiyama's professed desire to imbue this outing with a "big screen" look, despite its small screen genesis. Both CGI and hand drawn elements are interwoven fairly seamlessly, and detail throughout The Laughing Man remains top notch. Line detail is also exceptional and colors for the most part are appealing and very robust. A couple of the characters (notably Batou) are cast in a pretty drab palette, and that may bother some persnickety videophiles. Despite what can be a very busy frame at times, and considering its interlaced source elements, rarely if ever do any passing artifacting issues crop up (occasional very minor motion judder is noticeable, though negligible), and this is about as clean and precise a visual presentation as one could hope for.
While perhaps not as consistently sonically bombastic as Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie - A Wakening of the Trailblazer, which I reviewed here recently, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man's two lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks (in Japanese and English) come close and provide stellar aural accounts of the film. From the first moment, when thundering helicopters pan convincingly through the soundfield, we know we're in for some robust, effects-filled sonic action, and the film, while a good deal quieter (at least relatively speaking) than the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 film still delivers an earful of activity with frequently very appealing immersive qualities. The action sequences are of course a riot of activity and offer excellent discrete channelization. Dialogue is aptly handled and is clear and very well balanced with the effects and score. The score, by Yoko Kanno, deserves special mention, as it is inerrantly evocative and contains some gorgeous vocal music which almost sounds like a techno version of Hildegard von Bingen, a la the Vision album of many years ago.
If you've been jonesin' for more Ghost in the Shell since the Oshii films and weren't able to catch the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series, this is a worthy distillation that hits most of the major plot elements and is surprisingly succinct and well crafted. While not as overtly philosophical as Oshii's approach, this is a really fun, incredibly complex outing that should satisfy the large (and growing) Ghost in the Shell fanbase. Highly recommended.
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