Ghost in the Shell 2017: Lean & Mean Edition

Image quality is fine for the most part, though I noticed a bit of banding in the dark areas: noticed nothing amiss with regards to audio, and could not tell where the new cuts took place, though I wasn't specifically hunting for any issues.

Have seen the anime film a couple of times, but never the live-action adaptation that this edit is sourced from so cannot comment on any possible improvements. My initial impressions were better than anticipated, while the basic story remains the same and certain elements are reproduced (not always in the same place) it did not feel like a slavish remake, but it hasn’t got the same timeless qualities and I don’t think any further re-editing could solve this.

Thanks fairfriend for getting me to give this film a go in the first place though, now just need to decide if it is worth watching the unedited version!

go to way to watch this movie

The beginning works better like this, it was a good idea to change it.

There’s a lot less dialogue in the edit, and the film improves because of it. It’s almost an introspective experience now, between the action scenes. Also, it does look closer to the anime version, which is a masterpiece in itself.

Motoko's mother is definitely not needed, I agree with that change. And good riddance to the “I give my consent" phrase said so many times in the original, just for the silly realization that it was not needed at all…

And, wow, what a great improvement in the Major and Oulet “injection” scene, this is the way it should have been done in the first time.

Everything else, in terms of AV quality and AV editing, seemed flawless to me.

This edit improves and replaces the original, for sure!
Thanks for this.

The theatrical cut was a bit bloated, partly because of the usual hubris of Hollywood hacks who think they can do a better job with a famous property than its creators, and perhaps partly because GiTS has a fairly complex lore. Making matters worse, the film was loaded with last minute introduction of a sub-plot that was meant to address some American identity politics ruckus around the casting of the main character.

I loved this version, and would recommend it highly. Smooth edit, allowing a good film to surface.

GitS is one of my most enjoyed franchises since I first saw the original film sometime in 1996 - I have read and watched all the different series/manga/films several times over the years. When I walked out of the cinema after the first showing of the live-action film I was gutted. Why had the film makers decided to bolt on a Robocop lost-memory plot? Why the need for an almost comically bad moustache-twirling style villain? Why was everyone referring to the Major as “Major” like it was her first name? :) (…and “I am Major” at the end, lol wot?)

After several years I was doing very well in forgetting the film apart from a few visuals, and then I found out about this fan edit - and I’m super happy I did. This edit is superb - much closer to the source material and, I’m happy saying, worthy of the name Ghost in the Shell.

This fan edit has literally saved the film for me - I’ve now added the disk to my shelf with the other GitS collections, but it will stay there and I’ll only ever watch this version of the live-action film in the future.

If there was one thing I could find fault in: there’ll never be a 3D version :)

I watched the fanedit in my Quest 2 VR headset via the Skybox app which enables a (virtual) full-sized cinema, and the film looked fantastic.