Ghost in the Shell 2017: Lean & Mean Edition

Let me start by saying I love all things Ghost in the Shell, expect for the 2017 film this is based on. But, I come to many fanedits to see bad or mediocre movies made better or even great. This edit is one of those. It mimics the flawless 1995 animated film as much as possible. It is clear that the opening of the edit is trying to get as many shot-for-shot scenes as much as possible. I love this. I also love that enough of the backstory of characters is cut to create intrigue around them. It makes me wish for a sequel.

The editor has done a fantastic job of taking something mediocre and turning it into something worthwhile for fans of GitS or people just starting to dip their toes into the franchise.

Technically I found nothing wrong with the edit. There wasn't a scene where I felt this or that felt off. Everything felt solid. I highly recommend this edit if you're remotely a fan off GitS.

To be clear I have not yet delved into the gits franchise or watched the original live action film. In fact, I have only seen the animated film that started it all. I liked the themes of the animated film, and it's imagination for what it saw in our potential future.

When it comes to live adaptations, I am not one of those that likes them only and only if they are extremely resembling their original materials. I am more than happy if they are crisp, and have interesting things to say. Another thing I dislike is when they are westernized, especially if being adapted from eastern media. A good example of this is the death note adaptation in 2018. In westernizing media, it is made generic, and in my opinion loses what makes it unique.

Now that that is out of the way, when I saw the beginning of this film with the intro and all, I was like "Holy shit!!!" I found myself enjoying the themes portrayed, and the questions posed by the movie. I also, loved how to the point and concise your edit was. It was streamlined. There were some cuts that were noticeable, but they didn't break my flow of the film to a halt. I really do believe that based on the noticeable cuts, you were able to strengthen the narrative focus of this movie. And props to you for that.

I can't even wrap my head around how this film was made. It is so packed with visual activity. I had dismissed it originally because of the reviews, but this edit made me interested in checking it out. Thank you so much for your time and effort into making this. I loved this movie/edit. There are very few fan edits on here that capture that perfect narrative flow, and in my opinion those are the best ones. I don't know about everyone else, but yours is one of them in my books.

I recently became an anime fan, through my persistence of my nephew who is a DIE-HARD. And I'm excited to say that the Ghost in the Shell is the first franchise that has really sucked me in! I couldn't wait to see this version of the film. So needless to say, this story and world has a very special place in my cyber-enhanced heart. And I was very happy with my experience watching this edit.

The cutting was seamless. The audio levels were all balanced and video was crisp. I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing. It was very PUNCHY and didn't lag at all by trying to explain to much subplot. Straight-forward. Boom in your face! And I had a really fun time exploring the world on a grander stage.

Looking forward to seeing more projects from you in the future FairFriend.

I find this fanedit quite enjoyable, I actually discovered Fanedit.org by searching this fanedit specifically,

I was dissapointed on the threatical release, like most of us, fans of the cyberpunk genre and the original and first Ghost in the Shell Movie (1995), the tone, the asthetics. I was very thrilled that the movie was set into production and anticipaded the release with such excitement, but like most comercial releases it has it's mesure of cheesyness and unnecesary plot holes.

This fan edit is GREAT and makes the movie worth watching ,thrilling and gives us some justice. Great cue on the shelling scene with the original GITS (1995) OST LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Thanks FairFriend you did us cyberpunk fans a favour!! Hope you have a great present as an editor pro.

As stated by digmodification and some others the audo/video sync at 16:58 catched my eye.

Audio could've handeled a bit better, it's not bad, tho it could have been better, maybe using Izotope RX for the dialogues, and matching the room sound with better editing. There were minor details. I'm no pro, I'm starting on video editing myself. But from an audience standpoint you made WONDERS with the source material, I liked this like an 90's or 2000's action flick! Keep up the good work.

Also a sugestion for the credits music, I'd pick a synthwave version of the soundtrack that could represent the cyberpunk asthetic even more, I made a small YouTube curation on the remixes of Kenji Kawai's Making On A Cyborg (I literally heard all remixes available on YouTube), I'm a musician with a fair experience on music production and these are my 2 cents on the matter, anyway I present you my top 3:

1st place YXYZ Remix (Mixing and Arrangement are extremely well made tho the genre it's somewhat edgy to some ears)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghuD2VdilnA

2nd place Justa Armada Remix (The idea is great but lacks on a great mix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_5C9CLCFAk

3rd place Steve Aoki Remix (This is fine as Steve Aoki's overall work, just not my usuall cup of tea)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCe_UeHF7H8

Wow, this was great. So much better than the original, much more focused. Until the final act, I was having a great time.
I think for me personally, the ending felt a little underwhelming, no fault of the editor. I enjoyed the more focused story, but it almost feels like a "one-shot" short story from a bigger universe.

But to the editors credit, I felt like the movie gave me credit as a viewer to follow along, and not spoonfeed me info like the original. It was really great editing in the details that got me so much more invested than I thought I would be, so I supposed it built me up too much for a somewhat simple ending.

Thanks for this edit Farfriend, it will definitely be my go-to version.