Ghost in the Shell 2017: Lean & Mean Edition

I enjoyed this. The original is one of my favorite films, so I definitely needed to see some justice done to the remake. Loved the reincorporated original track in the “birth scene.” An amazing track. But yeah, overall, a deftly executed edit with only one minor issue that was readily visible. Other than that, very well done.

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.

After seeing the theatrical version I was sorely disappointed in the writing. It was less about the philosophy that the original animated movie explored, and more a romance movie that disguised itself as an action movie.

The edit is definitely smoother and has a better flow, but it seems to be lacking a backbone that I think without re-scripting and re-filming you won't be able to get.

The shelling sequence with the original song still gives me goosebumps.

I would definitely recommend watching this version rather than the theatrical release!

Thank you for your effort!

I anticipated seeing this edit for a long time now.
I liked the theatrical cut enough to appreciate it without the obvious comparison to the source material, but was always curious to check another take on it - mostly one that was praised to be more competent and straightforward.
However, to my disappointment, the edit tries to shorten the distance between the movie and its anime counterpart but ends up making one that falls short of both of them.
For better or for worse, the theatrical relied heavily on Major's backstory to keep its pace and character development, and that's whats mostly compromised in the edit. In this version, everything happens so lightning fast and the movie never stops to think any reason to be moving at all. At the core of Kuze's unveil there is originally a detective story, where Section 9 follows several clues and locations to spin a thin thread of what's going on. In the edit, this all boils down to scene-hopping from point A to point B with little cohesion. As a result, the Major is just along for the ride. Even though as fans we're familiar with Kusanagi's pragmatic attitude, the edit reduces her to an effectively soulless action doll who beats people, shoots people, stops once in while for a repair and goes at it again. Whitewashing controversy aside, the whole Mira subplot involving her past was necessary to give the movie any identity, even if it dumbed down the quintessensial Ghost in the Shell philosophical ramblings of self and soul to the cliché corporate conspiracy. On top of that, the removal of some lines thin the exposition a little too much. Like the aforementioned Major's subplot, some of the original lines present in the theatrical cut clearly wanted to convene a critique about ownership and autonomy of self on the information era. Even if the execution of these ideas was originally clunky (like the "i give my consent" silliness), the edit is poorer for the complete absence of them.
To the edit's merit, it's well cut and with no jarring transition whatsoever. The added scenes and music are great, and the overall nitpicking (like fixing the movie title persistently repeating in the opening credits) do give the film a subtle refinement. The encode is very good and lives up to an already gorgeous looking movie - in my opinion, one of the most beautifully realised cyberpunk scenery ever made in film.
Overall, I think, Lean & Mean is a technically great editing work that unfortunately doesn't do the original narrative any favors.

GITS : L&M
I was lucky enough to see this excellent edit because the editor kindly aided me.

I was not happy with the original film as a fan of the ..everything GITS.
The film missed all the right notes but I felt it had everything it needed to be a solid entry if it could find someone who could play music.

The friendly editor took all the issue I had with the source material and solved them as best they could with what they had.
The editing and as a result narrative was far tighter and accurate to the source material.
I found that if you liked the anime then you will probably like this edit.

Only at one point was I even aware it was an edit and in my memory this is the definitive version. #
If you did not like the junk they added about the Majors back story and all the other fluff then this is the edit for you.
Also I am not aware of any other edits so the fact that the edit we have is a good one is a big win for all!

If you hated the film the edit won't help you but if you wanted to love it but struggled then I would say this might help.

The edit was creative and functional and helped tell the story in a more cohesive and impactful manner.
The audio and visuals were excellent.

6 movie made into a 7.5
Editing 9/10