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!

It's been a long time since I've seen the theatrical cut. I was not a fan at all, but with some time now passed, I was curious how this edit might come across since the aims seem to fit with what I'd want out of the film.

Quality is good. I saw mention of compression artefacts in dark areas. The overall edit seemed a bit dark to me, but maybe that's the look of the film. I didn't see any actual blockiness on my end, personally, even though it can look a bit soft at times.

I'm sure there were many cuts throughout and the edit largely flies by with transitions unnoticed. I did pick up on a handful of moments though, some worse than others:

- 12:16 - sounds like a subtle dip in audio from crossfade
- 13:44 - audio and visual cut is rushed
- 16:58 - music suddenly fades in and the dialogue is out of sync with the major's lips
- 39:25 - this transition doesn't work at all IMO. It's very odd to have the audio fade out and have dialoguee start part-way through an action sequence
- 1:21:08 - rushed audio fade
- end credit music is a lot louder than the rest of the film mix

The only narrative issue I picked up on is at 1:09:30 - Batou is about to be attacked, but when we cut back he's suddenly driving. Feels like an odd jump. Otherwise, pacing feels fine and I did not miss any cut subplots.

I would say I actually enjoyed the film less this time around. I'm sure this has little to do with the edit, because I know that some of what bothered me before has been removed. I think it's just certain aspects hammering home for me on a rewatch. The edit itself is largely well put together and I would say it is a definite improvement over the original - there are things I remember annoying me before which are mercifully absent - but for me, it only turns a bad film into a mediocre one. The goals were to bring this more in line with the spirit of the 1995 anime but I think more could have been done to achieve this. The opening was a good choice and numerous changes to dialogue have been made to help, but there still remain a lot of forced moments. Equally, by its nature, the narrative of the theatrical cut is watered down and derivative, and I'm not sure that's something that can be fixed. The "it's what you do that defines you" is also such a trite and Hollywood theme that is hardly needed, let alone to be repeated explicitly more than once in the film (which is kept in this edit). It's kind of astounding how so much can be removed in this version and yet the film still comes across as over-explained and simplistic, especially compared with the more philosophical and meditative nature of the original.

The theatrical cut feels like such an odd product to me, deriving its visuals and story from different anime incarnations of GITS (and Innocence) as well as Blade Runner (most likely inspiration for the original GITS as well). There are a handful of aesthetically pleasing moments, but everything has the clumsy feel of a youtube fan film with a decent budget. The way people walk, the way people talk, the way the action is executed. It just falls very flat. I do think there is more room for improvement in "lean and mean" - more dialogue that can be removed, and further tweaks to how some of the action is edited, but at the end of the day, I don't think the original film can be "fixed". Or at least, you can't change its essential nature. It feigns substance, drawing from other more significant films but watering down their themes, and bringing nothing new to the table.

Do I recommend this? If you liked the original in spite of some flaws, yes, I absolutely do. You will likely find this an improvement (and clearly a lot of people have enjoyed it a lot more than me). If, like me, you were sorely unimpressed by the theatrical cut, I would guess this edit won't change your mind too sharply.

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.

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.