Ghost in the Shell is a slick but plodding recycling of tired cyberpunk clichés that adds nothing new to the genre.
Ghost in the Shell(GHOST IN THE SHELL/攻殻機動隊 )
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan, United Kingdom · 1995
1h 23m
Director Mamoru Oshii
Starring Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Kouichi Yamadera
Genre Action, Animation, Science Fiction
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
In the year 2029, humans are vulnerable to brain-hacking as advances in cybernetics allow for cyborgs and networked human brains. When a notorious hacker called "The Puppetmaster" begins to manipulate politics with his brain hacking, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Most alluring are the crumbling neon cityscapes, real world/cyberspace fusion and the musings on identity.
For a movie that’s so photo-realistic in its backgrounds and detailed in its character design, Ghost In The Shell is just as effective when it goes minimal, suggesting presence through absence.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It is a dizzying, headspinning film, replete with violence, alienation and tech-porn. I confess I find it too opaque to make the kind of investment that would qualify me as a real fan. But it should be seen.
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
There are gripping chases and balletic combat scenes, painstakingly realised by Oshii’s animators, but the mood is mostly cold and melancholic, as Kusanagi broods over the fleshly implications of living in a world of data
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The ghost of anime can be seen here trying to dive into the shell of the movie mainstream. But this particular film is too complex and murky to reach a large audience, I suspect; it's not until the second hour that the story begins to reveal its meaning. But I enjoyed its visuals, its evocative soundtrack (including a suite for percussion and heavy breathing), and its ideas.
Time Out London by Tom Huddleston
The plot is impossibly dense and the characters – perhaps appropriately – feel like little more than cyphers, but for sheer mind-expanding sci-fi strangeness this is hard to beat.
Users who liked this film also liked
Akira
(AKIRA
)
Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1988
- Director Takashi Nakamura
- Cast Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshou Genda, Hiroshi Ohtake, Kōichi Kitamura
- Genre Science Fiction, Animation
- Available on Hulu, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Vudu
Paprika
(パプリカ)
Just anyone can let themselves into your dreams now...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2006
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Furuya, Kouichi Yamadera, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Emori
- Genre Animation, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Perfect Blue
(パーフェクトブルー)
A retired pop singer starts to lose her hold on reality when she is stalked by an obsessive fan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ōkura, Yōsuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya
- Genre Animation, Thriller
- Available on Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Cowboy Bebop
(カウボーイビバップ)
Amid rising crime rates across the solar system in 2071, bounty hunters, or "cowboys," chase criminals in exchange for rewards.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Creator Hajime Yatate
- Cast Koichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada
- Genre Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Western
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
(カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉)
The crew of the spaceship Bebop must stop a terrorist from destroying the human population of Mars.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, United States • 2001
- Director Shinichiro Watanabe
- Cast Kouichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Aoi Tada, Ai Kobayashi, Megumi Hayashibara
- Genre Action, Animation, Science Fiction
- Available on Tubi TV
Appleseed
(アップルシード)
Humanity's last chance for survival.
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2004
- Director Shinji Aramaki
- Cast Ai Kobayashi, Asumi Miwa, Jurota Kosugi, Yuki Matsuoka, Yuzuru Fujimoto, Takehito Koyasu
- Genre Animation, Action, Science Fiction
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
(イノセンス)
A beautiful and poignant anime about a robot revolution in the year 2032.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2004
- Director Mamoru Oshii
- Cast Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Kouichi Yamadera, Tamio Ohki, Yutaka Nakano, Naoto Takenaka
- Genre Animation, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Ghost in the Shell 2.0
(GHOST IN THE SHELL / 攻殻機動隊2.0
)
It Found A Voice... Now It Needs A Body
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2008
- Director Mamoru Oshii
- Cast Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Koichi Yamadera, Tamio Ohki, Tessyo Genda
- Genre Action, Animation, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, YouTube Free, Freevee
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
(新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 Air/まごころを、君に)
The second of two theatrically released continuations of the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki
- Cast Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi, Yuko Miyamura, Fumihiko Tachiki, Miki Nagasawa
- Genre Action, Animation, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – The Laughing Man
(攻殻機動隊 Stand Alone Complex The Laughing Man)
Get out of the Network!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2005
- Director Kenji Kamiyama
- Cast Atsuko Tanaka, Osamu Saka, Yutaka Nakano, Koichi Yamadera, Toru Okawa, Taro Yamaguchi
- Genre Science Fiction, Animation, Action, Crime
- Available on Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society
(攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX Solid State Society
)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2006
- Director Kenji Kamiyama
- Cast Atsuko Tanaka, Osamu Saka, Koichi Yamadera, Akio Otsuka, Yutaka Nakano, Takashi Onozuka
- Genre Animation, Action, Thriller, Crime, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Millennium Actress
(千年女優)
A documentary filmmaker interviews an aged actress about her legendary career.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2002
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Miyoko Shoji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shozo Iizuka, Masaya Onosaka, Showko Tsuda
- Genre Animation, Drama, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Crunchyroll, Viewster Amazon Channel, Retrocrush, AsianCrush, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Peacock, Peacock Premium, Freevee, Cineverse, Shout! Factory TV, Plex,
Whisperer of the Heart
(耳をすませば)
Shizuki lives a simple life, dominated by her love of stories and writing, until one day she meets her “Prince of Books.”
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1995
- Director Yoshifumi Kondou
- Cast Yoko Honna, Issey Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana, Shigeru Muroi, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Keiju Kobayashi
- Genre Animation, Drama, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Erotic Ghost Story
(聊齋艷譚)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 1990
- Director Lam Nai-Choi
- Cast Pal Sinn Lap-man, Amy Yip, Hitomi Kudô, Ha Chi-Chun, Chung Lin, Manfred Wong
- Genre Fantasy, Drama, Horror
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Erotic Ghost Story II
(聊齋艷譚續集五通神)
- ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 1991
- Director Peter Ngor
- Cast Charine Chan, Kwok Yiu-Wah, Anthony Wong, Noel Chik King-Man, Sayuri Ichijo, Tsang Siu-Yin
- Genre Horror
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King
(ベルセルク 黄金時代篇I 覇王の卵)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2012
- Director Toshiyuki Kubooka
- Cast Hiroaki Iwanaga, Takahiro Sakurai, Yuki Kaji, Takahiro Fujiwara, Toa Yukinari, Yoshiro Matsumoto
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Psycho-Pass: The Movie
(劇場版 PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス
)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2015
- Director Katsuyuki Motohiro, Naoyoshi Shiotani
- Cast Kana Hanazawa, Tomokazu Seki, Kenji Nojima, Ayane Sakura, Takahiro Sakurai, Miyuki Sawashiro
- Genre Animation, Science Fiction, Action
- Available on Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Apple TV
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie
(攻殻機動隊 新劇場版)
- Japan, United States • 2015
- Director Kazuchika Kise, Kazuya Nomura
- Cast Maaya Sakamoto, Kenichirou Matsuda, Kazuya Nakai, Ikkyu Juku, Kenji Nojima, Mayumi Asano
- Genre Science Fiction, Animation
- Available on Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Vudu, Microsoft Store
Miracle: Letters to the President
(기적)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2021
- Director Lee Jang-hoon
- Cast Park Jeong-min, Yoona, Lee Sung-min, Lee Soo-kyung, Jung Moon-sung, Park Chul-min
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Hoopla, Kocowa, AsianCrush, Rakuten Viki, Vudu, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Filmzie, Xumo Play, KoreaOnDemand
Truly amazing and a lot more contemplative than I expected from the movie going in - both the action scenes and the moments in between are meditations on what constitutes an authentic existence in a mediated world - not just on the level of technology but also sexual difference and facts in political events.
One of my favorite films of all time. The gritty, yet slick world Oshii constructs is a testament to the cyberpunk genre, down to the smallest detail. I think constantly about invisibility cloaks and machine guns coming out of briefcases. Criminality and politics in Oshii's world intersect in a way few films, let alone science fiction ones, do. The philosophy of the film hits you like a truck - even though there's plenty of action the quieter moments where discussions of humanity, memory, embodiment and reality take place are the real "ghost" of the film.