| "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" |
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Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man
2 DVDS/APPROX. 160 MINS/2005/JAPAN M
2 DVDS/APPROX. 160 MINS/2005/JAPAN M
8
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I have only briefly seen a few episodes of season 1 of S.A.C so it was a great opportunity for me to review this R4 DVD from Madman
Entertainment. Based on the Manga by Masamune Shirow and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, The Laughing Man is one of the main storylines from
the first season of S.A.C condensed down and used the original animation with new sections and re-written dialogue that’s been made into a 2
hour feature film.
Briefly, the story is set in 2030 Japan, Technology is at its peak, people are ‘cybernised’ a process where people no longer have to use physical
exercise to improve bodies as they can be upgraded with implants. Criminals of course also use this technology for crime and so an ‘upgraded’
police unit called Section 9 is formed. A disease, called cyber brain sclerosis which affects some cybernised people has emerged but while one
corporation has developed a cure, political involvement, government conspiracies stand in the way. Now six years have passed since the criminal
known as the ‘Laughing Man’ caused chaos and mayhem within the big corporations, he’s back again hacking into people’s minds and using them
for his own will, after trying to hack into the police chiefs mind it’s up to Section 9 led by female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi to try and bring him
to justice.
Most of the reviews of this you will find on the net will give obvious comparisons to the series, since I’ve only seen a couple of the first series I can
only give my honest review on this DVD. What first struck me was how can a 52 episode series, 26 in the first season be edited into a 160 minute
film without it looking like a cut and paste job? But they have made a pretty good job of turning it into a feature film that ‘newcomers’ like me can
get into pretty easily without having to watch all the original episodes. Given that, The Laughing Man still has a complex story, I’m pretty sure
things are missing but since its been edited down it stands to reason, however since I haven’t seen the whole series I can’t say for sure. Visually
it’s stunning, animation is beautifully drawn as to be expected from a high budget anime. Sound wise I watched it in the original Japanese subbed
which was great, but I was interested to learn that most people who have seen this were disappointed that the English voice over actors had
been completely changed for the English dub from the original series. Again because I’ve only briefly seen a few of the episodes I can’t really
comment on this.
Overall A great movie for newcomers, if your already a fan or have seen S.A.C then there is nothing here that you won’t have already seen.
Entertainment. Based on the Manga by Masamune Shirow and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, The Laughing Man is one of the main storylines from
the first season of S.A.C condensed down and used the original animation with new sections and re-written dialogue that’s been made into a 2
hour feature film.
Briefly, the story is set in 2030 Japan, Technology is at its peak, people are ‘cybernised’ a process where people no longer have to use physical
exercise to improve bodies as they can be upgraded with implants. Criminals of course also use this technology for crime and so an ‘upgraded’
police unit called Section 9 is formed. A disease, called cyber brain sclerosis which affects some cybernised people has emerged but while one
corporation has developed a cure, political involvement, government conspiracies stand in the way. Now six years have passed since the criminal
known as the ‘Laughing Man’ caused chaos and mayhem within the big corporations, he’s back again hacking into people’s minds and using them
for his own will, after trying to hack into the police chiefs mind it’s up to Section 9 led by female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi to try and bring him
to justice.
Most of the reviews of this you will find on the net will give obvious comparisons to the series, since I’ve only seen a couple of the first series I can
only give my honest review on this DVD. What first struck me was how can a 52 episode series, 26 in the first season be edited into a 160 minute
film without it looking like a cut and paste job? But they have made a pretty good job of turning it into a feature film that ‘newcomers’ like me can
get into pretty easily without having to watch all the original episodes. Given that, The Laughing Man still has a complex story, I’m pretty sure
things are missing but since its been edited down it stands to reason, however since I haven’t seen the whole series I can’t say for sure. Visually
it’s stunning, animation is beautifully drawn as to be expected from a high budget anime. Sound wise I watched it in the original Japanese subbed
which was great, but I was interested to learn that most people who have seen this were disappointed that the English voice over actors had
been completely changed for the English dub from the original series. Again because I’ve only briefly seen a few of the episodes I can’t really
comment on this.
Overall A great movie for newcomers, if your already a fan or have seen S.A.C then there is nothing here that you won’t have already seen.
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