Ghost in the Shell Live Action
What exactly is the definition of human in a society where a mind can be copied and the body replaced with a fully synthetic body? Where is the boundary between human and machine when the differences between the two become more philosophical than physical? Ultimately how do we define what it is to be human?
I’m not going to try and answer this today but these are the philosophical questions that form the basis of the futuristic manga and anime series ‘Ghost in the Shell‘ created by Masamune Shirow (first published in 1989). Whilst being nearly 30 years old the franchise is still alive and well with three movies, a TV series, game and trilogy of novels being spawned from it along with many aspects having slowly percolated into popular culture (it heavily inspired The Matrix).
With such a strong pedigree it’s rather worrying that Production I.G has sold the rights for a live-action movie to DreamWorks under the direction of none other than Steven Spielberg. For fans this is a pretty worrying development. Whist there is no denying Spielberg’s talent it’s an altogether different proposition when applying it to something like this, the main fear being that it will be severely dumbed down for a Hollywood audience.
If they can respect and stay faithful to the original maybe this has a chance but then again the likelihood of that is pretty low – the precedent is already pretty well established for ruining Asian cult classics.
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I'm feeling the pain, already.
I'm a huge fan of “Ghost in The Shell”, in all its forms, and knowing that something so sacred to me will end up in the hands of Spielberg, is like being stabbed.
*sigh*
Yeah, I can respect Spielberg's work for what it is, but remaking something like this as a live action film for a predominantly western audience is nothing but bad news.
Speilberg's work tends to be, generally, pretty light. I'm afraid he may not be able to convey the complicated philosophical ideas of Ghost in the Shell. Aside from that the violence level is sure to go down and just can't imaging that it will be very good.
fans should lobby dreamworks to allow spielberg to produce but let someone else direct:
Snyder
Cameron
Del Toro
Jackson
Singer
Fuqua
Raimi
Nolan
Candice, I think you put it perfectly. Personally I'd rather it not be made unless it was done with Japanese actors in Hong Kong (where the manga was set) without being tonned down for western audiences.
I've been watching Ghost in the Shell for a long time, and I'm meeting this with some trepidation. It is right that Spielberg might not be able to include the deep philosophy juxtaposed in a rebellious and dangerous futuristic Japan. That, and it seems, when an anime or manga turns live action — something is lost. The voices we've always heard our characters with, the phrasing of their sentences, their attitude, and how we have always seen them changes. An actor can try, but they will never be that character.
I guess, you didn't see AI or Saving Private Ryan? Speiberg is quite adept at both philosophy and violence.
Who the hell said Snyder could do this? Are you joking? I’m fine with him doing Watchmen, but as far as I’m concerned, GitS is waaaaay out of his league. Del Toro seems to only be good at fantasy, if you haven’t noticed. Cameron, I could accept, because he’s brillant at just about everything.
Speilberg is an excellent director, and his realistic take on scifi could be just what this series needs. I can’t even fathom why you all are bashing on the man who has made more successful movies than almost anyone else in history. Seriously, STFU.
Project2501:
I believe you may be confused. I don’t think anyone is questioning Spielberg’s talent as a director. The problem is that the previous Ghost in the Shell adaptations, though different from the manga, preserved a certain character that they feel Spielberg may not wish to preserve. Basically, I don’t think that there is a strong feeling that the series “needs” a significantly new contribution of any kind. To have Spielberg and Steven Paul producing this is a little bit like asking Andy Warhol to finish a commission started by Monet. Both great artists, drastically different styles. That being said, I do hope to see more of Spielberg’s influence than Arad or Paul, as it seems that of the three he might be more flexible in terms of preserving the aura we ahve all come to appreciate.
Gabriel – you said it perfectly. Couldn’t agree with you more
Thing is about him is he isnt japanese. Japanese have that fantasy/imagination americans dont have. They dont have influence of religion or culture prospective like america has. Manga doesnt have presure besides the company wanted it our faster. America wants less blood, something that will explain Gits to everyone who isnt a anime fan and less hot motoko. Thing is japan probably is saying “Why the hell is America trying to make Anime movies?” Plus is dreamworks……arent they cartoon movie makers???????
I have to say with a lot of fans, I too am worried. I do not doubt spielberg’s talents or abilities, I just worry on the fact that english/american directors don’t have the same touch as japanese. The death note live action movie has been one of the best however the Dragonball is looking awful, so what can we hope the GIS movie will be like? Also the actors signed up to play the characters will play a big part of making the movie a success as many of the cowboy bebop fans are worried about due to that being supossedly made into a live action movie, predictions are Jonny Depp gets spike. I am expecting a lot of gore, violence and nudity to be stripped from the film concidering it is ‘Dreamworks’ with the film rights and they have been more known to produce more universal films over the past few years.
Thanks for your comments Giffica & Danni. I’m still hoping that this will come to nothing and it’ll never get made. Sounds like Akira is also in the running to get a Hollywood makeover so there may be no getting away from any of this!
hey…in addition to GitS, DB, and Cowboy bebop, akira…yes the classic of classics in anime has been mentioned…it would be ok if maybe they were going after new, less in depth anime plots that most people wouldnt you know….notice, but, really? i love older animes, with akira, and onward anime really got its act together and started to be an ever increasing phenom in the west, but now…this sort of thing could be crippling.
When resident evil and its demon spawn sequals defiled what was once my favorite console gaming series i took it, tried to look it in the eye while it held me down and got its monies worth outa me, even when mia jovovich managed to find a jump ramp to come flying through a stain glassed window some 20 feet off the ground on a heavy street cruiser, i said “oh hey…atleast her petite frame isnt going to oh…wait…she did flip that bike in mid air and land a shot to….i..im sorry im crying now..tears of pain.”…meh. lets all just hope for the best and pray that if DBZ craters the rest of the studios will get it together and make GOOD movies.
Just happend to see this page as I was looking for some trailers and wanted to ad… I agree with almost all of you. We anime lovers, love the voices, acting and thoughts of our ” favorite ” character so much that even the thought of “amerikan actors” playing our favorite characters worries us. Actually to play in GITS I think they should all give the ” actors” some GITS lessons so that they ” learn and understand a bit ” of what we expect from them. In fact it is importand who the director is but the actual question is who are going to be actors and how are they gona act. I mean there was ” devilman” .. the anime was great … after I saw the live action trailer I thought to myself ” I have to see this ” but … the only thing I was thinking after watching the live-action was …. ” How bad can a live-action movie be” even if it was japanese. So the only thing we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the worst scenario =) By the way … Spike is going to be played by Keanu Reeves in the live-action, way better than jhonny depp for a movie like this I think
I can understand why the US would take on Ghost in the Shell instead of Japan. Japan originally doesn’t have such great live action movie production skills. That’s primarily why anime was created in the first place. But I heard that the Ghost in the Shell movie was going to be 3D animation, in which case I think Japan could do just as good as job as the US could (i.e. advent children). From my personal point of view as a anime fan and a Japanese person, I don’t believe that any anime should be made into a live action movie. There’s a certain quality to anime that can’t be replicated by real people. I don’t really have anything to back up my opinions, but it’s just a strong feeling that I’ve always had. Every time I hear of an anime going under live action treatment I get depressed.
Who knows if he’s going to remake or use one of the many other stories in the GITS universe? Spielberg is a visionary. IF he’s going to do it. He’ll do it big.
In a way i can respect Spielberg taking this on, but they do have a point by saying it might be dumbed down. At least Spielberg is familiar with the series and hopefully wont disappoint (too much) but for keeping everything as is, i dont see a chance of them keeping it as intense as the actual anime. Im excited but at the same time incredibly worried. (at least theyre cool enough to do it)
Kiichi I totally agree. There is a certain quality to anime that gets stripped away when it becomes a live action. To me this shows how badly hollywood is struggling though with finding original stories. It seems like everything today is just a remake of something else and nothing will be as good as the original. So no matter how much care they put into RE-making GitS it still wont be the same and fans will be dissappointed, while a new group of people will praise the Live Action and think that they made an anime from that.
It will suck, even if you look at Jurassic Park, which was a great movie, it was terrible compared to the book.
Production I.G. is my favorite studio but I am not a fan of this decision.
No woman alive could play the major. This isn’t Tomb Raider where the only requirement is having tits.
All of your comments mean alot to my overwhelming state right now. I’ve always loved Ghost in the Shell, and I will respect the movie with heavy bias so I can always enjoy it and rather not feel any emotional pain from the unwanted expectations. Ssaya you are right, no women alive could play the Major in such a courageous, outstanding role. Then again she is a Cyborg and being that could mean such a trait could only be discovered given her context. I’ve just recently heard the news and I’m much more than delighted to hear an attempt to remaster the beautiful series in live action elements, but yes I look down upon the high possibility of the movie suppressing story elements to a wide range of viewers. Nevertheless all I can say is that such a feat is in the hands of more than a professional, his experience in past movies such as Jurassic Park may have been belittled from the books, but other great motion pictures in my opinion such as A.I Artificial Intelligence renowned the stepping in his career with heavily improved drama and story. The live action movie is reported to be finished in 2011, leaving as of now 2 years to complete. All I hope is that the movie begins filming, along with well postulated decisions such as roles and story, and that content is squeezed into the film as much as possible. The original anime along with the trailing movies and series have touched viewers in a way other films have never thought of going, entering a realm of philosophical reasoning and technological inundation that purges audiences with vicarious aspects. I’ll be looking forward to the day this movie arrives to theaters, not with hope of an accurately portrayed story but the entertainment elements no different from the anime that’ll surely never disappoint.