MovieChat Forums > Kôkaku Kidôtai Shin Gekijôban (2015) Discussion > This looks awful!

This looks awful!

posted 9 years ago by feelinesound
10 replies | jump to latest

Trailer looks really bad in almost every way - (in order of crappiness) awful EDM music, crappy voice acting/casting, bad re-imagination of the Major, worse animation overall, bad sound mixing/editing. Wild guess: the writing will be significantly worse than the original too. It seems to all be executed with a level of finesse and craft one would normally associate with the Smurfs rather than the serious philosophical quasi-art-movie the original was.

I bet they also took out most of the smart stuff out of it and made it essentially a slightly more graphic GI Joe.

[–] binaryvegeta 9 years ago

The animation looks like the TV show. I don't like re-imagination of the Major. I have not watched Arise yet because of that.
The action scenes look cool.

[–] randyzive 9 years ago

I liked it, but your experience may differ.

However, that awful EDM music is not in the film itself.

The animation quality is no where near the originals. But if you've been following the 2nd gig series, this movie is satisfying in that it ties everything up/together.

[–] feelinesound 9 years ago

Watched a few eps of 1st gig series, it's not bad per se but nowhere near the level of the two 'main' movies (does it get better?). Was expecting something significantly better than that from a remake of the original.

Good to know at least that lousy EDM isn't in there... made my ears hurt.

[–] randyzive 8 years ago

1st and 2nd gig (known as Stand Alone Complex) are not supposed to be remakes of the GIS movie (as least so I think).

They are prequels. Stand Alone Complex, and GIS: The new movie, lead into the start of the original GIS movie.

As far as entertainment value goes, I enjoyed them, but opinions differ. GIS: The new movie ties everything together, right before they release the live action remake of the original GIS movie in 2017.

[–] x1nd0lent 8 years ago

The main movies aren't the original, the manga/comic is. The anime series were faithful to the manga, and a great development upon it. The plotting and pacing were often quite well done. These had politics and cyberpunk procedural mystery solving in the forefront, with some weighty philosophical subtext. But I have only seen fansubs of the original Japanese - I don't know how much of the subtlety made it through dubbing and such. I often found myself surprised to be thinking about implications of the stories later, which is always a good sign. Better re[play value than most anime I have seen as well.

The two previous movies are very much the product of Mamoru Oshii, who has made a reputation for himself making animated and live movies of philosophical sci-fi. Often a bit gritty and dark, dealing with existential themes. I loved both of those movies, but they are very much tangential to the GITS universe - especially Innocence, which I still love, and think is brilliant. But seriously, as earnest as Oshii's themes are, and as lavish as the productions are, they are not very subtle in their handling of the introspective angst they employ as scaffolding for the stories. I think that the series Standalone Complex, 2nd Gig, and the follow up Solid State Society covered this ground quite thoughtfully, and gave it good to breathe, working it more organically into the stories. YMMV.

[–] CameronWalker01 8 years ago

It's garbage. Everything that made the original good is absent from this movie.

[–] Left_back 8 years ago

As a connoisseur of all versions GitS I can tell you this movie is a summation of the reimagined GitS Arise series. Apart from the character line up and the year (2029 is when the original GitS 1995 took place as well), this version deals with the final transition phase of Major Motoko Kusanagi from military intelligence to joining Section 9 with her team which she handpicks for their skills, which is partly why the whole series is called 'Arise'.

My assumption is that Production IG, the studio that owns GitS wants to update/upgrade the story and action for today's audience, esp since anime technology has come a long way since 1995/2004. There is less exposition and more action in this version than in the previous. I think many will enjoy it as the visuals are cool and the action sequences very well done. Plus most of the main characters look and feel the same, though Aramaki looking younger and Saito with that hair patch takes some getting used to, not to mention Kusanagi prosthetic body looking quite immature (almost pre-pubescent) and not as curvy.

While the original movies GitS (1995), GitS Innocence (2004), and the Stand Alone Complex series (2004) are loosely tied together, GitS Arise is a serious re-imagining of the storyline (and the Major herself) for a new audience and the path technology (esp the Internet) has progressed since the original came out in 1995.

I think one can enjoy all the incarnations of the Major and her team in whatever version you choose to view, the more thoughtful and insightful older versions or today's newer action-packed drama. Take them for what they are, brilliant imaginings of their creators to encourage their audience to think beyond the action about how the values of our society is changing to match the current technologies available today.

About the only fault I can put agains the new GitS Arise series and movie is the English dubbing is not perfect. ADV studios today can match perfectly speech to cell animation quite well, but it looks like the English production version was either rushed or the directors didn't have enough time to fully synchronize the final edit. The English voice actors are all veterans of anime productions so I would gather that the real fault was either the rush to distribute or not enough funding for the dub.

As for the music of the SAC series, Yoko Kanno's pieces are one of a kind. They were meant for Japanese audiences first and the rest of the world second. By and large I do like her arrangements, very edgy and à propos for their day -- and truly they do stand up to the test of time.

[–] feelinesound 8 years ago

Thanks for the informative and thoughtful comment, I appreciate your openness to the new versions, however

I think one can enjoy all the incarnations of the Major and her team in whatever version you choose to view, the more thoughtful and insightful older versions or today's newer action-packed drama. Take them for what they are, brilliant imaginings of their creators to encourage their audience to think beyond the action about how the values of our society is changing to match the current technologies available today.

I think the best way to make the audience 'think beyond the action' is simply to have more thought and less action. I'm sorry but you won't convince me that having more action at the expense of philosophical and emotional depth can be seen as a positive thing :) Of course that's a matter of taste, and sure the animation and action in the original movies were great, but you can say that about so many other films and shows. The primary reason why I, and I believe most GitS fans, was/were drawn to it more than to any other anime is because it was extremely engaging on an intellectual level. The moment you sacrifice that so you can have more action (or let's face it, perhaps just because you no longer have anyone near the level of genius of Mamoru Oshii writing and directing it) is the moment you lost me.

Oh and re the music, yes Yoko Kanno, but more importantly Kenji Kawai :)

[–] Left_back 7 years ago

Thanks for your intelligent and sensitive reply. I too, think the originals have much more to offer in terms of thoughtful discussion and drama. But comparisons aside, like most remakes, or in this case reimagining, I think this movie and the series that spawned it, are good for its time now for anyone who has not seen or been influenced by the originals.

For instance the scenes at the 'orphanage' were very well done and gave a glimpse into the background of Motoko and her friend/co-woker Kurt (Kurutsu) as they adapted to their new prosthetic bodies. The appearance of the twins also gave a little aha moment, too. A different origin story, but nicely done.

[–] 7 years ago

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