Ghost in the Shell Official Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg

by wslh • 10 years ago

63 53 10 years ago

chillacy6• 10 years ago

I'm personally refusing to support a movie which continues a long legacy of poor representation of asian americans in Hollywood movies (e.g. the last airbender, aloha, along with some others which removed asian secondary characters). Though I can't deny it looks like it might be a decent adaptation.

Hollywood doesn't really like asians to be their main characters, though we're starting to see some good side characters like Glenn from the walking dead.

TheCoreh• 10 years ago

Hollywood doesn't really like asians to be their main characters

Sort of an odd statement considering Jackie Chan just won an honorary Oscar today.

Think of it this way: Ghost in the Shell is an anime adaption. Do you see the anime studios in Japan going out of their way to hire american voice actors whenever a character is american? If they don't, then why should US movie studios?

This notion that for whatever reason an actor can't play someone of a different ethnicity is a very recent sensitivity. Besides her obvious acting talent, they most likely picked Scarlet Johanson in the hopes that she'll bring a larger audience considering how popular she is among their intended audience.

sosuke2• 10 years ago

Did you see Armitage III? Ross was voiced by Kiefer Sutherland.

Tharkun• 10 years ago

If ever there was a character where it wouldn't matter, it'd be the one of Major Motoko Kusanagi. Her lack of a human body makes it entirely irrelevant what race she is portrayed as.

The fact that the movie is largely about "what's on the inside" makes it a really poor target for anger about the actors' heritage.

chillacy6• 10 years ago

If they don't, then why should US movie studios?

Because not all americans are white, and if there ever was a chance to see someone who looked like me in a movie being cool, I would hope it's the anime adaptation. GitS is merely the latest in a long line of movies to re-cast asian roles for caucasian actors. Some more: Avatar the last airbender, Aloha, Cloud Atlas was especially cringeworthy since caucasian actors had prosthetic eyelids... imagine if robert downey jr's character's blackface was played non-ironically.

I wouldn't mind if it just happens sometimes, but it happens almost every time... They could easily find american actors who speak perfect english, that's supposed to be one of the advantages of being a country of immigrants no?

I understand the financial motivations of a casting decision, but its somewhat of a catch 22. It's difficult to find minority actors who have lots of experience. It's difficult to get a lot of experience as a minority actor since you end up getting typecasted for a few roles.

sosuke2• 10 years ago

Do you have any good write ups on why Major isn't Asian? Was there some reason?

chillacy6• 10 years ago

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/opinion/why-wont-hollywood...

The most convincing I've heard is that there are no big shot asian movie stars to draw viewers in, and Hollywood doesn't want to take risks.

The reason is there are no big shot asian movie stars is that asian actors don't land big shot movies.

This might arise from the way roles are cast by race in Hollywood.

holyjaw• 10 years ago

This is one of my favorite pieces on the matter, though it doesn't directly address your question: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/9/11612530/ghost-in-the-shell...

foxhop2• 10 years ago

I had the same feel when the trailer was hoisted on my eyeballs.

grzm3• 10 years ago

Did you mean foisted? Then again, I imagine hoisting would be much more painful.

vex2• 10 years ago

It's ironic that you care about race here as people have transcended race in the works of Ghost in the Shell (people can easily inhabit a completely different body, even a non-humanoid one). I hope this world comes about soon so we don't have to worry about racial crap anymore.

grzm3• 10 years ago

I'm sure we'll find something else to divide us. It's part of human psychology. It's not as if race is our only divisive issue.

chillacy6• 10 years ago

Ah, glad they have their society sorted out, but its definitely a pattern for Hollywood at this point: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/opinion/why-wont-hollywood...

GitS follows a handful of other movies recently which could have had a more asian cast but did not. Very frustrating to see the same decision made in movies like The Last Airbender, Aloha, Cloud Atlas, Dr Strange, etc.

worry about racial crap anymore.

Great, maybe when a brown actor can as easily get roles for the main character instead of the taxi driver, we'll be past that. Till then, the game's stacked.

internaut2• 10 years ago

Race is one of those overloaded words. I think the right word here is heritage.

Motoko's heritage as a Japanese is an important part of the story that gives it richer context. This is because many of her dialogues are about ideas that are unique to her Asian culture. The concept of a marriage between the natural and the artificial (instead of man vs machine). The concept all things have sentience. There is even mention of deliberately selecting a member of Section 9 with a similar rationale to the Toyota way. These are not ideas strongly present in European cultures. Kusangi's holistic thinking is one of the most interesting things about the Major.

Can you picture Sarah Connor from Terminator having these dialogues that Motoko has? Evolution theory, philosophic musings?

I cannot. It is not because I think a westerner would have nothing to say. It is that I think they would say something different because they think differently.

glandium• 10 years ago

On the other hand, in the original 1995 animation movie, the Major had big blue eyes...

ianai• 10 years ago

Well, I'll support it because it's not Yet Another Super Hero Movie and maybe will lead to more cross overs.

lake99• 10 years ago

Hollywood doesn't really like asians to be their main characters

Rather than racism, I chalk it up to Hollywood's tendency to spend millions of dollars on people who they consider marketable. For example, I read reviews of "The Man from UNCLE" recently, and noticed Germans talking about the bad German accent of the lead actress, Russians talking about the bad Russian accent of the "Russian" lead. I'll throw in my own complaint of the unnatural Indian accents I have seen from "Indian" characters of Hollywood. Can't they find real Russians or Germans or Indians to play these roles?

lj3• 10 years ago

It wouldn't matter. One particular episode of Leverage featured an Irish loan shark. Everybody complained that the attempted Irish accent of the actor was terrible and couldn't they get an actual Irishman to play the role? The twist: the actor is Irish and he wasn't doing an accent, that's how he normally talks.

serf• 10 years ago

I wonder if any of the philosophy elements that made the franchise worthwhile (to me) will be present in the Hollywood adaptation.

My jadedness towards Hollywood makes me doubt it, but I hold hope.

corysama• 10 years ago

I can't expect the Hollywood adaptation to live up to the original. But, what I've seen in the trailers looks good and I plan on watching the movie when it comes out. It looks like it will be a very fun romp through the theme.

For those looking for a heavily philosophical take: obviously watch the original movie, then GITS:2 Innocence and the TV series GITS: Stand Alone Complex.

The 2nd movie is more a work of art than a film. If you watch it, you'll need to have the patience to appreciate that.

The TV series was written by people who wanted a cop drama that happened to feature cyborgs. Not the other way around. Appreciate that and you'll find a lot of interesting ideas presented in a cartoon. I still hold that GITS:SAC presents a better understanding of the Anonymous phenomenon than most techies have today.

FrankenPC• 10 years ago

GITS 2 took some patience. Totally different movie. GITS 1 blew my mind like Akira did.

kriro• 10 years ago

I really like GITS: Stand Alone Complex. It's probably the best animated series I have watched (the other one that comes to mind, while quite different, would be Batman The Animated Series).

Edit: I'd love some cyberpunk-style recommendations (comic books, series). What I really want is some sort of corporate dystopia, similar to the Android:Netrunner universe (I've read those books they were decent but not great) or close to Blade Runner. Ideally with some noir elements. Where's that semantic search engine when you need it :D

andreapaiola2• 10 years ago

Well... I don't know... There isn't much in this trailer... Can be a good movie, but I don't bet on it.

legohead• 10 years ago

Major doesn't seem herself. she seems confused, and weak. the real Major we know is straight badass, with some natural, intelligent introspection that would come from being a full-body cyborg.

I don't like what they've done to the flesh. she should appear more anatomically human, without breaks in the flesh, with nipples, etc. it adds more to Major being comfortable with herself. this is minor in the scheme of things, I suppose. but it is quite a big decision to make, and if they didn't see this through correctly, it makes me wonder about the rest of the film.

and as someone pointed out, when an official trailer[1] opens up with the main actor saying how much they enjoyed making the movie, that's never a good sign.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTaLafAFrmE

mjevans2• 10 years ago

The film actually looks like it's exploring an alternate timeline / prequil period.

If you've seen the recent OVAs (GitS Arise) this could be an alternate view of what 'the major' looked like before she became the team lead we're more familiar with in other movies and series from this fictional universe. In a time when she is still a slave of 'the system' (I mean that more in the military/industrial/political greed context).

Having made that speculation, I'm not sure that's where this movie actually is. I hope the trailer is simply trying to convey the genera, art-styles, and beginning of the plot (without too many spoilers); but I'm used to trailers that pretty much spoil everything except the culmination of the film.

viraptor2• 10 years ago

GitS 2 suggested sex with full body cyborgs is possible, so yeah, it seems like the body is just censored in this movie.

andreapaiola2• 10 years ago

For me nipples doesn't matter... probably it's rated PG-13.

In USA animations aim for G and PG... so not so bad as possible...

gpderetta2• 10 years ago

I don't think that's supposed to be her flesh in the movie, it is just the optical camouflage suit (which in the anime/series was embedded in her skin).

eth0up• 10 years ago

2017 and that cursed unwind/bass sound is still being used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B97jnPsOPZw

I can't help but perceive it as the archetypal 'Daddy' sound, a modern, universally obeyed cue of something formidable in force or size. It would have been the perfect sound for that moment in American Pie when the kid is caught in the act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82oPNXUf0Ks

But not at every display of force. Please find another sound.

in_cahoots• 10 years ago

Not only is it still being used, it's made its way into tv trailers as well. I can only hope that one day it will go viral in some comedic scenario and be killed off once and for all.

scotty79• 10 years ago

I don't hear it. All the mentioned trailers sound completely different and chaotic to me.

basch• 10 years ago

I swear it came from Transformers, where it sort of made sense. It predates Inception. https://vimeo.com/3037247

masters3d• 10 years ago

This trailer is not that good which makes me feel like the movie is low budget. Too bad. The went too dark and over futuristic. The whole point of the original was that even though people choose to be cyborgs, they still want to be human. The city was still Asian looking. Lots it's lost by making this futuristic. Major never looked Asian to me. Even Lucy looked better than this.

piva00• 10 years ago

I think you are judging too much (or being too hyperbolic) by watching a single 2 minutes cut made to be "marketable".

icanhackit• 10 years ago

The original soundtrack by Kenji Kawai, like Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack, is what helped make the film a timeless classic. I really hope the music in this clip was to merely engage people who aren't familiar with the original film by Mamoru Oshii. An excellent soundtrack can make a passable film a really enjoyable experience - case in point: Solaris (2002).

toyg2• 10 years ago

They casted a load of Western actors into a film based in Japan. I don't think respect for the source material is exactly high on their list.

Xophmeister2• 10 years ago

Wasn't the original Ghost in the Shell based in Hong Kong?

_0ffh• 10 years ago

The original soundtrack was as awesome as they come! I just fear it will be perceived as "too artsy", or something like that, for Hollywood.

vex2• 10 years ago

Here's a bad-quality version of the opening; the original composer came back to make a new version of the iconic song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5amv-vqUFo

Leynos• 10 years ago

That gives me a little bit more confidence in the film. I'm still sceptical about how it will play out plotwise, given the trailer, but I think they have captured the visual feel of the anime film well.

The original soundtrack feels really important to me, as I listened to it dozens of times as a teenager. Knowing that it will be part of this adaptation/remake make me think it will be handled with a reasonable degree of competence.

There does seem to be a trend in film trailers where they have, on several occasions, nearly put me off seeing a film that I actually enjoyed in the end.

wodenokoto• 10 years ago

People who are complaining about the trailer being too mainstream, maybe you can find solice in the teaser trailers.

wellhttps://youtu.be/cxRwc8Lp7XU

grzm3• 10 years ago

And where are the fuchikoma?

Ghost in the Shell Official Trailer

Related Stories