^well i haven't seen any of the sequels, so we are not technically in agreement. but i have no real intention of seeing them, because i figure we would be in agreement.
i just got done re-watching it. another movie that has survived my transition from radical teen to adult. great movie.
stilted philosophical dialogue
^true that. but my god does not watching the dubbed version help. the difference between the english subtitles and english dub is enormous. like, a whole star better different. while i think the english voice actors are kindabad ass, the actual dialogue of the subtitles is so much more meaningful. and much smoother sounding, though there are certainly still some parts that have the tone of an essay.
for every bit that this movie influenced
The Matrix, it was influenced by
Blade Runner. shit, a neo hong kong setting with that same gritty, grim portrayal of the future. a population made up of a mix of cyborgs and humans, with the line between the two blurred with body and CNS "implant" and upgrade technology. science has developed the ability the modify and implant memories in an individual, leading to similar results in both movies (a character who believes he/she has lived decades of a life he/she has not. people who were use and who have no real place, identity, or positive function in society). a police force that pursues those used individuals. in theme: what constitutes life, an "individual." how fucking huge is the role of memory in what defines an individual. what is the significance of what the memories are the product of--fantasy versus reality, artificial versus real. and what rights do individuals have--particularly in a world so heavily influenced or even created by corporations and their technology. particularly if the individual is the creation of corporations and their technology.
and just on the level of style. the chase scene through the busy neo hong kong streets, present in both movies. in both chase scenes, a naked female character wears a clear raincoat looking thing. the revolver that her partner and that harrison ford use look modeled off of one another (i think, havent seen blade runner in a while). the whole tone of the two movies.
Ghost in the Shell could be seen as a connecting piece between the two,
Blade Runner and
The Matrix. Taking
Blade Runner's focus on the individual and starting to look at the interconnectedness of it all. an ultimate reality and the individual's reality. what are the two comprised of. not that
Blade Runner doesn't touch on that. just not nearly as directly focused in that direction as
The Matrix or
Ghost in the Shell.
Edit: how am i gonna say that and not give a single example. at the beginning, when her partner asks about the static in her brain affecting their transmission, she says "it's that time of the month" in the subtitles, and "must be some crossed wires" in the dubbing. "it's that time of the month" both highlights and blurs one of the film's binary oppositions, organic versus synthetic. and that opposition's role in defining life and identity. that "girl" does not have a vagina. "must be some crossed wires" hardly means shit without some no-fun reaching. i guess you could say it shows how a phrase originally describing technology has become a figure of speech about something organic, but as they are also actually using implant technology, so i dont know. the subtitled response is much richer, IMO. and that is just one tiny example.
and for smoothness, when the major and that dude are first questioning a suspect, they tag team one question in a really smooth, cool way. but in the dubbing the wording is very awkward, stiff, and translated sounding, and is divided it into two simpler separate questions. im not gonna type it out.
edit again:
the Major's desultory journey through the city
^i'm a big fan of this scene as well. as you mentioned, the music compliments it extremely well.
