Ghost in the Shell Special Edition DVD

[Mr March]

I was looking around on the Internet Movie Database and decided to browse thorugh their upcoming DVD release section. I found an entry for a new Special Edition release of the first Ghost in the Shell film. The IMDB didn't have any further information about what is included, amazon.com doesn't have jack, and I can't find too many details elsewhere either. Release date says January 11th (boy, this one sure snuck up on me!).

Does anyone else have more detailed information?

[The Shade]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Gits Special Edition DVD

Me, I already have the first version that Manga released (english DD 5.1, Japanese Dolby Pro Logic II), but I'm still going to keep it for now, at least until someone on this board gives me a reason otherwise.

[Noriko Takaya]

First we get Ninja Scroll Special Edition. Now we get the GitS Special Edition. When are we going to get the Gunbuster Special Edition? I am so sorry, but I had to vent. I'm glad there is a special edition coming out. I do not own this on DVD yet as I have it on laserdisc. It will be worth it to me to get it, even if it is damned Manga who is putting it out.

[JELEINEN]

I'll pass. I'm a huge Oshii fan, but the first GitS movie sucked.

[Mr March]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Gits Special Edition DVD

Me, I already have the first version that Manga released (english DD 5.1, Japanese Dolby Pro Logic II), but I'm still going to keep it for now, at least until someone on this board gives me a reason otherwise.

That's not bad, but I was hoping for a little more detail. Some embelishment on these special features would be nice. How long are they? What do some of the features encompass?

Anyway, thanks for responding.

[Mr March]

First we get Ninja Scroll Special Edition. Now we get the GitS Special Edition. When are we going to get the Gunbuster Special Edition? I am so sorry, but I had to vent. I'm glad there is a special edition coming out. I do not own this on DVD yet as I have it on laserdisc. It will be worth it to me to get it, even if it is damned Manga who is putting it out.

Just be thankful anime is popular enough to even justify "Special Edition" treatement, with digital remastering and all the fixin's. It feels like only yesterday anime was a dirty little secret of the college crowd and the only way you saw any of it was sans-subtitled versions of Akira on beta tapes

*shudders at the thought*

Then again, one has to wonder what justification exists for an uber-box set special edition of "Showgirls", yet no Gunbuster? That thing just can't be selling enough for that kind of presentation...

At least, I hope not!

[Prime]

So is this going to look that much better than the DVD copy I currently have?

[drifand]

I'm getting the SE because I don't like the measly Dolby 2.0 Japanese soundtrack on the original Manga release. The new anamorphic video transfer SHOULD be better than the original, which was not bad in its own right. One thing Manga did right with the original DVD was that the English subtitles were a transliteration of the Jp dialogue, NOT a dumbass transcript of the crappy English dub. ie, Watching the film in Japanese, you don't see the subs going "I don't BELIEVE IT! Thermoptic camoflage!" when Motoko vanishes during the opening act. (Always hated the dub for that bit of stupidity. WHY wouldn't govt troops "believe" in TO camo? S6 used it themselves!)

Why I mention this is because some friends purchased the recent pricey Japanese R2 SE DVDs that came in a VERY nice silver-tinted slip-case and included a special booklet. Unfortunately, the video quality was only average(!) for a "SE" release, and the staff curiously chose to use the lousy English dub as the basis for the subtitles as well. Terrific sound quality but un-meaningful subtitles. Bad move.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for THIS Anchor Bay release. They've done some excellent work before, especially on the Black Hole, Final Countdown and other "cult movies". Ideally, it should have 2 sets of subs, one for each language presented.

Edited January 5, 2005 by drifand

[Mr March]

So is this going to look that much better than the DVD copy I currently have?

There's really no way to know for certain until the DVD is released. I assume Animeondvd will feature an extensive review which should compare the quality of the two releases. I know the Ninja Scroll special edition looked fantastic, so maybe that's a good indication of the effort they'll put into other special edition releases.

[Mr March]

I'm getting the SE because I don't like the measly Dolby 2.0 Japanese soundtrack on the original Manga release. The new anamorphic video transfer SHOULD be better than the original, which was not bad in its own right. One thing Manga did right with the original DVD was that the English subtitles were a transliteration of the Jp dialogue, NOT a dumbass transcript of the crappy English dub. ie, Watching the film in Japanese, you don't see the subs going "I don't BELIEVE IT! Thermoptic camoflage!" when Motoko vanishes during the opening act. (Always hated the dub for that bit of stupidity. WHY wouldn't govt troops "believe" in TO camo? S6 used it themselves!)

Why I mention this is because some friends purchased the recent pricey Japanese R2 SE DVDs that came in a VERY nice silver-tinted slip-case and included a special booklet. Unfortunately, the video quality was only average(!) for a "SE" release, and the staff curiously chose to use the lousy English dub as the basis for the subtitles as well. Terrific sound quality but un-meaningful subtitles. Bad move.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for THIS Anchor Bay release. They've done some excellent work before, especially on the Black Hole, Final Countdown and other "cult movies". Ideally, it should have 2 sets of subs, one for each language presented.

I was thinking the same thing. Now that I'm planning on a surround sound system with a quality television in the next year or so, I'd like to have as many of my DVDs feature really high quality video and some surround sound options.

Thanks for the information about the japanese release. It sounds dissappointing, though I rarely purchase region 2 dvds anyway. I think I own only two or three.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping this one is worth it. I wonder if Amazon will offer Ghost in the Shell Special Edition and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence together as a sale pair. Since I want both, it would be nice to save some bucks.