On Sept. 17, a 4K remaster of Mamoru Oshii¡¯s 1995 animated masterpiece ¡°Ghost in the Shell¡± is set to hit Imax theaters in Japan and around the world. Despite having seen the film well over a hundred times, I¡¯ll be there on Day One.
There¡¯s something endlessly fascinating about this sci-fi classic, which took cues from ¡°Blade Runner¡± and later inspired ¡°The Matrix¡± as well as dozens of other, lesser titles in both Japan and Hollywood, including a superfluous 2017 live-action adaptation.
Despite plenty of follow-ups ¡ª ¡°Ghost in the Shell¡± is now a veritable franchise ¡ª it also remains the best adaptation of the original manga by Masamune Shirow. That manga, which ran from 1989 to 1991, introduced a post-World War III Japan filled with cyborgs, hackers, corrupt politicians and the counter-cyberterrorism unit Section 9, led by the cybernetic Maj. Motoko Kusanagi (Atsuko Tanaka).
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