Ghost in the Shell
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mamoru Oshii
Iemasa Kayumi
Tamio Oki
Akio Otsuka
Atsuko Tanaka
Richard Epcar
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Set in the year 2029 and following World Wars III and IV, a Japanese-led Asian block dominates world affairs. The alliance maintains its international supremacy through its elite security force whose cybernetically enhanced operatives tackle an array of hi-tech terrorists and other threats to international security. These augmented agents can "ghost hack" (i.e., download their consciousness) via the now omnipresent internet into other machines and human/machine cross breeds. Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cybernetically augmented female agent, has been tracking a virtual entity known as the Puppet Master with her crack squad of security agents. The shape-shifting Puppet Master, a rogue creation of a rival agency of the security apparatus, has concluded that it is a life form in its own right, "born in sea of information," and requested political asylum and true physical existence in defiance of its creators.
Director
Mamoru Oshii
Crew
Andy Frain
Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Kazunori Ito
Ken Iyadomi
Mitsuo Izo
Shiuchi Kakesu
Shuichi Kakesu
Kenji Kawai
Shoji Kawamori
Teruo Miyahara
Yoshimasa Mizuo
Takashi Mogi
Toshiluko Nishikubo
Hiromasa Ogura
Hiroyuki Okiura
Keisuke Okiura
Masamune Shirow
Masamune Shirow
Masamune Shirow
Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
Shigeru Watanabe
Takashi Watanabe
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Spring February 2, 1996
Expanded Release in United States April 12, 1996
Released in United States April 24, 1996
Re-released in United States February 7, 2017
Released in United States on Video July 30, 1996
Released in United States February 1996
Released in United States March 1996
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Forum) February 15-26, 1996.
Shown at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas March 8-17, 1996.
Produced by the makers of AKIRA (Japan/1989) GHOST IN THE SHELL is based on the acclaimed cyberpunk manga (comic books) by artist Masamune Shirow, celebrated for his work on such titles as APPLESEED and DOMINION, and directed by Mamoru Oshii (PATLABOR), a leader among the younger generation of Japanese animators. Exploring one of the perennial themes of science fiction, the film is a speculative rumination on the potential implications of artificial intelligence technology.
English version available
Released in United States Spring February 2, 1996
Expanded Release in United States April 12, 1996
Released in United States April 24, 1996 (Nuart; Los Angeles)
Re-released in United States February 7, 2017
Released in United States on Video July 30, 1996 (Dubbed & subtitled versions)
Released in United States February 1996 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Forum) February 15-26, 1996.)
aspect ratio 1:1.85
Released in United States March 1996 (Shown at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas March 8-17, 1996.)
