Ghost in the Shell: These Movies Stole Its Thunder Years Ago
What more could the Scarlett Johansson remake hope to say after films like 'The Matrix' already built on the anime classic's themes?
Over 20 years ago, director Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell was a ground-breaking animated adaptation of the popular manga series and a post-cyberpunk, existentialist projection of a possible future, one dominated by the use of artificial intelligence, terrorism, cyber-criminals and cyborgs. In 1995, these ideas weren’t just innovative, they were bold speculations of the future, creating a compelling, fully fleshed-out world jam-packed with complicated philosophical and cultural implications. Ghost in the Shell embraced these ideas, tackling them head on, but despite its innovation, the film had trouble finding an audience of theatergoers, DVD customers and critics alike.
But Oshii’s cult masterpiece did capture the eyes of a very specific audience — other innovative filmmakers, from the Wachowskis to Steven Spielberg. Those who have seen Ghost in the Shell know that all of its distinctions would eventually find a way into some of the most popular work of science fiction over the past two decades.
But with so many imitators and its influence already reflected writ large across Western science fiction, can the Ghost in the Shell remake still pack the same genre-busting punch its original did so many years ago?
In the early days of The Matrix’s birth, the Wachowskis were famously reported to have approached producer Joel Silver, saying, “We want to do that [Ghost in the Shell] in live action.” While The Matrix (and its various sequel) turned out not to be a straight adaptation of Oshii’s animated film, it did incorporate a good number of ideas from the pic, so much that even the making-of features on The Matrix DVD provided a side-by-side comparison with Ghost in the Shell. Both films use martial arts and speed-ramped action sequences as a launching pad to explore existential questions. In addition, in both films, a virtual/simulated reality plays a important role; the similarities even go so far as to the Wachowskis appropriating Ghost in the Shell’s digital “rain” of green numbers.
Both The Matrix and James Cameron’s Avatar adopted Ghost in the Shell’s idea that people might plug into a larger network or “web” through the back of their heads, even down to the familiar connection sound effect. One of the complexities of Ghost in the Shell is the idea and questions surrounding the possibility for one to transfer one’s consciousness or souls into a new “avatar.” Cameron’s film is built around this idea, even briefly delving into a sort of Buddhist philosophical ideal that one could fully become a part of a greater universal consciousness, one of the key philosophies behind Ghost in the Shell’s complex conclusion.
Spielberg acquired the rights to produce a Ghost in the Shell remake through DreamWorks and ultimately found a way to incorporate some of the ideas from the film into his 2001 Stanley Kubrick collaboration A.I. Artificial Intelligence. There he questioned the social and moral complications of human/robot interfaces and asked whether or not a robot can have a soul. It’s an idea — and a horrifying conceit — central to Ghost in the Shell, that has continued to resurface in popular sci-fi films of the last decade, from 2004's I, Robot to 2015's Ex Machina.
Over 20 years ago, director Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell was a ground-breaking animated adaptation of the popular manga series and a post-cyberpunk, existentialist projection of a possible future, one dominated by the use of artificial intelligence, terrorism, cyber-criminals and cyborgs. In 1995, these ideas weren’t just innovative, they were bold speculations of the future, creating a compelling, fully fleshed-out world jam-packed with complicated philosophical and cultural implications. Ghost in the Shell embraced these ideas, tackling them head on, but despite its innovation, the film had trouble finding an audience of theatergoers, DVD customers and critics alike.
But Oshii’s cult masterpiece did capture the eyes of a very specific audience — other innovative filmmakers, from the Wachowskis to Steven Spielberg. Those who have seen Ghost in the Shell know that all of its distinctions would eventually find a way into some of the most popular work of science fiction over the past two decades.
But with so many imitators and its influence already reflected writ large across Western science fiction, can the Ghost in the Shell remake still pack the same genre-busting punch its original did so many years ago?
In the early days of The Matrix’s birth, the Wachowskis were famously reported to have approached producer Joel Silver, saying, “We want to do that [Ghost in the Shell] in live action.” While The Matrix (and its various sequel) turned out not to be a straight adaptation of Oshii’s animated film, it did incorporate a good number of ideas from the pic, so much that even the making-of features on The Matrix DVD provided a side-by-side comparison with Ghost in the Shell. Both films use martial arts and speed-ramped action sequences as a launching pad to explore existential questions. In addition, in both films, a virtual/simulated reality plays a important role; the similarities even go so far as to the Wachowskis appropriating Ghost in the Shell’s digital “rain” of green numbers.
Both The Matrix and James Cameron’s Avatar adopted Ghost in the Shell’s idea that people might plug into a larger network or “web” through the back of their heads, even down to the familiar connection sound effect. One of the complexities of Ghost in the Shell is the idea and questions surrounding the possibility for one to transfer one’s consciousness or souls into a new “avatar.” Cameron’s film is built around this idea, even briefly delving into a sort of Buddhist philosophical ideal that one could fully become a part of a greater universal consciousness, one of the key philosophies behind Ghost in the Shell’s complex conclusion.
Spielberg acquired the rights to produce a Ghost in the Shell remake through DreamWorks and ultimately found a way to incorporate some of the ideas from the film into his 2001 Stanley Kubrick collaboration A.I. Artificial Intelligence. There he questioned the social and moral complications of human/robot interfaces and asked whether or not a robot can have a soul. It’s an idea — and a horrifying conceit — central to Ghost in the Shell, that has continued to resurface in popular sci-fi films of the last decade, from 2004's I, Robot to 2015's Ex Machina.
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