Ghost In The Shell - Stand Alone Complex... on DVD (2007)

JWhitfield from South west, England , 18/04/2008

This compilation is merely a collection of most of the laughing man content of the SAC series reworked slightly to fit without the other missing episodes. Although it is well done and still retains the same general structure that fans will like, the dialogue heavy script will drag on through the late middle, especially if you've seen the series before. Lasting over two and a half hours it isn't a quick thrill. Luckily there is still some action in it, including Motoko's battle with the arm suit and some tachikoma scenes but most of this is towards the end, except the geisha house rescue scene from the first ep which helps set the character roles for those unfamilier with the backstory.

Overall it's not a bad production, a reasonable amount of work has gone into it to rework and record the script with new voices, a little disconcerting at first but eventually I got used to them, except for Aramaki's new voice that really didn't suit him. But to be honest I can't reccomend this to anyone that already has the whole series. New fans could well save a few bucks picking up this core story but they'll miss a lot of the excellent character development because of it, as well as most of the best action and Tachikoma scenes.

This is a bunch of clippings from a great series but things are always better complete.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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MajorEasy from Cranbrook [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/04/2008

I was a little disappointed at this disc, as being a big fan of the GITS: SAC series I was looking forward to seeing this central plot as one movie - (those of you who have never seen GITS SAC could do worse than rent this disc to see if you like it but I would really recommend renting the series itself) and I found the all new English voice cast a little jarring. The Japanese voice cast however is unaffected and this is still the best way to view this series. Some nice extras, including a Japanese documentary following the production and a new Tachikoma animation. Worth a look both if you're a fan or a newbie, but don't expect to be bowled over.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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JWhitfield from South west, England , 18/04/2008

This compilation is merely a collection of most of the laughing man content of the SAC series reworked slightly to fit without the other missing episodes. Although it is well done and still retains the same general structure that fans will like, the dialogue heavy script will drag on through the late middle, especially if you've seen the series before. Lasting over two and a half hours it isn't a quick thrill. Luckily there is still some action in it, including Motoko's battle with the arm suit and some tachikoma scenes but most of this is towards the end, except the geisha house rescue scene from the first ep which helps set the character roles for those unfamilier with the backstory.

Overall it's not a bad production, a reasonable amount of work has gone into it to rework and record the script with new voices, a little disconcerting at first but eventually I got used to them, except for Aramaki's new voice that really didn't suit him. But to be honest I can't reccomend this to anyone that already has the whole series. New fans could well save a few bucks picking up this core story but they'll miss a lot of the excellent character development because of it, as well as most of the best action and Tachikoma scenes.

This is a bunch of clippings from a great series but things are always better complete.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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MajorEasy from Cranbrook [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/04/2008

I was a little disappointed at this disc, as being a big fan of the GITS: SAC series I was looking forward to seeing this central plot as one movie - (those of you who have never seen GITS SAC could do worse than rent this disc to see if you like it but I would really recommend renting the series itself) and I found the all new English voice cast a little jarring. The Japanese voice cast however is unaffected and this is still the best way to view this series. Some nice extras, including a Japanese documentary following the production and a new Tachikoma animation. Worth a look both if you're a fan or a newbie, but don't expect to be bowled over.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews