Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Absolutely the worst movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I feel bad for not loving this movie. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely a good movie for me, but I just thought that the other entries were better. I was complaining about how the last movie was a bit hard to follow, but I think this film had the opposite problem. I think it was too clear and it took away a lot of the mystery. Of course, the animation is completely flawless as you would expect from this series. It's great to see a movie series that's been consistently good. I was disappointed that Motoko didn't appear more. Of course, Batou is still pretty entertaining on its own.It's just that this film was lacking the action of the previous two films. I also wish that there was more philosophical dialogue. Still, they certainly had great voice work and good talking. If you're a fan of "Ghost In The Shell", you really should see this. The colors are just so gorgeous in this movie. We even get some pretty tender moments involving little kids. I guess if you want to make us care you have to have the lives of a children at stake. It certainly worked here. It was still pretty creative. ***

There's two kind of anime(Japanese animation):one kind shows clichés of the genre and the other kind is used as an economic way for telling very variate stories which could exist with real actors but that it would be very expensive to make as normal movies.In the first category,I would put almost all of the teen anime with melodramatic stories,girls using the school uniform,tragic heroes,giant robots,surrealistic humor and magic creatures.In the second category,I would put more serious movies made to adults where the narrative has a complexity and emotional impact that we will never find in Pokemon or Digimon.As examples,I can mention Cowboy Bebop,all the movies made by director Satoshi Kon(for example,Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress) and the cyber-punk movies of Ghost in the Shell.Ghost in the Shell,based on the manga(comic) written by Masamune Shirow,has been adapted to TV and to the cinema.The films are Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2:Innocence.That films do not have much to do with the original manga because director Mamoru Oshii took the futuristic stories and concepts to explore philosophic and fascinating topics.Oshii put to them impressing images and spectacular action scenes but his emphasis is always in the ideas.As a parallel version of the same stories,the TV series Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex is more like the manga,making a balance between philosophic topics,politic mystery and futuristic action.Ghost in the Shell:Solid State Society is like a sequel of that TV series.Ghost in the Shell:Solid State Society is an exciting,intelligent,complex and very interesting film.This movie is a real masterpiece.Director Kenji Kamiyama tells an excellent story in this movie.The animation is perfect.Solid State Society is a very intelligent entertainment,which makes us think at the same time it totally entertains us.This masterpiece is a pleasure to any lover of the cinema.

--but 3S is a worthy continuation of the GITS:SAC television series on which I've also commented as an IMDb user.Chances are your reading this means you've either seen or know what to expect from 3S or well know the GITS universe and the saga of Public Security Section 9. So neither introduction nor spoilers appear here. But if 3S is your introduction, you could do worse (as I did), and if it inspires you to view the two seasons of the series on DVD, you're welcome to engage with one of the more fully realized and challenging tales of speculative fiction told on the 'tube, by anime or otherwise. (Refrain for now from viewing the first two movies if you've not seen them, for reasons explained further on.)Section 9 still exists, but The Major resigned two years ago. Togusa is in charge, at first harder-edged than you're accustomed to, while an aged Aramaki still plays an authoritative role. Batou is as expected after the conclusion of the series' second season and The Major's departure. Saito returns from a "hellish" engagement in Africa. The rest appears none the worse for prosthetic wear. I'm not all that certain why the Tachikoma return, though perhaps Batou is more the sentimentalist (with clout) at prosthetic heart.No worries, The Major reappears (but did she do something to her nose?), as all try to contend with a "Super Wizard-class" and murderous hacker known as The Puppeteer, the identity of which may not fully satisfy but nonetheless may surprise you.The core premise is a well-reasoned conjecture on the impact of an aging and shrinking home-grown "natural" demographic on a service-oriented economy and extraordinarily high-tech society. I would've liked to have seen this fleshed out, but there's only so much possible in a hundred or so minutes with room for the obligatory hyper-action sequences. References to the translated phrase "Noble Rot" give you some idea, and what's involved is more "Steady State" than "Solid State," though I can also understand the marketing decision behind the title choice.3S is NOT a continuation of the first two GITS movies any more than the television series, but there is a direct homage to the end of the first GITS movie. At times you'll think you're viewing that movie, but the divergences outweigh the similarities. 3S also continues the series' style of not quite telling the whole story, which if done well acts as a hook for further viewing as well as thinking. Kanno Yoko's characteristically excellent musical score also borrows from the television series, and I'm glad the movie translates Origa's lyrics for the opening and ending theme songs from Russian to English.All in all, it's not to complain. The mere fact that I allow an anime series to sustain my interest in its characterizations and plot line over years of viewing is revelation sufficient, as most conventional film series don't. My hat is off to all involved.

Kôkaku kidôtai: Stand Alone Complex- Solid State Society. It has been two years since "Major" Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9, a Special Forces unit assigned to cyber crime and answerable only to the Prime Minister of Japan in 2034. Family man Togusa is now leading a much larger force. Chief Aramaki has visibly aged in the job, walking painfully with a cane and attended by Proto. Batou has become a brooding, depressed commander of the training school. All wonder if the Major will ever return.This time around our heroes must deal with the seemingly unconnected rash of suicides, mass child abductions, conspiracy involving elderly healthcare, a "Wizard Class" hacker called the Puppeteer, and as always, corporate malfeasance and political wrangling. All tidied up with a terrific subtle "what if?" ending.At $3.2 million SSS is one of the most expensive TV movie anime's yet, and all the money is up on the screen. Illuminating the convoluted storyline are: Increased detail in both background and foreground (missing in 2nd Gig). "Busy" scenes found only in big budget movies. Naturally smooth movement by people and machines. Small touches like the Nissan concept cars, wrinkled clothing, reflections and small lighting effects, raindrops, "Handheld" camera angles, etc. There are plenty of "remember this?" scenes and other touchstones from the series, including great music by Yoko Kanno, with Origa singing the opening and closing songs. Motoko's face is even cuter than ever and the rest of her- you just don't mess with perfection.Overall SSS is a fine addition to the cyberpunk SAC universe. Can't wait for the English dub next year. Additional SAC stories are promised by Production I.G.GITS: SAC is not for anime fans looking for scantily dressed little girls, giant robots or magical swordplay. Its story lines, dialogue and multiple overlapping themes are more suited to readers of William Gibson's "Neuromancer" or P. K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" So if you prefer the new "Battlestar Galactica" instead of "War of the Worlds", Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex- Solid State Society might just be for you.Coda: Rest in Peace, my angel - Origa aka Ol'ga Vital'evna Yakovleva, Oct 17, 1970 - Jan 17, 2015.