Plot: 7/10 The beginning of the movie shoves you right into the action and you get a crash course in who the players are in the movie. So you're not really sure who the good or bad guy is. I think this was deliberate. The end is unsatisfying which is the perfect set up for a sequel.Cast: 8/10 The movie is well cast, Kevin Durand and Melanie St. Pierre are exactly who you want to see in these roles. Lance Henriksen anchors the group well and Holly the dog is an unexpected treat. Visuals: 9/10 Well it's beautiful to look at. The uniforms, the hair, the machines, the back drop, the ships and oh yeah the guns. The action scenes are very satisfying and it's a total fantasy land for your inner nerd. This movie reveals itself over time, so you have to watch it a few times before things start to make more sense.

Masterful piece from Mamoru Oshii. Production design is tops. Everything says "Ghost in the Shell" without the title, the DNA essence of cyberpunk ultraviolence genre of Japanese anime. The plot does have a beginning, middle and end. Listen to the narrator's voice. She begins with the history of the Garm Wars, setting the backdrop for the players. The narrator ends the movie setting up the conflict of man against the alien army of mechanized giants. The sound design is exquisite. You can turn off the video and just listen to all the elements. The movie did not have a hundred million dollar budget, but production delivered some amazing eye candy CGI. The bulk of the static camera work did not call too much to itself and the editing was solid. The music orchestration is hypnotic, grounded to GIS yet having that other worldly effect. I would love to see a sequel.

This movie is stale. Before I watched it I had a moderate expectations. Trailer looked OK, director made couple of good animes in the past, so I thought - this movie will be fun. Man, was I wrong. I watched half of the movie and then I decided to make this review so I would save you hour and a half of your life. Story is obviously recycled from milions of similar mangas and animes that were created up until now. The sound is borrowed from Final Fantasy VII game, especially in dialogs. They use this filter that looks like you're watching movie with green RayBan's. Movie depends on dialogs to move on the story and not on action (slow story developing) and combat scenes are... not good. Animations in the movie are mediocre and ... I will say no more. Enjoy if you can!

Yes - definitely a 9 of 10 vote!Critics don't read this --- This is a great movie - loved it. As you know - star wars - star trek - and sometimes even hobbit movies don't get the awards - shame - but we know that the Rings got some and the rest are few and far between. The best movies are not always made by the conservatives that just like a boring drama and shower it with awards. Doesn't take a genius to get that. Watch this movie. Watch the new Star Wars coming out in December but do not watch the Oscars or emmys - they suck!