First up, I want to make it clear that my rating goes to "Ghost in the Shell 2.0" and not the original film. The rating has nothing to do with the original storyline or old animation blablabla but only this new version, which is completely unnecessary in every imaginable way. The classic animation utilised in the original film looked amazing, and removing some of these classic masterpiece animations and intercutting them with new CGI stuff looks and feels, well, wrong.It's not BAD CGI, but unnecessary, and jarring when intercut with the older (and in my opinion superior) style.Don't watch "Ghost in the Shell 2.0". Buy the original version and enjoy that one instead.

Just like other reviewers have said, I can not recommend this remake of Ghost In The Shell to people who like the visuals and the sound of the original. For me, the original GITS was near-perfect in look and feel. The color palette, visual designs, animations and sound design were all strong, hard-hitting and rough.In the 2.0 remake, the color palette was changed to a earthy, brown look that we know from so many video games and movies. Additionally the image is drowned in blur and bloom effects. Watching the movie you can clearly tell which scenes are CGI and which are hand-drawn, whereas these elements integrated well in the original. To make matters worse, many of the CGI scenes do not hold up to the original hand-drawn scenes. The jaw-dropping intro and title sequences from the original GITS are ruined for that very reason. The city has lost it's dirty, melancholy mood and is now indistinguishable from designs in other movies.A similar treatment has been given to the audio. All new sounds are toned down in impact. Vehicles, machinery and weapons now sound like plastic. The new sounds alone destroy the combat scenes beyond recognition. On the upside, the original voices and music were preserved.Why Ghost In The Shell received this treatment I can not understand. Supposedly it was to adapt GITS to the look of it's successor "Innocence" (Ghost In The Shell 2). The merits of such an undertaking can be disputed on a general level, yet GITS 2.0 is a perfect example of how not to execute such a task. Viewers should be able to recognize "Ghost In The Shell" as "Innocence"'s predecessor from the title, the story and promotional material.

As many have noted in their comments, the new CGI in this remastered version of the original Ghost in the Shell movie do more harm to the film than good. I mean, they are nice and all, but they don't add anything to the story and they contract strongly with the original animation.This being said, the movie is almost the same, so just as great. As a subject it is one of the masterpieces of modern sci-fi. One of my favourite films, GitS spawned two films and a series just as great, all adding more to the initial exploration of the human soul in the face of ever more complex and intrusive technology.I believe its beauty stands in the many levels that the film can be perceived at. If you are looking for flashy technology, police procedure and explosions, you have them all. If you are looking for dark political intrigue, there is plenty of it. If you are going for more philosophical aspects, like the source of the self, the true spring of identity and consciousness, that is at the very heart of the story. It's a win win situation. I can hardly wait for the film that is to be filmed in 2011. I just hope they don't turn it into some mellow brainless thing, like so many movies nowadays.Bottom line: I've seen the original a long time ago, so I can hardly comment on the differences. My advice to you is to watch either of them, because it is totally worth it.

I gave this 1 star out of 10, not because the story sucks or anything, but because this was a completely unnecessary waste of time and effort.Here's the idea: take one of the greatest animes ever produced and re-draw certain shots with new CGI. Then intercut them with the original animation.The new CGI is very well done; unfortunately, it doesn't match the original artwork at all, and tends to distract from the overall film. It's like having someone slap you every few seconds.One other reviewer mentioned that this seemed like something George Lucas would do, and if you saw the "new" Star Wars films that came out in the 1990s with added scenes and (crappily done) CGI, you've had a taste of what was done with GITS 2.0. But imagine if the original was in B&W and the new scenes were not just in color, but completely CGI. That's how jarring GITS 2.0 is.If the creators wanted to do something with the new CGI technology that exists, they should have come up with a new idea, not tried to re-hash an old movie. They aren't even "re- imagining" it, they are just doing it over again. It's as if an artist working with charcoal discovered watercolors, and then tried to paint over all his old works. This was a terrible idea.My advice is to forget that this movie exists, and just watch the original.