Should I watch Ghost in the Shell?

The long and short of it: Yes
When was it made: 1995

Based on the manga by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell is a post-cyberpunk action movie directed by Mamoru Oshii. That means you get to see cyborgs and robots battling each other with blazing guns and cutting tech, but you don't get the angsty exposition on how the rise of technology will shatter society. Instead you get to follow government agents as they attempt to solve the mystery surrounding the best hacker in the world, replete with explosions and intrigue.

Ghost in the Shell is another movie back from the beginning of the second wave of popularity: in fact Ghost in the Shell has ridden the wave so hard as to spout 2 animated series (even though they include the same cast, it actually does make since to call them individual series), a sequel, and some video games, just to name a few of it's spawn. Ghost in the Shell is renowned for dealing with the nature of the soul and how AI may change our definition of it. Admittedly, this has been done before (the short story Article of Faith by Mike Resnick is my favorite) but there are two reasons Ghost in the Shell is so popular, and they're both on the cover shown above. One is the gun, and the other one, well, let's just say it could be called the other two reasons.

Now Ghost in the Shell is an anime, but it is one of the better ones as far as monologues go. Usually they actually try to have another participant, and I'm ok with rambling exposition as long as two people are doing it. It is also incredibly violent, showing at least one head explosion, some dismemberment, and a few bone breakings-also, boobs. Now this movie gets my vote for best done nudity, because it is never done for sensuality, and they do it in such a way that you never feel like your looking at a naked person, but like your just seeing a naked barbie-it really fits with that whole "what makes a person a person" issue the movie deals with. So if you want an action flick with a good moral that makes you think a bit, watch Ghost in the Shell. If you can't stomach violence and can't stand the sight of boobies, than read Article of Faith or see Short Circuit.

I love this movie. I will admit that every once in a while I just want to see stuff explode and people firing guns, and this movie has that. I also like to see people discuss issues with a deeper meaning, and this movie has that. If you read my Akira review, you'll remember that I discussed that my problem with Akira is that it didn't get me interested enough in the movie to care about the deeper meaning. If you didn't read it, I just gave a synopsis of the pertinent point I am going to reference. Ghost in the Shell has a story that, while convoluted, actually made sense the first time I watched it and made me feel positively towards watching it again. The next time I watched it for the awesome fights, I picked up a layer of meaning, and the movie expanded to me. Then the next time I watched it for the story, I picked up another layer of meaning. And even the last time I watched it just because, I picked up another layer of meaning. If more symbolic movies did this, more people would watch symbolic movies. Ghost in the Shell focuses on giving us a good movie (though I will admit the plot is still a bit too convoluted for my normal tastes) and then allowing us to pick up the symbolism at our own pace, making us actually care about, and therefore think about, what we learned.