The world of Ghost in the Shell takes place in a dark future where cybernetics has advanced so much that people like the movie's main character, Major Kusanagi, are all but completely robotic. What keeps her human is the fact that she has a "ghost," essentially her soul, that hard-to-define essence of a person that makes up who they are.
Kusanagi and her partner Batou belong to a government organization known as Section 9, and this adventure has them uncovering a strange plot apparently initiated by another government organization. It seems that a new terrorist is "ghost-hacking" people and forcing them to do his bidding. What no one seems to know, is just who this Puppet Master is, what he wants and exactly how to stop him.
During their investigation, the team will find out why the world's leading cybernetic corporation has apparently developed a new shell body without any authorization, learn what a lonely garbage truck driver has to do with the plot and even battle a super-sized spider tank, all in the hopes of finding the Puppet Master and stopping him for good.
What is nice about the Blu-ray 2.0 edition of this classic anime movie is that it not only contains a major graphical overhaul, a re-recording of the dialogue and re-scoring of the music (all to make it fit more closely with the more modern anime installments), but it also comes with the original 1995 version of Ghost in the Shell, so even purists will be able to watch the film in high-definition goodness.
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 also comes with all of the original special features including a lengthy making of documentary that interviews many of the people behind the scenes as they explain their parts in the movie and talk about their experiences in making it.
While the more hardcore fans of the show might find this "re-imagining" of the original movie to be as bad as George Lucas going back and editing up the original Star Wars movies, the fact that it includes the original film as well should help appease even the most cynical fan, because even the original movie looks great on the new media, and the opportunity to pick up the classic film on Blu-ray, if nothing else, should be enough to get even those purist fans out there excited.
