It is no exaggeration to say the film “Akira” changed me. It must have been about the end of 1993 and Nikobe brought it round my house on VHS tape (we really did have them).

Now I was not totally new to Manga, I had seen some before but never really knew it was a specific genre all its own. Things like “Battle of the Planet” and others had been on TV and I had always loved that Japanese style. But don’t forget this was before the Internet, there was no way of finding out any of this stuff. Looking back at it now I wonder how I ever managed… but you had what you had, and I was luckier than most.

As it turns out I had seen the Studio Ghibli classic “Castle in the Sky” year before and loved it. But with no way of ever really finding out anything about it, other than its name and the fact I loved that style. If I had seen “Totoro” or “Spirited Away” at that age I would have been forced to find out more about these amazing films.

But I digress, just looking at the cover I knew I had to watch it!

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There has always been a tradition of remaking films, and healthy culture with take old films and rework them. But they are never straight out copies, they have to be re-imaginings of the original concept.

Sometimes they produce a true classic in their own right. Airplane for example is basically a remake of a 1957 film called “Zero Hour”. A fairly by-the-numbers air disaster film. But with a new look at it a truly hilarious comedy was created.

Then there are cases where the original is a great concept, but the film just does not do it justice. John Carpenter’s 1982 remake of “The Thing” took another obscure film and turned it into a horror classic (one I still have problems watching some scenes).

Every time something new should be brought. Either a new twist on the idea, or just improving it all around with a better director. But a film should never be remade just for the sake of it, and an all time classic definitely shouldn’t. (more…)

This evening the whole of BGR will be in London to see the renewed version of Ghost in the Shell. This is a very special film for all of us, and we are all hoping the renewed version will only make it much better.

An all time classic brought up to date

I posted a quick look at what is in this new version of the anime classic, and I have to admit I an thoroughly looking forward to seeing it in a cinema. As I said before this is one of the film that sets the standard for not only anime, but for Sci-fi. With such a precious film it is not easy to back to and make the decision to re-do it. But I think they have come up with an excellent idea of keeping the original film and story intact and enhancing the actual animations.

I was fortunate enough to see the original when it had a limited cinema run back in 1995. Both Nikobe and Sideswipe turned down my invitation to see it, it is one of only a handful of times I have been to a cinema on my own. But tonight we are going to correct that mistake, and all get a chance to see “The Major” battle a walking tank once more.

If you want to see it, it is on for a limited run around the country. Take a look at the official site for times.

We will put something up about our thoughts on this new version. But I already have the Blu-Ray on order, so its going to be good.

It has a new look, but the same story

“Ghost in the Shell” is simply one of the most amazing films ever made! I don’t say that lightly, there are a lot of films out there, but very few come close to the depth and insight portrayed in GITS.

As far as Sci-fi or Anime films go, this is the bench mark. There are only a few other films that can match it (Akira, My neighbor Totoro, basically master peices). But for me it is the standard by which all of these types of films are measured.

When I saw “The Matrix” (over 10 years ago now) I was astounded like everyone else. But then you compare it to GITS are you start to see whole sequences where they just stole the concepts. It doesn’t detract from “The Matrix”, but shows just how strong GITS is.

Which is why I am so pleased they have gone back to the oringal 1995 film and “Renewed” it. (more…)