The makers of "Akira" present another milestone Japanimation epic in this futuristic odyssey about an elite half-cyborg female agent sent out to apprehend a cyber-genius data thief who is plundering the very contents of people's minds. Contains nudity and violence. The Collector's Edition includes a special 30-minute documentary on the making of the film.

Another visually sensational animated film from the producers of the acclaimed "Akira."
Major Motoko Kusanagi is a beautiful cyborg who works for Section 29, Japan's secret police force, in the year 2029. Motoko's supervisor, Aramaki, orders her to find Puppet Master, a sinister computer terrorist created by a rival organization.
Helping her is fellow cyborg Bateau and the almost entirely human agent Togusa. Because their prey has the ability to hack into the minds of his enemies, the evil villain must be stopped as soon as possible.
But as the tough cops close in on their target, Motoko realizes that she and Puppet Master seem to have a lot in common.

Shown at the 1996 Berlin and South by Southwest Film Festival.

Released theatrically in New York City March 29, 1996.

Produced by Kodansha in association with Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment.

James Cameron, who directed such science fiction movies as "The Abyss" and both "Terminator" films, had this to say of "Ghost in the Shell": "Stunning... the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence... an important visionary work."

Voices: Richard George (Bateau); Mimi Woods (Major Motoko Kusanagi); William Frederick (Aramaki); Abe Lasser (Puppet Master); Christopher Joyce (Togusa); Mike Sorich (Ishikawa); Ben Isaacson (Nakamura); Hank Smith (Minister); Steve Davis (Diplomat); and Phil Willimas (Willis).

Copyright 1995 Masamune Shirow/Kodansha Ltd./Bandai Visual Co., Ltd./Manga Entertainment. English Language Version Copyright 1996 Kodansha Ltd./Bandai Visual Co., Ltd./Manga Entertainment Inc.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Dolby Prologic Surround Sound - Japanese
Additional Release Material:
Featurette - Making-of "Ghost in the Shell"

Mamoru Oshii: Director/Japanimation

 Kodansha: 

Kazunori Ito: 

Kenji Kawai: Japanese Composer/Animation

"...Richly imagined....Slick and visually dazzling..."
"...A knockout vision of a machine-run cityscape..."
"...[With] a Disney-bashing level of detail, prolonged musings about the human soul and an eye-saucering hard line in action..."
"Sublimely realised, intellectual ponderous, cheesy fun."