I am reminded vaguely of:
- Blade Runner, because the cyborg was contemplating its identity.
- Firefly, because it was set in Hong Kong in the future, where there was both English and Chinese.
- X-Men, because it had a theme of mutation and change as necessary for progress.
- Childhood’s End, because evolution made a huge leap to something transcendental.
- RahXephon, because it had weird music.
- The Matrix, because of the green numbers and the neck plugs.
IMO, the exposition was too heavy-handed for the whole thing to come off as subtle and beautiful and deep.
I didn’t like the American voice actors’ performance, which seemed flat or dull, perfunctory. Also, the English subtitles were completely different from the English spoken track.
The source material is Japanese, but the setting really is Hong Kong… In one scene there’s even a jet coming in for a landing at Kai Tak Airport right over the city.
The special features on the disc showcased the beginning of the use of CGI and digital editing; the movie was a combination of hand-drawn and computer techniques.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/ghost-in-the-shell-25th-anniversary-edition/id1219320615
