The Matrix - Ghost in the Shell Conspiracy [OLD]

[Curt]

I know this is old news and alot of you have probably read this, or even seen this site. But I was looking through my bookmarks and thought some of you might find this interesting.

For the record, I'm a rabid, Gits Fanboy, and have consumed every piece of media that I can get my hands on and comprehend, pertaining to gits and Masamune Shirow.

I'm also a big Matrix geek, even though it's incredibly cliche these days.

I harbor no ill will to the wachowskis and think they did a fine film, even if they did borrow/homage certain elements of past films/text.

anyways... heres the site:

A Matrix & Ghost in the Shell Comparison
http://webmirror.kobran.org/matrixgits/page1.html

 

[Mike Shagohod]

Yes and just about everything Cyberpunk has at sometime utterly ripped off {call it being inspired by} ole' William Gibson's works from his short stories from '81-'83, to



through the rest of his sprawl trilogy ending with Mona Lisa Overdrive. And overall, yeah... there were more than enough similarities between GITS and THE MATRIX than not. Oh and I'm only pimping Gibson's works in case some still haven't read his early works {don't much care for his stuff from Virtual Light on}, but his early "Sprawl Stories" more or less defined C.P. along with SNOW CRASH, and should be read by ppl who like both MATRIX and GITS... it'll make you appreciate all of it all the more.

MERCENARY X99

 

[SML]

http://galeon.hispavista.com/cinerama/actu2/matrixdarkcity.htm

 

[Curt]

http://galeon.hispavista.com/cinerama/actu2/matrixdarkcity.htm

Good stuff.

As for Neuromancer, I had a friend who was really into those books i'll have to check Gibson out...

 

[jethrek]

Ghost in the Shell - Clever. Oddly paced plot that intentionally moves in odd directions to constantly pose the question of if what is being shown is real, and keeps the answer obscure.

Matrix - retarded. has a plot that tries TOO hard to be clever, constantly making what's real and false obvious, and then tries to throw all the more obvious curveballs.

The Wachowski brothers ripped off of everything in making Matrix. The resemblance ends there.

 

[norton9478]

If i remember correctly. Didnt the Polish brothers who made the Matrix buy the rights to Ghost in a shell?

Or at least the Matrix Began as a GHost in a shell movie?

I remeber reading it in an article in Wired about the dawn of japanese animation.

 

[syringe]

I thought most of "The Matrix" was ripped off from "The Invisibles".

Either way, meh mediocre anime, comic books, turned into mediocre movies.

Anything that is vaguely cyberpunk and isn't Blade Runner is by definition mediocre.

 

[Curt]

I shudder to think that Mammoru Oshii's 2 Ghost in the Shell films, GITS, and Innocence, as well as the fine Series, Stand Alone Complex and Second Gig are by any means "mediocre."

As for Gits as a whole, Gits has been and forever will be from Masamune Shirows work on his fantastic Mangas. If you haven't read Man Machine Interface... You owe it to yourself.

 

[norton9478]

Actualy

The matrix is one of the finest moives I have ever seen at mapping out the various "Free Choice" and "Brain in a Vat" Philosphical Arguments...

I guess this is lost on the masses looking for a Kick ass cyberpunk movie....

 

[neo>all]

Dark city rocks!

The matrix ripped off dark city so badly and succeeded where dark city bombed. Dark city was released in 1998 and matrix was released in 1999. I like the matrix inspite of these similarities but i have to give credit to dark city because it came up with the ideas first and had much more style. See it but keep in mind it was released first.

 

[Curt]

ha ha

Neo Geo killed that guy's server.

Webserver is Smoking

The requested webserver has caught fire due to massive and extended usage and is currently melting down into slag.

 

[Kid Aphex]

For what it was, The Matrix was quite the surreal commentary on social theory.

Believe it or not, Blade Runner fans, its as multi-layered and filled-to-the-brim with symbolism and allusion as Scott's masterpiece.

I didn't particularly like it until I stumbled upon the GENIUS of french social theorist Jean Baudrillard. I read everything he put out in the past 20 years ... and found that beneath the it's fairly mundane surface, the Matrix had quite a few secrets. In turn, I can appreciate the movie on several levels now.

--- the only thing it's missing, in my eyes, is killer atmosphere.

--- that's where GITS's got it beat, in my opinion.

Anyways, the Wachowski Bros. actually tossed us all a clue:

"Simulacra and Simulation"



As for the likenesses between MATRIX/GITS, or MATRIX/DARK CITY, I doubt it's anything more than coincidence. But if it is, I'd bet it's more a case of our collective conciousness poking its head through the ether into various creative fields. The specific incidences of likeness are probly just symbolic archetypes that, for one reason or another, have a particular prominence at this point in time --- it would help explain the popularity/novelty of the movies and their success at the box-office/appeal to the masses.

 

[Curt]

I got into a few arguments in IRC about this... they thought I was trying to attack the Wachowski's as plagarists...

The consensus was that at the very least The Matrix pays Homage to the GITS film. (Hence the Watermelons) and of course many other pieces that have influenced those two.

 

[jethrek]

I got into a few arguments in IRC about this... they thought I was trying to attack the Wachowski's as plagarists...

The consensus was that at the very least The Matrix pays Homage to the GITS film. (Hence the Watermelons) and of course many other pieces that have influenced those two.

Yeah. There's nothing wrong with ripping off of other stuff to make something great, within certain limits. Many of the question Matrix touched on were handled more expertly in GitS, in its various forms (all of which happen to be kickass, the Mamoru Oshii movies just stand out by their brilliance, but SAC is a more conventional take on it, and the manga is great as well)