Where can I see this?

Interesting opinion--I just read the opposite, that TRS was crap and Avalon was great. I definitely disagree with that assessment about Avalon, so maybe I would agree with you about TRS...is there somewhere it's available as Region 0?

TRS is available as a R1 disc, I know that. I don't know about R0. The Red Spectacles had me transfixed the whole time it was on. Avalon started off well and went nowhere fast. A couple of interesting motifs, but not enough to make it worthwhile.

Just one very simple question: Was it better than the first?

In case my question is too vague, I'll elaborate. I love the comic book but thought the first film, though pretty to look at, was a weak adaptation of the comic book. No, I wasn't expecting a literal translation but I just felt the first movie was all eye candy (as delicious as it was) and little substance. Is this film just a bigger version of the first in terms of visuals or will it actually appeal to me with a deep (or at the very least, well thought out and expertly delivered) story?

I've only seen the first Ghost in the Shell once, and that was when it first came out on video. So my memory and impressions of that are hazy at best.

And I've kind of realized what I liked about the sequel. First, the visuals and the music account for much of my appreciation. But what made the film even better was the heavy philosophical content. And the fact that the action scenes are delicately inserted so as not to detract from the philosophizing earned much respect. When the film does resolve the conflict begun in the opening scene, I was less concerned with what actually happened than how it related to the film-world and its characters. What could have been played off as a grand and grotesque ending is diminished and treated as the natural progression, the blurring between machine and man that the film is constantly exploring.

And it doesn't end with an answer. It ends with what I thought was a wonderful and coyly played stinger.

Thanks, sundog. What you described in the sequel is what I felt was missing in the first so I'll definitely have to check it out then.

If that's what you like, I'd suggest rewatching the the first one. I would describe it in the same way. I didn't like it the first time I saw it either... Of course, the first time I saw Ghost in the Shell, it was dubbed, and it was my first time seeing it (obviously.) Now, after a few rewatches I could talk for hours about its subtext and character processes. If you compair it to the manga, then you'll be disapointed... the manga is a different animal, aside from the characters (who mostly all behave very differently anyways...) and some themes, it's not at all a like. It takes one theme, and expands on it. Innocence does the same thing too actually.

I also thought Avalon was disapointing at first, then on a second viewing, I totally fell for it. Weird how that is.

Innocence is excellent too, I thought. Though I still will need some time to wrap my head totally around it :)

Still need to see this.

I loved the first one. Is this better or worse?

I've seen it once. It's really hard to make such a judgement based on one viewing, if you see these movies in the same way I do.

Of course, some people just like Ghost in the Shell because "OMG!!! NAKED ANIME BABE SHOOITNG STUFF OMG!!! SHE BLEW Up His heADD!!!!"

I mean, RocShemp felt the first movie had no substance in it, whereas I felt it has tons.

So if you tell me what you liked about the first movie, maybe I can help you... otherwise, I can't :)

Ended up seeing it... thought it was really good.

I understand what you're saying, BizRodian, but "OMG!!! NAKED ANIME BABE SHOOITNG STUFF OMG!!! SHE BLEW Up His heADD!!!!" is not the reason I watched the first. I heard it was deep and philosophical but found what philosophy was there was rather shallow. And I watched it quite a few times hoping I missed something but all I got was visual spectacle and little more. Never felt like watching it again.

But, based on what sundog and others have had to say about the sequel, I'm really looking foward to giving it a shot.

is it necessary to see part one first?

GITS2 is sometimes called a disorienting film even by those who have seen the first one, so I would tend to say 'it would help.' :)

Just saw this tonight. Absolutely amazing film. It's pretty damn deep/dense, but not so much that I couldn't enjoy it on a first viewing. And now I know it'll only get better with repeat viewings. Can't wait for the DVD! :)

Much better than the first. LOVE the glass mansion, which completely confused me at first, but turned out to be completely in tune with the film's message.

I don't think the quotes are pretentious at all. In fact, this is a rare film that deserves multiple viewings. Much deeper than films of similar topics such as A.I.

Well, seeing as you said you were looking for substance, I didn't think you fell into that group. :)

I always felt that the visuals in the story, were not mearly visuals, but a way of telling the story. The story is told in pictures and creating mood, as much as an actual plot is. The main "case" in both movies are total B stories that aren't what the film is about.

But if it's not your thing, it's not your thing. I'd say the second film might be more easily accessable, if you're looking for what I think you are. However, that might just be because I've become so much more well versed with Oshii (as well as GITS in general I guess) since then, that I just personally find it easier to get the first time around.