Mini-review of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society

• July 21, 2007
• James Skemp
• philosophy, dvd / movie, review

My GitS: 2nd Gig knowledge is a bit rusty, so Solid State Society is definitely going to be one of those 'need to watch it at least twice' movies.

It seems the movie takes place after 2nd Gig, and therefore, outside of the realm of the other two movies.

For two years the Major has been working outside of Section 9, which seems a bit off, since I was under the understanding (perhaps just from the movies) that if they quit, they forfeit pretty much everything ...

Anyways, it starts off with suicides, and, in typical fashion (of the series), Section 9 has to get to the cause of these, and any underlying issues that may arise.

If you're familiar only with the philosophy of the first two movies, then you'll probably end up rather lost in this film, since, as stated above, it takes place after 2nd Gig.

Therefore, knowledge of, at least, 2nd Gig is pretty much required to fully understand this film.

As to whether or not that was a good decision - to have the third film be an extension of the show - I'd say it was, especially keeping in mind how the first two seasons have played out, with both the core story and the side stories, we effectively have one of those threads rolled into 109 minutes of continuous movie.

As to whether it jumped around, or was confusing in nature, I'd have to disagree with any review that said that. While it's true Solid State Society jumps around, there's a reason for everything that goes on, and therefore contributes to the movie.

Of course, there are periods where we have to pause and wonder if the writers cheated, but, what movie doesn't have that?

The movie contains no rating, but effectively has a suggested rating of PG-13 (for violence); no worse than Innocence or anything else in the series.

There's two different packages for the film; one contains the film and another appears to contain two other discs.  At least based on Amazon, you're not missing too much if you just go with the 'regular' version, although the serious fan should probably hunt down the limited edition.

Like the films and series, I'd rate GitS: SAC: SSS very high, primarily for the philosophical ideas it presents.

• ghost in the shell
• solid state society