Ghost in the Shell (1995)
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Action, Animation, Science Fiction • 1h 23m
Overview
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Koichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano, Tamio Ohki, Tessyo Genda, Masakazu Namaki, Masato Yamanouchi, Shinji Ogawa, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Shigeru Chiba, Hiroshi Yanaka, Ginzo Matsuo, Takashi Matsuyama, Sanryo Odaka, Masamichi Sato, Atsuko Hayashida, Yuji Ueda, Toshiki Kameyama, Atsushi Goto, Maaya Sakamoto
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray’s 5.1 is a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential differences from the original mix.
Its 2.0 mono is a downmix of this 5.1 remix.
Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior fidelity-wise to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LD BELL-942 is possibly the best of the bunch.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray’s 5.1 is a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential differences from the original mix.
Its 2.0 mono is a downmix of this 5.1 remix.
Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior fidelity-wise to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LD BELL-942 is possibly the best of the bunch.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159
Director: Mamoru Oshii
2008 Japan Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): has English subtitles, better than 2015 Maiden Blu-ray which lacks the original mix
2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray, but completely DNR'd.
For grain, most release starting from 2007 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0003) are ok.
Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix
Director: Mamoru Oshii
2008 Japan Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): has English subtitles, better than 2015 Maiden Blu-ray which lacks the original mix
2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray, but completely DNR'd.
For grain, most release starting from 2007 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0003) are ok.
Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix
Director: Mamoru Oshii
2025 Japan 4K Blu-ray (crowdfunded project)
Director: Mamoru Oshii
2025 Japan 4K Blu-ray (crowdfunded project)
Director: Wes Craven
France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
France M6 Video - Geoff D review.
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray disappointing - Avoid. Terrible release. Another Kino-grade encode with a huge DV layer. The Lionsgate Limited Steelbook has a different disc with exclusive bonus discs and apparently another poor encode but they also messed up the DV metadata and made that disc unwatchable with DV enabled.
US releases for the original audio
Pay per view version audio is on the UK Entertainment in Video Blu-ray and the France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray has exclusive extras
Director: Wes Craven
France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
France M6 Video - Geoff D review.
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray disappointing - Avoid. Terrible release. Another Kino-grade encode with a huge DV layer. The Lionsgate Limited Steelbook has a different disc with exclusive bonus discs and apparently another poor encode but they also messed up the DV metadata and made that disc unwatchable with DV enabled.
US releases for the original audio
Pay per view version audio is on the UK Entertainment in Video Blu-ray and the France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray has exclusive extras
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Paul Feig
France 4K Blu-ray > Italy Eagle Pictures > US Lionsgate - caps
credits are in French though
Director: Paul Feig
France 4K Blu-ray > Italy Eagle Pictures > US Lionsgate - caps
credits are in French though
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Lionsgate retains more detail, but Second Sight might be better in motion. Both are very close. Caps
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Lionsgate retains more detail, but Second Sight might be better in motion. Both are very close. Caps
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray or 35mm scan for Theatrical Cut
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is heavily denoised and smoothened, best Blu-ray is the 2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray (missing the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, which is on the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is DNRed), 35mm scan for the theatrical cut also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
Original Kodak CDS mix likely on the Artisan DVD and other Japan DVD.
Differences and review of the mix. There are earlier stereo mixes and many subsequent remixes on DVDs but it is unclear how many of them are really unique.
2017 Blu-Ray (which has the DNRed transfer), the 2009 Skynet Edition Blu-Ray, and the 2000 Ultimate Edition DVD have exclusive extras. The 2003 Extreme Edition DVD has some exclusive easter eggs.
2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray or 35mm scan for Theatrical Cut
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is heavily denoised and smoothened, best Blu-ray is the 2015 Lionsgate Blu-ray (missing the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, which is on the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is DNRed), 35mm scan for the theatrical cut also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre 2017 transfer, but has DNR.
Original Kodak CDS mix likely on the Artisan DVD and other Japan DVD.
Differences and review of the mix. There are earlier stereo mixes and many subsequent remixes on DVDs but it is unclear how many of them are really unique.
2017 Blu-Ray (which has the DNRed transfer), the 2009 Skynet Edition Blu-Ray, and the 2000 Ultimate Edition DVD have exclusive extras. The 2003 Extreme Edition DVD has some exclusive easter eggs.
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Whole Bloody Affair 4K Blu-ray upcoming in July, but only has 1 bonus feature and cuts out the rest of the extras
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray, Upscaled from the 2K DI. Caps are here. While not as dramatic an upgrade as Jackie Brown, color reproduction and especially the reveal of additional highlight information that were completely blown-out on the old master make this a great upgrade regardless. See Uma Thurman’s face in the above cap. Japan Cut: Japan DVD
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Whole Bloody Affair 4K Blu-ray upcoming in July, but only has 1 bonus feature and cuts out the rest of the extras
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray, Upscaled from the 2K DI. Caps are here. While not as dramatic an upgrade as Jackie Brown, color reproduction and especially the reveal of additional highlight information that were completely blown-out on the old master make this a great upgrade regardless. See Uma Thurman’s face in the above cap. Japan Cut: Japan DVD
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Whole Bloody Affair 4K Blu-ray upcoming in July, but only has 1 bonus feature and cuts out the rest of the extras
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Whole Bloody Affair 4K Blu-ray upcoming in July, but only has 1 bonus feature and cuts out the rest of the extras
International Cut: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Raimi
Sony 4K Blu-ray steelbook upcoming
LaserDisc has the original Mono
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray audio is in the wrong pitch
Director: Sam Raimi
Sony 4K Blu-ray steelbook upcoming
LaserDisc has the original Mono
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray audio is in the wrong pitch
More Action on Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Edit History
12/24/2025
Best Video Release
From
Bandai Japanese 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate Image Entertainment
To
Bandai Japan 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate images
From
Bandai Japanese 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate Image Entertainment
To
Bandai Japan 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate images
10/22/2025
Best Video Release
From
KSM DE UHD > Bandai Japan UHD > Lionsgate US UHD
To
Bandai Japanese 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate Image Entertainment
From
KSM DE UHD > Bandai Japan UHD > Lionsgate US UHD
To
Bandai Japanese 4K Blu-ray > Lionsgate US 4K Blu-ray, more accurate Image Entertainment
10/22/2025
Best Video Release
From
Bandai Japan > Lionsgate US, more accurate image
To
KSM DE UHD > Bandai Japan UHD > Lionsgate US UHD
From
Bandai Japan > Lionsgate US, more accurate image
To
KSM DE UHD > Bandai Japan UHD > Lionsgate US UHD
Blu-ray.com
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Ghost-in-the-Shell/20425/#Releases
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Ghost-in-the-Shell/20425/#Releases
12/23/2024
