On this day in movie history - Lucy (2014):

Lucy,

directed and written by Luc Besson,

was released in the United States on July 25, 2014.
Music by Éric Serra.

Cast:
Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk, Analeigh Tipton, Nicolas Phongpheth.

On this day in movie history - Ghost in the Shell (2017):

Ghost in the Shell,

directed by Rupert Sanders,

written by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler and Ehren Kruger,

based on the Manga comic book series by Masamune Shirow,

was released in the United States on March 31, 2017.
Music by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe.

Cast:
Scarlett Johansson, Kaori Yamamoto, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Michael Carmen Pitt, Andrew Morris, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, Lasarus Ratuere, Juliette Binoche, Peter Ferdinando, Kaori Momoi, Danusia Samal, Anamaria Marinca, Michael Wincott, Yutaka Izumihara, Tawanda Manyimo, Daniel Henshall, Rila Fukushima, Chris Obi, Adwoa Aboah, Pete Teo, Hugh Han.

Ghost in the Shell (2017):

I’m a harsh critic when it comes to remakes, especially when I love the original work.

Unless the remake/reimagining has something that adds to it, making it exceptional, I’m a purist to the source material.

I’ve been a fan of Mamoru Oshii’s original Ghost in the Shell ever since I saw it on its release in 1995.

In 2008, he revamped and improved upon the movie with new CGI and released it again as Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

I recommend anyone who appreciates intelligent science fiction stories, especially those, like Blade Runner, that focus on the clash between humans and A.I., to watch Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

For me, the bar was set very high with Rupert Sanders’ live-action version of Ghost in the Shell.

I was pleasantly surprised: I love it!

The original story has been tweaked and characters have been expanded upon, but it’s a minor difference.

This is a faithful retelling, with improvements to character and plot development, an excellent soundtrack, and brilliant effects.

Many of the visuals were shot-for-shot for the original Manga version.

I’ll happily add this one to my movie collection.

I’ll be posting a more in-depth blog on both the anime and live-action versions of Ghost in the Shell at a later date.