Bad bluray for a true masterpiece.
587722
The rating is for the bluray, not the movie itself, which deserves five star.

Side note: if you're fluent in Japanese and don't need the subs, rating is four stars, as the other issues are not that bad.

As mentioned in numerous comments, the subtitles are horrible. It seems that the translators had to work with just lines of text and never saw the movie. If you know a bit about Japanese language, you know that everything depends on context, and when you don't have context, it leads to bad translations, such as several "she" instead of "he", "we" instead of "I", etc. as the movie can be a bit complex, it can make it very hard for someone who never saw the movie to understand it.

The picture quality is okay, but for some reason is not true 1920x1080, there is a black frame all around the picture! I never saw that on a bluray before. As mentioned by others, it is the original version of the movie, not the new one with the cgi.

Japanese audio is decent, but at times seems to be outta sync (but it may be the movie, not the bluray).

Overall, if you saw the movie already and want to have s bluray (and don't have anything else), go for it. If you're new to GitS and don't mind a tiny drop in quality (really really tiny), and you can find it, go for the dvd instead, it'll have better subs. If you have the dvd already, this bluray is unnecessary.
4167053
For some reason this bluray is 1080i at 30fps with lots of interlacing problems and overall fuzzy image.  There is a 1080p bluray out in Region B right now that is far superior transfer so refuse to buy this one until they release the proper transfer in the US!
3738219
This is a review of the actual DVD production and not the movie itself.  The movie is super fun, no doubt about it.  The DVD is terrible.  Grainy, nothing special on it, and doesn't fit my TV.  I have one of the most popular TVs out there and the movie is literally only about 60 percent of the screen.  SERIOUSLY?  They couldn't format it to look better!??!?

I really hope they fixed this when the bluray version of this movie comes out, if it ever does.
3857103
This is completely a different movie - the US release had mystery and darkness.  The full length blu-ray alters that beauty, hitting you over the head with its themes.  Over acted.  Over directed. It's a shame the bluray version doesn't contain both versions and let the viewer decide.
704435
The new re-master by Pathe is completely sub-par. The image was given a DNR butt-rape, resulting in compromised depth, contrast, detail, and clarity. Virtually no grain is present in the image. I understand that the remastering job was out of Criterion's hands, but I'm still genuinely shocked and DISTURBED that they would release it this way. Without a doubt, the most disappointing blu-ray Criterion has ever put out.
3877138
Buyers Beware !
Import BluRay box set (black box) .
Would have been a good deal if disc had played properly .
Part 1 of the first disc started freezing up 20 minutes into the episode & continued till it stopped playing altogether .
Glad I didn't wait on playing this because it would have been too late to get a refund .
Out of hundreds of BluRays this is the 1st one I've had trouble with .
3660504
First off let me say that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 blu-ray is a beautiful release with top notch picture and sound so my review is not based on the blu-ray, but the horrible digital copy know as Ultraviolet. Once again Warner Brothers screwed up this release with the Ultraviolet Digital Copy crap. When they included ultraviolet on Green Lantern which all ready had bad reviews, any hope of giving that movie a second chance on blu-ray or DVD ended once people saw how bad Ultraviolet was. Just look at the blu-ray reviews half of them are 1 and 2 stars based on the digital copy alone. Im rating this release 1 star to send another clear message to the studio don't fix it if its not broken. Those of us that have iPads and iPhones that have been accustomed to having our digital copies a certain way are getting screwed because of Warner Brothers can't take the fact that Apple and iTunes are the standard for digital copy. Aside from having to set up a flixter and ultraviolet account you have to have some sort of internet access/wifi in order to watch your movie. How is that helpful to the customer? If anything this new ultraviolet is just encouraging people to illegally download their movie to get it to work they way they were accustomed to. HORRIBLE MOVE Warner Brothers, I guarantee in a year if even that this will be gone the way of HD-DVD and betamax.
4663244
Bought this bluray edition assuming wrongfully that it will include some interesting extra features. The only noteworthy ones were a couple of scenes only found in the extended version. The PIP and concept artwork under the U-control feature is totally meaningless as they appear in tiny screens at the corner of the movie while it is running, being without audio and without the option to expand or pause them! I wonder why they did not include all the extras found in the normal DVD special editions. Shame, because the movie is so much sharper in bluray format.
2637665
Very bad transfer.  I would suggest buying the DVD version that was released in the late 1990s which was not a DVD-R.  That one was an official release with crystal-clear picture and sound, unlike this cheap release. I can't believe Amazon and studios are now partnering and selling customers DVD-Rs at new prices.  Unbelievable.  Buy the prior release, until there is a Blu-ray, if that ever happens.
459477
Warner Brothers should be ashamed for releasing this awful tranfer of a Fantastic Classic film!! I was shocked at how terrible the picture quality was!! They spent more time and effort on the book that came with this blu-ray than on the film itself!! I guess I should have read if this film was remastered or not. And it apparently has not been remastered. Do not buy this film if you are expecting a beautiful clear picture like one would expect with a blu-ray disc. It seems if the blu-ray has only magnified the flaws of this transfer.
1460351
The poor rating on this is not for the film itself, but this pressing/release of it.
This copy should be avoided, so much DNR on this release its unwatchable, buy the remastered edition.
2701650
This review is for the awful transfer and NOT the movie.  I just watched the blu Ray copy and I'm so mad!  This is one of my fave films but the picture is blurry most of the time and it looks no better than VHS!  I thought films had to be remastered for blu Ray but obviously Warner Brothers doesn't care about Giant???
294705
They did this with the DVD release with the various versions (theatrical, extended, and the limited edition) now they are starting down the same road with Blu-ray version.  This is just not right.
2475548
Being Vampire Hunter D on bluray, I did not hesitate to own this.  Little did I know the movie was redubbed.  Which would not be a problem if it wasn't so horrible.  Putting the original aside, this dubbing is just horrible acting and casting.  It's to bad because I have been waiting for this movie to be released on bluray for a long time.  For any one out there looking to buy this, stick to the DVD and if you have not seen it the original dubbed version, I highly recommend it if you want to watch a true anime classic.
937260
I have no problems with the movie. But technically, the quality of this disc is beyond terrible. It looks like a YouTube video does when you play it on a 50-inch plasma. Only worse -- compression artifacts, tiling with squares the size of Post-it Notes, banding that looks like 16-bit grayscale. It made the whole thing unwatchable for me. [...]
3427583
The movie is wonderful, I love the Guardians for the Galaxy. But watching this movie through Amazon (and I tried using Chrome and Safari) is just a pixelated mess. Truly disappointing.
4933401
First of all, casual viewers are going to just have to ignore the negs here. That is about all you can do. This is the highest video quality you are going to see on bluray. A 36Mbps transfer of an older grainy film and damn does it look wonderful. The AWFUL red push of the old releases is gone and THANK THE HEAVENS. This film looks unbelievable and I am NOT easy to please when it comes to details and bitrates. Most blurays these days cannot seem to get past 25Mbps, many are much less, and it shows with fluctuating quality throughout the film. Not this one.

They slightly changed the color timing to reflect a modern and SLIGHTLY cooler tone. Some people cannot seem to deal with the fact we are no longer in the 80s and no director worth their salt wants that pinkish/reddish look, that was quite common in that time, to their films now that they have a choice. Blade Runner did the same and The Final Cut looks better than it ever did, though, that release has less than HALF the bitrate of this release. Anyway, the timing does wonders for this film IMO. I have never seen this so detailed in all my life. I really think the new timing gives it a more timeless look and will be appreciated by most people. In no way will it hardly even be noticed for the vast majority. Skintones remain natural and whites are still nice and bright.

As for the sound, it is also the most balanced and proper it has sounded in a long time. There are these few diehard weirdos who cannot seem to deal with the fact that most people don't like mono and don't want to listen to mono in film when there are effects taking place all over the soundstage that take advantage of more than one speaker. Cameron never meant for there to be a Mono track it is just that the producers would not let him have his 4 track stereo because they were cheap bastards. He even came in under budget ffs. Mono also has many other deficiencies compared to stereo with depth of the various instruments and sounds and the overall balance of the mix. You can read about that somewhere else.

I do agree they should have at least included it but quite honestly I would not be using it anyway. They seem to have improved the stereo and multi-channel tracks. To my ears the gun sounds are fine and sound pretty damn good for an 80s film. They redid some of the effects with T2 ones to my knowledge a while back. This presentation seems more balanced than any other releases to my ears.

For the people that are boycotting this release let them. This isn't some travesty like the original Patton release or the Predator: Ultimate Edition release which were DNR'd to within an inch of their life and looked like wax on screen. To the contrary, this is one of the best looking blurays on the market. The old Terminator release is a joke compared to this.

Nothing to be afraid of with this one. They did just about everything right except include the old mono track. And no one but a few really care because it ain't that great to begin with. 5 stars for a great remaster and at 10 bucks at Walmart, and around that on Amazon, you really cannot go wrong. Extras are the same as the past versions to my knowledge. Peace.