James Cameron called it “a stunning work of speculative fiction . . . the first to reach a level of literary excellence”. The Wachowskis used to take a DVD of the movie to pitch their project The Matrix to producers, telling them, “We want to do that — for real.” Ghost in the Shell was the first anime feature to make an impact in North America, and it clearly made a strong impression on American filmmakers. But more than that, it’s a remarkably prescient story which anticipated how AI blurs the lines between man and machine.
2029: Cybernetics are encroaching on what used to be the exclusive domain of human intelligence. When a rogue hacker known as “The Puppetmaster” brings brain-hacking into the political arena, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
Staff Pick: Juan
Thirty years ago, Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell didn’t just debut as a cyberpunk masterpiece; it cracked open the future, peering into a world where identity, consciousness, and technology fused in unsettling ways. As we stand in 2025, submerged in the age of generative AI and biometric surveillance, Oshii’s vision feels less like fiction and more like prophecy.
Wael Khairy, rogerebert.com
This is a work of profound and melancholic beauty; every bit as essential in the 21st century as it was in the 20th.
Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
Media Partner
Mamoru Oshi
Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ôtsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Kôichi Yamadera
Japan
1995
In Japanese with English subtitles
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Credits
Producer
Yoshimasa Mizuo, Ken Matsumoto, Ken Iyadomi, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
Screenwriter
Kazunori Itō
Cinematography
Hisao Shirai
Editor
Shūichi Kakesu, Shigeyuki Yamamori
Original Music
Kenji Kawai
Production Design
Takashi Watabe
Art Director
Hiromasa Ogura
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Unforgiven
Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) is face down in pig shit when we first see him. He's a bad farmer, but has a natural facility for killing people – a vocation to which he returns in a quest that combines both profit and justice. Or so he chooses to believe.
Malcolm X
In an indelible role, Denzel Washington give us a layered, compassionate, conflicted man who finds the strength in Islam to transcend his demons and confront the inequity and racism in America head-on. Along with Do the Right Thing, this is Spike Lee's greatest film.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
A bona fide classic and arguably the greatest Canadian film of the 90s, Girard's dazzling deconstruction of the biopic gives us the mercurial pianist Glenn Gould as Picasso might have rendered him, a cubist portrait combining multimedia vignettes.
Dazed and Confused
The last day of high school in May, 1976: seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll wield the stick one day.
Short Cuts
Altman's adaptation of Raymond Carver short stories, Short Cuts weaves between 8 or 9 overlapping storylines and 22 characters. it's a teeming, caustic and compassionate human comedy; a singularly astringent, often cynical view of America and Americana.
Three Colours: Blue
The first of Kieslowski's acclaimed Three Colours Trilogy, inspired by the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and the French flag, the Tricolour. Blue stars Juliette Binoche as a young woman grieving her husband and child.
Schindler's List
One of the most acclaimed films of the 90s, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark is the story of a German industrialist whose conscience is stirred to save his Jewish workers from the camps.
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Three Colours: Red
Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings begins with an onslaught of fucks. It's the first signal that this rom-com will break from tradition, despite the ritualized structural conceit described in the title. The witty screenplay is by Richard Curtis — it's still his best.
The Lion King
With its beautifully drawn East African setting, its humour, pathos, and engaging characters, as well as its stirring songs, The Lion King stands as the pinnacle of traditional Disney family entertainment.
Image: © Disney, 1994
To Die For
Buck Henry (The Graduate) wrote this acidic black comedy about a ruthless weather girl on the make (Nicole Kidman in her breakout role). A young Joaquin Phoenix is the dim teen she seduces on her way to achieving stardom.
Casino
Revisiting the wise guy milieu for the third (but not the final) time, Scorsese tells the story of Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro (Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci), two New York hoodlums who become major players in the history of Las Vegas.