The Dresden Sun

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man

September 2005 •Japanese

The year is 2030 and six years have passed since a criminal known only as "The Laughing Man" swept through top medical nanotechnology firms committing acts of cyber-terrorism, kidnapping, and espionage leaving no known suspects. New information is revealed, as Section 9 enters the hunt for a suspect capable of unfathomable actions in this compilation of Stand Alone Complex content.

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer

October 1992 •Japanese

A Japanese salaryman finds his body transforming into a weapon through sheer rage after his son is kidnapped by a gang of violent thugs.

Vortex: The Dawn of Sovereignty

April 2021 •French

It's 2047. Every human being is identified and traced by large surveillance and censorship networks. A few freethinkers have created an encrypted network of alternative research and information, making it harder for law enforcement to track down. Among them, a teenage girl, Serena, is secretly developing glasses to reveal vortices: doorways to other dimensions.

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

September 2007 •Japanese

The story takes place in the year 2034, two years after the events in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. Female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi has left Public Security Section 9, an elite counter-terrorist and anti-crime unit specializing in cyber-warfare, which has expanded to a team of 20 field operatives with Togusa acting as the field lead.

Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector

March 2020 •Japanese

Inspector Kei Mikhail Ignatov finds himself involved with an organization named Bifrost with the possibility of freeing his wife if he betrays Unit One. Koichi Azusawa coordinates an assault on the Public Safety Bureau tower using his hacker Obata, locking down the building and kidnapping Inspector Arata Shindo. Azusawa demands that governor Karina Komiya resign from her position.

2036: Nexus Dawn

August 2017 •English

This in-world short film takes place in the year 2036 and revolves around Jared Leto’s character, Niander Wallace. In this short, Wallace introduces a new line of “perfected” replicants called the Nexus 9, seeking to get the prohibition on replicants repealed. This no doubt has serious ramifications that will be crucial to the plot of Blade Runner 2049.

Strange Days

October 1995 •English

Former policeman Lenny Nero has moved into a more lucrative trade: the illegal sale of virtual reality-like recordings that allow users to experience the emotions and past experiences of others. While they typically contain tawdry incidents, Nero is shocked when he receives one showing a murder.

The Fifth Element

May 1997 •French

In 2257, a taxi driver is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is part of the key that will ensure the survival of humanity.

Das Ziegenkäsemachen aus der Sicht der Ziege

April 2025 •German

Demolition Man

October 1993 •English

In 1996, brash L.A. detective John Spartan and maniac killer Simon Phoenix are both sentenced to decades in a cryogenic prison as punishment for a rescue mission gone wrong. When Phoenix escapes 36 years later to wreak havoc on the future, Spartan is awakened to capture his nemesis the old-fashioned way.

Judge Dredd

June 1995 •English

In a dystopian future, Dredd, the most famous judge (a cop with instant field judiciary powers) is convicted for a crime he did not commit while his murderous counterpart escapes.

Hackers

September 1995 •English

Along with his new friends, a teenager who was arrested by the US Secret Service and banned from using a computer for writing a computer virus discovers a plot by a nefarious hacker, but they must use their computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the Secret Service and the evil computer genius behind the virus.

Cyborg

April 1989 •English

A martial artist hunts a killer in a plague-infested urban dump of the future.

The Lawnmower Man

March 1992 •English

A simple man is turned into a genius through the application of computer science.

Paycheck

December 2003 •English

Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid – and why he's now in hot water.

Avalon

January 2001 •Polish

In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. Even if she finds the gateway to the next level, will she ever be able to come back to reality?

Virtuosity

August 1995 •English

The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.

Ghost in the Shell

November 1995 •Japanese

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.

Babylon A.D.

August 2008 •English

A veteran-turned-mercenary is hired to take a young woman with a secret from post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe to New York City.

Æon Flux

November 2005 •English

400 years into the future, disease has wiped out the majority of the world's population, except one walled city, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. When Æon Flux, the top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion, is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.