The greatest thing Masemune Shirow did, or indeed any manga artist in the 1980s. Has anyone else read this extraordinary work, where nigh on everything would work?

I didn't read it (I'm too cheap to buy mangas and too lazy to download them - the only reason I prefer anime is because it wastes more of my time) but I saw an animated movie. Not sure how similar it was to the manga. My bro had got it from somewhere. Good.

Was it the 1988 or the flashy cgi motion capture thing?

No idea what year, but I think it was pretty flashy. I thought was pretty simple and straightforward, which kinda surprised me coming from Shirow (not that I have much experience with his work, but the little I have had made Appleseed seem kinda different). But I usually don't expect much from variations on an authors' work unless they take an active part in it - otherwise it's just fanfiction with a corporate stamp on it - and apparently Shirow did not in either film. It was entertaining and flashy.

(I'm not attacking the quality of fanfiction, I'm just saying companies have a tendency to put a stamp on anything they think will sell, and quite a lot more besides. I'm not attacking their right to do so either.)

You probably saw the 2004 one then. It's more like Appleseed than the other, but absolutely nothing near the manga. The manga is full of political intruige, and interesting ethical debates (on whether hybrid humans have the right to kill off base humans because of their destruction of the world) and very interesting musings on non-nuclear war.