Dragon Ball Z: The Fall of Men

[Gyt Kaliba]

If Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Flash as well as the numerous live action genre films and tv shows can work, so can DB.

That's how I look at it as well. A live action Dragon Ball could definitely work, but it would take a lot of care being put into it, and for it to really feel like the property it's adapting, it's going to have to not lose that sense of 'fun' that DB always has in it. The Marvel comparison is actually pretty good IMO, since no matter how dark those movies get at times, there's still a sense of fun running through it all. That's what Dragon Ball would need as well.

[ekrolo2]

If Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Flash as well as the numerous live action genre films and tv shows can work, so can DB.

That's how I look at it as well. A live action Dragon Ball could definitely work, but it would take a lot of care being put into it, and for it to really feel like the property it's adapting, it's going to have to not lose that sense of 'fun' that DB always has in it. The Marvel comparison is actually pretty good IMO, since no matter how dark those movies get at times, there's still a sense of fun running through it all. That's what Dragon Ball would need as well.

I can buy a guy in an American flag costume, I can't buy anything resembling a live action Nappa with the exact same armor as in the show or a live action Vegeta with the proper hair. DB is too weird to just get a straight up adaptation for live action.

[Hellspawn28]

Saiyan armor can work just fine in live action. Vegeta's hair would need to be shorter, but still long enough to look like the character.

[Cetra]

I can accept Cell but seeing Trunks I never EVER want to see people rantig about the Dragon Ball Evolution cast. Also the Super Saiyajin hair looks weird and I have problems accepting how "casual" their arms are hanging around after the have done some punching. Like "oh, now I have hit a bit, the battle is so easy that I can do that. In a very confident moment done right that is okay, but here it looks weird.

[Cabel]

If Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Flash as well as the numerous live action genre films and tv shows can work, so can DB.

That's how I look at it as well. A live action Dragon Ball could definitely work, but it would take a lot of care being put into it, and for it to really feel like the property it's adapting, it's going to have to not lose that sense of 'fun' that DB always has in it. The Marvel comparison is actually pretty good IMO, since no matter how dark those movies get at times, there's still a sense of fun running through it all. That's what Dragon Ball would need as well.

I can buy a guy in an American flag costume, I can't buy anything resembling a live action Nappa with the exact same armor as in the show or a live action Vegeta with the proper hair. DB is too weird to just get a straight up adaptation for live action.

Guardians has a talking Racoon, Flash has a psychic Gorilla. The Saiyan armor is similar to classic samurai armor, just given a sci-fi spin.

If you want weird, I recommend Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War, full of various creatures from Japanese mythology, and they look really good in my opinion.

Dragon Ball is like a cross between Jim Henson and the Shaw Brothers, at least that's my take. It can be done.

[ekrolo2]

I can buy a guy in an American flag costume, I can't buy anything resembling a live action Nappa with the exact same armor as in the show or a live action Vegeta with the proper hair. DB is too weird to just get a straight up adaptation for live action.

Guardians has a talking Racoon, Flash has a psychic Gorilla. The Saiyan armor is similar to classic samurai armor, just given a sci-fi spin.

If you want weird, I recommend Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War, full of various creatures from Japanese mythology, and they look really good in my opinion.

Dragon Ball is like a cross between Jim Henson and the Shaw Brothers, at least that's my take. It can be done.

Live action anthropomorphic animals, creatures based on things that already exist except can talk is hardly weird. Guys with those hairstyle and suits aren't gonna cut it in live action. You cannot do Goku's hair in any way, shape or form in live action without it looking awful. Nor could you do the Saiyan armor without it looking completely silly. The only things from DB that you can pull off in live action are Freeza, Cell and Boo.

[Cetra]

You cannot do Goku's hair in any way, shape or form in live action without it looking awful.

I actually thought Justin Chatwin's hair at the end of the fight against Piccolo was pretty good for Goku's hair.

People can rant about DBE what they want. But I have yet to see a fan-made video that is better. I have seen some of them and they all have their moments which are obviously better but then come back to moments that are not better at all - in my opinion at least. Same for doujinshi.

I would start a Dragon Ball movie with a young Chinese or Japanese boy training in the mountains and focus this first movie around the first two manga vols. The second one would be Roshi and the tournament and afterwards either Red Ribbon or directly to Piccolo.

[Cabel]

I can buy a guy in an American flag costume, I can't buy anything resembling a live action Nappa with the exact same armor as in the show or a live action Vegeta with the proper hair. DB is too weird to just get a straight up adaptation for live action.

Guardians has a talking Racoon, Flash has a psychic Gorilla. The Saiyan armor is similar to classic samurai armor, just given a sci-fi spin.

If you want weird, I recommend Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War, full of various creatures from Japanese mythology, and they look really good in my opinion.

Dragon Ball is like a cross between Jim Henson and the Shaw Brothers, at least that's my take. It can be done.

Live action anthropomorphic animals, creatures based on things that already exist except can talk is hardly weird. Guys with those hairstyle and suits aren't gonna cut it in live action. You cannot do Goku's hair in any way, shape or form in live action without it looking awful. Nor could you do the Saiyan armor without it looking completely silly. The only things from DB that you can pull off in live action are Freeza, Cell and Boo.

Yes, if you make it exactly the same with the exact same proportions as it does in the manga. That's where the adaptation part comes in and you dial it back enough to a more believable appearances. Either way, if the actor does a good enough of being Goku as opposed to looking like him, I'm willing to give some leeway regarding the hair.

You said earlier that you bought Captain America's suit. It's arguably one of the most ridiculous outfits in comics that had failed multiple times in live action. Thor and Loki are almost equally ridiculous. Yet the movies all found ways to make the appearance of their characters believable while staying true to the silhouette of those characters. I don't see anything about the Saiyan Armor that's any more ridiculous than what you expect to find than Star Wars, Star Trek, or any other sci fi property.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Yes, if you make it exactly the same with the exact same proportions as it does in the manga. That's where the adaptation part comes in and you dial it back enough to a more believable appearances.

Unfortunately, that's where a lot of people's disconnect would come from. I mean, I get it to a degree, the spiky Saiyan hairstyles are a pretty big thing for the series and part of what makes it instantly recognizable, but if toning it down a bit to more realistic appearances was done while keeping the story and themes largely the same? Hey, that's an acceptable adaptation to me.

I mean, even if DBE had gotten the looks exactly right but everything else was still the way that it was, that wouldn't have made it any better of a movie really. Though for what it's worth, I can at least finish DBE, albeit by poking fun at it along the way. That's more than I can say for at least two much more successful Hollywood endeavors in recent years (only one of which is a comic adaptation though, so it's the only one that's sorta-relavant-ish I guess).

[Cabel]

Yes, if you make it exactly the same with the exact same proportions as it does in the manga. That's where the adaptation part comes in and you dial it back enough to a more believable appearances.

Unfortunately, that's where a lot of people's disconnect would come from. I mean, I get it to a degree, the spiky Saiyan hairstyles are a pretty big thing for the series and part of what makes it instantly recognizable, but if toning it down a bit to more realistic appearances was done while keeping the story and themes largely the same? Hey, that's an acceptable adaptation to me.

And it's not as though I'm saying make the hair a complete 180 from the manga. Somewhere there's a middle ground that's satisfactory to fans and not off putting to non fans. And no worthwhile production would use whatever they come up with on the first try. They make multiple passes until they find what they feel looks right before filming. And of all the things that make DB what it is, I don't consider the hair to be the absolute end all be all of elements.

[Noah]

If someone ever plans to do a DB Live Action movie, I would just like to be set in the beginning of the series with Goku meeting Bulma and they decide to go into a journey to find the seven dragon balls. Not going straight to DBZ story for F*** sake

[Hellspawn28]

If someone plans to do a DB Live Action movie, I would just would to be set in the beginning of the series with Goku meeting Bulma and they decide to go into a journey to find the seven dragon balls. Not going straight to DBZ story for F*** sake

DBZ is more marketable then the early stuff is. DBE did try to combine the Pilaf saga and Piccolo Daimao into one and it could have work if the movie had a better script, better director and better actors. If another live action movie does happen then the movie could start with Grandpa Gohan finding Goku as a baby and do a intro flash back of Goku's origins in the beginning credits similar what Kai did. When you adapt anything, you have to do changes. Changes are fine if they do it right. DBE did changed poorly and the movie is just a bad movie in general. DBE would still suck even if it was not a Dragon Ball movie.

[ChahikoDBZ]

I was very impressed with how well they made Dragon Ball Z mix with a realistic approach. It's cool how they did their own thing with Trunks' timeline and Cell.

[kei17]

I want to praise their effort, but I get embarrassed by seeing this kind of "trying to be overly badass" stuff.

[buutenks]

When i see a live action dbz movie or whatever i always feel embarrassed by it.I am sorry but you cannot do a live action dbz movie or w/e,They look way to silly lol.

now DB,that u can easily do.No charging up,silly flying fight scenes,u can ignore kid goku's hair style and just get a kid with normal hair.

Light of hope was interesting,the androids worked,cos they have normal looks and they dont need to charge and scream lol.

Screaming and powering up in dbz anime=awesome,live action=sooo silly.

The dbz villains however would work great in a live action since they would be cgi-ed.

As for who said that if u can make marvel etc movies.

Well difference is dc/marvel comics are actually real looking people in suits with super powers.So easily doable live action.

I mean iron man a guy in a power armor exoskeleton,nothing silly about it.Captain america,some guy with super stats that has blue military cloths with american colors painted on it.Thor,blonde long haird guy wielding a hammer.General clothing is medieval or so.Hulk,green cgi-ed rage monster and so on.

but dbz,tell me how in the world could u find an actor that looks like vegeta or nappa?And not appear silly.

[Cabel]

When i see a live action dbz movie or whatever i always feel embarrassed by it.I am sorry but you cannot do a live action dbz movie or w/e,They look way to silly lol.

now DB,that u can easily do.No charging up,silly flying fight scenes,u can ignore kid goku's hair style and just get a kid with normal hair.

Light of hope was interesting,the androids worked,cos they have normal looks and they dont need to charge and scream lol.

Screaming and powering up in dbz anime=awesome,live action=sooo silly.

The dbz villains however would work great in a live action since they would be cgi-ed.

As for who said that if u can make marvel etc movies.

Well difference is dc/marvel comics are actually real looking people in suits with super powers.So easily doable live action.

I mean iron man a guy in a power armor exoskeleton,nothing silly about it.Captain america,some guy with super stats that has blue military cloths with american colors painted on it.Thor,blonde long haird guy wielding a hammer.General clothing is medieval or so.Hulk,green cgi-ed rage monster and so on.

but dbz,tell me how in the world could u find an actor that looks like vegeta or nappa?And not appear silly.

Sorry, but I'm having trouble following your logic. "Real looking people in suits..?" What does that mean, Marvel and DC characters are easier to adapt because of how they're drawn? If Jim Lee, John Romita, or Alex Ross drew Dragon Ball characters in their respective styles, would that make a difference? Or if Toriyama drew Superman? Mike Mignola has a stylized approach to his work, and we still got two pretty good looking Hellboy movies. And if those characters are so easy to do in live action, how come it took four tries to finally get Captain America right?

The most outlandish thing about the DB characters in appearance is Goku and Vegeta's hair, everyone else is somewhat believable hair wise. Like I said before, the hair can be worked around. It's not about making it look 100% like the manga, it's about staying true to the reasons why we love DB, while hopefully making it more accessible to the masses.

As for the clothing, the majority of the characters wear clothing that's based on real fashions throughout history. And if everyone can accept the stormtroopers and the Klingons, what is it they have that the Saiyan armor doesn't?

[IAmTheMilkMan]

Sorry, but I'm having trouble following your logic. "Real looking people in suits..?" What does that mean, Marvel and DC characters are easier to adapt because of how they're drawn?

Well, yeah, it definitely helps. Like... a lot.

That's the thing about Marvel/DC movie adaptations, because when you look at all of the comic books they're based on, the art style, throughout all of them, is based in reality. People are drawn to look like real people, and superheroes are drawn to look like real people in costumes with super powers. Even Rocket Raccoon is drawn to look like a real raccoon, albeit a walking and talking one. Even the plots are based in reality, at least to some degree. As outlandish as Marvel/DC stories often get, they're always presented in a "what if this were happening in the real world" kind of way. That, along with the realistic looking artwork, makes the film adaptations much easier to swallow.

Dragon Ball, on the other hand, completely ignores all of that. It is very much a cartoon, and it knows it. It embraces it. Not only does it look like one, but it feels like one, too. It uses cartoon logic, not real world logic. Actually, I'd say the majority of the series' humor comes from embracing its own cartoon-ness. For example, using Master Roshi's bloody nose to reveal the invisible man so that Yamcha can see him at Baba's place? Doesn't get much more cartoon than that. That kind of thing would never happen in a Marvel/DC landscape, and is difficult to adapt into live action in any believable way. Sure, the adapters could write around things like that, but that would be taking away from a lot of what makes Dragon Ball so great. That it is so unabashedly a cartoon is a part of its charm.

So, no, I don't think it's possible to adapt Dragon Ball into a live action setting in any faithful way.

That said, Kami's place looked very cool in this video.

[jjgp1112]

If Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Flash as well as the numerous live action genre films and tv shows can work, so can DB.

My thoughts exactly. If you can pull off a movie with an anthropomorphic fox and a TALKING FUCKING TREE, I think Dragon Ball could be done live action, too.

The way I'd adapt Dragon Ball is starting from the beginning. Go the Path to Power route and jump to the Red Ribbon Arc; personally, I'd make it a composite of the Pilaf and Red Ribbon stuff, with Commander Red being more silly and slapstick-ish like Pilaf so that the whole deal with his wish doesn't come so far out of the left field, and it ends with Goku turning into an ape and all of that stuff. You can even add Krillin to the adventure by having him show up to Master Roshi's island when Goku goes to ask about the Bansho fan. Goku and Krillin then decide to train on Master Roshi's island after the conflict is over.

I'd have the movie end with a scene either before or after the credits of one of the Red Ribbon Army's cast-off's discovering a mysterious rice cooker with the mark of the demon on it.

Now the second movie might be a little more daunting. I'd start it off with a montage of Goku and Krillin's training under Master Roshi, and then the tournament. However, it would follow the 22nd Martial Arts Tournament, with Tien and the Crane Hermit appearing as rivals. Since this movie will obviously be about Piccolo, I'd take a cue from the Buu saga by having Tambourine crash the tournament while it's still going on, and that's how the battle with Piccolo starts. And then the third movie will be about the 23rd tournament, and so on and so forth.

[swimtrunks]

If Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Flash as well as the numerous live action genre films and tv shows can work, so can DB.

My thoughts exactly. If you can pull off a movie with an anthropomorphic fox and a TALKING FUCKING TREE, I think Dragon Ball could be done live action, too.

I disagree because the anthropomorphic Raccoon and talking tree still operate using basic human physics i.e walking, talking, punching, kicking. DBZ would require the flying mechanism in every battle scene and imo that still has yet to be mastered in live action movies. I've seen Man of Steel and I thought their flying special effect was still shoddy.

I agree with theMilkMan. A good comparison of DBZ and Marvel/DC would be Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter. It was easy for Mortal Kombat to adapt to 3d fighting and have a successful live action movie because the characters were made using real people as templates. Street Fighter on the other hand took forever to crossover to 3d. It's live action movie was also a bust.

That's why it's easy for Hollywood to adapt American based properties into live action. Because the characters, no matter how outlandish, are always animated like real people, where as anime is the exact opposite. Hence why Hollywood keeps having trouble adapting them. That's also why Dragon Ball Evolution was whitewashed to resemble a typical American super hero movie like Spider-man. Because anime's visually & story wise just don't follow the western way of storytelling.

[Cabel]

Well, yeah, it definitely helps. Like... a lot.

That's the thing about Marvel/DC movie adaptations, because when you look at all of the comic books they're based on, the art style, throughout all of them, is based in reality. People are drawn to look like real people, and superheroes are drawn to look like real people in costumes with super powers. Even Rocket Raccoon is drawn to look like a real raccoon, albeit a walking and talking one. Even the plots are based in reality, at least to some degree. As outlandish as Marvel/DC stories often get, they're always presented in a "what if this were happening in the real world" kind of way. That, along with the realistic looking artwork, makes the film adaptations much easier to swallow.

Dragon Ball, on the other hand, completely ignores all of that. It is very much a cartoon, and it knows it. It embraces it. Not only does it look like one, but it feels like one, too. It uses cartoon logic, not real world logic. Actually, I'd say the majority of the series' humor comes from embracing its own cartoon-ness. For example, using Master Roshi's bloody nose to reveal the invisible man so that Yamcha can see him at Baba's place? Doesn't get much more cartoon than that. That kind of thing would never happen in a Marvel/DC landscape, and is difficult to adapt into live action in any believable way. Sure, the adapters could write around things like that, but that would be taking away from a lot of what makes Dragon Ball so great. That it is so unabashedly a cartoon is a part of its charm.

So, no, I don't think it's possible to adapt Dragon Ball into a live action setting in any faithful way.

That said, Kami's place looked very cool in this video.

I disagree because the anthropomorphic Raccoon and talking tree still operate using basic human physics i.e walking, talking, punching, kicking. DBZ would require the flying mechanism in every battle scene and imo that still has yet to be mastered in live action movies. I've seen Man of Steel and I thought their flying special effect was still shoddy.

I agree with theMilkMan. A good comparison of DBZ and Marvel/DC would be Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter. It was easy for Mortal Kombat to adapt to 3d fighting and have a successful live action movie because the characters were made using real people as templates. Street Fighter on the other hand took forever to crossover to 3d. It's live action movie was also a bust.

That's why it's easy for Hollywood to adapt American based properties into live action. Because the characters, no matter how outlandish, are always animated like real people, where as anime is the exact opposite. Hence why Hollywood keeps having trouble adapting them. That's also why Dragon Ball Evolution was whitewashed to resemble a typical American super hero movie like Spider-man. Because anime's visually & story wise just don't follow the western way of storytelling.

I don't mean to sound argumentative, but a lot of that comes across as horrible oversimplifications and generalizations. I'm going to try to address everything as organized as I can.

1. Marvel and DC have had literally hundreds of writers and artists reinterpreting and retconing their characters for the better part of a century. Yes some try to be more realistic, but not all of them. I would say the majority of them are just as stylized as Dragon Ball. Different, but just as stylized. It doesn't matter whether the art styles are more this or that. What matters is whether or not the image succeeds in communicating an idea to the audience. You talk about anime as though its this strange code that can't be understood. It's Dragon Ball, not Dostoevsky. Good Guy wants the macguffin, bad guy wants the macguffin. Bad guy tries to keep macguffin from good guy. Good Guy punches bad guy in the face. It can be Goku or Superman, its still a guy punching another guy in the face.

2. The idea that its easy for Hollywood to adapt anything is absurd. If that were the case, they would've been much more successful at it for much longer. Green Lantern should have been amazing, it wasn't. How many tries did it take to finally get a good Captain America movie? Jonah Hex, Spawn, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Punisher, the list goes on. Dragon Ball Evolution wasn't a bad movie because Hollywood tried to adapt an anime. It was a bad movie because 20th Century Fox rushed a low budget production to keep the rights with a C-list director at the helm with a shoddy script and and a mostly miscast cast that either didn't know or care what earned the property its audience in the first place.

3. Just because something as over the top as Roshi spraying blood on an invisible man will probably not make it into a movie doesn't the "cartoon-ness" cant be retained. Its not about recreating every single setup and line of dialogue, its about staying true to the essential core ideas behind the setup. For me, the best humor was always character based. And for me its much more about the tone than it is about the sight gags that make it work. The Marvel films, Kung Fu Hustle, Big Trouble in Little China, Shaw Brothers films, all have a over the top, cartoonish sense of fun in tone. That's as good a starting point as any for Dragon Ball.

Rurouni Kenshin, Lupin the 3rd, had their share of silly moments, but they still made some really good live action movies in my opinion.