Live-Action Dragonball Film Wraps Shooting in Mexico?

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:11 am

When one of the main cast says he will suck and the company doesn't know what it's doing...that is more then humble. That means this movie has a worse fate then the new Hulk movie coming out.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:19 am

So we should base his feelings towards the production solely on this one joke he made about his early impressions, rather than all the praise he's been giving Wong and the team over the last few months, and saying how much he loves playing Piccolo and that he's going to "rock the role harder than anything he's done before?"

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:22 am

NeptuneKai wrote:When one of the main cast says he will suck and the company doesn't know what it's doing...that is more then humble. That means this movie has a worse fate then the new Hulk movie coming out.

Actually, the new Holk movie coming out looks like an actual comic book movie that isn't full of suck and fail. But I understand where you're coming from.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:37 am

SSj Kaboom wrote:So we should base his feelings towards the production solely on this one joke he made about his early impressions, rather than all the praise he's been giving Wong and the team over the last few months, and saying how much he loves playing Piccolo and that he's going to "rock the role harder than anything he's done before?"

You can still love playing a role and "rock it" yet still think yourself to be a ludicrous choice for the character. You can still think the whole production sucks, yet you can still love your fellow actor’s work. Believe me that is exactly how I felt a few summer camps ago when me and my friend were the only teenagers there. I ended up playing Robin hood although I look and can act nothing like Robin Hood but I was the most experienced actor there with the exception of my friend, I was in a camp full of 8 year olds. I thought the script sucked but I still loved doing it.

Artificial Human #887 · Post by **Artificial Human #887** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:38 am

Marsters really leaves me hopeful for this movie. He just seemed so super-ecstatic over the role.

So my expectations are as follows: The movie may or may not suck. But if it does, at least Marsters should have a good performance as Piccolo.

I have yet to determine whether or not I like the other actors enough (sans Chow Yun Fat). Ah well. Only time will tell.

Kunzait_83 · Post by **Kunzait_83** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:36 am

Honestly… I’m morbidly curious about this movie. I’ll admit it… they’ve piqued my interest.

If this were just a year or two ago, I’d be right there with the naysayers. Few people expected less from this movie than I did.

Mind you, everything I’m about to say represents my thoughts based solely on what we know thus far.

I’ll get the negatives out of the way first; thus far, based only on what little we know, Goku appears to be the worst thing this movie has going for it by far. Yes that sucks. Yes he’s the main goddamn character upon which the story all hinges. Yes if he’s as bad as it seems from what tidbits of info we have to go on, it’s gonna kneecap this movie severely. I don’t like the guy they cast as him. From what I gather, most fans seem to agree on that, for one reason or another. Perhaps it’s unfair, seeing as how we haven’t seen the guy in action yet. Time will tell on that. The fact that they’re making Goku a High School student doesn’t help matters at all, and strikes me as the single dumbest and most unnecessary alteration thus far. All the more so seeing as if they really wanted a “high school element” THAT badly, they could have just as easily used Bulma instead.

All that takes care of the negatives.

Apart from the shit revolving around Goku and the high school crap, everything else I’ve heard thus far has honestly surprised the living hell out of me. I’m slack jawed at how much else this movie (apparently) seems to be getting totally RIGHT.

First of all, this is a Dragon Ball movie. No Z in the title. They’re starting this movie off on the absolutely right timeframe. Anyone who feels this is a negative and that this movie needs to dive headlong into Vegeta and Super Saiyans to be any good… well I’ll just say that their idea of a good Dragon Ball movie differs greatly from mine (and many others).

Furthermore the main villain they’re going for is Piccolo Daimao. As in “pissed off old demon lord out to get the Dragon Balls to help conquer Earth”. Evidently rumor has it he’s even going to have demon henchmen similar to Tambourine, Cymbal, etc. Fuck, even Grandpa Gohan’s gonna be in this thing.

All the other casting apart from (maybe) Goku seems to range from either more or less ok, to totally spot on, though admittedly I don’t know Joon Park from a hole in the wall, and neither does anyone else apparently, so we’ll just have to wait and see on him. I really like Emmy Rossum’s look and attitude. I think she’s got the potential to make a perfectly cool Bulma. They’re even letting her have the blue hair from what I recall hearing. Chow Yun Fat as Roshi = A-W-E-S-O-M-E. And I’ve been a James Marsters fan since forever. If you’re not familiar with his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer then I’ll say this much; there’s a good chance that the people on here who aren’t familiar with him and are doubting him are going to be in for one HELL of a surprise.

There are so many parallels between Piccolo and Spike from a character standpoint that it’s ridiculous. James has played this type of role before for YEARS on Buffy. He’s nailed it and then some. Furthermore… he REALLY does bear a remarkable resemblance to Daimao facially. If they do well with the makeup and prosthetics, he’s gonna look fucking badass. He’s also had plenty of martial arts and stunt experience from Buffy. The man can do fight scenes very well. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone better for this role.

Also… Stephen fucking CHOW is gonna be involved in this. If you don’t know who he is or why this is of monumental significance, go watch Kung Fu Hustle and then get back to me.

Also (and I’m amazed that I haven’t seen more people comment on this) it seems so far that FUNimation along with their… “unique”… interpretations of the characters and storyline seem to be kept far the fuck away from this production. If this is indeed the case (as it so far seems to be) then this movie will have that much less baggage weighing it down, and will for my money be all the better for it.

Hell, if it wasn’t for the stupid Goku as a high school student thing, I’d almost be tempted to say that this movie had the potential to be a more faithful adaptation than the actual English dub of the anime. They're already ten steps ahead of the English dub on the Piccolo end of things by NOT tapdancing around the whole demon thing. And of course by casting someone in the role who can actually act...

Beyond what I just went over, we honestly don’t know much. Fox is keeping a huge lid on this, meaning it’s either turning out to be an embarrassment of Ishtar proportions, or they feel that they have something really special on their hands. I highly doubt it’s something in between.

Thinking back on my first thoughts on what I expected this movie was gonna turn out to be… I’m very happy to see that so far I seem to have been proven mostly very wrong.

I’m NOT guaranteeing that this movie is gonna totally rock the house or anything. It could still VERY easily suck. It’s very likely that we’ll eventually get wind of more stupid or needless alterations to the characters or story beyond the high school thing before long.

We won’t have a better idea until we start finally seeing screencaps and trailers, and obviously we won’t know for certain until this thing gets released. But so far as of right now, from the tiny scraps of info they’re giving us… I’m pleasantly surprised and quietly hopeful.

This will no doubt change for better or for worse when the (inevitable) marketing blitz hits. But until then…

VEGETA_DTX · Post by **VEGETA_DTX** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:16 pm

NeptuneKai wrote:When one of the main cast says he will suck and the company doesn't know what it's doing...that is more then humble. That means this movie has a worse fate then the new Hulk movie coming out.

Absolutely...

I am even sure that if you would ask him secretly "shhhh hey, James, what do you HONESTLY think of all this chatwin, you and movie stuff...?" he would answer - "To be honest I think this all suck as hell, and it shouldn't be made" that's how I believe he'd say...

And NeptunKai is right, you can be excited about something while, in the same time, realizing that it suck badly...

And don't forget that we live in the time where when some actor refuses a role, he freely can forget about his actor career...though personally I would never swollow my pride...especially not for the money and career...

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:27 pm

Kendamu wrote:
NeptuneKai wrote:When one of the main cast says he will suck and the company doesn't know what it's doing...that is more then humble. That means this movie has a worse fate then the new Hulk movie coming out.
Actually, the new Holk movie coming out looks like an actual comic book movie that isn't full of suck and fail. But I understand where you're coming from.

The advertisement for the damn movie is an epic failz. I really hope the new Hulk film gets a positive reception from a huge audience. I mean come on, Edward Norton! A 30 minute final battle sequence! ..Let's hope Dragonball doesn't suffer the same lack of advertisement as it nears it's release.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:43 pm

VEGETA_DTX wrote: I am even sure that if you would ask him secretly "shhhh hey, James, what do you HONESTLY think of all this Chatwin, you and movie stuff...?" he would answer - "To be honest I think this all suck as hell, and it shouldn't be made" that's how I believe he'd say

What in the world would make you think that? He's been raving for months about how much he loves working on the movie and deeply enjoys portraying Piccolo, his favorite character.

Amidst an entire speech about it, he makes one tiny self-deprecating joke about his own talent, which we know is bull because he's been actively and brilliantly playing sinister, Piccolo-like villain characters for years, and that there's likely very few people out there who could do it better than him.

But you (and a bunch of equally ignorant people) take that one tiny little joke, and jump the gun to assume that it means he secretly hates the movie, just like you do?

That's not opinion, that's just ridiculous. Sounds like nothing but desperate wishful thinking to me. Mr. Marsters is extremely pleased about the movie and one of its biggest supporters within the cast, and you're desperate to find any way to twist that into something negative.

Go read Kunzait's post, because he apparently thinks before he rants. Aside from the unnecessary little high school factor (and possibly Chatwin portraying Goku, though we don't know much at all about that yet), this movie has a LOT going for it. Though I suppose none of it will matter to you, since they couldn't get 2D actors.

omegacwa · Post by **omegacwa** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:50 pm

The Hulk movies current lack of advertising has to do with Louis Lettier or whatever the director's name is not being satisfied yet with the CGI stuff. He said he didn't want to start the advertising campaign until it looks almost as good as it will look in the final film.

VEGETA_DTX Wrote:
"And don't forget that we live in the time where when some actor refuses a role, he freely can forget about his actor career...though personally I would never swallow my pride...especially not for the money and career..."

Dude, what are you talking about. Actors refuse roles all the time and nobody gives a damn. Their careers go on like nothing happened. And what is all this pride bullshit. You know for a fact that if someone offered you a role in a big hollywood movie for hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions, you would jump on that. Even if you didn't quite agree with the character or plot. I know I would, cause I am not a moron.
We only live once, and If I have to do something that I might not agree with in my every day life, in order to secure my financial future and protect my family from poverty and what not, I would.

Also, that video of James Marsters is from a while ago, before filming even began if I am correct, as quotes from that were used in magazines and articles months ago. And he was obviously joking with what he said. It's called being humble and making fun of yourself, people do it everyday.

Anyway, I am going to see this movie no matter what. I mean honestly, how bad could it possibly be. Well, I guess it could be Super Mario Bros. THE MOVIE bad. But lets try to stay positive.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:06 pm

Snail wrote:
Kendamu wrote:
NeptuneKai wrote:When one of the main cast says he will suck and the company doesn't know what it's doing...that is more then humble. That means this movie has a worse fate then the new Hulk movie coming out.
Actually, the new Holk movie coming out looks like an actual comic book movie that isn't full of suck and fail. But I understand where you're coming from.
The advertisement for the damn movie is an epic failz. I really hope the new Hulk film gets a positive reception from a huge audience. I mean come on, Edward Norton! A 30 minute final battle sequence! ..Let's hope Dragonball doesn't suffer the same lack of advertisement as it nears it's release.

Lack-of-advertising a bad movie does not make. [/Yoda]

VEGETA_DTX · Post by **VEGETA_DTX** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:51 pm

@Kaboom, honestly I think YOU are the one who desperately want to create some optimism that simply fails in my eyes...

And I am still pretty sure it was not a Joke and that he and his son really think that it suck....but ok I may be wrong, it's just my thinking

@omegacwa,

Dude, what are you talking about. Actors refuse roles all the time and nobody gives a damn. Their careers go on like nothing happened.

I don't know but it happened many times that actor refused a role, and after that he was never invited to any movie again...But ok I am not speaking for sure I am really not experienced with actor careers and such(and I am glad about it)

And what is all this pride bullshit. You know for a fact that if someone offered you a role in a big hollywood movie for hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions, you would jump on that. Even if you didn't quite agree with the character or plot. I know I would, cause I am not a moron.

Well YOU would! I would NOT!
And if today's definition of moron is "person who understand what pride means" than that's really sad IMO

Anonymous Friend · Post by **Anonymous Friend** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:03 pm

I'm not sure if Marsters could be considered A List or not but I know of one, maybe two, movies he's been in as well as Buffy and Angel with the guest role on Smallville. Then he has a couple of UK shows that he's featured in. I don't think he's at a point in his career where he needs to take roles for the money and I'm not sure of that many actors that would take roles in projects where they have no faith in the production (unless they need the money). There are also many instances where actor audition for roles but the director or producer cast them in a different role. They may very well believe that they would be better suited for something else.

As for actors turning down roles, there are many, many instances where an actor turns down a roles in a movie and the movie becomes huge. The first one to mind is Will Smith turning down the role in The Matrix where he was quoted saying:

"You know, The Matrix is a difficult concept to pitch. In the pitch, I just didn't see it. I watched Keanu's performance - and very rarely do I say this - but I would have messed it up. I would have absolutely messed up The Matrix. At that point I wasn't smart enough as an actor to let the movie be. Whereas Keanu was smart enough to just let it be. Let the movie and the director tell the story, and don't try and perform every moment."

From http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/smith_pr.html

Steven Perry · Post by **Steven Perry** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:14 pm

Stephen. Chow.

Yes, that is why I have high hopes for this film. And it's why you should too.

And if that weren't enough... we've got the people who worked on THE MATRIX, 300, SIN CITY, and FIGHT CLUB. End of dispute.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:22 pm

Steven Perry wrote:
And if that weren't enough... we've got the people who worked on THE MATRIX, 300, SIN CITY, and FIGHT CLUB. End of dispute.

Two out of four isn't bad I guess. I'm not saying this movie will be bad but I am saying it looks like a ton of phail right now. Although we haven't seen much so there you go.

Post by **desirecampbell** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:35 pm

Steven Perry wrote:And if that weren't enough... we've got the people who worked on THE MATRIX, 300, SIN CITY, and FIGHT CLUB. End of dispute.

"Mien Fuhrer, are you sure about all this? I mean, can it work?"
"What? We got the people who worked on Hugo Boss, Volkswagen, IBM, Bayer, and even the multi-industrial giant Siemens! End of dispute. "

*nervous eyes*

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:14 pm

desirecampbell wrote:"Mien Fuhrer, are you sure about all this? I mean, can it work?"
"What? We got the people who worked on Hugo Boss, Volkswagen, IBM, Bayer, and even the multi-industrial giant Siemens! End of dispute. "

*nervous eyes*

The King Tiger was a fuckton of tank, though. Once a US Sherman came upon one and shot it in the side. The shell ricocheted straight up off the Tiger's armor. The Sherman wisely ran for its life before the Tiger could turn around.

Corson D. Burly · Post by **Corson D. Burly** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:10 pm

This movie makes me want to cry.

Velasa · Post by **Velasa** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:44 pm

Rocketman wrote: I really don't think anything they could possibly do would gain your approval if you're ragging on James Marsters.

I know, I sound kinda horrible there (the proper word's bitch actually). I really get caught up with it because it's Pic, and he's been the center of my fandom for the last eight years > >

I haven't watched Buffy or the later part of Smallville so I don't have a preexisting attachment to him like a lot of people I know. Though maybe to be a bit less of a bitch, I didn't mean that he's a bad actor in general, just that I'm unimpressed with the idea of this guy as Piccolo. Maybe he could pull out something diffrent now that it looks like it's gonna be Daimaou and he's not as complicated as his son. And working as Daimaou first could make it easier to understand Pic's mind, or so I've gotta hope when I can hope about all of this.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:50 am

I feel the same way about who they chose to play Goku. He's the character who got me into the show and seeing this guy chosen to act the part...it just feels like he doesn't reach the expectations I have in my mind for how a real life Goku should look. (I imagine some ripped, tanned, handsome, tall guy in the vein of the ancient Greek or Roman gods) so Chatwin's a real letdown for me in that department.

I know those sound like echoed, shallow thoughts from my teenage years, but I can't help it, my initial impression of Goku was of him kicking the Ginyu Forces' collective rear ends, I expect him to in real life at least look badass enough to do that.

I guess I'll have to see how he looks in a trailer or screenshot of the actual movie before I can make a real decision.