Acid_Reign wrote:And really, what exactly is so far-fetched about expecting a movie to resemble its source material? Are we supposed to wipe our minds clean of any previous familiarity we have with a property, merely because it’s being adapted for the screen? Think about that for a second. Film is really just another method of storytelling; it serves the exact same purpose as Television, comics, novels, or verbal exchange. There is nothing inherent about the medium that mandates fucking with established characters and plot, save maybe time constraints. But can you honestly say with a straight face that every change they’ve made to this was because of time constraints?
I think I've pegged what my problem is with with a lot of the negativity (problem in principle, not with you or anyone in particular). There are dozens of films that I love, that are adaptations of things like Dragon Ball. And and a number of these are generally considered good, or at least tolerable for what they were, by the fans. I can't think of a single comic book or video game or cartoon adaptation that isn't a departure from the source material. Books are a mixed bag too. The degree of the departure differs, but there's always something.
You kind of get this feeling, reading these topics, that people just want a shot for shot recreation of the series. A lot of people say this doesn't have the spirit of the series (how we know that from 40 or so seconds of no-audio bootleg footage, is beyond me), but some people have bashed the Spiderman films in these threads too. Those films do stay, for the most part, thematically similar. They alter plenty of events significantly, but the heart is there. Pete's still the dork who can't catch a break, except for the whole super powers thing. Norman was still the driven scientist and businessman who who, due to an untested experiment, ended up flying around in green intent on torturing Spiderman. His son was still Peter's best friend turned worst enemy, redeemed before his death. Eddie Brock was a crock photographer and rival that Peter got fired, who bonded in church with the symbiote and sought revenge. These are major elements that more or less are present in both.
In Dragon Ball, it seems like most of the major plot points are there, and we're holding out to see the impact the alterations to the other stuff has. But I can't see how the changes I've read about so far are any worse than the X-Men film series. And those certainly seemed to do well. And you know what? Wolverine may not have worn yellow spandex, been 5'4, had hair that stuck up 8 inches to either side above his head, had claws extend from between his fingers as opposed to above the knuckles, and had no knowledge of Lady Deathstryke... but Hugh Jackman *is* Wolverine, and he owns that role.
Acid, you said "Film is really just another method of storytelling; it serves the exact same purpose as Television, comics, novels, or verbal exchange. There is nothing inherent about the medium that mandates fucking with established characters and plot, save maybe time constraints."
I guess what I'm asking is for one example. What is this mythical 100% panel for panel recreation comic or game or cartoon adaptation? And if we had such a thing... couldn't really just go watch our DVDs? Or play the games with the recreation cutscenes?
Pretty much every comic or game to movie, tv to movie, or movie to tv adaptation I've ever seen has undergone changes in the process. Many of them are still pretty good in their own right. The way I see it, this movie could be pretty decent with cool fights, or it could be an utter suckfest. But a lot of people have been crying foul since the announcement that a movie was even being made.
Kunzait_83 wrote:Yeah, plus most of us here, let’s face it already know the whole goddamn story anyway. Hell, some of us have vast chunks of the (properly translated Japanese) dialogue committed to memory.
Different strokes on this one, I suppose. Dialogue is an important part of my enjoyment of a show. I watch RAW if I have to. Like currently, it takes about a week before Kamen Rider Kiva eps are subbed. Sometimes I'll watch a raw upload to get my "fix," and then re-watch when the sub goes up.
To put it another way, I know a most of Pulp Fiction word for word. However, if I came across it on Telemundo, I probably wouldn't linger for more than 5 minutes. Just because I know what's being said doesn't mean I want to spend the whole experience mentally filling in the blanks.
Not to mention, you know guys like Hamtarucard and myself are constantly using our DVDs to get our friends into these shows. Importing raw anime would turn the "expand everyone's horizons" experience into a "look at my uber-hardcore elitist collection" moment.
Plus y’know, there are whole threads on here dedicated to explaining how you can transfer Simmons’ subtitles onto the Dragonbox DVDs. So it’s not like it’s impossible to have your cake and eat it to. I think it’s safe to say that if the Dragonboxes were more widely and readily available at a more reasonable price, we’d ALL probably be doing this (which makes me wonder why Toei doesn’t re-release them at an affordable price; they’d probably still make a mint on them).
Well that just sounds too much like work :p
Might as well download those subbed Dragon Box rips and burn 'em to DVD.
To show my appreciation, I'll only beat them half to death.
