Dragonball Movie to Do Reshoots

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:00 pm

Thank you! I'm glad someone else sees this the way I do. It'll be just like Speed Racer! Hey, quick poll, who actually enjoyed Speed Racer? Yeah, I don't think there are enough crickets in the world to give me the precise answer.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:04 pm

I really wonder what the prediction is from the studio as to how many people are going to see this...

I like Speed Racer...

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:05 pm

I wanted to see Speed Racer, but never got around to doing so. All my friends who saw it said they loved it.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:06 pm

R...really? Well at least in Speed Racer, he was a race car driver and it had pretty much all his characters. Dragon Ball has nothing going for it. All it has is seven Dragon Balls and a tournament...or something.

Sprite Satan · Post by **Sprite Satan** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:12 pm

It doesn't matter either way. Some fans of the old Speed Racer went to see it, some neutrals went to see it. Some even liked it. It still bombed.

An animé audience isn't large enough to earn a hundred million dollar (at least) blockbuster movie a profit. Not even if every Dragon Ball fan in the United States went to see it.

It could win 20 Oscars and it will still bomb.

And at least Speed Racer kept the plot basically the same. You could change the names and terms in the movie and I'd have no idea it was about Dragon Ball.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:13 pm

Super Sonic wrote:Or some want to see how it's re-imagined.

Here. I like re-imaginings of stuff like this. It's especially fun when you've gotten so ingrained with and used to the original stuff that you're dying for a new twist on it.

TheGreatness25 wrote:Hey, quick poll, who actually enjoyed Speed Racer?.

Here. Loved it. It's out on DVD now, and I don't know why I haven't grabbed it yet.

Sprite Satan wrote:And make no mistake about it, regardless of quality, this movie will bomb hard. No-one who's not a Dragon Ball nut will bother with it. The Dragon Ball community that would watch it is small enough to not matter (and even if 100% of us went, it still wouldn't turn a profit). There will be no sequel.

Prove it? Please? Last I checked, the changes being made are specifically for the purpose of appealing to non-fan audiences. The only people I've heard complain about the movie are people on the internet with nothing better to do; everyone else "in real life" I mention it to just says, "DragonBall movie? Neat."

TheGreatness25 wrote:1) Goku goes to high school
2) Nimbus is a yellow sports car
3) Roshi is a serious martial arts teacher
4) It looks like Mortal Kombat status
5) What the hell is Mai doing in there with no Shu or Pilaf...and with Piccolo?
6) Goku's in high school!

1) Big whoop.
2) Since when is it "movie-Kinto'un?" Are people not allowed to drive cars in the movie?
3) Manga-Roshi is plenty serious when it comes to teaching martial arts. Toning down his sexual predator-esque humor does not somehow make Movie-Roshi a terrible character. Also, Chow Yun-Fat.
4) What? How so?
5) In case you've forgotten, Pilaf and company did work for Piccolo. Since the movie has a more realistic tone, they've kept and improved upon the one out of the three that wasn't an anthropomorphic dog dressed like a ninja or the squat little blue troll dressed like a clown.
6) Big whoop.

There's quite a difference between having some problems with the couple bad parts and outright ignoring the more numerous good. I could make a nice list of all the things retained from the original AND all the movie's improvements over it, if anyone would like me to.

EDIT:

Sprite Satan wrote:It doesn't matter either way. Some fans of the old Speed Racer went to see it, some neutrals went to see it. Some even liked it. It still bombed.

Speed Racer's downfall was not by any fault of the movie itself. It wasn't financially successful because it had the much bigger Iron Man to compete with.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:22 pm

Oh yeah? What's good about the movie? And it does look like Mortal Kombat with monks witting around and that shot of Chi-Chi stretching on what looks like a ring. It reminds me of Mortal Kombat. And, sorry, but what prophecy?! "Roshi" says something about a prophecy in the trailer, what damn prophecy? Did I miss something? "Goku... You are the one." "Really? The one to do what?" "Collect all seven Dragon Balls." "And then what?" "Well...they must be united to save the world." "Oh... Nice."

What good is in this movie? Piccolo looks cool. The chick playing Chi-Chi is hot... You know, the one who's a whore for Reality TV time? Yeah. The guy who plays Yamcha looks cool... Other than that... I can't think of a thing. The costumes are crap, Goku's hair is the single funniest thing I've seen in a live action movie, and to top it all off, he says, "I'm not ready for this." When did Goku ever say anything like that? That goes against everything that he is!

Just in case you don't know about the movie, let me give you a little catch-up from some site I found (not one of those, "Goldberg will play Nappa" sites). Goku goes to school and has some friend. Chi-Chi has some friend. So their whole thing will be some high school romance crap. Goku has 2 bullies. Wow. 2 bullies... Goku has bullies... Yeah.

Tell me anything that looks good from that movie. Please do.

omegacwa · Post by **omegacwa** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:23 pm

First of all, all the people saying that they are doing re-shoots do to "horrible response to the official trailer" clearly have no idea what they are talking about.
First, the trailer was never official, It was never released on any real Trailer website, either apple trailers or Yahoo movies, or, um any real site.

Second, almost every movie that still has months before it's release does second unit and pick up shots, you know, before the fucking movie comes out.

Third, WHY THEY HELL is everyone getting so pissed about this. This is normal stuff that happens with tons of movie, you just don't know about it because you don't follow it as closely, or at all.

I, like everyone else, should just wait for the real trailer, you know, the one they will show with a movie. And then maybe, you can make a real opinion, but I am still waiting to see the damn thing before I register a judgment, which really is the only way to have a valid opinion about it anyway.

Sprite Satan · Post by **Sprite Satan** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:27 pm

SSj Kaboom wrote:Prove it? Please? Last I checked, the changes being made are specifically for the purpose of appealing to non-fan audiences. The only people I've heard complain about the movie are people on the internet with nothing better to do; everyone else "in real life" I mention it to just says, "DragonBall movie? Neat."

So what? They don't have to make people go "Neat.", a phrase which means anything from a lack of dust to complete indifference. They have to pursuade people to part with their money to watch it. Enough people to overturn a 100,000,000 dollar (at least!) budget and movies traditionally have to make at least 150% of that to turn a real profit.

Are there enough US Dragon Ball fans, and willing-to-pay interested non-fans to earn this movie at least 150 million dollars?

SSj Kaboom wrote:Speed Racer's downfall was not by any fault of the movie itself. It wasn't financially successful because it had the much bigger Iron Man to compete with.

Entirely, 100%? I'm sure the almost entirely negative reviews and low expectations from everyone but the movie studio didn't affect it at all. And yet the execs still had it go head to head with Iron Man, despite this being so obviously all it's fault? Obviously either they're idiots (probably, they commissioned it) or they thought it would do well against Iron Man and it didn't (so... they're idiots).

At least Dragon Ball has been moved to ensure lesser competition, I'll give it that.

omegacwa · Post by **omegacwa** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:30 pm

Honestly Speed Racer bombed because no one likes speed racer, fact.

MisterFlashdude · Post by **MisterFlashdude** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:39 pm

SSj Kaboom wrote:Prove it?

TheGreatness25 wrote:Oh yeah?

omegacwa wrote:I, like everyone else, should just...

Aw, we've doomed the thread to closure already? How sad...

Bardock the Mexican · Post by **Bardock the Mexican** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:57 pm

The bit about Tibetan and Nepalese shows that they are at least knowledgeable of the fact that this is a Chinese epic and are attepting to bring in some things that would be nearby and thus familiar to a Chinese setting. I want to believe that they will make it a little better than last time.

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:32 pm

Sprite Satan wrote:
SSj Kaboom wrote:
SSj Kaboom wrote:Speed Racer's downfall was not by any fault of the movie itself. It wasn't financially successful because it had the much bigger Iron Man to compete with.
Entirely, 100%? I'm sure the almost entirely negative reviews and low expectations from everyone but the movie studio didn't affect it at all. And yet the execs still had it go head to head with Iron Man, despite this being so obviously all it's fault? Obviously either they're idiots (probably, they commissioned it) or they thought it would do well against Iron Man and it didn't (so... they're idiots).

At least Dragon Ball has been moved to ensure lesser competition, I'll give it that.

That's what happened with Star Trek Nemesis. Had it came out a month or 2 earlier, might've done ok, instead of being blasted away by Two Towers.

Raki · Post by **Raki** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:54 pm

omegacwa wrote:Honestly Speed Racer bombed because no one likes speed racer, fact.

Not true at all. The film should have been released like a decade ago.

JAPPO · Post by **JAPPO** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:09 pm

Most people still want goku to turn SSJ in this movie and fight Vegeta... so I think that's why Fox doesn't listen to us, since most "fans" haven't even seen the correct series...

Then of course there's the people who make stuff up to support their claims. Nimbus is a yellow car? Um, WHAT? No. Where in the world did you come up with that bullshit?

Post by **Herms** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:10 pm

Tatsunoboshi Horoko wrote:I really wouldn't be surprised if they were taking tan-skinned people who come to their audition speaking semi-convincing Asian gibberish. (Though, it would be a nice throwback to Dr. Slump, at the very least.)

屁?! 胴四手突詰葉子野正藻内映画二出流死科?!

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:18 pm

Are there enough US Dragon Ball fans, and willing-to-pay interested non-fans to earn this movie at least 150 million dollars?

Yes. DragonBall fans are a very small portion of the population. Aside from DragonBall and anime fans who will see it, there are plenty of other people who will just recognize the name, see a good martial arts / fantasy movie, and go see it. People do not care about the original series as much as we do, for good or bad. They will not be "offended" like so many of us are.

TheGreatness25 wrote:Tell me anything that looks good from that movie. Please do.

Sure. I guarantee there won't be anything in here I and others haven't repeatedly pointed out already, though.

Same as the Manga

- The story is set in a world with a society that is simultaneously futuristic and mystical. There's advanced cities and technology right alongside demons, aliens, ki-using martial artists, and ancient artifacts. (the only difference is that the "normal" population is composed of only humans, doing away with more childish elements such as animal-people and Pilaf-like creatures)
- The mystical set of seven DragonBalls, when gathered, can be used to summon a dragon god who will grant the summoner a wish.
- Goku is a Saiyan, sent to Earth to "destroy all humans" but is instead raised by the kindly old martal arts master Gohan, making him into a kindhearted, adventurous, heroic, but somewhat naive and socially awkward boy. He's got his natural-born Saiyan strength, drive, and appetite. (Whether or not we have anything pertaining to his "programming" being erased by head trauma remains yet to be seen)
- Piccolo is a Namekian who came to Earth eons ago, and after having some conflict with humanity and labled as a demon king, was sealed away by Roshi's former master. (We have no info so far as to Piccolo's relation to Kami or any similar character) He seeks to and succeeds in using the DragonBalls to restore his youth, in order to take revenge upon the ones who opposed him and conquer the world.
- Chi-Chi has known Goku since their childhood, and has romantic feelings for him, which go largely unrequited at first due to Goku's ignorance. She is a strong martial artist in her own right. (we have no info as for her social standing or family so far)
- Bulma is an ambitious, brainy young woman after the DragonBalls, with a flirtatious nature.
- Roshi is a wise, powerful, seemingly-immortal martial arts master, and was Grandpa Gohan's master. He trains Goku (directly or indirectly teaching him the Kamehameha), and eventually dies attempting to fight/seal away Piccolo.
-Yamcha is a resourceful desert bandit who easily attracts women (we don't know yet whether he has the same difficulty dealing with them yet) antagonizes Goku and Bulma's group at first, but later teams up with them against a common enemy. He gets romantically involved with Bulma.

Improvements over the manga

- Goku starts off the story already a teenager, instead of a young boy. Probably better than having a child actor try to portray Goku's completely naive, clueless, innocent young self. Instead, we're getting a teenage Goku probably more akin to his 23rd Budokai self, who's a little older, and SLIGHTLY more wise to the ways of the world. Much easier a character to work with.

- Piccolo reveals Goku's Saiyan heritage, and plays to it's "born to fight" nature by proposing Goku join him in conquest. This does two big, good things. It gets such an important plot point worked into the story at a much earlier and more appropriate point, while also eliminating need for Raditz, a small, one-shot, throwaway character. It also creates an extra, juicy layer of delicious drama between the movie's hero and the villain.

- Likewise, Piccolo is the one responsible for Gohan's death. This conveniently serves to not only get the plot of the movie going, but also gets Goku personally involved. Two birds with one stone out of an old plot point (Gohan dying) that was initially meaningless.

- Goku is a little less blindly confident than he normally is in the series. I know I may get lynched for suggesting this as an improvement, but looking at it from a story-telling standpoint, it works. Just because as a character, Goku is ambitious, excitable, and enjoys improving himself, doesn't mean he's stupid. In any given story, it's normal and appropriate for even the otherwise ambitious and optimistic hero to have some doubts when the odds are stacked against him, and even the original Goku has felt that way before. If there's no sense of doubt or uncertainty in a conflict, then it's boring. But this does NOT mean the character in question has been reduced to some mopey wimp. NOTHING suggests Goku has been.

- This movie has no "wasted" characters, which was a big fault of the original series. Characters that were originally useless or feeble have been made a little more self-dependent. Particularly Bulma and Mai. The changes made to these characters for the movie are NOT detrimental.

The former is shaping up to be still plenty as spunky, smart, and resourceful as her original self. 'Cept now, she's also good with guns. That's an improvement. She's still smart, and it's gonna be kickass if she gets to put those brains of hers to some tactical use. It'd be hilarious to see her and Yamcha defending themselves against a horde of Fulum, and Bulma actually saving Yamcha's skin once or twice. I'm looking forward to the idea of her and Chi-Chi possibly teaming up against Mai.

As for Mai herself, she's probably the character with which the most liberty has been taken, but it's by no means a bad thing. Like I said earlier:
SSj Kaboom wrote:Pilaf and company did work for Piccolo. Since the movie has a more realistic tone, they've kept and improved upon the one out of the three that wasn't an anthropomorphic dog dressed like a ninja or the squat little blue troll dressed like a clown.
They could have just as easily done away with anything related to Pilaf altogether, by having some other character release and work for him, or not involve anyone else at all. But they didn't. They tried to keep some essence or member of Pilaf's crew involved, and Mai seems the obvious choice.

Mai as she was in the series is completely useless (even WITH a mecha). So they made her kick ass, and it seems they worked some elements from other characters into her. She's been made a powerful, confident assasin in the vein of Tao Pai Pai, and had shapeshifting powers tossed in there, not only because they're cool and fitting for a ninja, but since without animal-people, we won't see Oolong or Puar doing it.

- Piccolo uses a sword. Kick. Ass. It's about the only way the character (EITHER version) could be made any more bodacious. I'm expecting a "Goku w/ Nyoi-Bo" vs "Piccolo w/ sword" battle out of this. Please don't disappoint me, Mr. Wong.

On the fence / Unknown

- Goku undergoes some sort of quasi-Ozaru transformation at some point. We haven't seen images of it, nor do we have enough details to draw any conclusions about it. We also don't know when or how it factors into the story. All we know for sure is that it's not as physically large as the original Ozaru.

- We have two vague new story elements:
1) An eclipse. This may have something to do with releasing Piccolo, or it may have a more "traditional" role as far as lunar activity is concerned in DragonBall and have some effect on Goku. We don't know yet.
2) Some "prophecy." Again, we don't know who made it, when it was made, or what it refers to. Odds are it has to do with Piccolo, since if he gets released, it's almost guaranteed to be the end of the world. In which case it might not end up being so much a prophecy as a "warning" from back when Mutaito sealed ol' pointy-ears away.

There we go. I didn't go into character designs or appearances, since they're to be expected to some degree or another, and at the end of the day anything that can be said about them is just opinion.

omegacwa wrote:Honestly Speed Racer bombed because no one likes speed racer, fact.

Sooooo NOT fact. My dad has been a big Speed Racer fan since he was little (he literally RAN home from school every day so he could watch it), he taught me everything I know about the show. I know several other "older guys" and my church and elsewhere who are the same way, and the response was completely positive across the board. It was a great movie, both in itself AND to the "Speed Racer" name, fact. It's lack of success was a matter of poor timing, not quality. Though I'm glad it got made when it did. Ten years ago, they couldn't have made the movie look or feel anywhere NEAR as fantastic as it ended up.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:45 pm

Are there enough US Dragon Ball fans, and willing-to-pay interested non-fans to earn this movie at least 150 million dollars?

Yes.

Kingdom Heartless · Post by **Kingdom Heartless** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:12 am

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor made $403,701,015. It's not really that relevant, but I thought it was worth noting in a discussion about big budget movies that aren't great. (Not that I'm saying Dragonball will be bad).

If they show a lot of cool effects and stuff, then who knows how well it can do? I'd say it could go either way. It will mostly rely on how cool the trailer is, I think.

TheGreatness25 · Post by **TheGreatness25** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:14 am

Whoa. Firstly, how do you know that about the movie? You don't know all that stuff, and it certainly cannot be seen by the trailer or the pictures. As for having to gather seven Dragon Balls...yeah. That is the ENTIRE point of the story.

And Goku starts off as a 12 year old, going on 13 when he fights in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Technically teenager. And by the time he fights King Piccolo, or especially Piccolo Jr... Yeah.