Dragon Ball: Evolution- Speculation and Discussion

Dr. Casey · Post by **Dr. Casey** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:47 pm

omegacwa wrote:or maybe it's just done that way to look "OMG HARDCORE".

I wouldn't be surprised one bit. That's about as much thought as seems to have been placed in every other element of the movie.

omegacwa · Post by **omegacwa** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:45 pm

Personally I think we are all going to end up pleasantly surprised by this movie.

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:53 pm

Hopefully. I kinda feel like that too now. I think people will walk away from it saying "You know it actually wasn't that bad. Not the best adaptation but it was decent." I mean it already looks better than Super Mario, Street Fighter, Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four. I know that's not saying much but...>_>

Innagadadavida · Post by **Innagadadavida** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:13 pm

Super Mario was a genius movie, sir.

Tsukento · Post by **Tsukento** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:15 pm

omegacwa wrote:Personally I think we are all going to end up pleasantly surprised by this movie.

Personally, I don't think so.

The newest trailer still doesn't grab me. The theme certainly doesn't feel Dragon Ball-like, either. Just everything about the movie doesn't make me want to see it because what I see is a really poor kung-fu movie with CG thrown around. I don't see a movie that resembles Dragon Ball in any shape or form.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:28 pm

Chrono Trigger wrote:Hopefully. I kinda feel like that too now. I think people will walk away from it saying "You know it actually wasn't that bad. Not the best adaptation but it was decent." I mean it already looks better than Super Mario, Street Fighter, Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four. I know that's not saying much but...>_>

Screw you, I liked Ghost Rider.

Sebastian (SB) · Post by **Sebastian (SB)** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:30 pm

I'm probably not alone in this, but I'm just not use to seeing a different take on the Dragon Ball universe at all. It just all seems like a bad dream that I can't wake up from to me. Maybe because I'm just not use to the fact that a Japanese property very well rooted in Asian mythology being furthered Americanized by an American company, retold, and marketed for the fighting with no real homage or reference to Toriyama's style of storytelling & characterization (See Son Goku or "Chatku" in this case), and very typical B-rated kung fu story elements ("You are the one". "This is your destiny" etc.,)

Sure, the props, major plot points, the visuals in fighting, and special effects seem to be there, but that's about all I can recognize. I realize it may seem selfish, but after being use to seeing Dragon Ball exclusive to forms of Japanese media (Anime, Manga, Video Games) while storytelling, characterization, and unique visuals done all in the style of one author for the past 20+ years, I guess I'm just baffled by it all. I want to enjoy it fully, but at the same time, I just don't see none of the Toriyama or some warmth and familiarity of the source material in it. Yeah, there's Piccolo, Goku, Dragon Balls, Shenlong, etc., but none of it feels right to me. It's like a bunch of the Hollywood staff just popped in some episodes of the series. Cool! Fighting! Alright MARKETABLE!!!$$$ without knowing any of the actual history and influence it had all over the world, let alone that it all started with a weekly comic serial ("Dragon Ball? OH YEAH, I heard of that cartoon!!!$$$).

I think that sums up about how I'm looking at all this based of what we've been shown. Perhaps, my mind will be more at ease when I actually see the movie at some point in time, but I don't think it's likely.

JAPPO · Post by **JAPPO** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:38 pm

They aren't morons, they research the properties they own. And seeing as Akira Toriyama is an executive producer and the director was in constant contact with him, I'd say they do know the source material.

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:38 pm

Innagadadavida wrote:Super Mario was a genius movie, sir.

Well I don't know about that but it's certainly a movie!

Rocketman wrote:Screw you, I liked Ghost Rider.

I mean it was ok but very forgettable. I'm never gonna be like "Man I wanna watch Ghost Rider again!" but then again I really don't like a lot of super hero movies. The only good ones to me are Batman, The Dark Knight, Spiderman 2, and X-men 2. The rest are just cheesy or awful. I think Dragon Ball will be better than most of those movies. That's just me though.

MorningBreeze · Post by **MorningBreeze** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:43 pm

If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie??

JAPPO · Post by **JAPPO** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:44 pm

MorningBreeze wrote:If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie??

Absolutely?

Taku128 · Post by **Taku128** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:47 pm

MorningBreeze wrote:If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie??

Yes. It looks different and unique from other movies (Don't see many movies with people flying and shooting energy from their hands, aside from Iron Man >_>), and though it's missing some of the qualities of Dragon Ball, I wouldn't know that if I wasn't a fan of the series.

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:48 pm

MorningBreeze wrote:If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie?

I think my opinion on this movie is biased because it is Dragon Ball. This is the first time I've ever followed the production of a movie so closely. If I wasn't a fan then I probably wouldn't be as interested but who knows.

Sebastian (SB) · Post by **Sebastian (SB)** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:52 pm

JAPPO wrote:They aren't morons, they research the properties they own. And seeing as Akira Toriyama is an executive producer and the director was in constant contact with him, I'd say they do know the source material.

Again, this is all my perspective on how I've seen and perceived these things based on trailers alone. I'm not all over the movie like you are. I know I could be wrong, but in the meantime, this is how I've seen it. I'm pretty sure my generalization is way out of proportion, but that's yet to be seen. Thus hence, I realized I may be selfish as said in before post. Thank You

Tsukento · Post by **Tsukento** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:52 pm

Taku128 wrote:
MorningBreeze wrote:If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie??
Yes. It looks different and unique from other movies (Don't see many movies with people flying and shooting energy from their hands, aside from Iron Man >_>), and though it's missing some of the qualities of Dragon Ball, I wouldn't know that if I wasn't a fan of the series.

A little movie called "Push" is coming out soon and looks better than this.

MorningBreeze · Post by **MorningBreeze** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:01 pm

If I weren't such a huge Dragon Ball fan, I'd probably place this is in the same category as Spy Kids. it's obviously very difficult to know for sure, but it looks a lot like a movie aimed more for the tween audience than anyone else. The kind of youngsters who get all excited with run of the mill rehashed plot elements that go along with "I am not ready for this, highscool IT girl Chichi, BADASS Fake Bulma style characters, and in a nutshell.. "this is your destiny kind" of ... crrr---, you know what I mean.

What I'm interesting in assessing is if any self-respecting adult individual would want to go watch this.

They got it in their heads DB is for kids, which may be true to an extent, but they could have, considering their millions of dollars, adapted it to suit a wider range of tastes. The Power Rangery vibe's there.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:05 pm

I think a lot of that is going to depend on what this movie ends up being rated. If its PG, I'd say nail-on-the-head its for tweens (though I'd still be irritated with Chatku even if I was 12 because I'd still be on the internet researching this and finding out how wrong their Goku is) but if its PG-13 like most of the "superhero" movies are I'd say yeah, maybe the drastic alterations are to get teens and adults in the theaters too.

Tsukento · Post by **Tsukento** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:22 pm

Chuquita wrote:(though I'd still be irritated with Chatku even if I was 12 because I'd still be on the internet researching this and finding out how wrong their Goku is)

But even then, we still have fans exclusively to the DBZ dub who think their Goku is the true version and that the Japanese version is "gay."

SSJ2bardock · Post by **SSJ2bardock** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:24 pm

JAPPO wrote:
MorningBreeze wrote:If you weren't a DB fan and you saw this trailer, would you want to go see the movie??
Absolutely?

I concur, I'd be sold on seeing this movie if I saw a preview and wasn't a fan.

Bura · Post by **Bura** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:31 pm

Trailer in better quality on MSN.com!!