Initial Dragonball Movie Expectations

[KaiserNeko]

Chatwin was the right size in Evolution anyway.

Really? As I saw him, he was skinny, undefined, and hardly had the body of a martial artist. Much less one as strong as what we are supposed to believe he is.

[KaiserNeko]

Chatwin was the right size in Evolution anyway.

I don't particularly agree. He's supposed to be a martial arts master, strong and toned. He never looks anything close to that, he just looked like an 18 year old kid who works out on the weekends. He was undefined and frankly, just very -normal- looking.

[Hellspawn28]

I remember when the movie was announced back in 2002 in a news paper and I remember reading that Industrial Light & Magic was going to do the special effects. I'm pretty sure nothing happen with this movie after it was announced and most of the casting rumors where flase. I'm pretty sure the image of Piccolo is a fan made image of Micheal Jay White as Piccolo.

As a kid I waited for years for a Dragon Ball live action movie until 2007 when this movie was going to be made and I thought the director was a okay choice since "The One" (2001) was okay. I still saw DBE even though they try to go for a Twilight type of setting for the movie.

I remember that Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 BC, 2012) was set to direct back in 2003. I don't think he wanted to do a DBZ movie and he even said that he does not like directing movies based off of comics, video games, and cartoons. Which is why he turn down to direct Spider-Man and Transformers. The chances are that he might fuck it up worst then Godzilla back in 1998.

[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

Honestly, I felt as though the movie was going to be OK, at best, via the footage from the trailer. To an extent, I'm one of those that tends to get somewhat fooled by trailers easily. So because of that, I was actually falsely hyped for this flick. I figured, "Hey, it's a live-action DB movie. Maybe there's a chance they can get it right." Boy, was I wrong...

Even though the movie was panned, I still feel as though SOME of the interaction between the characters was fine. The problem came when the mythos of the franchise was messed with via stupidity.

[Rocketman]

coherent plot, a good script

I thought you wanted it based on Dragonball?

[Kingdom Heartless]

coherent plot, a good script

I thought you wanted it based on Dragonball?

Do you actually like anything in Dragon Ball outside Vegetto, Vegeta and ChiChi?

[Rocketman]

Do you actually like anything in Dragon Ball outside Vegetto, Vegeta and ChiChi?

Of course I do. But just because I like it doesn't mean I have to pretend it wasn't slapped together haphazardly; the only reason it holds up is it doesn't navel-gaze like a ton of other anime and try to make you take it completely dead serious.

It's big dumb fun, but it's not really coherent or 'good'.

[Majin Buu]

I had no expectations, mainly because I never believed that Dragon Ball could work in live action.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Does being skinny really matter? Have you seen the Machinist, Christian Bale was thin as a rake, then next year he was Batman and managed to bulk up, though it was a little too much apparently.

Chatwin was the right size in Evolution anyway.

1) Bale was supposed to be a skinny in that role, because he was playing a depressed insomniac schizophrenic. And 2) he bulked up for Batman Begins because he was supposed to be somewhat muscular and adept to play a superhero. And he lost the excess weight once filming began because he realized it wasn't appropiate for Batman.

Chatwin was supposed to portray a strong martial arts master. In the film, he just looks like an average 18-year-old man.

Do you actually like anything in Dragon Ball outside Vegetto, Vegeta and ChiChi?

Of course I do. But just because I like it doesn't mean I have to pretend it wasn't slapped together haphazardly; the only reason it holds up is it doesn't navel-gaze like a ton of other anime and try to make you take it completely dead serious.

It's big dumb fun, but it's not really coherent or 'good'.

Are you just being cynical for the sake of being cynical? Because...DB is good and coherent. At least up until the later parts of the story. Disagree if you want, but that's mine and others' opinion.

[PatPat]

I knew this would be a disaster right as soon as I heard about it. I just cant see DB translating well into the real world.

[Kendamu]

Posting from my phone so bear with me:

1) I never had high hopes for live action Dragonball. In 2001-ish I figured they would mess it up and it wouldn't be epic enough. When DBE was announced my tastes had changed considerably and I thought it would flop because it wasn't cheesy and fun enough. As it turned out, DBE was some teen drama with Airbending, Twilight hair, and no cheese.

2) I alwaus imagined most Dragonball characters as Asians on the off chance that I thought about them in a realistic style. To me, white Goku is like black Peter Parker. It's weird! If the movie was good, I wouldn't care about white Goku, though.

3) Rocketman is right: DB is big dumb fun. That's not an insult, though. Big dumb fun is something people need to have more often! Not everything needs to be super deep and pretentious.

[Super Sayian Prime]

How can one say a martial arts movie with Chow Yun Fat, and such classic lines such as "Cheese and Rice - I scorched my nads!!", and "Have you tried master? Do you need me to spell it out for you? M-A-S..." has no cheese? Not to mention some amazing line deliveries on the greenscreen ("DRRAGGGGGOONN").

[Hellspawn28]

Bad enough that Chow Yun Fat turn down Red Cliff to work on this movie. I'm pretty sure he regrets it now.

[Kendamu]

How can one say a martial arts movie with Chow Yun Fat, and such classic lines such as "Cheese and Rice - I scorched my nads!!", and "Have you tried master? Do you need me to spell it out for you? M-A-S..." has no cheese? Not to mention some amazing line deliveries on the greenscreen ("DRRAGGGGGOONN").

When I say "cheese" I want you to think of the Speed Racer movie.

[nathantheguitarist]

I expected something worth my constant back and forth-ing to the movie theater to ask the manager if they were even gonna get it and to remind him I have dibs on the poster. Also, something worth owning on DVD/BR at least to a point where I could go "yeah it's not that great, but dammit, it finally fucking came out and I'm proud it even exists."

But nope. If I see like a random DVD or figure of the movie, I just point and chuckle at it. And then sigh as I walk away.

[Piccolo Daimao]

3) Rocketman is right: DB is big dumb fun. That's not an insult, though. Big dumb fun is something people need to have more often! Not everything needs to be super deep and pretentious.

Of course it's big, dumb fun; I'm not denying that. And I actually like the fact that DB isn't super-deep and pretentious with hidden meanings and seriousness (not that that isn't a bad thing, though, in the circumstances). What I had a problem with was Rocketman cynically (as usual) saying that DB wasn't coherent or good. If DB wasn't good, then none of us here would like it. And DB's plot is coherent up until the later parts of the story. In fact, I think at least pre-Z DB actually does a pretty good job of making the plot seem as if it wasn't slapped together haphazardly.

[Kendamu]

3) Rocketman is right: DB is big dumb fun. That's not an insult, though. Big dumb fun is something people need to have more often! Not everything needs to be super deep and pretentious.

Of course it's big, dumb fun; I'm not denying that. And I actually like the fact that DB isn't super-deep and pretentious with hidden meanings and seriousness (not that that isn't a bad thing, though, in the circumstances). What I had a problem with was Rocketman cynically (as usual) saying that DB wasn't coherent or good. If DB wasn't good, then none of us here would like it. And DB's plot is coherent up until the later parts of the story. In fact, I think at least pre-Z DB actually does a pretty good job of making the plot seem as if it wasn't slapped together haphazardly.

He put "good" in quotes and I took that to mean something other than just good.

[Piccolo Daimao]

3) Rocketman is right: DB is big dumb fun. That's not an insult, though. Big dumb fun is something people need to have more often! Not everything needs to be super deep and pretentious.

Of course it's big, dumb fun; I'm not denying that. And I actually like the fact that DB isn't super-deep and pretentious with hidden meanings and seriousness (not that that isn't a bad thing, though, in the circumstances). What I had a problem with was Rocketman cynically (as usual) saying that DB wasn't coherent or good. If DB wasn't good, then none of us here would like it. And DB's plot is coherent up until the later parts of the story. In fact, I think at least pre-Z DB actually does a pretty good job of making the plot seem as if it wasn't slapped together haphazardly.

He put "good" in quotes and I took that to mean something other than just good.

Meh. OK, it's great? Whatever, my point is that DB isn't just your average dumb fun Teletubbies show with an incoherent plot including a crossdressing cat which then cuts to the world exploding because of what the cat wore on April 16th (completely random, I know, but just go with it).

[SonEric84]

I knew this would be a disaster right as soon as I heard about it. I just cant see DB translating well into the real world.

This is pretty much how I felt about it. My only reaction was that I didn't want it to happen, but it seems to be forgotten for the most part.

[Kaboom]

I still say a live-action Dragon Ball movie could be great if it were just handled correctly. Take a look at the Wachowskis' Speed Racer movie. It blended the colorful, comic-ized world and characters with a darker and dramatic plot brilliantly, and as far as I'm concerned is the quintessential example of a "live-action anime" done right. If something similar is done with Dragon Ball, then it could be just as fun and enjoyable.