Dragon Ball Film Reboot

[Ashura]

Man, to me, Big Bang Theory is popcorn. There's no real progression, and it's the same characters in the same situations continuously. You can watch any episode and expect the norm.

How I Met Your Mother has progression and lasting change; the story arcs for that show are built more like a serial. There are things which appear in one episode which matter 10 episodes later; where you go, oh wow, so that's what that meant, or even... whoa, I didn't even notice that.

Admittedly, I would say there's a season or so where the show lost its way, but now it's back on track, but it's definitely more the thinking man's sitcom... whereas BBT and 2&aHM are just temporary filling.

On topic, I would say DB Evolution was them TRYING to make a 'serious' Dragonball movie. They didn't embrace the comedy, or even the art of the world. They made it 'dark,' tried to throw in terrible fight scenes. If, for the color tone of the movie, they took a cue from Toriyama's wonderful painted/marker artwork, and took that pastel color scheme under their wing much like they did for Speed Racer, it would've been a lot more interesting.

The story itself is much like the original Dragonball story. They even went as far as dropping in things that fans would only care about, like the names for the balls themselves, etc. They took only a few liberties with the basic story itself, and when watching it I was actually surprised how beholden it was to the story. You think they would've went farther. The problem is that it's just put together in a mediocre manner, when something like this could be adapted into a fun movie.

[Hellspawn28]

I would love to do see a Dragon Ball live action film be done right. I remember I waited years for a DBZ live action film with all of the rumors that where going around like Bill Goldberg as Nappa and Roland Emmerich as the director. We finally got a movie in 2009 and it was just a lazy film that the studio only made because they did not want to lose the rights to the series.

If they can make a movie based of Saiya-jin saga, have a good cast, a big budget and a good director then I think they could pull it off. I would love to see a DBZ movie have a similar tone similar to J. J. Abrams Star Trek and the first Transformers live action movie. Industrial Light & Magic would need to do the special effects and Steven Spielberg working on the film would be great as well.

[Sun-Wukong]

It's already been pointed out, but Speed Racer is proof positive that a live action adaptation of an anime can be done well. I would be all for a Dragon Ball movie by the Wachowskis, as long as the action scenes weren't too... Matrixy. Also mentioned before, Jack Black as Yajorobe would be amazing.

[batistabus]

Am I the only video game/comic/anime fan that DIDN'T think Scott Pilgrim was all that great?

[Kingdom Heartless]

I wouldn't call another eventual movie impossible... Evolution didn't succeed, but it still just about broke even. I'd say they'll take another crack at it eventually.

As for costumes... from what I've seen, Evolution's Goku costume wasn't really that bad. Not exact, but as close as it needed to be.

As for a director... I would have preferred Stephen Chow direct one. His style seems like it would fit brilliantly.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

If the movie was longer, and had moe interesting story, it would be great. I realy didn't care about the changes they made in the story compared to the manga/anime, since I don't want to see the exact same thing in live-action style. But the movie was too short and boring. That's the problem with Evolution, I believe.

[Hellspawn28]

Am I the only video game/comic/anime fan that DIDN'T think Scott Pilgrim was all that great?

You are not alone. I think it was good but I don't think it was awesome as most people made it out to be. I can see why the movie did poorly at the box office since everyone who saw the trailers and TV spots thought the movie look stupid.

I would say DB Evolution was them TRYING to make a 'serious' Dragonball movie. They didn't embrace the comedy, or even the art of the world. They made it 'dark,' tried to throw in terrible fight scenes.

Sorry but I didn't find Dragon ball Evolution to be serious at all. The movie was rather campy and calling it dark is like calling Batman Forever (1995) dark. The movie was rated PG after all.

It's already been pointed out, but Speed Racer is proof positive that a live action adaptation of an anime can be done well

Too bad Speed Racer was a huge box office failure, being too close to the anime could be a bad thing. Speed Racer had bad word of mouth before the movie was released (Same with Dragon Ball Evolution) and the movie only made $93,945,766 worldwide with a budget of 200,000,000 USD . Speed Racer is one of the biggest box office bombs in history next to Battlefield Earth (2000), Sahara (2005) and Ishtar (1987).

[AgitoZ]

Too bad Speed Racer was a huge box office failure, being too close to the anime could be a bad thing. Speed Racer had bad word of mouth before the movie was released (Same with Dragon Ball Evolution) and the movie only made $93,945,766 worldwide with a budget of 200,000,000 USD . Speed Racer is one of the biggest box office bombs in history next to Battlefield Earth (2000), Sahara (2005) and Ishtar (1987).

The Speed Racer movie was a great Speed Racer movie. Problem being, it was a great Speed Racer movie.

Not enough people know or "get" Speed Racer.

Am I the only video game/comic/anime fan that DIDN'T think Scott Pilgrim was all that great?

Nope.

[Hellspawn28]

Speed Racer has a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, I wanted a Dragon Ball to have good reviews and do well at the box office unlike Dragon Ball Evolution. J.J. Abrams or Steven Spielberg would be the best choice to reboot Dragon Ball IMO.

[Kid Buu]

Chris Nolan could make a faithful Dragon Ball Z film, it would be dark, scary and somewhat in real life. His films are brilliant, Batman Begins & Dark Knight are my favourite, Inception too, I'd say.

Look, I love Nolan as much as anyone else, but you need to realize that he has a specific directing style that does not fit the over-the-top nature of DragonBall.

Anyways, the problem with Scott Pilgrim (though the film itself is pretty great) is that there is a parodic tone that's evident throughout the movie, and the film purposely draws attention to how fake and silly its world is.

That style doesn't exactly fit DBZ because--as silly as it can be--it's a show that takes itself seriously. I'm of the opinion that the show wouldn't work in a live-action context anyways, and having a bunch of actors attempt to recreate the costumes from the show would end up looking corny.

Batman is equally as over-the-top as Dragon Ball, in my opinion. First, the usage of many different gadgets, Batman's "deep" voice, the Batcave, the Batmobile and so on. There's really not one form of media that isn't over-the-top unless it's a real-life documentary.

I agree with Batman being over the top, which is why I didn't like Nolans films. It tried to take the series in a serious and gritty route, yet to me I can't take a Billionaire dressing up as a Bat and beating the crap out of criminals in a serious and gritty tone.

[AgitoZ]

Speed Racer has a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, I wanted a Dragon Ball to have good reviews and do well at the box office unlike Dragon Ball Evolution.

Not enough people know or "get" Speed Racer.

It's a Speed Racer movie, it's everything that it should be. You're setting your expectations to high if you think otherwise. Especially if you think a faithful DB movie would get good reviews (or at least across the board, as even in RT some do seem to "get" the SR film)

J.J. Abrams or Steven Spielberg would be the best choice to reboot Dragon Ball IMO.

Ehhhh, I don't know.

[Saimaroimaru]

Hollywood hasn't even been able to produce a good movie based on a well-done, Asian-influenced TV series ("The Last Airbender", anyone?), never mind an actual Asian TV series. It's very clear that they -don't- get what makes them internationally appealing.

I thought the Speed Racer movie did a good job at that.

That was a great movie. Though it was Warner Bros. not fox who dealt with it.

Also, lets hope that Uwe Boll never touches Dragonball in any form.

[Son Geeko]

Nevermind.

[kemuri07]

I agree with Batman being over the top, which is why I didn't like Nolans films. It tried to take the series in a serious and gritty route, yet to me I can't take a Billionaire dressing up as a Bat and beating the crap out of criminals in a serious and gritty tone.

Then you clearly haven't been reading the comics, since that's the direction they've been taking with Batman for quite awhile.


Before Frank Miller went insane, he created one of the finest examples of how you can take a costumed hero and make him fairly realistic (for a better example, go read Watchmen). Year One is more akin to film-noir than an actual superhero comic book.

But the movie was too short and boring. That's the problem with Evolution, I believe.

Evolution had bigger problems than that.

If they can make a movie based of Saiya-jin saga, have a good cast, a big budget and a good director then I think they could pull it off. I would love to see a DBZ movie have a similar tone similar to J. J. Abrams Star Trek and the first Transformers live action movie. Industrial Light & Magic would need to do the special effects and Steven Spielberg working on the film would be great as well.

That'll never happen, especially with the level of talent you're suggesting. But if a DBZ movie were to happen, it should be done in the same mo-cap style as that Tin-Tin film.

[Chuquita]

It is kind of surprising they didn't start with the saiyajin arc; you'd think they'd jump right in at that point because of Vegeta, ki blast struggles, outer space, and Z being much more familiar with U.S. audiences.

Unless they went with DB instead of Z with an international audience more in mind. I don't know which countries got DB first and then Z later on.

[Saimaroimaru]

It is kind of surprising they didn't start with the saiyajin arc; you'd think they'd jump right in at that point because of Vegeta, ki blast struggles, outer space, and Z being much more familiar with U.S. audiences.

Unless they went with DB instead of Z with an international audience more in mind. I don't know which countries got DB first and then Z later on.

I think it was the changes that kind of turned some off. Roshi having hair and black hair at that when he meets Goku, Kamehameha being used a ki defibrillator. Goku with teenager angst and perhaps Goku not being played by a Asian actor. I know Goku is a alien but it did not stop many thinking he should have been played by one. Honestly even though it was focusing on dragonball it lacked the humor of the series. It was like Z seriousness with DB.

[kemuri07]

It is kind of surprising they didn't start with the saiyajin arc; you'd think they'd jump right in at that point because of Vegeta, ki blast struggles, outer space, and Z being much more familiar with U.S. audiences.

Unless they went with DB instead of Z with an international audience more in mind. I don't know which countries got DB first and then Z later on.

Honestly, I think the very things you mentioned were the reasons why they didn't start with the Saiyan saga.

[perucho1990]

Speed Racer has a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, I wanted a Dragon Ball to have good reviews and do well at the box office unlike Dragon Ball Evolution. J.J. Abrams or Steven Spielberg would be the best choice to reboot Dragon Ball IMO.

Or Michael Bay.

[kemuri07]

Speed Racer has a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, I wanted a Dragon Ball to have good reviews and do well at the box office unlike Dragon Ball Evolution. J.J. Abrams or Steven Spielberg would be the best choice to reboot Dragon Ball IMO.

Or Michael Bay.

KA-ME-HA-MESPLOSIONS!!!!!

BOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAAAAAAAAYSPLOOOOSIOOOOOONNNNSSSSS!!!!!!

[SSJ YUSUKE]

Dragonball will never and I mean NEVER will work as a live action film, just look it's a show about these guys with big muscles flying around and blowing up things with lasers from their hands.
Seriously name me one good movie which hollywood adapted from an anime or video game, these things just never work.