Live Action Movie

[Gokuden]

I've always been of the opinion that CGI movies would enhance the awesome feeling we get looking at the anime. Something like FFVII ADVENT CHILDREN. Once in a blue moon, ya know?

[Kuwabara]

I think a Toku DBZ TV series might be a good idea.

Hell no, those tokusawa shows are ridiculous. There's certainly fun to be had watching stuff like that, but having the Ginyu Force is more than enough.

[Hellspawn28]

It's not like DBZ is not as ridiculous as it is. Tokusatsu is not much different then anime other then it's live action. You also got serious Toku shows too like Garo and Ultraman Nexus.

[Blade]

Could a Live Action Dragonball Z film be good? Of course it could be - but it's unlikely that Hollywood will ever re-attempt it.

A lot of people tend to put most emphasis on questioning how realistic the fight scenes would be with CGI, but I think if you just look back to The Matrix films (which are a decade old now) you'll find some pretty good examples of how Dragonball style fighting could be translated into a live action setting.

I think the main problem with a Dragonball live action film is how the writers attempt to tackle it. The Dragonball story is huge - any film will surely place the emphasis on the more dramatic tone of the high action battles, but the problem with that is that without pacing the story correctly and covering the background of the Dragonworld and characters in any depth it will just turn into a jumbled mess or make no sense at all to the average movie go-er. Sound familiar?

Any kind of Dragonball film venture will be aimed at mass consumption with financial viability in mind, not the hardcore fans - and therefore will always be challenged to be something that can cover the more dramatic elements whilst still making sense.

[Pafupafu]

The primary issue with the Hollywood system adapting Dragon Ball into Live Action is that it requires screenplay(s) that cover full-world creation and mythology as well as a complete ensemble cast and a long-running narrative. All of these scream multiple films/episodes which means a large investment with little to no guarantee of returns.

New Line was able to adapt the incredibly long story of Lord of the Rings, which included all of the above, into 3 films which had an incredibly large fanbase of multiple demographics (one of the most read books next to the Bible). This was still a gamble and fortunately it paid off but Dragon Ball does not have a guaranteed profitable wide release market.

If Battle of Gods makes a fortune, I can definitely see another animated series or movie get the greenlight but Live Action is just too expensive to pull off in the eyes of major players, regardless of the quality of a potential script etc. At the end of the day, the Live Action Film world is a business and no one is going to invest the 250+ million required to make a proper Dragon Ball Film/Series without knowing that there is a good probability it will return that investment.


Meanwhile, watch this incredible Stop-Motion Fight between Trunks and Piccolo! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmQzh6ICKJs

[Hellspawn28]

I don't think Fox will do another live action film. I think most studios won't touch Dragon Ball with a ten foot pole given how bad DBE did both critically and financial. I think another several or ten years from now that we might see another one done by a different company.

[Avenged]

A web series would be better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l3jrR5XMSU

[Kuwabara]

Recently I watched Dragon Ball Movie 1 and thought, "Had Jim Henson or John Carpenter gotten a hold of this in the 80's, something like this could have worked in live-action." I'm imagining stuff like Oolong and Puar's different transformations, King Gurumes etc. being accomplished with practical effects/puppetry. That movie feels kind of bare bones on it's own though, so I'm thinking some kind of fusion between the first Dragon Ball film and The Path to Power. I would love something like this!

The closest we could get to something like this now would be if Guillermo del Toro directed a Dragon Ball film, but I doubt he's a fan. There's also the problem of such a tongue in cheek film not resonating with today's audience without it being turned super serious or having obnoxious, Whedonesque zingers added to all of the dialogue.

[SSJ_Catacomb]

In my opinion, Dragon Ball is the kind of franchise that's just suited better to animation. All the character designs and fighting styles are so exaggerated that they look horrific when replicated for live-action film. Dragon Ball Evolution was an awful cringe-fest, and I have no idea how the creators felt like it was ever going to go down well. The Saiyan Saga trailer thing by K&K Productions wasn't bad considering the low budget and close-knit production crew, but it was still pretty cringey and only a five minute trailer. The film industry just needs to leave my favourite thing alone already!

[Hellspawn28]

I still say let the Japanese do a live action movie. It may suck, but they are handling their original source material better then anyone else. Movies and shows based on Japanese franchises made outside of Japan tend to suck. For example; Saban's Masked Rider, First of the North Star (1995), Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, Astro Boy (2009), Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero and Godzilla (1998).