Live Action Movie Discussion Thread

[Xyex]

Attitude... attitude...

Last chance, everyone...

Sorry Mike. ^^;

Is my post any more "pointless" than your post attempting to make mine out to be pointless?

Sorry, not what I meant by that. I was simply trying to express that your reasoning was flawed because this applies to nearly any and every movie and plot out there. And it works just as well with DB movies as it does the live action movie.

And hell. I've seen fanfics with a lot more changed than this movie that still screamed Dragonball at the top of their lungs. You can not claim this isn't Dragonball until the movie is made, out, and you've seen it. That's all I'm trying to get at here. It's fine to have doubts but I'm just sick and tired of people (in general) whining about everything and acting like even the smallest deviation (we don't even known if Goku's time at school has had any effect, at all, on his IQ. He could be in remedial classes for crying out loud) means the movie blows chunks.

The point was that the premise is that different.

Hmm. Super powered alien kid, evil green alien that thinks he's a demon, seven magic dragonballs, girl genious... yeah, I don't see what's so different.

Actually, as soon as you jumped from Mike and Steve to an evil criminal military power I knew it was DB Movie 4. It doesn't work the other way around because you're taking an actual Dragonball movie and throwing on different names.

It works just fine the other way around. The difference here is that you've seen movie 4 so you already know it's very Dragonball and so you know it works. Meanwhile you've not seen the live action movie but bias is telling you it doesn't work. That's the only difference.

If I really must, I'll redo my little thing using DB Movie 3 instead. That one's got some STRONG deviations from the series. But I've never seen anyone complain it wasn't Dragonball.

Love interest... interesting long courtship... fucked up into a short immediate TA payoff? Anyone feeling deja vu?

I can't believe you're still ranting about Gwen and MJ.

EDIT:
Also, what people seem to be forgetting is that this movie doesn't have 12 year old never-met-anyone-but-grandpa Goku. This movie has 23rd Budokai Goku. Naive, yes, but still passable as any other teen.

[Kendamu]

*Ignores DTX's trollish bullcrap, and tries to continue with some form of a "discussion."*

To SSjKaboom could you just answer this question for me? Why is it say Harry Potter, Spider-Man or Batman all get stories exactly like their original source yet Dragonball has to change many things?

Because DragonBall is a LOT more goofy and whimsical than those properties in terms of it's visual and storytelling style, especially in the earlier parts of the story. They COULD try to exactly match the look and feel of the anime. It's seeming to work very well for Speed Racer. But even SR is about real people, driving cars, in the real world. The Dragon Ball series doesn't have that going for it. It's a world where people commune and interact with animal-people (one of which is the King of the entire world...) and drive flying skycars and live in weird mushroom-shaped buildings and pop advanced technology out of little capsules and so on and so on...

Dragon Ball Z, however, lends itself better to movie-making. The animal-people all but dissapear, the villains are sadistic, scary, and monstrous, it has, fast-paced kung fu, space-travel, large-scale destruction, etc, etc... THAT, I believe, is what the studio wants to be making movies about.

However, you can't have "Dragon Ball Z" without some form of "Dragon Ball" before it. I'd rather them make a DB-adaptation with the idea of continuing to DBZ in mind than for them to just do some short, crappy recap before introducing the Saiyans. For the purpose of setting things up for DBZ, the way this movie is more than logical. The movie is being given a more "DBZ" feel, while having a DB-centered story. Why do you think they're having him face off against Piccolo, instead of Pilaf or the Red Ribbon Army? Because the Piccolo Daimou arc was the point in DragonBall when things began to take a more serious, dark, intense, and "DBZ"-ish turn.

Lord of the Rings happened without the Hobbit. Dragonball Z was dubbed without even so much as a recap until it became popular enough that FUNi felt they could make money off of Dragonball.

But, overall, what were looking at is something that might've been a decent shallow popcorn action flick to see next summer. Since it has the Dragonball name, though, it has a lot more to live up to and, with where it's going so far, I don't think I'll like it. It's similar to, but not quite as bad as, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" in my eyes. That was an alright movie, but it definitely wasn't Final Fantasy material.

[DaemonCorps]

I also agree with Kaboom-- DBZ would make for a much better movie.

But keeping that point in mind and the point about the King Piccolo stuff being more serious, that leads me to think, "Well how come the don't just stick closer with the King Piccolo Saga instead of introducing stuff like high school?". One reasonable answer would be that high school serves as the perfect exposition, being able to introduce a crap-ton of characters effectively.

Otherwise, we'd have to cover stuff like the tournaments to introduce the other fighters aside from Goku. And that's just really impractical when considering that they're restricted to a 2-3 hour film.

And while I'm at it, has it been confirmed that Kuririn's gonna be in the film? A bunch of us here keep talking like he will be (and it makes sense that he would) but I'm pretty sure we've yet to get anything news-wise about him. Do you think he'll just be replaced by Yamcha?

Though as was brought up a few pages back, Kuririn not being in the movie would just seem weird. I mean who wants to have Yamcha be exploded by Freeza if they ever reach that part of the series?

[Xyex]

"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" in my eyes. That was an alright movie, but it definitely wasn't Final Fantasy material.

Not to get too off-topic here but... I just can't grasp this when people say this. It makes no sense to me at all. The Spirits Within felt every bit as much of FF as any of the games to me.

[Kaboom]

But why couldn't Goku still be a forest boy who lives in some distant jungle with his grandfather?

Well, I guess because they're moving the events a little more forward in Goku's life. Like Xyex said, this isn't "start-of-the-series, never met anybody else in his life," 12-year-old Goku. It's more like 23rd Budokai, 18-year-old Goku.

Lord of the Rings happened without the Hobbit.

Well, all that really needed to be retained from The Hobbit was that Bilbo swiped the Ring from Gollum. Nothing beyond that had any impact on the Lord of the Rings, and that part is easily explained by a conversation between Bilbo and Gandalf, or a flashback, whichever it was. Been a while.

The events and relationships established in an entire 16 volumes worth of manga, though, are going to need a prequel, even if they're adapted and abridged somewhat.

Though as was brought up a few pages back, Kuririn not being in the movie would just seem weird. I mean who wants to have Yamcha be exploded by Freeza if they ever reach that part of the series?

Either they just haven't revealed anything about Kuririn yet, or more likely, he's introduced in the sequel.

[NeptuneKai]

I also agree with Kaboom-- DBZ would make for a much better movie.

But keeping that point in mind and the point about the King Piccolo stuff being more serious, that leads me to think, "Well how come the don't just stick closer with the King Piccolo Saga instead of introducing stuff like high school?". One reasonable answer would be that high school serves as the perfect exposition, being able to introduce a crap-ton of characters effectively.

Otherwise, we'd have to cover stuff like the tournaments to introduce the other fighters aside from Goku. And that's just really impractical when considering that they're restricted to a 2-3 hour film.

And while I'm at it, has it been confirmed that Kuririn's gonna be in the film? A bunch of us here keep talking like he will be (and it makes sense that he would) but I'm pretty sure we've yet to get anything news-wise about him. Do you think he'll just be replaced by Yamcha?

Though as was brought up a few pages back, Kuririn not being in the movie would just seem weird. I mean who wants to have Yamcha be exploded by Freeza if they ever reach that part of the series?

That would make me the happiest Yamcha fanboy ever. Something tells me Kuririn will be in the film by the sequel. I'm sure there will be a tournament somewhere down the line and he'll be one of the opponents.

[MisterFlashdude]

I also agree with Kaboom-- DBZ would make for a much better movie.

But keeping that point in mind and the point about the King Piccolo stuff being more serious, that leads me to think, "Well how come the don't just stick closer with the King Piccolo Saga instead of introducing stuff like high school?". One reasonable answer would be that high school serves as the perfect exposition, being able to introduce a crap-ton of characters effectively.

Otherwise, we'd have to cover stuff like the tournaments to introduce the other fighters aside from Goku. And that's just really impractical when considering that they're restricted to a 2-3 hour film.

I think a perfectly good movie can be made with a humorous, jovial attitude. But that's just me, as I've always been more of a fan of Dragonball than DBZ.

As for the school and introducing characters, it seems like the only two characters who attend this school are Goku and Chi-chi. And there's supposedly going to be a "Tournament of Champions" anyway...

Edit: And I'll say this too, as a bit of insight into my preferences-- Dragonball: The Path to Ultimate Strength is my favorite Dragonball movie. I was glad that Dragonball's anniversary movie wasn't just another "Epic villain arrives. Everyone powers up and defeats villain."

I also feel it's a perfect example of how you can sum up Dragonball in a single movie. Goku is introduced properly, it maintains Dragonball's comical feel and levity. Bulma, Oolong, Yamcha, Puar, Kame-sen'nin... They're all introduced quite effectively.
I'd say this movie should be more like that. Put Piccolo in, have him use the Red Ribbon Army instead of his army of Namekian Ninjas, and instead of Black in a giant mech-suit at the end of the movie, have it be Piccolo...

And that movie's only 82 minutes long. *Shrug* You can stuff in an entire tournament, introduce Kuririn as a fellow student of Kame-sen'nin who had been out training when Goku met him, throw in Tenshinhan's condensed story and have them all team up to take down the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo all at once.
Granted, I'd imagine this ballooning the movie to well over two hours long, but that'd cover just about everything important that happened in Dragonball, right?

[TripleRach]

This thread has a lot of "God, you're so stupid, how can you not see this could easily be a very realistic adaptation?" or "God, you naive retards, this is obviously nothing like Toriyama's work." Back and forth. You're all getting way too condescending. Stop being so thick-headed and remember that there are opinions and viewpoints besides your own.

It's okay to be pessimistic about the movie.

It's also okay to be optimistic about the movie.

But it's not okay to talk down to everyone who disagrees with you, and you really shouldn't feel the need to try to "recruit" everyone to your line of thinking. Obviously I'm not a mod, but rather, a regular forumer who now doesn't even feel comfortable expressing her opinions due to all the hostility. It's not like I upset easily, either.

[Dragon Ball Daisuki]

I'm reserving judgement until I see motherfucking Piccolo. That is all.

[Chuquita]

I also agree with Kaboom-- DBZ would make for a much better movie.

But keeping that point in mind and the point about the King Piccolo stuff being more serious, that leads me to think, "Well how come the don't just stick closer with the King Piccolo Saga instead of introducing stuff like high school?". One reasonable answer would be that high school serves as the perfect exposition, being able to introduce a crap-ton of characters effectively.

Otherwise, we'd have to cover stuff like the tournaments to introduce the other fighters aside from Goku. And that's just really impractical when considering that they're restricted to a 2-3 hour film.

And while I'm at it, has it been confirmed that Kuririn's gonna be in the film? A bunch of us here keep talking like he will be (and it makes sense that he would) but I'm pretty sure we've yet to get anything news-wise about him. Do you think he'll just be replaced by Yamcha?

Though as was brought up a few pages back, Kuririn not being in the movie would just seem weird. I mean who wants to have Yamcha be exploded by Freeza if they ever reach that part of the series?

That would make me the happiest Yamcha fanboy ever. Something tells me Kuririn will be in the film by the sequel. I'm sure there will be a tournament somewhere down the line and he'll be one of the opponents.

But if Kuririn's in one of the sequels...how would you introduce him? Would they just go and say "oh by the way here's Goku's long-time friend and fellow martial arts pupil Kuririn" and just continue on with it?

[Anonymous Friend]

A Dragonball movie without Krillin is something that I would personally make a fifty page rant about. But this talk of Krillin has me thinking about other Dragonball characyers that may get left out such as Korun, Kami and Popo, Ox King, and Yarjirobe. These aren't people that you need, but itta be nice to have.

I also wonder if Goku will have his bottomless gut.

[Xyex]

A Dragonball movie without Krillin is something that I would personally make a fifty page rant about.

Movie 4 managed to do it. Though I think it would have been a more awesome movie if they had worked in Krillin somehow. And Tao. The RRA just isn't the same without Tao.....

But if Kuririn's in one of the sequels...how would you introduce him? Would they just go and say "oh by the way here's Goku's long-time friend and fellow martial arts pupil Kuririn" and just continue on with it?

I'm thinking he could come to be trained by Roshi either at the end of this movie or start of the next. Or they could flash back during the next movie and say he showed up between them.

[VEGETA_DTX]

But if Kuririn's in one of the sequels...how would you introduce him? Would they just go and say "oh by the way here's Goku's long-time friend and fellow martial arts pupil Kuririn" and just continue on with it?

Good point.

Attitude... attitude...

Last chance, everyone...

+

*Ignores DTX's trollish bullcrap, and tries to continue with some form of a "discussion."*

???

And VegetoEX, you don't want to answer ?
I really want to hear what you think.

[Lavender Saiyan]

Don't know if anyone mentioned this yet. But it looks like Funimation's Official DBZ site is even now reporting on this (Not sure how long they've been). Nothing is said that we don't already know, but they seem to have a good amount of info for anyone who needs to catch up.

[Dragon Ball Daisuki]

As I mentioned approximately a billion pages ago, it would make sense that Kuririn be in the film, particularly considering the bit about the elder Son Gohan throwing a feast for Goku. And really, what's the point of preparing a feast -- rather than an intimate celebration -- when your guest list is composed of... Chi-chi? No friends=no feast. Not that there has to be a who's who of Dragon World or anything. But the presence of at least one male friend, I feel, is mandatory.

And of course, without Kuririn, much of the plot of Dragon Ball Z is impossible. Without Kuririn, Gohan doesn't get his power-up, Goku doesn't become a Super Saiya-jin, and the one human angle throughout the entire Jinzoningen arc (the thing which vaguely resembles a romance) is kaput.

Besides, who's going to be the comic relief in the big battles? Yamucha is many things, but sadly, a humorist is not one of them.

So, if Kuririn is in the film, then why isn't he mentioned in the casting description, you ask? Simple. He doesn't feature prominently in the plot. My theory is that he's there in the beginning and shows up again at the end, with Chi-chi. Yamucha/Roshi/etc do all the heavy fighting, and have all the big characterization moments, if there are any.





Looking forward...

The fact that Piccolo Daimaou (or maybe just Piccolo...?) is the one to reveal Goku's origin as a Saiya-jin means that the introduction to the Saiya-jins via Raditz will likely not transpire. Thus, no Raditz for the sequel.

Okay, no Raditz. But what about Tenshinhan and Chaozu, you ask? Is it even possible to work them in? Not in the first film, no. But in the second...? Easily. We won't get the grand backstory that I'd be interested in, but likely they'll just be fighters who show up at the final battle to answer the call. At first they'll be shifty and self-serving (but not antagonistic), but as the battle unfolds, they'll become valuable assets, and possibly even save Gohan's butt once or twice. If they survive the battle against the Saiya-jins, perhaps we'll get a sweet battle royale with the Ginyu Tokusentai, instead of drawing it out in one 1-on-1 battle after the next.

This can still be salvaged, depressing set pics aside.

[Captain Awesome]

But why couldn't Goku still be a forest boy who lives in some distant jungle with his grandfather?

There isn't a single good reason why.

I mean, starting the movie off at Mt. Paozu (misleading the audience into thinking the movie is set in ancient Japan) and then having the main character hit by a car driven by a sixteen year old girl, only to find that you're in a world complete with flying cars and space travel.
They had a great opportunity to capitalize on the main character knowing no more than the audience does, and expanding the world like that would be a jaw dropping.

But no, that would be too faithful to the original source material.

There's adapting, then there's someone without enough talent to craft a story of their own, so they just crush the heart and soul of somebody elses' so they can sell popcorn.

I really want to be proven wrong with this movie, just like I was with Transformers, but I really don't see it happening (same thing I said about Transformers )

I don't know about anyone else, but that all still pretty much screams "Goku" to me. Hell, even in his civilian outfit he's still wearing orange and black!

Uh, who's to say he actually changes his outfit to something more faithful to the series?, for all we know he keeps that outfit for the entire movie.

I am however very interested in seeing Piccolo.

[SonEric84]

This thread has a lot of "God, you're so stupid, how can you not see this could easily be a very realistic adaptation?" or "God, you naive retards, this is obviously nothing like Toriyama's work." Back and forth. You're all getting way too condescending. Stop being so thick-headed and remember that there are opinions and viewpoints besides your own.

It's okay to be pessimistic about the movie.

It's also okay to be optimistic about the movie.

But it's not okay to talk down to everyone who disagrees with you, and you really shouldn't feel the need to try to "recruit" everyone to your line of thinking. Obviously I'm not a mod, but rather, a regular forumer who now doesn't even feel comfortable expressing her opinions due to all the hostility. It's not like I upset easily, either.

Actually, this is basically what I came in here to say. I agree, in the end everyone has their own opinion and their own way of thinking about this. Some people are making it sound like it's only okay if we're posting positive stuff about this movie and others are on the exact opposite side. (Though really, the only person I have seen going to the absolute extreme on that end of things is this DTX guy.) Anyway...I'll just say that a lot of things about the plot have been twisted and so far, I don't think it sounds very good.

[VEGETA_DTX]

(Though really, the only person I have seen going to the absolute extreme on that end of things is this DTX guy.)

Where the hell I said anything like "you should not post your opinion if you are FOR the movie"
I am being extreme about the movie itself, not to members of this forum.

[COCONUT MILK]

Cosplayers has done a better job of looking like goku.. Need i say more!
I,ve ordered a cheese pizza but i'm givein a ham and pepperoni pizza, stop telling me it's ok because it's like a cheese pizza! do you job and follow the recipe..

And don't say i'm being given this movie "so be happy with what i get" i've given half my life as a paying fan!

[masenko]

Ok so I haven't posted anything on this forum in months but the new movie has sparked my interest. That picture of Chatwin as Goku does not impress me, but at the same time, it doesn't bother me. I want to see a great adaptation of the manga, and what I think we are going to get is a great adaptation of the SPIRIT of the manga. Dragon Ball, in itself, is all about mythology and adventure and if the movie has that, then it's already a success in my eyes.