live-action versions of anime

[davemerrill]

I figured I'd start a new topic since the "CG Harlock" thread seemed to be going in this direction.

Usually live-action versions of animated properties are terrible. We've had American versions that were terrible (Dragonball: Evolution) and Japanese versions that were terrible (too many to count) and weird Euro-co-productions that were terrible (Lady Oscar) in so-bad-its-good ways.

These things keep getting optioned - "Robotech" and "Akira" are both in the pre-pre-pre production stages, and we're at the point where "Star Blazers" is on its second Hollywood go-round. I read the script for the first Hollywood treatment and it was really bad.

I don't know why Hollywood keeps optioning these things - they are always lousy, and they do terrible business - but any property that has any sort of pre-existing iteration seems to get the green light these days.

Some of them aren't too bad. The Sonny Chiba GOLGO 13 film ("Kowloon Assignment") is a passable HK action flick. The GOLGO 13 with Ken Takakura is more like the manga, and it's got Ken Takakura in it, he's awesome. The 2010 SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO film is a decent picture, probably the best Yamato film we're ever likely to see in live-action. I enjoyed SPEED RACER but it did terrible business.

Those of a certain age will remember when the buzz was that Tim Burton was going to direct a musical version of "Mai The Psychic Girl". Not holding my breath for that one.

[greg]

Yes, the Yamato movie, starring that dude from SMAP and the guy from the Tsuri Baka movies, was pretty cool. Turning Deslar and his race into some weird crystals or whatever was a bit dumb, but it was forgivable. I still want to see Speed Racer movie. When it came out, everybody complained about how cheesy and dumb it was. I just kept saying, "Well, yeah, haven't you seen the cartoon?"

I do remember that Mai the Psychic Girl rumor from the '90s, as well as the rumor of Johnny Depp starring in the Speed Racer movie around that same time. There is also supposed to be talk of a Voltron movie, too. Wasn't that Akira movie finally put to death, though? That was the last I heard of it.

I think that these studios just toss these anime and video game licenses up for grabs to anybody who wants to put some experience on their resume, and hope that the pre-existing fanbase will watch it no matter what. That's how we can get a Caucasian chick playing Chun Li, complete with flashbacks to when she used to be an Asian girl. Then there is the semi-human cretin Uwe Bolle, who I believe makes movies just to troll people.

(In unrelated news, I thought the live action Josie and the Pussycats movie was pretty cool.)

[usamimi]

The Akira live action keeps getting put through pre-production hell over and over again, so I assume even if someone's STILL interested in doing it...it probably won't get off the ground at this point. (Or at least we can hope. Because every time someone posted production notes from it, it seemed AWFUL. DX)

Remember when ADV and Gainax wanted to do a live-action Evangelion movie? I have to say, I'm kinda glad that never happened...it probably would have been terrible, even with Gainax's involvement.

I do remember some band saying they wrote an entire musical score for Mai, and they were still hoping to do something with it...and that was in, what, 2009? I thought they said they wanted to make it a Broadway play now or something, but who knows.

To be fair, the girl who played Chung-Li in that newer Street Fighter movie's mom was Chinese...but yeah, regardless, there was no saving that mess of a movie. (At least the first one was so horrible that it's entertaining!)

[davemerrill]

To be honest, my big issue with the live Yamato movie was (spoilers) turning Gamilas and Iscandar into the same planet and turning Desslar into that CG special effect. Other than that it was great, even the changes to Kodai's character, etc.

I am actually pleased to see the movies get optioned, that means the creators are getting a paycheck. I believe it was SF writer Harry Harrison who created "The Stainless Steel Rat" series about a future super-criminal who remarked that he had made quite a bit of money off of the fact that his books kept getting optioned yet the films never got made.

I think that's where ADV sunk every penny they ever made, into optioning that live-action Eva movie. Didn't turn out so well for them.

[usamimi]

I think that's where ADV sunk every penny they ever made, into optioning that live-action Eva movie. Didn't turn out so well for them.

Yeah, didn't they say they needed like 10 million dollars or something to fund it? Good luck making that kind of money trying to sell anime in America...

[greg]

So that's what did ADV in, right? Or at least it was a major contributing factor.

When I watched the Yamato movie, I was confused about the Iscandar and Gamilus being the same planet. I couldn't remember the anime, but I was pretty sure that they weren't the same planet. Turning Gamilans into monsters was a bit disappointing, too.

[Armblessed]

I'm very tired of them trying to make movies out of everything. It's almost always a cringe inducing crapfest. The Transformers and GI Joe movies come to mind. The problem being, it then hijacks the property for years afterwards. Influencing toys, video games, TV shows, etc...

Every time that a rumor comes around that they are making a movie from some anime or another, I get a feeling of dread about it. Then relief when the rumor turns out to be false or the project falls through.

I wish that if they found an idea in an anime(or really any previous property for that matter) that they wanted to use, they'd just make a new movie inspired by whats cool about the anime. Most anime doesn't carry enough Western name recognition to make much of a difference, anyways.

Speaking of which, has anyone else seen the trailer for Pacific Rim? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ZcqwvQbas
There's obvious inspiration from countless anime and live action Japanese properties there. I just read the monsters in the film are even called "kaiju". I also get a sense of some Evangelion about it as well. All of which is great. Sure, its based on previous things, but at least its not a direct adaptation of some anime. I may or may not like the film, but it stands on its own. If its a success, then it can open up a whole new world of stories and marketing.

[Heero]

There's obvious inspiration from countless anime and live action Japanese properties there. I just read the monsters in the film are even called "kaiju". I also get a sense of some Evangelion about it as well. All of which is great. Sure, its based on previous things, but at least its not a direct adaptation of some anime. I may or may not like the film, but it stands on its own. If its a success, then it can open up a whole new world of stories and marketing.

This times a MILLION! (also a big reason why I hate fan-fiction incidentally, I admit being a LITTLE hypocritical re: doujinshi, but that's more because I don't mind seeing various drawn renderings of something)
But yeah, generally NOT a fan of live-action versions of anime or just animation period (the live action "The Last Airbender" movie was horrible too, granted, at LEAST 50% of that was gawdawful writing).

Pondering this topic tho, I will say that ONE anime I would be curious to see a live action movie of (not saying I WANT such, but would be curious about) is Lupin III.

[usamimi]

I think that was one of the contributing factors to ADV splitting. Poor investments and just not making enough money, the usual stuff. To keep from going totally bankrupt, they sold off all their assets to several off-shoots, so you could say Section 23 and Sentai Filmworks are like ADV's "children" now.

Yeah, I'm actually excited about "Pacific Rim" because it looks like a lot of cool geek stuff rolled into one movie, and possibly done WELL?! That doesn't seem to happen often, so I'm hoping it'll be as good as the previews and hype for it seem to be so far.

There was actually a group in Italy that was making a Lupin "fan" movie...the trailer they put on Youtube looked pretty cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdLDy2bo5VI I dunno if they're any closer to finishing it, their .com website looks to be gone, though it looks like their Facebook account hasn't been updated in a couple of months. (As cheesy as it is, it works--and the guy they got to play Lupin looks pretty darn close, though!)

[_D_]

As I said in the previous thread, it's tough casting Japanese in roles where the main characters are from America or Europe. Putting on blonde wigs and blue eye contacts just doesn't work.

Pacific Rim has Kaiju because Del Toro is a big fan of the genre. He also has said he watched those old movies and lots of anime in his native Mexico as a kid. So, it's not like some directors who just fall into a film as another project. Pacific Rim looks great, unlike the Mathew Broderick Godzilla film of a few years back.

But look for more stuff to be made in America as the Japanese govt is now involved. Buichi Terasawa's Space Cobra is apparently a go. Might be fun. I'm going to have to look around and see what other Japanese properties are being promoted.