# Not too sure that this is a good thing, but...



## Lucky Seven (Nov 14, 2007)

Hollywood studio plans movie based on Japanese comic book series 'Dragonball' - Mainichi Daily News

...I'll probably see this 1-2 times and _good times_ will follow through the medium of _lulz_. Dragonball was the the shit when I was a 90's child.

I already know it's going to suck, but it will be awesome in a different way.


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## kung_fu (Nov 14, 2007)

I could see this being very awesome, something like a "Crouching Tiger" or "Kung Fu hustle". Conversely without the right director/casting/choreographer this could be terrible. I'm crossing my fingers that Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves won't be involved. I think to be done right, it should be done in hong kong.

Edit: I should have read the article first . I'm getting chills, Tom Cruise is mentioned in the article and I didn't even read it first lol, but not associated with the actual movie  .

Stephen Chow = me probably enjoying this


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## Metal Ken (Nov 14, 2007)

I remember watching a live action DB movie from back in the 80s on the Spanish Channel. Good god, it was horrible


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## D-EJ915 (Nov 14, 2007)

Metal Ken said:


> I remember watching a live action DB movie from back in the 80s on the Spanish Channel. Good god, it was horrible


spanish channel, yes!!!

I watched Lost Universe on the spanish channel


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## Naren (Nov 14, 2007)

An American live-action version of a Japanese animation about ancient China...  There is no way in hell this is going to be good. I'm sure they're gonna have Goku be played by some white guy. Haven't they learned their lesson that amazing Japanese animations do not usually translate into American action films? (refer to the horrible "Fist of the North Star" B-flick which was an adaptation of the best comic series/animation series ever, "Hokuto no Ken"). 

And Ken over there is right. There was 1980s Chinese live action version of Dragon Ball. I personally haven't seen it, but I've heard and read that it was incredibly horrible.

So, if the movie is called "Dragon Ball," is it a comedy and starts out when he's a kid? I mean, the Dragon Ball comic series had over 45 volumes if I remember correctly (I owned all the special edition color ones that Shueisha put out a few years back). And a total of over 400 episodes (including both "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z" which are two seperate animations corresponding to the two different halves of the "Dragon Ball" comics).

Maybe if they add some nudity (like in the comics), some sexual inuendo (like in the comics), lots of blood and gore (like in the comics), some extreme violence (like in the comics), some corny humor (like in the comics - although most of this is based off of Japanese-language puns, so it probably wouldn't work if they're making this is English), and tons of extreme dialogue (like in the comics/animation. I still remember this one part where the dialogue would translate to "Shit... why aren't you dead?" "I'm going to dig your graves and send you straight to Hell." - I doubt the children-focused English version did it like that. They probably did it something like "Oh no... why haven't you been defeated?" "I'm going to send you to another dimension!" or something really idiotic like that), then it might be watchable. But really I can't imagine Dragon Ball with white actors and English dialogue. That'd be like making a movie about an ancient legend in Kenya and making all the actors white instead of black and speaking in English. "Yeah, it's not really Kenya, is it...?"

Anyway, I expect this to be a blasphemy to Japan's most beloved animation series.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 15, 2007)

I'm thinking it will be good in the same way that "Troll 2" is good. Though nothing will ever be as epicly terrible as Troll 2.


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## Naren (Nov 15, 2007)

Lucky Seven said:


> I'm thinking it will be good in the same way that "Troll 2" is good. Though nothing will ever be as epicly terrible as Troll 2.





I just saw the list of actors they picked. They're all white, they're all native English speakers, and not one of them looks remotely like the characters in the comics...

I wonder what they're planning to do. The second Goku vs. Piccolo fight at the end of Dragon Ball (the animation - it was near the middle of the comic series) where Goku saves the world from Piccolo's evil intentions, gets married to Chichi, and all that stuff. 

Probably not... They'll probably make up a new story and make it incredibly Hollywood action film-style.


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## hide (Nov 19, 2007)

Lucky Seven said:


> I'm thinking it will be good in the same way that "Troll 2" is good. Though nothing will ever be as epicly terrible as Troll 2.


Kazaam? 

I don't know how it's going to be, I only know I was too fond of DB in the old times to let this one pass


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## Toshiro (Nov 19, 2007)

Naren said:


> An American live-action version of a Japanese animation about ancient China...  There is no way in hell this is going to be good. I'm sure they're gonna have Goku be played by some white guy. Haven't they learned their lesson that amazing Japanese animations do not usually translate into American action films? (refer to the horrible "Fist of the North Star" B-flick which was an adaptation of the best comic series/animation series ever, "Hokuto no Ken").
> 
> And Ken over there is right. There was 1980s Chinese live action version of Dragon Ball. I personally haven't seen it, but I've heard and read that it was incredibly horrible.
> 
> ...



Actors? Plot? Hollywood needs not these things. They have special effects, blue screen stunts, and bad merchandising. Oh yes, and a whos-who soundtrack.

Why do you thing a documentary about fucking penguins outsold all the damn blockbusters? All they do now is re-make, or make adaptations of something.

Just wait for the NGE movie. That's gonna fucking suck. They'll probably cast a bunch of 20-somethings as the children. At least James Cameron never got a chance to make that Alita flick.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 19, 2007)

Toshiro said:


> Just wait for the NGE movie. That's gonna fucking suck. They'll probably cast a bunch of 20-somethings as the children. At least James Cameron never got a chance to make that Alita flick.



I know! Can't people just leave that series the fuck alone?!?!?!?!?! I'll admit the concept art looks really awesome, and I have a ton of respect for WETA, but there's no way that movie can even make sense if done by Hollywood not to mention it will most likely suck horribly anyway.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 19, 2007)




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## Toshiro (Nov 19, 2007)

Yeah, like that, only it'll cost $8.6 billion and look just as cheesy.


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## Azyiu (Nov 21, 2007)

As far as I know Stephen Chow is producing this project, and a few Hong Kong actors / actresses will be casted for major roles in the film. So I think the end result should not be too bad.


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## Toshiro (Nov 21, 2007)

Azyiu said:


> As far as I know Stephen Chow is producing this project, and a few Hong Kong actors / actresses will be casted for major roles in the film. So I think the end result should not be too bad.



Considering:


> Fox said Justin Chatwin, who played the son of Tom Cruise's character in "War of the Worlds," will portray the lead character Goku and James Marsters is cast as Goku's main enemy, Piccolo.
> 
> Marsters played the vampire Spike on the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."



I wouldn't count on it being anything but stupid.

This guy as Goku?

Well, at least there's little worry of them ever making my fav anime/manga series into live action films.


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## Azyiu (Nov 21, 2007)

^ sure, we shall see... but one thing is for sure, Stephen Chow himself is a big fan of Dragon Ball Z; I bet it cannot be too bad.


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## Naren (Nov 21, 2007)

Azyiu said:


> ^ sure, we shall see... but one thing is for sure, Stephen Chow himself is a big fan of Dragon Ball Z; I bet it cannot be too bad.



Him being a fan of the animated series means nothing to me. I doubt he can be much of a fan if he's making it into a Hong Kong action flick with the main characters being played by Hollywood caucasians.

He might as well just do &#35199;&#36938;&#35352; instead of Dragon Ball. And you might ask "Would you prefer they did it with Japanese actors?" And, actually, I'd prefer that they didn't do it at all. There are animations and graphic novels that translate over well into live action and Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z is not one of them. 

I still can't believe they're actually doing this...


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 21, 2007)

Anyone ever see the Fist of the North Star live action movie? Pure. Fucking. Gold. I bought it on VHS at a pawn shop because I couldn't believe my eyes. I watch it with anyone who is even remotely a fan of anime for major lulz.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 21, 2007)

Naren said:


> I still can't believe they're actually doing this...



_BUT THINK OF THE MONEY!_


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## Naren (Nov 21, 2007)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Anyone ever see the Fist of the North Star live action movie? Pure. Fucking. Gold. I bought it on VHS at a pawn shop because I couldn't believe my eyes. I watch it with anyone who is even remotely a fan of anime for major lulz.



I saw a little bit of that.  I mentioned that on the first page as a prime example of how this stuff usually doesn't work right.

That movie is like a C- budget with the most cheese ever. The guitarist in my band is a huge fan of the comic series (like me) and he saw the first 10 minutes of thelive action movie and he was trying to guess who was who and couldn't get anything right (in the comic series, Yuria is the only character who looks caucasian. She's blonde and such, but in the movie, they made everyone else caucasian and made her the stereotypical Chinese/Korean/Japanese Asian). It was humorous because 99% of the moves in the comics could not even be attempted to be reproduced at that budget. And the dialogue was pure comedic gold. You couldn't get stuff that good in a parody. It was like a really poorly done Mad Max with martial arts. Didn't even resemble what it was based off of.

I'm sure it's a good way to get a laugh if you've never read the comic series before.



Lucky Seven said:


> _BUT THINK OF THE MONEY!_



I'm sure that's the only thing they're thinking of.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 21, 2007)

Hey Vegeta, what's up?



Naren said:


> I'm sure it's a good way to get a laugh if you've never read the comic series before.



I've watched the anime and it was fucking HILARIOUS for me. I don't read manga though, I just can't get into it  I wish they'd just put out novels for the manga I'd like to read. I want the story line, but I don't want to read comics


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 21, 2007)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> I've watched the anime and it was fucking HILARIOUS for me. I don't read manga though, I just can't get into it  I wish they'd just put out novels for the manga I'd like to read. I want the story line, but I don't want to read comics



Light Novels? Yeah, I only watch anime, i could never get into manga.


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## Azyiu (Nov 21, 2007)

Naren said:


> I still can't believe they're actually doing this... WITHOUT ME



Fixed.


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## Naren (Nov 21, 2007)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> I've watched the anime and it was fucking HILARIOUS for me. I don't read manga though, I just can't get into it  I wish they'd just put out novels for the manga I'd like to read. I want the story line, but I don't want to read comics



The mutilated dubbed one that was released in the US? Funny story behind that. They didn't think anyone in the US would know the background behind the movie because the Japanese animated series and comics were never released in the US (still haven't been, as far as I know), so they spliced up the story, changed lots of different parts of it, gave the characters Hong Kong action film-style corny dialogue, dubbed it with the most idiotic voices possible, and cut the film that was over 2 hours long down to about an hour and a half (a total of 30 minutes of footage cut out, I believe). They changed several of the characters names and kept going. I saw the original movie in Japanese and it was excellent. Not anywhere near the quality of the "manga," but it was still really good. My friend had some of the US release and I watched it and it WAS laughable.  The type of thing you'd sit down with your friends, drink beers, and laugh at for how stupid it is.

The "Hokuto no Ken" (Fist of the North Star) manga is seriously the best one out there. Without it being a comic, you'd miss a lot of the awesomeness. The insane gore (brains, intestines, cartilege, bone, and such flying everywhere with the floor drenched in blood - all this cut out of the animated series because it was on TV. Hokuto no Ken may very well be the most violent and gory comic from the 80s), the awesome martial arts action, the cool tension-filled scenes between characters, the elaborate depictions of the landscape and crazy locations... It would be cool if the writer for the series made a novel about it, though. Not sure, which part of the series he'd do, though (since it's pretty long - I've got every issue).



Azyiu said:


> Fixed.



No way. If Akira Toriyama called me up and said "Hey, Eric, dude. We've never met, but I want you to voice act in a new Dragon Ball animated film I'm working on," (or make music for it, whatever), I'd say, "Fuck yeah. Sign me up."

This? No way. I would never associate myself with it. Regardless of what you think about that Chow fella, there's no way this is going to be a good film. No way.



Lucky Seven said:


> Light Novels? Yeah, I only watch anime, i could never get into manga.



I like Japanese animations, but I think the comics are so much better. The quality is on an entirely different level. Animations have too much filler (they'll stretch a 15-page part of the comic out to 30 minutes on a show) and too much censorship.

I own the entire Dragon Ball animated series on DVD and I also have the entire comic series and I have to say that the "manga" is a lot lot higher quality than the animation.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 21, 2007)

Naren said:


> I like Japanese animations, but I think the comics are so much better. The quality is on an entirely different level. Animations have too much filler (they'll stretch a 15-page part of the comic out to 30 minutes on a show) and too much censorship.
> 
> I own the entire Dragon Ball animated series on DVD and I also have the entire comic series and I have to say that the "manga" is a lot lot higher quality than the animation.



Well, you see Japanese animation is something I watch when I have nothing to do. I haven't watched anything since summer, in fact I deleted all the anime I watched this summer. While I agree with you that the comics are probably better, it's just not something I'm into enough to actually spend money on. The only manga I've truly read would be the Evangelion manga, which wasn't necessarily bad, but it really felt like a different series (of coarse the manga came after the animation).

I'd read those Hokuto no Ken comics if I could find well translated ones, but that'll never happen.


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## Naren (Nov 21, 2007)

Lucky Seven said:


> Well, you see Japanese animation is something I watch when I have nothing to do. I haven't watched anything since summer, in fact I deleted all the anime I watched this summer. While I agree with you that the comics are probably better, it's just not something I'm into enough to actually spend money on. The only manga I've truly read would be the Evangelion manga, which wasn't necessarily bad, but it really felt like a different series (of coarse the manga came after the animation).
> 
> I'd read those Hokuto no Ken comics if I could find well translated ones, but that'll never happen.



I've never read a Japanese comic in English before, so I don't know how the general quality of the translations are (although I actually translate Japanese comics into English as a part time job). I do remember seeing Japanese comics in the US for INSANELY high prices. They were something like $18 a comic. In Japan, I could go to a used comic shop and get 10-18 comics for that price. Or new, I could get 4-6 comics for that price. 

I only watch Japanese animation when I'm seriously interested in watching it. I haven't seen a "new" Japanese animation in over a year (as in, I've seen older stuff like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and City Hunter within the last year, but that's all stuff that I'd already seen before).

The Hokuto no Ken comic series and animated series have not been translated into English. Too gory for Americans? Too EXTREME? Dunno...

The type of comics Evangelion fits into are what I call "shit." If an animation is based off of a comic, the comic pretty much is ALWAYS better. However, if there's a comic based off of an animation or a video game, the comic almost always sucks. I've read a few of those before and every single one of them sucked. So, it does not surprise me at all that an Evangelion comic would suck. They only make them because the animation has enough fans and popularity that they know people will buy it.

I used to collect comics by Akira Toriyama. I've read almost everything he's ever released: Dragon Ball, Doctor Slump, his short comic collections (I owned all of them), Kowa!, Sandworld (I think it was called), and all the other ones.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 21, 2007)

Heh, I've read some Dr. Slump on the internet.


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## Azyiu (Nov 21, 2007)

Lucky Seven said:


> Heh, I've read some Dr. Slump on the internet.



Dr.Slump *IS* a classic!  

I simply love &#12491;&#12467;&#12481;&#12515;&#12531;&#22823;&#29579; (King Nikochan) very very much!


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 22, 2007)

Hoyo?


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## Naren (Nov 22, 2007)

Azyiu said:


> Dr.Slump *IS* a classic!
> 
> I simply love &#12491;&#12467;&#12481;&#12515;&#12531;&#22823;&#29579; (King Nikochan) very very much!



Yes, it is. I especially like the beginning of the series. That's when it was the most hilarious. It was his kind of bizarre crass humor that really made Dr. Slump interesting.


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## Azyiu (Nov 22, 2007)

Naren said:


> Yes, it is. I especially like the beginning of the series. That's when it was the most hilarious. It was his kind of bizarre crass humor that really made Dr. Slump interesting.



Very true  And I used to have &#12491;&#12467;&#12481;&#12515;&#12531;&#22823;&#29579; as my MSN display pic


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## Naren (Nov 22, 2007)

I used to have a pic of Doctor Slump and Arare (&#12450;&#12521;&#12524 as my MSN IM display pic a few years ago. Hilarious comic series.


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## Azyiu (Nov 22, 2007)

Oh, man... for one thing, I wish I didn't stop taking Japanese a few years ago... 

About Dr.Slump, surprisingly we got that TV series here in HK a few months after Japan WAY back in 1982.  I remember ALOT of parents back then went "WTF" about this, what they called "cartoon" (if you know what I mean)  But kids my age at the time all stayed home and watch this thing... it was good times  It felt like watching some Tex Avery stuff... only more hilarious.


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## Naren (Nov 22, 2007)

Japanese will make a cartoon about anything. Sure, there are tons of sexual jokes and nudity and other kinds of crude humor, but that's what marked Akira Toriyama's early career. If you look at his stuff before he did Doctor Slump, it was even more bizarre, crude, and even kind of kinky. I mean, if you've read Dragon Ball, you'll know what I mean. Like how Goku kept taking off Bulma's panties when she was sleeping and she flashed Muten Roshi with her full nude lower half unknowingly (or how her bare breasts were flashed to him to get blood to go spraying out of his nose to make the invisible man visible). It was just funny crude humor. I can see how a country not used to that kind of stuff would think "what the fuck?" Especially since they are mistakingly thinking that it's aimed at kids, when it ISN'T. Dragon Ball's main audience was high schoolers. I'd say 14-24 was the main audience at the time it came out.


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## Desecrated (Nov 22, 2007)

Naren said:


> Japanese will make a cartoon about anything.



http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/movies-books-tv-media/41614-nitaboh.html

Check out this great anime movie about a shamisen player.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 22, 2007)

Naren said:


> The mutilated dubbed one that was released in the US?



I'm pretty sure the one I watched was subbed. I try to stay away from dubbed anime. I think I've only ever really seen 1-2 dubs that I thought were okay, instead of the soulless, emotionless droning that english voice actors usually put over it.


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 22, 2007)

Yeah, non-original dubs pretty much always suck.


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## guitarplayerone (Nov 23, 2007)

John Travolta as Gouku...


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 23, 2007)

Joan River's as Bulma.


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## Naren (Nov 23, 2007)

Presenting...

John Travolta as Goku
Joan Rivers as Bulma
Benicio Del Toro as Vegeta
Jean Claude Van Dam as Trunks
Kevin Spacey as Kuririn
Jack Nicholson as Master Roshi (Kame-sennin)
Richard Gere as Mister Satan
Angelina Jolie as Chichi
Edward Norton as Gohan
and Jet Lee as Freeza.

Dragon Ball: The Movie

Coming summer 2009


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 23, 2007)

Naren said:


> Presenting...
> 
> John Travolta as Goku
> Joan Rivers as Bulma
> ...



That movie would be fucking epic as fuck. Jason Statham would have to be in there somewhere though


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## Lucky Seven (Nov 23, 2007)

"Dragon Ball: The Movie" did so well in theater's that they're making a totally unrelated sequel!

_DRAGON BALLZ: BAK 2 DA HOOD_


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## Naren (Nov 24, 2007)

with... 
Ice Tea as Goku
Snoop Dogg as Vegeta
Little Kim as Bulma
Samuel L. Jackson as Master Roshi
Lawrence Fishbourne as Cell
Little Wayne as Gohan
and Doctor Dre as Tenshinhan


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