Dragonball Live action movie

[Zoei]

Is not completely horrible, Yes its cheesy, yes the special effects are odd in certain places, there are plenty of plot holes.. but seriously you expected art from a Dragonball movie?

[ZeroForever]

i like how the review of this movie starts off with "not completely horrible", seriously though the psp game of it set the new record for lowest first week sales of any psp game.

[Zoei]

Movie tie in games are notoriously bad.

I am not going to say this movie couldn't have been done better, but that it was a movie based on Dragonball with the script written by Toryama himself the only thing you could ask for better is probably special effects.. but serious its Dragonball did we really expect Watchmen, or Dark Knight?

[Helel]

You can never please everyone, apparently...

Ah well, I doubt I'll ever get the chance to 'see' the Dragonball movie. The live action one, even.

[Marky]

Yeah, you're never gonna please everyone, that's for sure. I'm wanting to go see it, but I'm not sure if I will be able to, as well, with me being in college and not really having a car, so, unless I want to take the trolley downtown or walk about 20 blocks or so to go see it, then, yeah...

[Helel]

Yeah, you're never gonna please everyone, that's for sure. I'm wanting to go see it, but I'm not sure if I will be able to, as well, with me being in college and not really having a car, so, unless I want to take the trolley downtown or walk about 20 blocks or so to go see it, then, yeah...

I'd save walking 20 blocks for a movie that you REALLY want to see. XD That and drag some friends along for fun. And also for safety and such.

[Marky]

Yeah. True. Thing is, not sure if any of my friends want to go and see it. XD

[Queen Octavia]

I'll definately go watch it, dragonball was my introduction to anime, after all.

I thought it only came out like on April 10th or something though (I live in Canada)

[Marky]

Came out in Asia a little over a week ago, I think. Everywhere else it is either the 8th-10th of April.

[Zoei]

Well alot of people in the anime community are treating the movie like its cancer causing bad when its really not, its no Elektra or Battlefield earth.. its fairly true to the themes if not perfectly following the manga's plotline I am not saying its a great movie I am just saying its probably about as good as you'd get out of a DB movie(though some of the effects could have been better) Also I like making Bulma able to fight..

[Queen Octavia]

Why should a DB movie not be any good?

Sure, it's going to be an action movie with a drab plot, but the dialogue, effects, music etc etc have no excuse to be lacking.

The reviews are really discouraging me :'(

[Zoei]

Because I don't think of Dragonball as "great art" or "High quality" its neat and entertaining but I can define things as much better. Its a popcorn flick, it could have used some better special effects for afew things and maybe a better actor for Yamcha.. though I am not really sure. Goku was so so, I liked Roshi, I liked Bulma.. even if they made her useful and compitent instead of "that thing that gets Goku in trouble"

[Mitera Nikkou]

You couldn't pay me any amount of money to see it. Only bored out of my mind would I be willing to watch it once it's airing on the telly.

I'm generally against live-action adaptations because it's rare that anyone can produce the series and its universe in such a way that will do it justice. Simply because it's usually more restrictive in live-action productions and, out of their natural element, just look stupid. And the problem, as I see it, is very basic: converting fictional characters into realistic characters is akin to taking the alcohol out of liquor. When I see characters jump really high in anime, manga and video games, it looks fine. That's because it's only a matter of artistic quality and expression; there's no real limitation. Reproducing that effect with live-action just looks awkward and goofy to me, since exactly what they're trying to do goes against what the medium is for: realism. It's one thing to have giant robots (Transformers) doing unbelievable things because, in reality, they're not real. But people are real, and real people have to fight against, rather than express through, their own reality's limitation to produce a live-action film set in a fictional universe. Movie magic and camera tricks can only cover up so much of what makes this sort of thing wrong.

That wall of text aside, I think DBZ is just the wrong series for this sort of thing, much like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were. But a lot of people seem to have a weird interest (at least in my opinion) in making things live-action. I don't get it, since it makes little sense to me. Maybe it's the habit and familiarity of the silver screen. Maybe it's simply marketing and profiteering at work. Or maybe people can't get enough of the realistic quality of the universe that they live in. Maybe it's any combination of these things.

Eh.

[Zoei]

You couldn't pay me any amount of money to see it. Only bored out of my mind would I be willing to watch it once it's airing on the telly.

I'm generally against live-action adaptations because it's rare that anyone can produce the series and its universe in such a way that will do it justice. Simply because it's usually more restrictive in live-action productions and, out of their natural element, just look stupid. And the problem, as I see it, is very basic: converting fictional characters into realistic characters is akin to taking the alcohol out of liquor. When I see characters jump really high in anime, manga and video games, it looks fine. That's because it's only a matter of artistic quality and expression; there's no real limitation. Reproducing that effect with live-action just looks awkward and goofy to me, since exactly what they're trying to do goes against what the medium is for: realism. It's one thing to have giant robots (Transformers) doing unbelievable things because, in reality, they're not real. But people are real, and real people have to fight against, rather than express through, their own reality's limitation to produce a live-action film set in a fictional universe. Movie magic and camera tricks can only cover up so much of what makes this sort of thing wrong.

That wall of text aside, I think DBZ is just the wrong series for this sort of thing, much like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were. But a lot of people seem to have a weird interest (at least in my opinion) in making things live-action. I don't get it, since it makes little sense to me. Maybe it's the habit and familiarity of the silver screen. Maybe it's simply marketing and profiteering at work. Or maybe people can't get enough of the realistic quality of the universe that they live in. Maybe it's any combination of these things.

Eh.

I'd have said the same thing about 300 or Watchmen. Mind you I didn't particularly LIKE 300(but what i didn't like was also in the comic so..) but it got them across. I am not saying Dragonball is on that level of film making just that it would be possible. Really what I thought hurt here was some of the special effects..(though I actually prefered the capsle changes)

[Mitera Nikkou]

I never read the 300 comic and, while it's not my kind of movie, I felt that it came across in a way that a live-action movie was meant to. Which is a good thing.

Special-effects are usually a detriment for this sort of movie. It usually looks out of place, if not out-right bad. But at least it won't be like the first Street Fighter movie, where the shoryuken is nothing but a flash on the screen. And there were no sonic booms and tigers flying around. Or a stretchy Dhalsim.