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NEWS: Keanu Reeves: Live-Action Cowboy Bebop is in Rewriting


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Ralifar



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 205
Location: League City, TX
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:56 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:

But Spike doesn't worry me so much as does this:
Quote:
Reeves also indicated that "everyone is in there" from the main characters of Shinichiro Watanabe and Sunrise's Cowboy Bebop anime series.


Seriously, who would be able to pull off Ed? And if their is someone, what are the chances they will get her? Will her performance be cheesy and cartoonish. To be honest, I don't want this to turn into a live action cartoon. Less in the Scooby Doo and Speed Racer vein is better, no? Those films certainly have their merits, but I just hope this isn't what Cowboy Bebop will turn into. I do hope it turns out really good though, so here's hoping.


You've got a really good point there. I think it's going to be hard for someone to pull off the goofiness of Ed without making her look completely stupid.

I'll see it regardless of who they pull out for the cast. I suppose it will just determine whether I see it when it first comes out, or wait to see it in the dollar theatre. Razz
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:14 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:

You can make excuses all day long for bad movies, but just because the premise of the film is "giant robots from space" doesn't mean that suddenly ALL indicators of reasonable quality are out the window.


I'm not saying it was a great film. I had loads of issues with it, but I just have never cared about the entire franchise because it's a comicbook/cartoon series based off a series of toys from my memory-crass marketing from the get-go as opposed to Star Wars being a story toys & comic books were made from.
2 hrs of mindless fun, heavy on mindless.
I was actually surprised the first was as decent as it was, though it in no way was as interesting as Small Soldiers (which had it's share of holes)

Quote:
You've got a really good point there. I think it's going to be hard for someone to pull off the goofiness of Ed without making her look completely stupid.


If they could find a young female Robin Williams as represented from his days on Mork & Mindy...

Quote:
Point 1:
Nightmare Before Christmas was not adaptaed from a tv show or a comic book.

No, it was based on a story Tin Burton wrote which was published after the movie came out. Sally was added to the movie.

Quote:
Where Eagles Dare, The Wild Geese, Commando, Red Heat and Predator and especially Terminator 2

I think I saw Red Heat once. Predator...that's sci-fi in my book & also not a flick I liked much. Never bothered with Rambo, Where Eagles Dare, The Wild Geese, Commando...Saw all 3 of the Terminators. 2 made my daughter cry when she was about 5 & naked Arnold showed up on the screen.

In fact, I don't really consider Transformers to be the Action genre as much as sci fi like Terminator, Men in Black, Independence Day, Mars Attacks, Star Wars, etc. I still think of Action flicks as being spy shows (barely, I actually think of them as their own category) & more realistic settings like Lethal Weapon or Speed or Die Hard. No spaceships so Bebop should be more Blade Runner (not an action flick. It's sci fi), 5th Element, etc. These movies have their range of unreality because they expect us to accept clones, spaceships, etc. Action flicks just expect us to believe the hero can survive incredible odds & ride off into the sunset. We are to believe Bruce Willis can save the day & smile at the end of the flick.

Quote:
Point 3:
Yeah well, I guess this shows you're not as big as an action fan as I am. Sorry but it's true because just like everything else, it all comes down to story, so if the action is just random like in Transformers with no exposition or point, then it's lame and boring.


No, it's science fiction so we're supposed to expect stuff outside the norm. Yeah, Transformers 2--I had issues with the idea the Pres would act in the way he did. (Bush, maybe, but Obama? So name a fake pres-don't try to make it seem to be this reality. The transformer gal bugged when I saw it--something was wrong with her plotline, but whatever. If the Terminator could keep on coming no matter what as long as it did, whatever.

Quote:
Point 5:
Oh it doesn't mean you're a bigger fan because for all I know I could be much younger than you so I couldn't have been able to see them at the movies, it all depends how much you respect the original material.


Bottom line-these things are someone's vision, rarely one person's, really. Sometimes you get writer/director as one--otherwise you have the actor interpreting a script written by the writer under the direction of the director maybe under the orders of the producer of what audience the flick is aimed at.
Even if Bebop remained anime forever-no live-action movie-the various voice actors bring the character to life under the direction of the director who may or may not make them retake the line 10 times. Steve Blum & Koichi Yamadera gave diffferent performances. Kanno said she thought Blum sounded sexier.
Unless you speak Japanese & can listen to it without needing subtitles to let you know what's going on you are getting an interpretation. I've sat thru translator panels at con enough--they say often to the last moment they are tweaking that translation & can still be unhappy with the finished product.
With Bebop we will be getting an interpretation of the story. Look at how they refer to the various portrayals of Hamlet--each actor brings something different to the role. I can't say I ever found Spike all that animated. He was pretty laid back much of the time so I really can't see all the screaming about Reeves playing him.
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Pedestrian A



Joined: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 160
Location: Toronto, ON
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:08 pm Reply with quote
Oh, Hollywood... You've ran out of ideas ages ago...
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~nanashi~



Joined: 10 Sep 2009
Posts: 106
Location: Palmdale, CA
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:28 pm Reply with quote
R315r4z0r wrote:
If the movie is about the Redeye story, which takes place in like the first episode, how can all the maincharacters be involved?


Good question about the main characters! But has stated the movie will take after session 1, which worries me very much. I just hope it all works out in the end... less we have another Bomb.. like Dragon Ball Evolution.
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dangerwhat



Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Posts: 187
Location: Central Florida
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:49 pm Reply with quote
Keanu Reeves can't make THAT much xD
but yeah. Hopefully, if this works out, scaling back means two movies, at least, as opposed to one movie that tries for too much and is an unmitigated disaster.
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Brazzlefrazz



Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 163
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:52 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
If the movie is about the Redeye story, which takes place in like the first episode, how can all the maincharacters be involved?


It could just be a follow up to the episode, not a continuation. They could run into a group smuggling Redeye or something.
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louieatrest



Joined: 02 Nov 2007
Posts: 25
Location: montreal
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:54 pm Reply with quote
I think its interesting that Shakespeare only ever wrote one entirely original play (The Tempest)...proving its does not take an original idea to make something great. More recently, all Scorcese's best movies are also adaptations, and they rank among the best movies ever.
I cannot think of a great movie adapted from a comic, but I really enjoyed, Hellboy, Tank Girl, Spiderman 1, X-men 1 , and i'll always have a special place in my heart for Superman 3 (I laugh every time i think of Richard Pryor putting tar into Kryptonite!) So I have a lot of hope for a Bebop film.
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Hotaruzuki



Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 58
Location: Virginia, USA
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:14 pm Reply with quote
Its happening....

ITS HAPPENING.








By any chance, is the movie coming out December 12 2012? Just wondering.... Anime hyper
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Sea Lion



Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:15 pm Reply with quote
I can't see why everyone's getting so bent out of shape. This would be a real Hollywood movie, with a real budget, and a real leading actor with star power, unlike anything yet put forth as a live-action take on anime for American audiences.

I, for one, can see why Keanu made the "half a billion" crack, because good CGI is still way expensive, and Bebop would need tons of effects shots.

Oh, I have a secret for everyone who's holding up Transformers as a yardstick to measure any future anime adaptations: spoiler[The stuff the movie was based on was crap to begin with. I know. I got up too early every Saturday morning to watch it, I still have the original toys in a box in the basement, and I spent a lot of hard-to-come-by-for-a-kid money to buy it. Think I'm wrong? Watch one of the original episodes, then come back here.]

CCSYueh and others are right about Spike and Keanu having about the same emotional range, so the only issue I'd have with Keanu is the age difference. He does make movies in Hollywood, however, and they can do wonders with make up and hair.

I'm a little more worried about the writers making Faye into an airheaded love interest for Spike, and not the tough chick she is in the anime.

Cast the little girl from Sonny With a Chance as Ed. She's flexible, and as long as they film before she hits puberty, she'd be fine.

Bottom line, let's not be hasty about damning this film to Uwe Boll hell -- at least until someone leaks pics from the set.

P.S.: I'd love to see Zac Efron as Light Yagami. Taking that pretty-boy image and twisting it into something evil would be too fun to not see.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:18 pm Reply with quote
Damn, that's so long. I don't even know if I'm still alive by then.
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silentjay



Joined: 12 Dec 2003
Posts: 303
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:41 pm Reply with quote
Sea Lion wrote:
Watch one of the original episodes, then come back here.


I did. It was largely unwatchable, and most of the problems with it are ones that I saw leveled at the live-action sequel. Characters popped in and out without reason. (Literally, but that was largely due to animation mistakes.) The plot was convoluted at the same time as being idiotic. (The Decepticons thought it was a good idea to trap the Autobots in a cave.) Things just happened for the sake of happening. (The aforementioned Decepticon plan, oh, and Bumblebee's been hack... er, brainwashed.)

Seriously, the original series was pretty dumb on it's own, and if the second movie is as bad as it's been made out to be, then it really did emulated the original series well. Same goes with GI Joe, except I actually saw that one. It's dumber than a bag of hammers, where the plot makes absolutely no sense at all, but it nailed the tone and spirit of the original series perfectly.
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Wellness



Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 175
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:23 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, I won't lie if I had to make a movie of Cowboy Bebop off one episode to set up and encompass the general tone of the entire series for a mainstream audience, the first episode is indeed the best way to go.

Still, I don't have high hopes this film, not just Reeves' acting but overall Cowboy Bebop is one of those shows that seems like it would be an easy movie but it is hard to get all the ingredients right. The music, dialogue, camera shots, etc. I don't even Keanu for trying to take this on, especially since I hear he has sunk some of his own money into it.
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R315r4z0r



Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:38 pm Reply with quote
I think that the reason why anime adaptation movies tend to fail is not because of who they are trying to please but rather what they decide to show.

The general idea of why people like to watch anime is because they tell unique, and often in depth, stories.

However, when they make a live action remake, they lose sight of why the anime was good in the first place. It's good because of the depth and story, not because of the characters and the effects.

If you ask an anime fan why DB:E failed, they will probably say because they changed too much of it or because it looked cheesy or because the story sucked. I have to disagree with that. With all the changes made to the plot, it could still have been a good movie if they just followed the formula that the DB/DBZ anime had followed that made it so addicting. If they made the DB:E movie into a trilogy of longer in-depth movies and made Piccolo final bad guy.. the amount of stuff they changed wouldn't matter. (Just as long as it wasn't story relevant)

What a live action adaptation of an anime needs is character depth. They tend to shorten it and just go for action and plot, but character depth is an extremely important role that they often omit.

I had some hopes for this movie because, when you look at it, it's not a very hard concept. It would be rather easy for Hollywood to make a movie like this because it isn't as "out there" as DB is. However, like I said in an earlier post, the plot, as we know it, is about Redeye.. which was in the first episode of the show. In that episode, the only main characters were Spike and Jet. In this news update, it says ALL of the main characters are in. That isn't good. What that tells me is that they are trying too hard to please the anime audience by showing the big characters off.

Don't do it for the anime fans who've seen the show, do it for the people interested in the plot! Trying to please an already bias audience isn't only impossible but it isn't going to make any money! That's why Transformers is such successful movie. It has the right balance of anime insider content (Something that an anime fan would see and recognize that anyone else wouldn't) and raw plot anyone can see and understand. It isn't bias to a particular consumer audience. A lot of anime fans don't find it particularly good, but that isn't the point of making movies to please a small group of people. The fact is: it makes money, it gets good reviews, and people enjoy watching it.


Last edited by R315r4z0r on Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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karvelot



Joined: 10 Aug 2007
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:39 pm Reply with quote
I 'm not getting my hopes up. I think Speed Racer and Dragonball Evolution set the precedent for anime based movies the way the Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter movies set the precedent for video game movies; mediocrity at best! If that's the case, then Steven Chow and Justin Chatwin can be considered the Uwe Bolls of the anime world.
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rep21



Joined: 19 Jul 2009
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:42 am Reply with quote
silentjay wrote:
Sea Lion wrote:
Watch one of the original episodes, then come back here.


I did. It was largely unwatchable, and most of the problems with it are ones that I saw leveled at the live-action sequel. Characters popped in and out without reason. (Literally, but that was largely due to animation mistakes.) The plot was convoluted at the same time as being idiotic. (The Decepticons thought it was a good idea to trap the Autobots in a cave.) Things just happened for the sake of happening. (The aforementioned Decepticon plan, oh, and Bumblebee's been hack... er, brainwashed.)

Seriously, the original series was pretty dumb on it's own, and if the second movie is as bad as it's been made out to be, then it really did emulated the original series well. Same goes with GI Joe, except I actually saw that one. It's dumber than a bag of hammers, where the plot makes absolutely no sense at all, but it nailed the tone and spirit of the original series perfectly.


Well i agree a lot of the old Transformers Generation one is not exactly the best written, though it is better than most of the flash animated crap that passes for western cartoons these days.( that goes for most of the 80's cartoons) Transformers: the movie( and i mean the original animated movie) was great and still holds up today. In fact it is far superior to Micheal Bay's versions easily.

The GI JOE cartoon was indeed silly.( though the animated movie was good.) When you hear fans speak fondly of it, they are more than likely talking about the marvel comics GI Joe series which was far darker and better written than the cartoon. The new GI Joe cartoon that was shown on cartoon network recently is much closer to those comics and is better than the live action movie.
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