A new trend seems to be forming: Anime based Hollywood live action movies.

[Vexx]

Well... isn't that honorable to the source material? It was a rather cheesy series though pretty advanced for its time. I mean, ... a monkey and little fat kid being the humor factor? That had me rolling my eyes even when I was a kid in the 1960s. I hated it when they were onscreen. And even as a kid, I was wondering what was up with Speed treating Trixie like a doormat.

[MakubeX2]

Remember Fist Of North Star and Guyver ?

Hollywood is currently still obessed about their live action adaption of Superheroes Comics and Cartoons.

Until they have exhausted with the lineups of titles and their sequeals, anime and manga live action adaption is still a Japan only thingie as evident with the Higurashi movie and that D.M.C movie

[Mushi]

Originally Posted by Vexx

It was a rather cheesy series though pretty advanced for its time.

Yep, advanced enough for me to think it was kinda' cool... or at least certain aspects of it.

And even as a kid, I was wondering what was up with Speed treating Trixie like a doormat.

Heh... you were far more perceptive than I was. I honestly can't say I remember much about the series. Only bits and pieces of it remain in my memory. I just wasn't impressed by the trailer for the movie. It looks too.... cartoonish. Maybe that's a style they're shooting for.

I seem to remember reading a comment somewhere from producer Joel Silver that the special effects were "car fu." Perhaps on the big screen they might be more impressive, but the trailer samples looked... well... cheesy. It will be interesting to see how it fares at the box office.

I just can't imagine Christina Ricci as Trixie.

[Supah Em]

just saw the trailer for speed racer and i can safely say that it is

FUCKING LAME!


what the hell is hollywood doing?

[Cytrus]

Originally Posted by Mushi

When I first heard that the Wachowski Bros. were doing Speed Racer, I thought if anyone could pull it off, it would be them.... until I saw the trailer.

http://speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/main.html

Looks totally cheesy, to me.

Didn't like what I saw. Weird thing to pick up if you're just going to make something that's been done a hundred times before.

[Vexx]

I think "Speed Racer" is what happens when you (the Brothers) have too much money influence and no one to tell you "no". They probably pitched to a bunch of movie execs with cocaine-addled bubble memories of some series they vaguely recalled was popular in the 60s.

I suppose I would have much more expected something a bit more epic from them, like a mecha series or something rather than the relative equivalent of the Flintstones (anyone remember that live-action remake? I mean, besides, Halle Berry?).

I figure it will be a well-made homage to the series.... and possibly kill any other attempts at Hollywoodizing anime.

[Seditary]

We can only hope...

[darkchibi07]

Am I the only one who thinks the trailer is very cheesy......in an extremely entertaining way? I'm probably one of the few who wants to watch it.

[Ithekro]

From what little I can remember about Speed Racer (English dub) is that is was sort of cheesy anyway. But that was a long time ago, and not very many intact memories of it either. Can't say at all on the subject of Mach Go Go Go.

Some of us are praying that if they ever get to that Star Blazers movie, they will at least try not to mess with it as much as some of the scripts lead us to believe.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I think "Speed Racer" is what happens when you (the Brothers) have too much money influence and no one to tell you "no". They probably pitched to a bunch of movie execs with cocaine-addled bubble memories of some series they vaguely recalled was popular in the 60s.

I suppose I would have much more expected something a bit more epic from them, like a mecha series or something rather than the relative equivalent of the Flintstones (anyone remember that live-action remake? I mean, besides, Halle Berry?).

I actually liked the live-action remake of the Flinstones. I thought it was pretty good for what it was clearly meant to be - a comedy popcorn flick that you park the analytical part of your brain at the door for.

I figure it will be a well-made homage to the series.... and possibly kill any other attempts at Hollywoodizing anime.

Why are you against live-action adaptations of anime?

I'm against live-action adapations of video games, because Hollywood's track record with that is absolutely abyssmal.

However, Hollywood's track record with western comic book-based movies is mixed at worst, and genuinely excellent at best (depending on your point of view on Superman Returns, X-Men 3, and the Fantastic Four movies).

So... I could see anime live-action adaptations going either way. Hollywood doesn't have a track record to go off of here yet.

It could be an epic failure like Super Mario Bros: The Movie was, or it could be an epic success like the first Spiderman movie.

[hero147]

Isn't the artwork and the fake reality what makes anime..umm anime? This does not seem like a good idea. Though I'd love to see Gundam Seed made into a reality flick...wonder if Lacus would have pink hair and who would play the Goddess of the anime world.

[starry_sky45]

I am not too excited about DBZ. However I will see it because Justin Chatwin is being Goku.

[Miko Miko]

oh no my nightmares are coming true.

Nahh just kidding, but i am not interested in these too much. I think it will be a disappointment..

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Why are you against live-action adaptations of anime?

It could be an epic failure like Super Mario Bros: The Movie was, or it could be an epic success like the first Spiderman movie.

I'm not really *against* it -- but the "Hollywood" system has a very poor track record when it comes to incorporating foreign concepts. The movie executives have enough trouble "getting" commonly understood LOCAL American trends and ideas.

Seriously, many of them are *really* out of touch and clueless about whats outside their offices (personal observations and friends who work in the industry). Imagine the worst PHBs you've ever dealt with and they're in control of a $100M project O.O.
So it will depend on *who* directs/produces it and how it is financed. The Brothers W seem to *get* anime and they obviously cherish the old Speed Racer from their childhood but.... I don't know if that was the best choice to bring anime adaptation live-action to life for the first attempt.

We'll when the box office results are in

[FatPianoBoy]

Whatever happened to James Cameron's Battle Angel Alita? I've been looking forward to that for years...

[Happy_Chip]

We're asking ourselves whether we'd expect anime to be credibly made into live action in Hollywood, and to try to answer than question we're contemplating how successful Hollywood has been in taking non-live action media (N. American cartoons and video games) and making movies about them; and considering the hit-and-miss success rate.

What makes anime different is, that anime is what would be considered "foreign" - anime media are foreign films and foreign TV programs, a product of a society with a different language, history and national outlook than the U.S.

If we consider a non-anime cartoon like the Flintstones - well, the Flintstones is essentially a stone-age parody of 1950's american society. Hollywood can, I'm sure, relate to that more easily than trying to relate to the concepts expressed in quality anime.

To explain my point:I'm sure we agree, to get a decent english language dub that's true to the source material, requires artistic talent and an affinity to the source material. Quality dubs like this are rare.

Creating live-action anime deals not just with the dialog, but the entire audio, video, characterization, plot, and story. And we're asking this from a media industry that in general has proven itself ham-fisted when dealing with artistic concepts, or even creating an interesting, entertaining film.

[Jeiku]

For any fans saying the Speed Racer movie looks horrifically cheesy, you've got to consider how the original anime was too. If you change that by making it dark or serious, or filling it with relatively realistic dialogue and characters, then that'll be what would destroy the adaptation more than anything else. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's probably going to be awesome already.

Also while it isn't live-action, I'm looking forward to Astro Boy too. Too bad we've hardly seen much on it though.

[X207]

Originally Posted by Mushi

When I first heard that the Wachowski Bros. were doing Speed Racer, I thought if anyone could pull it off, it would be them.... until I saw the trailer.

http://speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/main.html

Looks totally cheesy, to me.

same here, the title was interesting then i saw the racing scenes and just ignored the rest.

[Banditopants]

Originally Posted by Mushi

When I first heard that the Wachowski Bros. were doing Speed Racer, I thought if anyone could pull it off, it would be them.... until I saw the trailer.

http://speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/main.html

Looks totally cheesy, to me.

I fear for the anime, not just Speed Racer, but all anime. Luckily I don't think some of the more *adult* anime will get a live action movie, and under American standards thats a LOT of the popular anime.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by Jeiku

For any fans saying the Speed Racer movie looks horrifically cheesy, you've got to consider how the original anime was too. If you change that by making it dark or serious, or filling it with relatively realistic dialogue and characters, then that'll be what would destroy the adaptation more than anything else. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's probably going to be awesome already.

Finally someone else gets it! I've been telling my friends this and they just don't get it. I am stoked about the Speed Racer movie.