Dragonball Z Movie

[scatterax]

maybe he means when he fought cell...and maybe super buu or some movies. doesn't really fit tho.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

Personally I want to see an actual series of film that showcase the sagas faithfully.

If I had a preference I'd say it'd be nice for them to start with the Saiyan saga, have it lead into the Frieza saga, and of course end it with Cell. I would recommend the Buu storyline but there's more filler than there is greatness.

Although it was definitely the crowning achievement in terms of developing Vegeta's character. Part of the reason I don't want anymore DB films is I don't want them ruining Vegeta, Gohan, or Trunks.

[YT]XCD4PDz4JNQ[/YT]

 

[dark_b]

for some reason when i saw this poster i thought about dagonball z. bright colors,animals,spiky hair and stylized faces.

in 3-4 years the technology will be cheap enough to make a PG13 dragonball Z movie . why not a 100% animated movie? yes in this poster the character look very PG kid friendly. but this is an artistic choice. it has nothing to do with money. they can make them look more mature.

 

[matrix_ghost]

I think an mo-cap animated movie would be the best thing for a DBZ movie. Live action would just be too costly and too much work.
If the tech becomes cheaper , i think Fox could try to have another go.

 

[dark_b]

Man of Steel made a lot money. and the final fight was like a live action dragonball z fight. i think the chances are now as big as ever for a DBZ movie.

fan art

 

[Teelie]

After what they did to the first one? No thanks.

 

[Still Wynning]

After what they did to the first one? No thanks.

That movie was bad because the people working on it were pretty much a bunch of second-rate, untalented hacks who had no heart or investment in what they were making, the script significantly condensed and butchered the original source material, and it was done in live-action, which is pretty much not the way to go if you want to a near-perfect adaptation of the scale and fight sequences.

It can be done, and done well. It just needs a great writer and director to translate the material onto screen.

 

[Victarion]

That movie was bad because the people working on it were pretty much a bunch of second-rate, untalented hacks who had no heart or investment in what they were making, the script significantly condensed and butchered the original source material, and it was done in live-action, which is pretty much not the way to go if you want to a near-perfect adaptation of the scale and fight sequences.

It can be done, and done well. It just needs a great writer and director to translate the material onto screen.

They didn't know what they wanted to do. Do we ground this, or do we go 100% faithful to the source? The end result was Roshi's Island being in the middle of a city.

 

[Lencho01]

I was actually disappointed that MOS didn't have fast fighting like DBZ. So, it didn't really feel like the show to me. Except maybe Faora in Smallville.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I am in the camp/boat that believes that this is possible, and could potentially become the greatest movie series of all time if it is done right. there are others however that believe that this is impossible and/or never should be done anyway, citing dbevolution.

First, couple rudimentary foundation. the film studio to make it should be columbia pictures. warner bros, universal or disney (they did a good job with potc, maybe not the actual execution but the violence).

now, as far as casting goes, this needs to be done the exact same way as the philosopher's stone; instead of getting any known actors at all, actors who have had careers and roles that they are strongly identified with, we need fresh new faces to fit these roles and for that reason, we need casting auditions.

the actors for goku, vegeta, gohan, bulma, and chichi should all be played by asian people. others may disagree and that's fine because opinions will differ, but i strongly believe that would be a mistake and miscast.

tien to me looks like can be played by a white actor as well as krillin, but they can also be asian. yamcha looks middle eastern to me but he may also be asian. in addition, the actor for piccolo who is a main character, should be 7'5".

DIRECTORS: I say peter jackson, because he can make long stories look good onscreen. now this is all a possibility due to mos' fight scenes, particularly faora's movements against the army, and the normal fights, but if it is more special effects than directing that gets that done, then we don't need snyder.

so, telling the story of the manga is going to span for a few movies and some sagas need to be split up.

dragon ball z: the saiya-jinni saga
this would be the shortest saga to tell; it would span from the arrival of raditz to the departure of vegeta. things that i feel like are expendable to cut out would be most of the other world; once goku dies they should flash forward to him at king kai's planet.

dragon ball z: the namek saga
this movie would span from the flight to planet namek to freeza finding vegeta, gohan, krillin and dendei after guru dies. it would be long (all of the films will be very long) and should have an intermission scene.

dragon ball z: the freeza saga
this film would span from vegeta's fight with freeza all the way to trunks' arrival and slay of freeza and king cold. the film should end with his warning about the oncoming anroids, and him going back to the future.

dragon ball z: the android saga
things start to get a little tricky for me here, but I think this should start from training for the androids all the way into cell waiting in his arena for his games to start.

dragon ball z: the cell saga
this movie should span from training in the rosat to the birth of gohan's baby brother.

dragon ball z: the majin saga
part 1 of the buu saga and probably the longest of them all, it will take a long time to tell. it should span from goku returning for the tournament, to buu building his own house. it should end with mr. satan approaching it.

dragon ball z: the buu saga
this movie should span from basically the human extinction attack to goku, vegeta, dendei, and mr. satan escaping to the other world.

dragon ball z: the child buu saga
part 3 of the buu saga and the finale of the dragon ball z film franchise. it should span from goku and vegeta luring buu to them to goku's next journey.

the saiya-jinni saga all the way up to the android saga should be filmed back to back, to keep up with the child gohan's actor's age. as well, the scenes before they enter the rosat should be filmed before they wrap up the android saga.

after the cell saga's filming wraps up, the studio should take a few years to allow gohan's actor to age some, in time for the majin saga. i'd say a 5-7 year break for the movie would be good. of course, they can always avoid such a long break by recasting for an older, young adult actor for gohan.

once that comes around, the majin saga all the way to the final should all be filmed back to back again. this would make for a total of 8 films for probably over 10 years. it would have been cool if it fit into 7 films since there are 7 dragonballs. all of the films would be very long and they should all have intermissions.

regardless of my imagination, i feel like if this franchise were done right (NOT dbevolution), it has the potential of being the best, highest grossing film franchise of all time. of ALL TAHM.

 

[MarvelFan]

I personally grew up reading Dragon Ball as kid, and eventhough now One Piece is becoming the new phenomenon in Japan, i still very much loved the characters, the stories from Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z.

Given that, I actually think that Dragon Ball, (and One Piece also) is one kind of manga that really hard to translate into live action movie...given the nature of the story.

Really, I'd rather to see an anime version of Dragon Ball and read the manga over and over again than seeing another dissapointing Dragon Ball Evolution.

 

[MarvelFan]

But should a live action being made, I believe it should be made by Japan.

Yes, the hollywood has the technology for making the special effect feels real and epic, but for the visual of the story, the characters driven, the theme song, the cast, director, etc....I think it should be made by people who really knew, cared, and loved the mythos.

Just like the recent Rurouni Kenshin live action, Ranma 1/2 live action, Death Note live action (which made by the people who really loved the manga), it really shows the spirit of the manga and the characters. And as a result, It was the best translated Japan manga into a live movie that i ever seen.

But once again, just like i stated above, Dragon Ball is one kind of manga that hard to translate into a live movie....
that being said, Dragon Ball will live up forever in the heart of their fans , even without live action movie...and also without ever remembering the existence of Dragon Ball Evolution

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I personally grew up reading Dragon Ball as kid, and eventhough now One Piece is becoming the new phenomenon in Japan, i still very much loved the characters, the stories from Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z.

Given that, I actually think that Dragon Ball, (and One Piece also) is one kind of manga that really hard to translate into live action movie...given the nature of the story.

Really, I'd rather to see an anime version of Dragon Ball and read the manga over and over again than seeing another dissapointing Dragon Ball Evolution.

if you mean hard to translate because of the length, that's why I said a 7-8 picture deal should be made.

But should a live action being made, I believe it should be made by Japan.

Yes, the hollywood has the technology for making the special effect feels real and epic, but for the visual of the story, the characters driven, the theme song, the cast, director, etc....I think it should be made by people who really knew, cared, and loved the mythos.

Just like the recent Rurouni Kenshin live action, Ranma 1/2 live action, Death Note live action (which made by the people who really loved the manga), it really shows the spirit of the manga and the characters. And as a result, It was the best translated Japan manga into a live movie that i ever seen.

But once again, just like i stated above, Dragon Ball is one kind of manga that hard to translate into a live movie....
that being said, Dragon Ball will live up forever in the heart of their fans , even without live action movie...and also without ever remembering the existence of Dragon Ball Evolution

as I said, this series should be approached the same way they did the harry potter films. It should be filmed and produced in a japanese taste, but should be financed by a big budget HOLLYWOOD studio, like columbia, which at its core is japanese anyways since it's financed by sony.

speaking of which, I think they should be filmed in japanese, and when released in america, the dialogue should be dubbed in english by the same people who dubbed the anime. that would be fresh.

as far as directing goes, if a hollywood director is what is needed to have the cinematics of mos, then we need one. otherwise i'm all for a japanese director.

and unfortunately, dbevolution exists. and unlike dan radcliffe=harry potter, justin chatwin=/=goku. we need a proper asian young man who can nail the role to be the real life face of the happy go lucky alien hero.

 

[BLobo]

The type of action and effects we saw in MOS would be ideal for a DBZ movie.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

^exactly. mos is proof that the technnology is there and has been there for maybe even a few years, possibly when they made dbevolution

 

[TheHeatKitchen]

I watched it as a kid, but I'm not a die hard fan by any means. And that's partially why I say no.

The stories are too obscure that it wouldn't pull in the general audience.
The idea of using the Saiyan Saga, Freeza Saga, Android Saga, Cell Saga and Buu Saga is WAY too much. Even if you get the general audience in for the first film, I don't think they would maintain interest through the Freeza Saga, let alone everything.
Yes, the technology is there, and it COULD be done. But the effects cost would be astronomical. Man of Steel's effects were amazing and perfect for a DBZ movie, but the production cost was astronomical and no studio would front that much cash for a live action adaptation of DBZ film.

I think you could pull in die hard fans, if done right. But I highly doubt you would even get your cost back, even after ticket sales and DVD/BluRay sales.


All of that being said, I think a new age animated film series could work. But I'd still prefer to see all of the DB line stay as is, in its classic form.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I watched it as a kid, but I'm not a die hard fan by any means. And that's partially why I say no.

The stories are too obscure that it wouldn't pull in the general audience.
The idea of using the Saiyan Saga, Freeza Saga, Android Saga, Cell Saga and Buu Saga is WAY too much. Even if you get the general audience in for the first film, I don't think they would maintain interest through the Freeza Saga, let alone everything.
Yes, the technology is there, and it COULD be done. But the effects cost would be astronomical. Man of Steel's effects were amazing and perfect for a DBZ movie, but the production cost was astronomical and no studio would front that much cash for a live action adaptation of DBZ film.

I think you could pull in die hard fans, if done right. But I highly doubt you would even get your cost back, even after ticket sales and DVD/BluRay sales.


All of that being said, I think a new age animated film series could work. But I'd still prefer to see all of the DB line stay as is, in its classic form.

you forgot the namek saga.

mos was not cheap by any means, but it was not the most expensive movie ever made, either. I think that goes to pirates of the caribbean. anyways, mos was able to recuperate and profit, and this franchise would too.

 

[Lord]

1- Whoever thinks this wouldn't make any profit if done right is missing something, because while the Western society seems to be focusing on comic books being turned into movies, mangas like Dragon Ball and One Piece have vastly outsold some of the most popular comics and novel series around, having each sold 230 million and 345 million copies respectivelly. Some of these mangas, if marketed properly, an adaptation would be even more easy money than most of the comic book adaptations that are being done.

2- In a world where we've seen dinossaurs, transforming robots, super aliens obliterating cities, etc, how is it that some still consider mangas like this impossible to adapt? We only haven't seen a proper Galactus adapation because Marvel Studios doesn't have the rights for the FF. The technology for this has been there for a long time, Matrix Trilogy pretty much proved that type of fighting could be done 10 years ago, and we've been proven that a world like this is possibly since Star Wars came out more than 30 years ago.

3- I think you're looking at this wrong, DBZ was pretty much the second half of the story, you can't start it in the middle and have all these characters and relationships there as if it was nothing. And what came before DBZ was arguably the most imaginative part in the series, focusing more on world building, i think there should be 2 or 3 films focusing on that before you moved to the Saiyans, and even then, Namek would probably be the best place to end.

I think there should be a Trilogy for the pre-DBZ time, setting the stage with a fun action adventure that gives us an interesting world, above all, the first film should be more about the quest than the end of the road, Red Ribon could be the main villains for most of it, and then accidentally wake up Picollo in the 2nd film.

 

[Wildcard]

I think if you want to make Dragon Ball Z work you adapt it exactly as it is. DBZ is one of the few things that can stand to be adapted straight from the source whereas most require drastic changes. Keep the humor, the adult themes, & all of the characters as they are.

There's no need to change anything at all (like they did with DBE). Start it off with Dragon Ball and move on accordingly. Don't spit in the fans face & they'll love you for it. I know I would.

 

[Lord]

Agreed, you can delete or move stuff, like taking out Oolong and all those talking dogs (i did like someone's idea that they could have been a militar test from ages ago that are now accepted as normal citizens), or puting the Red Ribbon part in the begining of the story. Marvel Studios is now taking Jack Kirby's concepts and adapting them properly, that's what Dragon Ball needs and deserves, the same way Sam Raimi's Spider-Man embraced the fun and looks of the original comics, DB needs to do the same.

While it's not a franchise where much needs to change, i do think that some things have to be moved, for example, you can't do:

Film 1: Pilaf Arc
Film 2: Tournament
Film 3: First half of red ribbon
etc

At one point it is too many movies and you're repeating much stuff, i think that the Tournaments could be left in the timeskips, so that the movies can only focus on what's more important. Above all else Akira Toriyama needs to be brought and to make some designs and aprove the story, in Evolution he was aparently trying to allways give advice but they would just ignore him. DB is a mixture of mysticism, Science Fiction and Martial Arts, the filmmakers need to embrace that.

By the way, i heard that DB Evolution's production was rushed because they needed to keep the rights, in that case, does it mean that they will eventually make another film if they want to keep the franchise? Unless Battle of the Gods counted.

 

[Wildcard]

I think if they're going to start with the Dragon Ball story specifically they'd have to find a way to be faithful to the source material but combine it all in one.

I'd say a two & a half hour movie would do it. Have Pilaf, the Red Ribbon, kid Goku, etc. & have it be based on the latter and King Piccolo. End of the movie would of course be teen Goku going up against Piccolo Jr.

When it comes to Dragon Ball, I think it needs to be properly placed all into one film. With Dragon Ball Z, since everything is more straightforward & to the point it would take away the need for a lot of material to be cut out.

And I'm not sure about the rights, but if that's the case that's always a dumb reason to make a film & it's a surefire way to lose money...which they did. Regardless, whenever another attempt to turn DBZ into a live action series is made, I want it to be something that all of the fans can be proud of. Something epic that can take the whole action/superhero genre to the next level.

But, for that to happen all the right people have to come together.

 

[TheHeatKitchen]

you forgot the namek saga.

mos was not cheap by any means, but it was not the most expensive movie ever made, either. I think that goes to pirates of the caribbean. anyways, mos was able to recuperate and profit, and this franchise would too.

Sorry, it's been a while since I've seen any DBZ. Missed it.

MOS had a lot going for it that DBZ wouldn't.
Superman is one of the most iconic characters in the world. He has the general audience. DBZ is popular, but wouldn't have NEAR the GA that MOS did.
MOS had big names attached to it: Zach Snyder, Christopher Nolan, David Goyer and Hans Zimmer. DBZ would need big names like that, which I don't think would happen.

Bottom line is I don't think they would make a worthwhile profit, even on the lowest budget they could make a legitimate DBZ movie on.

It's nice to dream about and use for fan fiction, but I don't think at this time, it's a reality.

 

[los pollos]

I really don't think you're going to get a movie that will do DBZ justice in live action because of the nature of the story. DBZ is fighting manga/anime, especially everything that takes place from the time Radditz comes to earth. A lot of the things that make dbz what it is isn't very conducive to a live action movie that movie studios would want to give a 200+ million dollar budget for.

I think a cg animated movie mixed with mo-cap technology being used would make more sense, kind of like Beowolf. CG has come a long way now, and it would be so much easier to capture the world better in that style. Imagine if the group who did this game trailer worked on a dragon ball z movie? I would love to see the Red Ribbon arc, or the King Piccolo arc done with that tech.

 

[DorkyFresh]

1- Whoever thinks this wouldn't make any profit if done right is missing something, because while the Western society seems to be focusing on comic books being turned into movies, mangas like Dragon Ball and One Piece have vastly outsold some of the most popular comics and novel series around, having each sold 230 million and 345 million copies respectivelly. Some of these mangas, if marketed properly, an adaptation would be even more easy money than most of the comic book adaptations that are being done.

2- In a world where we've seen dinossaurs, transforming robots, super aliens obliterating cities, etc, how is it that some still consider mangas like this impossible to adapt? We only haven't seen a proper Galactus adapation because Marvel Studios doesn't have the rights for the FF. The technology for this has been there for a long time, Matrix Trilogy pretty much proved that type of fighting could be done 10 years ago, and we've been proven that a world like this is possibly since Star Wars came out more than 30 years ago.

3- I think you're looking at this wrong, DBZ was pretty much the second half of the story, you can't start it in the middle and have all these characters and relationships there as if it was nothing. And what came before DBZ was arguably the most imaginative part in the series, focusing more on world building, i think there should be 2 or 3 films focusing on that before you moved to the Saiyans, and even then, Namek would probably be the best place to end.

I think there should be a Trilogy for the pre-DBZ time, setting the stage with a fun action adventure that gives us an interesting world, above all, the first film should be more about the quest than the end of the road, Red Ribon could be the main villains for most of it, and then accidentally wake up Picollo in the 2nd film.

I agree with pretty much everything you posted with the exception about a DB trilogy before getting to the Z stories. Ideally I'd like to see Piccolo be the villain for the first film (DB), Vegeta being the villain for the 2nd one (getting into DBZ) and Frieza being the villain for the 3rd (continuing DBZ, exploring space).

But I TOTALLY and utterly agree with your 3 points to a T! Major kudos!! t:

 

[Lord]

Sorry, it's been a while since I've seen any DBZ. Missed it.

MOS had a lot going for it that DBZ wouldn't.
Superman is one of the most iconic characters in the world. He has the general audience. DBZ is popular, but wouldn't have NEAR the GA that MOS did.
MOS had big names attached to it: Zach Snyder, Christopher Nolan, David Goyer and Hans Zimmer. DBZ would need big names like that, which I don't think would happen.

Bottom line is I don't think they would make a worthwhile profit, even on the lowest budget they could make a legitimate DBZ movie on.

It's nice to dream about and use for fan fiction, but I don't think at this time, it's a reality.

I really don't think you're going to get a movie that will do DBZ justice in live action because of the nature of the story. DBZ is fighting manga/anime, especially everything that takes place from the time Radditz comes to earth. A lot of the things that make dbz what it is isn't very conducive to a live action movie that movie studios would want to give a 200+ million dollar budget for.

I think a cg animated movie mixed with mo-cap technology being used would make more sense, kind of like Beowolf. CG has come a long way now, and it would be so much easier to capture the world better in that style. Imagine if the group who did this game trailer worked on a dragon ball z movie? I would love to see the Red Ribbon arc, or the King Piccolo arc done with that tech.

I disagree about it being difficult to have success, i think Hollywood gravely underrates the power of Mangas. I mean, Superheroes are popular in the USA and all, but outside of it, before the films came out, people worldwide would more easily know about Dragon Ball than the likes of Iron Man. It's all about how you do it, if you give a good and entertaining mainstream blockbuster film based on Dragon Ball, you can make a good profit.

The Dragon Ball manga has sold in total around 230 million copies (it's second only to One Piece's 345 million), and keep in mind that more than 1/4 of the fans haven't even bought the volumes. And with that there's even the expanding Chinese market, DB does not come from there, but from what i hear DB and One Piece are quite popular there too.

I predict that a well promoted and decently made Dragon Ball film would on the very least around the same of what Pacific Rim did.

As for what to adapt, i don't think you should really rush for DBZ, a single film for the Young Goku saga doesn't sound like enough to me, Evolution tried to do this and it didn't work very well, i think they should give in least 2 films to explore this time period.

Honestly, the pre-DBZ time was the most rich one in terms of plot and creativity, make use of that, do something funny and entertaining with an interesting world before going cosmic. First film should be simple, Goku is clueless about the outside world and serves as the audience's surrogate, Red Ribbon are the main villains, after thinking about it, i don't think you need Pilaf at all, just go with any of the RR generals with Mercenary Tao as their Boba Fett.

And the story can indeed be done justice, look at most American Comics, it took a while for filmmakers to do them Justice, but it's now pretty much expected, many manga even take inspiration from movies, DB was by martial arts movies for example. Hollywood seems to be constantly looking for new and interesting universes like Star Wars, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, yet they look at young adult novels or books that don't even have half the following DB does, imagine if the manga/ anime was finally done justice, an interesting universe is something that is already expected of Shounens since DBZ, like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Hunter X Hunter, Toriko, etc.

I say they should present a family fantasy movie of the style of Alice in Wonderland and Oz: The Great and Powerful, and then focus on character dynamic and Martial Arts type of action mixed with modern special effects. Make it almost like a modern adaptation of Journey to the West (which the manga originally was), interesting part is that there have been 2 Journey to the West films in the last 2-3 years and both have made more than 100 million in China.

About CGI animation films, Toei, the company that did the Dragon Ball animes and movies as spent some 100 million dollars on a Saint Seiya CGI film adapting the first Saga:

[YT]HRv_PnWhJB4[/YT]

Saint Seiya is actually another brand with much potencial for live action blockbusters, since it mixes interesting action, Greek Mythology and has much potencial to sell toys (the toys of the franchise sell pretty well in fact), but i doubt it's ever be done because at the time Hollywood seems to be more focused on American Comic books.

Either way, i wonder why Toei chose to do the 100 million dollars treatment to Saint Seiya, instead of something more popular they oun like Dragon Ball, One Piece or Sailor Moon.

I'm sorry about such a long post, but mangas/ animes are where i think much potencial for big film franchises lies, not only do a lot of them feature the kind of high concepts they're constantly looking for, but they also seem to have some pretty strong fanbases.