The above trailer graced the pages of YouTube roughly a year ago, and by the looks of it, fan reception has been absolutely off the roof. True fans of the Dragonball saga flocked by the numbers to view the trailer, which now boasts over 6 million views since it's debut. The trailer was made by UK based K&K Productions composed of solely fans of not only the Dragonball series, but other anime as well, evident by the numerous trailers they have made of other anime and game content.
5 years after Fox Studios produced the critically lambasted Dragonball: Evolution, many fans since then have gone on and tried their best to recreate their childhood anime into a live medium that would rival the disaster that was DBE. So far, the only one that has come closest to staying true to the anime would be the above trailer by K&K Productions.
While I truly applaud their efforts, especially with the limited budget that they had, as well as those of other budding DBZ auteurs, it`s time to take a look at their attempts more objectively, if they ever plan to create a live action reboot of the series.
While I truly applaud their efforts, especially with the limited budget that they had, as well as those of other budding DBZ auteurs, it`s time to take a look at their attempts more objectively, if they ever plan to create a live action reboot of the series.
PROS:
The trailer is clearly a much better representation of the Dragonball universe than the version produced by Fox Studios. The fight choreography was entertaining. The graphics, though sub-par, still managed to impress, especially with the flurry of hits and punches, as well as the beams of energy that were produced by some of the key players. You can definitely tell that a lot of work went into this little gem. As mentioned above, fan reception has been absolutely overwhelming, with almost every second reviewer crying out that the production team should be given an appropriate budget to turn this trailer into a proper DBZ film. And I could not agree more. With a crew this dedicated, maybe we can finally get a better version of the film that fans alike will fall in love with.
The trailer is clearly a much better representation of the Dragonball universe than the version produced by Fox Studios. The fight choreography was entertaining. The graphics, though sub-par, still managed to impress, especially with the flurry of hits and punches, as well as the beams of energy that were produced by some of the key players. You can definitely tell that a lot of work went into this little gem. As mentioned above, fan reception has been absolutely overwhelming, with almost every second reviewer crying out that the production team should be given an appropriate budget to turn this trailer into a proper DBZ film. And I could not agree more. With a crew this dedicated, maybe we can finally get a better version of the film that fans alike will fall in love with.
CONS:
Unfortunately, the trailer only seems to cater to fans of the series. And as a result, the production team chose to emulate everything in the anime into live action. One of the comments in the trailer mentioned this, and I will re-iterate it as well here. "What works and looks good in the anime doesn't necessarily mean it will work and look good in a live medium". I could not agree more with this statement, which is why I have made a list of things the filmmakers should try and keep in mind if and when they get the proper approval and budget to turn this into a live action film. Feel free to agree or disagree. Be sure to leave a comment below.
Unfortunately, the trailer only seems to cater to fans of the series. And as a result, the production team chose to emulate everything in the anime into live action. One of the comments in the trailer mentioned this, and I will re-iterate it as well here. "What works and looks good in the anime doesn't necessarily mean it will work and look good in a live medium". I could not agree more with this statement, which is why I have made a list of things the filmmakers should try and keep in mind if and when they get the proper approval and budget to turn this into a live action film. Feel free to agree or disagree. Be sure to leave a comment below.
PRE-PRODUCTION SUGGESTIONS
1: RACE ISSUES
This is the absolute first thing that needs to be nipped in the bud. I can honestly say this is probably the most difficult thing you will run into...which is finding the proper cast for the "potential" reboot. There seems to be an excruciating amount pleas that the film version should be cast with an all Asian ensemble. That's all well and good, but do fans really think that proposition will actually come to fruition? Will a studio really hand over millions of dollars to cast a relatively unknown cast of asians? Also keeping in mind that the filmmakers themselves have never made a big budget movie before? I hope I am not coming off racist here (as I am Afro-American), but I am just pointing out reality here.
If the filmmakers truly intend to go that route, then the only way to gauge audience response is by first turning this into a mini-series, which is what they seem to be doing already, so kudos on them for that. Get a feel for how audiences will react to an all Asian main cast. Somehow I feel it will be much easier to cast roles like Bulma and Chichi to actual female Asian actors, but casting the male characters will truly be your ultimate test in finding the right person to portray the heroes and villains alike, regardless of race.
This is the absolute first thing that needs to be nipped in the bud. I can honestly say this is probably the most difficult thing you will run into...which is finding the proper cast for the "potential" reboot. There seems to be an excruciating amount pleas that the film version should be cast with an all Asian ensemble. That's all well and good, but do fans really think that proposition will actually come to fruition? Will a studio really hand over millions of dollars to cast a relatively unknown cast of asians? Also keeping in mind that the filmmakers themselves have never made a big budget movie before? I hope I am not coming off racist here (as I am Afro-American), but I am just pointing out reality here.
If the filmmakers truly intend to go that route, then the only way to gauge audience response is by first turning this into a mini-series, which is what they seem to be doing already, so kudos on them for that. Get a feel for how audiences will react to an all Asian main cast. Somehow I feel it will be much easier to cast roles like Bulma and Chichi to actual female Asian actors, but casting the male characters will truly be your ultimate test in finding the right person to portray the heroes and villains alike, regardless of race.
2: HAIR
Come to think of it, this will be just as troublesome as the race thing. As mentioned before, "What works and looks good in the anime doesn't mean it will work and look good in the film". While I did praise the trailer for keeping true to the spirit of the anime, I found the hairstyles to be utterly ridiculous. Pitch to a studio executive the idea of hair standing up straight for an entire 90-120 minutes, and I guarantee they will laugh in your face.
There is way too much emphasis to emulate every little tidbit in the anime into the trailer, and this may not be a good thing for the film medium. A comment of the trailer suggested that maybe you should modernize their hairstyles to that of today's Japanese youth, and I quite agree. There is some fancy hairstyles out in Japan that could serve as inspiration for the film. Try going the loose curly hair route for Goku, or the straight long hair with scruffy ponytail for a guy like Raditz. Whatever you go with, please shy away from the hairstyles of the trailer. Fans will know why their hair looks like that, new audiences won't have a clue. And you won't have time to explain why either.
Come to think of it, this will be just as troublesome as the race thing. As mentioned before, "What works and looks good in the anime doesn't mean it will work and look good in the film". While I did praise the trailer for keeping true to the spirit of the anime, I found the hairstyles to be utterly ridiculous. Pitch to a studio executive the idea of hair standing up straight for an entire 90-120 minutes, and I guarantee they will laugh in your face.
There is way too much emphasis to emulate every little tidbit in the anime into the trailer, and this may not be a good thing for the film medium. A comment of the trailer suggested that maybe you should modernize their hairstyles to that of today's Japanese youth, and I quite agree. There is some fancy hairstyles out in Japan that could serve as inspiration for the film. Try going the loose curly hair route for Goku, or the straight long hair with scruffy ponytail for a guy like Raditz. Whatever you go with, please shy away from the hairstyles of the trailer. Fans will know why their hair looks like that, new audiences won't have a clue. And you won't have time to explain why either.
3: FIGHT SCENES
This as well will need some careful planning. There are way too many martial arts films that fall victim to over-use of unnecessary character doing unnecessary things. Examples are characters doing unnecessary flips and somersaults. Mortal Kombat Annihilation was a good example of this, and I cannot believe I even bought that movie.
Draw inspiration from great martial arts movies of the past like Enter the Dragon, Fist of Legend, and Fist of Fury. Basically any movie that Bruce Lee or Jet Li were in. Also, please, pretty please, steer clear of speed-ramping. Just because 300 and Watchmen did it, doesn't mean everybody else should do it as well. That's probably why The Legend of Hercules isn't doing so well in theatres. The Legend of Chun-Li was also in danger of this as well.
This as well will need some careful planning. There are way too many martial arts films that fall victim to over-use of unnecessary character doing unnecessary things. Examples are characters doing unnecessary flips and somersaults. Mortal Kombat Annihilation was a good example of this, and I cannot believe I even bought that movie.
Draw inspiration from great martial arts movies of the past like Enter the Dragon, Fist of Legend, and Fist of Fury. Basically any movie that Bruce Lee or Jet Li were in. Also, please, pretty please, steer clear of speed-ramping. Just because 300 and Watchmen did it, doesn't mean everybody else should do it as well. That's probably why The Legend of Hercules isn't doing so well in theatres. The Legend of Chun-Li was also in danger of this as well.
4: COSTUMES AND GADGETS
I'm not gonna harp much on this, but with a potential bug budget movie, you can definitely improve on costumes in the movie. Again, steer clear from emulating everything about the anime. You are trying to make you own version of the Dragonball universe in both story and look, not what someone else has already done as a cartoon and copying the exact same thing onto live film. It will show a complete lack of vision on your part. Reference the live action Airbender movie to catch my drift.
Surprise us with new and better looking armor and gadgets. After all, the Saiyans are a more technologically advanced than we are, so their attire should fit their status.
I'm not gonna harp much on this, but with a potential bug budget movie, you can definitely improve on costumes in the movie. Again, steer clear from emulating everything about the anime. You are trying to make you own version of the Dragonball universe in both story and look, not what someone else has already done as a cartoon and copying the exact same thing onto live film. It will show a complete lack of vision on your part. Reference the live action Airbender movie to catch my drift.
Surprise us with new and better looking armor and gadgets. After all, the Saiyans are a more technologically advanced than we are, so their attire should fit their status.
5: CHARACTERS
This as well will need some careful planning. You only have a 2 hour window (maybe less depending on the budget) to re-introduce new audiences and fans alike to the Dragonball universe. Do not make the mistake of overcrowding the film with too many characters. This statement is mostly meant for the Z fighters. Frankly, you should keep your heroes to a minimum to begin with initally, and if the first film were to do well, introduce the rest of the heroes in the second installment.
There are many character back stories to be told, with just a limited amount of minutes to do it in. Character development will be utmost key to the film. New audiences will need to be able to connect with each of the characters. Easier said than done if you are a hardcore DBZ fan, but keep in mind that you are not just making a movie for fans, otherwise you might as well just make a fan movie and leave it at that, provided you get permission from to do so from whomever still holds the rights to Dragonball.
This as well will need some careful planning. You only have a 2 hour window (maybe less depending on the budget) to re-introduce new audiences and fans alike to the Dragonball universe. Do not make the mistake of overcrowding the film with too many characters. This statement is mostly meant for the Z fighters. Frankly, you should keep your heroes to a minimum to begin with initally, and if the first film were to do well, introduce the rest of the heroes in the second installment.
There are many character back stories to be told, with just a limited amount of minutes to do it in. Character development will be utmost key to the film. New audiences will need to be able to connect with each of the characters. Easier said than done if you are a hardcore DBZ fan, but keep in mind that you are not just making a movie for fans, otherwise you might as well just make a fan movie and leave it at that, provided you get permission from to do so from whomever still holds the rights to Dragonball.
6: STORY
Last and foremost, story. As I mentioned above, we need to see a fresh perspective of the Dragonball universe. While the trailer was decent, it was still an absolute ripoff of what happened in the anime. In my opinion (and strictly my opinion), it is not in me to go and pay 12 bucks at the theatre to see the exact same thing I saw in the anime...word for word, scene for scene. Once again, it shows utter lack of vision.
Quite frankly as well, you might find that you will need to eliminate a couple of things from the anime in order to cater to audiences. Frankly, I think the ape thing needs to disappear, but that's just me. If you do decide to keep it in, then it will need to be approached with the utmost subtlety. To re-iterate, very little time to explain things that non-fans do not know about. You don't want to suddenly surprise them by having a main character turn into a huge monkey with no proper back story to why that is.
Well, that is all folks. Be sure to leave your comments below regarding the above review and lets all hope that we will see a much better representation of Dragonball Z in the near future. Until next time, Take Care and God Bless.
Dragonball Artwork found on Deviant Art.
Last and foremost, story. As I mentioned above, we need to see a fresh perspective of the Dragonball universe. While the trailer was decent, it was still an absolute ripoff of what happened in the anime. In my opinion (and strictly my opinion), it is not in me to go and pay 12 bucks at the theatre to see the exact same thing I saw in the anime...word for word, scene for scene. Once again, it shows utter lack of vision.
Quite frankly as well, you might find that you will need to eliminate a couple of things from the anime in order to cater to audiences. Frankly, I think the ape thing needs to disappear, but that's just me. If you do decide to keep it in, then it will need to be approached with the utmost subtlety. To re-iterate, very little time to explain things that non-fans do not know about. You don't want to suddenly surprise them by having a main character turn into a huge monkey with no proper back story to why that is.
Well, that is all folks. Be sure to leave your comments below regarding the above review and lets all hope that we will see a much better representation of Dragonball Z in the near future. Until next time, Take Care and God Bless.
Dragonball Artwork found on Deviant Art.
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