Is A Decent Dragonball Movie Even Possible?
Something’s been nagging at me, and if I can’t abuse my position for personal means here at Film Junk every once in awhile, what’s the point? As we approach the release date of Dragonball: Evolution, the number of objections to the movie seem to have steadily increased. I was without a television during most of the time that the show aired, so I’m not very familiar with it, but my brothers were and I did manage to catch a few episodes when I’d visit them. One thing that struck me about the show was that it wasn’t opposed to taking its time. I remember being fascinated that my brothers were enthralled by the three episodes that we watched together, which involved two characters shaking with barely controlled power on opposite sides of a chasm as they traded threats with one another. Three episodes of vibrating shit-talking is the very definition of a slow burn.
I can fully appreciate that many people aren’t excited about the movie. I’m the guy who was looking forward to Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and even I’m not that interested. It’s just that almost all the comments either nitpick details or dismiss the entire thing without going into reasons why, and while those are valid responses, they don’t help me understand the fanaticism this show brings out in people. I’m also curious because, unlike properties like Batman or Spider-Man that have segments that can standalone, Dragonball seems to be one long continuous storyline without obvious pieces to cut out without effecting the entire shebang. I mean, if you filmed from the beginning without skipping anything you wouldn’t even reach Piccolo until the 18th movie.
I normally wouldn’t ask something like this, but my assignment for fans of the show is to tell us what your ideal Dragonball movie would look like. Your imaginary movie can be no more than 2 hours long with a budget under 200 million, there are no casting restrictions beyond the monetary (casting lots of big name actors will lower your budget in other areas, including special effects), it should be understandable to a non-fan, and it must end in a satisfying way in the event that there are no sequels. Let your voices be heard, Dragonball fans!
Comments (37)
Yes, make it in the style of Speed Racer.
Posted by TheAllKnowingGod on March 27th, 2009By the way does Goku repeatedly punch Bulma in the crotch to check if she has a penis in the movie?
Posted by TheAllKnowingGod on March 27th, 2009I know this warning is probably too late by now, but you are going to be flammed a great deal for that article by DBZ fans.
All a good Dragon Ball movie needs is a good Screenplay and great special effects. You don’t understand fan attraction to the show because you’ve only watched three episodes. Unlike standard US television, if you don’t watch in order it will take you more than three episodes to pick things up. It’s not that there is a lot of vital material, but things progress gradually and once you feel connected to the characters you can’t get enough. Goku is a hero like no other and his blind selflessness is something that almost every hero lacks. Spiderman and Batman are heroes that are self doubting which makes them much different than Goku, who never doubts his own ability or will. He is the best example of a true hero. Even Superman had to be directed onto his path by choosing to become a superhero. Goku is a hero from his heart, a hero from birth, a hero forever.
Basically, a Dragon Ball movie that stays true to its characters and keeps in all vital plot elements along with having a large budget WITHOUT very established American actors will be very successful. They have to find someone who is just like Goku in the show. Non-fans will immediately fall in love with this character while fans will be pleased with a true portrayal of the show.
Watch Dragon Ball otherwise you’re criticizing something you don’t understand. If you can’t feel for the primary character, Goku, or feel that he is unrealistic then life has made you too cynical to ever enjoy the show. There are people out there like Goku, so if that’s your comeback find a new one.
Oh, and don’t talk about Street Fighter in the same article as Dragon Ball. Otherwise, mention it in your next 007 review. Maybe on the surface you see something in common between the two, but trust me it’s not there. The only thing that should be nagging you is that you wrote an Article about something you don’t understand.
PS: You’re restriction of two hours is refulgent of your ignorance (of Dragon Ball that is). If the movie pleases the fans it will succeed.
Posted by Adam Clifton on March 27th, 2009lol, I was wrong. Not many people posted. Only one imbecile.
Posted by Adam Clifton on March 27th, 2009Yikes. I don’t know whether to be pleased or pissed.
You are absolutely right in that I am ignorant of Dragonball, Adam. That’s why I asked in the first place and why I made a point to not be critical of the original source material in my post. In fact, your take on the show’s appeal seems to mirror my own limited impressions. It’s too bad that the few interesting points you make are drowned out by such unnecessary defensiveness.
Posted by Wintle on March 27th, 2009Slow pacing or dragging problem has been on tons of Janpanese comic adaption animation, though it’s never a issue on the DRAGON BALL comic until very late.
For me, if you want to pitch on DRAGON BALL movie, better to make it a animation movie instead of live action, since large part of the charisma in comic is the lol carton humor which is always a huge part in Toriyama Akira’s work.
Anyway, put DRAGON BALL charactor in a HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL background is really really pissing me off
Posted by Xu on March 27th, 2009ha ha. Apparently you violated some dragon ball z code. The first rule of DBZ is if you don’t think Goku is a realistic character it is because life has turned you cynical.
I find the glacial pacing of the show fascinating as well.
And Adam, the word “refulgent”; big words only make you sound smart if you know what they mean.
Posted by Rusty James on March 27th, 2009@ unlike properties like Batman or Spider-Man that have segments that can standalone, Dragonball seems to be one long continuous storyline without obvious pieces to cut out without effecting the entire shebang
I dont agree with that point though. It’s exactly the same as comic books. They didn’t need to introduce the Shi’ar Empire to tell the dark phoenix story. By the same you token we don’t need 4000 episodes of back story to tell a story about Goku beating up Vegeta.
Posted by Rusty James on March 27th, 2009Hello!!
I would start from the START actually. I don’t know if you know but the story begins when Goku is a kid and he meets Bulma. The first bad guy is Pilaf. I would tell that story: how they met, how they team together to find the Dragon Balls meeting allies along the way (Master Roshi, ChiChi, Yamcha…). Then the way Pilaf summons Sheng Long, the way they spoil his wish, and the aftermath (you really should search this and see it; they are like the 14 first episodes). I would finish the movie with Goku going to train with Roshi.
Of course, I would make two sequels at least: one showing how Goku trains with Roshi and meets Krillin. Then he would have to travel around the world so he can meet Tien Shin Han, train with Karyn and defeat Tao Pai Pai (this would involve to summon Sheng Long, becuase, well, Tao Pai Pai killed someone). After that he can join his friends for the martial arts tournament. The second movie would finish with a very epic battle: Goku vs. Tien. And then… Krillin dies.
The third movie would be, actually, King Piccolo saga. How Goku is defeated by Tambourine (Piccolo’s “son”), then how Pilaf aids Piccolo in getting the seven Dragon Balls, the first fight between Goku and Piccolo (when Goku almost dies); then the Mafuba of Roshi failing, then Piccolo asking for his wish and killing Sheng Long while Goku seeks thanks to Karyn the God’s water and drinks it. Then, as Tien is trying to do the Mafuta too to Piccolo, Goku arrives and you have the epic battle. (I would spent the last half hour of this movie telling the story of Piccolo Jr., a fight with Goku, so the next movie can start with Saiyans!).
So, there you have it. Three epic movies to tell the story of Dragon Ball, and ready to make at least two more for Dragon Ball Z (Saiyan and Freezer sagas). If this would be made, with this plot lines, I would be very happy!!
Posted by Miquelo on March 27th, 2009That’s an excellent point, Rusty. I guess I see superhero comics as being more modular due to having different creative teams coming in and shaking things up, while Dragonball seems to be one consistent creative vision from beginning to end. It just seems like it would be more difficult to choose what goes and what stays when it all seems like one big tapestry.
And thanks, Miquelo. That’s exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. It seems like you have the story beats all figured out.
Posted by Wintle on March 27th, 2009well to beggin with dragonball is in no way for children and all the BS that fox did to make it a PG movie kills dragonball roshi is a perv. that is fundamental goku kills his grand pa accidentaly ofcourse but he does it and it is in no way linear there are so many things hapening in at the same time that it takes 3 episodes to tell everything that happens in an 30 minutes of there time
i think the perfect dragonball movie would have to have a pace like “lost” where the main storie is going on while they are showing you al the things that led up to the moment couse the actual storie is full of fluff but some of that fluf is importante
i think the first movie shoud be goku and bulmas quest for the martial arts tourney wile flashing on all the things they did to get there becouse goku dont care about the dragonballs only his grand pas ball adn his quest in life is to win the tourney of course he get defeted by tenchinhan then after that we go into the picoro saga
but the real important parts are
Posted by jules on March 28th, 20091 goku kills grandpa and finds out later in the storie
2 roshi is a perv no getting around that
3 goku loves to fight only thing that gets him exited is fighting with stronger people than him
ad goku is the most care less person on the earth always has a smile on his face specaily when fighting
Do we get to see Goku’s wang in the movie?
Posted by TheAllKnowingGod on March 28th, 2009I can not say that I am a diehard fan- but I would be the one doing homework at school so i could go straight to the TV when i arrived home…
in my opinon- if you wanted an understanding of Goku and friends- watch Dragon Ball Z (not to be confused with Dragon Ball) from the first episode till after the ‘Namek Saga’. In that instance you understand the bonds that each character has to one another, and more over- you learn how each character ‘grows’.
for movie(s) – learn from ‘Hitman’ and ‘Street Fighter’- if you make 2 dimensional characters, the movie will fail. ‘Max Payne’- poor script. If you want to make a villan that is evil and wanting to take revenge on the world- make it a big scale operation, (it shouldnt just be a slum in the poorest country that is effected, nor should it be just one major city- should be the world and the 6.4 billion people in it)
and the list can go on and on- If you learn from the past, your future will be set…
now as for Goku, in as short as i can think, ‘he enjoys a challenge- to include fights..’ he is childish in nature, but to a degree.
Posted by David on March 28th, 2009and the list can go on and on..
I watched this movie on the net today and it sucks found it thru youtube and Zango
Posted by brucey on March 28th, 2009I watched the movie also. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. When I saw the movie trailer and poster, just by the way it looked I thought it would be awful, but it wasn’t. Before even watching the movie all true DBZ fans should already know that the movie can never live up to the show. There’s just too much going to wrap up into a movie. Somethings will get left out, there’s no way around it. I think the movie stuck to the script as much as it could. There were no major changes unlike the X Men movie(they had three changes redeem their selves and got it wrong every time). They Made the necessary changes to keep the movies up to date. Don’t forget Dragon Ball goes way way back.
I never met anyone who ever watched 3 episodes of DBZ and wasn’t hooked. When I comes to all other Superhero cartoons and comics this one stands alone. DBZ offers so much that others don’t offer. Its hard not become addicted.
Its the first cartoon that the characters that actually grows up. In the dragon ball Goku started off as a child. Now, in Dragon Ball GT. Goku is a grandfather. Unlike everyone one else. Tell me, how old should batman really be?
Other points: The characters actually die(some come back alive then die again) The villains actually win sometimes(for long periods of time)and when they do lose they don’t go to jail where they break out the next day and do the same thing all over. They Die!!!
Characters fall in love and have children and their children grow up and have children. I Don’t even have to mention the battles. DBZ has intense battles that last months worth of episodes. No other superhero show can compete with that.
Overall Dragon Ball the movie might turn out to be better than a lot of us expect it to be, But it doesn’t have to be great. This movie should just break the ice and pave the way for the next movie. DBZ the movie is what I have high expectations for.
Posted by Noxx12 on March 29th, 2009i don’t understand why akira would let them do this to DB in the first place my friends and i keep seeing the trailer for that piece of shit and it almost brings us to tears.
Posted by Jordan Lavelle on March 29th, 2009I wouldve liked for them to have started with Z and the Vegeta saga. Shoot it like Ying Xiong (Hero/Jet Li). Do a trilogy through Cell Games. You could cut enough of the filler out to keep it within a reasonable run time, probably even shorter than Lord of the Rings. You still wont please everybody but that part of the story has everything.
Posted by Cantinero on March 29th, 2009To do a movie for people who have never seen the manga would be a trifling waste of time. For those of us who have seen the sagas and movies, I have them all, we know they do not sync anyhow. With that said, start with the arrival of Radditz, and by the way, never leave krillin out, he is goku’s best friend. And zip to the journey to namek with goku training in the ship and then zip onto the frieza confrentations ending with goku going ssj1 and blasting frieza into oblivion.
Posted by TED on March 29th, 2009You would think that a movie with flying people, dinosaurs, and inhumanly possible strength, and speed would be a much better movie. But in reality, all those thing are way better in an anime. If a real movie had those things, it would be made fun of. So i guess no dragonball/Dragonball Z movie will ever be as good as the shows.
Posted by SRAZ on March 29th, 2009I used to be a dragon ball z fan but as I got older I stopped watching BUT I did see the new DRAGON BALL MOVIE!!!! I didnt even watch it because I like the show as a kid, I watched it just because it was a movie and I wanted to be entertained and I gotta say…even tho I dont remember everything from the show, theres alot of things in the movie I KNOW NEVER HAPPENED IN THE CARTOON but the film makers explained the movie is not based on the whole cartoon, its almost like a re-imagining. The movie was okay but there was alot of stuff I was expecting that I didnt see in the film.. I give it a 5 out of 10. I might see it again when it comes out in theaters..just because.
Posted by Carlemile on March 29th, 2009I was a fan of the original Dragon ball series and tired of Dragon Ball Z pretty early in it’s run. That was in middle school through high school. I’ve seen the unofficial movies that were released and they were true to the original source material, but awful special effects and acting ruined them. I’ve seen the new movie and it’s a mix match of Dragon Ball’s first arc, with bits of the later years and DBZ thrown in for good measure. That being said, it was really bad. It’s almost incompetent in it’s pacing and storytelling abilities. It’s in the same vein as Dead Or Alive, Eragon, or any other bad adaptation of a decent source material. The story moves oddly with almost no rhyme or reason. It’s not bad because it’s not a slave to the source material, it’s just a bad movie. It’s possible to make a decent dragonball movie, but they’ve already made a bunch already, they’re called OVA’s.
Posted by charles scales on March 29th, 2009If Dragonball: Evolution is comparable to Dead Or Alive, I’ll be there opening day.
Posted by Wintle on March 29th, 2009They have to make sure to include Pikachu…
Posted by paulm on March 29th, 2009Oh live-action anime… I can’t help but agree with SRAZ. This movie’s going to bomb probably the same way Cowboy Bebop will (Keanu as Spike? *Gag!*) and I really can’t figure out why this keeps happening.
Not that I was a die-hard DBZ fan. Not even close. I made it through most of “Dragon Ball” and somewhere in the middle of Gohan’s rise to fame and some of Bu, but was ultimately turned off by the dragging pace of the show (sorry, short attention span and I was side-tracked by other long-winded shows like Inuyasha at the time).
Honestly, I think the key to this series is the character DYNAMICS. Each season/section featured interesting characters who interacted in a fun and intriguing way. I feel a Dragon Ball story would have to be told in a way like “Seven Samurai” where you start with someone like Goku and gradually meet the other players–the key to the film (besides the whole screaming and glowy hair) is how they work together/don’t work together/whatever. But that’s just me.
Also, these kind of movies really suffer being live-action. If you’re going to try and copy some of the crazy character design, you need someone like Guillermo Del Toro who can create something that fits well in a space and won’t look too goofy. Otherwise, animate.
I’m just waiting for them to ruin Trigun next…
Posted by Falsk on March 29th, 2009the movie is basically a high school musical rip off that replaces music with explosions. There’s nothing remotely enticing or exciting about that, the fact that there are people out there looking forward to this movie I think bothers me more than that the movie was made. We can just ignore a bad movie, we cannot however- ignore people who like bad movies.
Posted by Alexandria on March 29th, 2009They need to stop casting teenbeat asshats in super-hero movies. Goku is an unapolagetic, muscle-bound meat-head with a heart of pure gold. That is what makes him endearing. Casting this skinny, emo deuche pretty much killed any chance of this movie “working.”
They needed to cast someone who looks like he could go a few rounds with a super-powered bad guy. My sister could kick this kids butt. I’m not saying they needed a pro body-builder, I think whoever did the make-up on Juggernaught in X3 would have worked fine.
Also, ENOUGH WITH THE WIRE-FU!!! It is never convincing. Crouching Tiger is the only movie that has ever used it with any degree of believability and there were still an untold number of times where I could not resist groaning out loud and wondering how a particular scene where the actor is clearly swinging around uncontrolably made it past editors. ARGH!!! No more wire-fu! PLEASE!
Posted by Shut-Up Ed on March 29th, 2009I agree that Justin Chatwin was a bad casting choice, but is wire-fu ever really supposed to be “convincing”? I thought it was supposed to be fantastical and over the top. So if ever there was a movie where wire work is appropriate, Dragonball should be it.
Posted by Sean on March 30th, 2009First,I’m a LONG time Dragonball fan.
I think alot of these “true fans” are in super geek denial,to say Dragonball is not for kids is super ignorant.Do many adults enjoy Dragonball, sure, I do.Though the fact of the matter is that Dragonball is and always has been geared toward kids.The magazine the manga was published in has a target audience of kids(mainly boys)ages 7-14.Once again I’m not saying that older folks don’t read or watch that stuff.Most fans outside japan tend to think of Dragonball as more mature,but this is due to different cultural sensibilities.For example,what America thinks is rude or crude humor is childs play somewhere else.What might be taboo in one country might not be in another.
Now that I got that out of the way,I can comment on the article.I’m a filmmaker and a fan of Dragonball.For years now I’ve wondered what I would do with a Dragonball movie.I still don’t know the answer to that.Wintle, you are exactly right.There is simply too much story to fit it all into a few movies.Sacrifices must be made.Then you must put what you have together in a way that makes sense to non-fans.I wouldn’t say a decent Dragonball movie is impossible,”fans” just have to realize and accept that a 100% faithful adaptation of any property to live action can never happen,from a logistical stand point.In closing I can truely respect the filmmakers of Drgonball evolution for the enormous task set before them.In the end,GOOD or BAD its just a movie.Fans will always have the original no matter what!Besides,KIDS WILL LOVE THIS MOVIE,and that was always the idea!
Posted by thepunk on March 30th, 2009you could start with goku running dragon way nice and epic a few flashbacks a quick in and out of hell then begin the movie proper. Dragonball is FANTASY you dont try and establish a reason for everything that relates to the real world, Its the world of dragonball Z not our world. Hollywood is really dumb when it trys to put fantasy into our world look at how most successful fantasy is its own world. Hollywood is so dumb sometimes, and why must every hero of late be bloodyAmerican.
Posted by lobi on March 30th, 2009Shut-Up Ed, Asian cinema has been using wire work since the late 60s. Tsui Hark used it to amazing effect in his 80s and 90s masterpieces.
Posted by TheAllKnowingGod on March 30th, 2009Is A Decent Dragonball Movie Even Possible?
two words: Warner Brothers
Posted by M. Ali on March 30th, 2009“Is A Decent Dragonball Movie Even Possible?
two words: Warner Brothers”
I may add another two words: Wachoski Brothers
Posted by Miquelo on March 30th, 2009My Dragonball movie:
I’d come at it from a superman perspective. We’d see it through the eyes of a young Chi-chi, just like how Gohan and Videl’s story began.
She is a high school student, and there is an odd young man in her class who doesn’t have any friends. He’s always listening to headphones, forgets to do his homework, and is constantly getting teased–but he doesn’t recognize it because he’s far too innocent. She notices something is suspicious about him. She suspects he stole her missing IPod so she follows him and realizes he is part of a secret martial arts organization.. in fact, he’s the world’s TOP martial artist and he’s inhumanly strong.
And through him, she’s introduced to the Dragonball tournament, which he has won every single year before, filled with various crazy strong competitors. The tournament goes horribly wrong this year, due to the presence of a villain (Vegeta) who is trying to kill Goku–revealing the fact that Goku is so strong because he is an alien, which will explain a lot of Goku’s weird personality quirks (maybe have him be obsessed with the moon or something in the beginning of the story, weird eating habits, odd hair, possibly a tail even). Vegeta then attacks Chi-Chi and its a fight to save her and show the best martial arts ever.
Even with tweaks this could work. The key to this adaptation is keeping Goku’s character true to the story. The weirdo is the strongest guy in the world and NO one who didn’t know him would ever guess it.
Even if the story is a little off-beat, if presented correctly, the audience would buy it. We buy plenty of equally ridiculous stories. (superman, pirates of the caribbean, etc.)
Posted by susan on March 31st, 2009The pacing of the show is really a product of the adaption process from comic to tv. See, the comic was running concurrent with the show. Every panel of the comic was put onscreen. But Ofcourse they need to give Akira Toriyama (the author) the chance to catch up (or move far enough ahead, which ever) so they had to pad out the show. Filler stories were added, Multiple flashback scenes taking up half an episode were added, and current stories were stretched. A fight that would be one issue, or even half an issue, would be made to take multiple episodes. The worst being a fight that was supposed to take place in a five minute time frame being extended over TEN episodes.
I say, keep the current movie as is. Its different, but alot of the differences are cosmetic. Goku being away resulting in his grandpa’s death instead of personally killing him. for example. he’s still responcible for his grandpa’s death but in a different way. Goku is still an alien sent to earth to destroy the world, but ends up being its champion, just the details are different.
Chatwin is fine, I don’t care. goku was skinny in Dragonball anyway (once he grew up), only in DBZ did he get beefy.
Leave the movie as is, but learn from it. Learn what works and what doesn’t. What I’ve heard of the second one and what I know of the stories upcoming leads me to believe it (the second film) could very well be significantly better then the first. And there is alot of potential for the series to get better as it goes along. So take this first film and learn from it. Learn how to make the next one better.
On he continuous story. Yeah, it kinda is, but its broken up into sagas (you could say seasons even). A villain shows up, is fought, is killed, there is a rest and the next villain shows up. Example:
Begining of DBZ. Radditz shows up, tells goku he is his brother, that goku is an alien and should have killed everyone by now. Radditz kidnaps Goku’s son Gohan (named after grandpa) and holds him for a body ransom of a 100 people. Goku and picollo team up to kill him. They do, goku dies in the process but picollo tells the dying Radditz its fine cause Goku can wished back with the DBs. with Radditz’s dying breath his says another of his race (Vegeta) heard that and is on his way, then he dies. Time passes and people train for Vegeta, Goku is revived, Vegeta arrives, they fight…. rinse, repeat.
Thats really all you need. Like how Harry potter is one movie, one book (expect the last ofcourse). with DB its one movie, one saga.
The comic was only 42 volumes, but was stretched to fill 450 25minute tv episodes. So there is alot that can be cut.
Posted by Jezra on April 1st, 2009To Continue
I’m a big fan of DB/Z/GT etc. A very big one. But I’m not Picky or snippy about things. I see the trailers and I think, hey, that looks kinda cool. not great, but cool. I noticed the differences, but accept them. Casting is fine to me, Goku doesn’t need to be a muscular asian dude. Roshi doesn’t need to be bald (but he’s still a perv in this movie so I don’t wanna hear it). It looks fine, and I can’t wait to see it.
I do agree the pacing can be something of an attractent to the series. Its like a soap opera. It sucks you in. like it did me. I watched every week and couldn’t wait to find out what happens. but it can also be a crutch on multiple veiwings. At times you can be like, oh get on with it already, enough with the flashbacks i know this stuff. The characters interested me, the story interested me. I fell in love with it.
Posted by Jezra on April 1st, 2009In my opinion the movie TOTALLy I mean REalLy reAlly SUcK!!!
Casting doesnt even resemble the character, damn..
Storyline is SHIT!!! WTF they didnt even start from the
beggining wTh!!
EFFECTS was good though,, But I realy apreciated the
anime Dragonball movies much better.
I actually watched the WHOLE epic DBZ and all the movies.
Well if you havent watched Dragonballs you will like the movie.. so i suggest watch dragonball:evoulution first b4 the anime so you wont get disapointed..
Nice Try though to the people who made the MOVIE,
Posted by MgDemon01 on April 2nd, 2009anyway its still a big DISSAPOINTMENT!!!
make the DB adaptation be like Path To Power
doesnt matter if he’s a teenager or kid, just that he can be an innocent and naive guy with a cheery face make his trademark remarks that usually infuriates Bulma
get Joss Whedon and Bryan Fuller to do it they’re the only ones who can do sci-fi/fantasy on a realistic and entertaining level.
Posted by Huvan on April 3rd, 2009also make it in Star Wars episodes format so that there’ll be a decent pacing
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