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First glimpse of live-action Piccolo and Goku
- By Phyl Good
- Published 09/4/2008
- Anime and Manga
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Rating:
Phyl Good
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The Anime News Network reports that the Spanish-language entertainment blog Nerdorama has posted apparent screenshots from a trailer for the upcoming live-action Dragonball film.
The film itself, written and directed by James Wong and adapted from Akira Toriyama's manga, is due to open in theaters next April 10, and will star Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, and Chow Yun-Fat. The film news website, ComingSoon.net, posted at the end of August that 20th Century Fox plans to run the trailer for the first time on October 17, when it debuts another film, Max Pane (an adaptation of its video game of the same name).
According to the Nerdorama blog, the screenshots it posted show Justin Chatwin as Son Goku, James Marsters portraying Piccolo, and Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi. Among the discussion forums, the reactions are mixed, some fans thinking the pictures look promising, and others not entirely sure.
Most discussion seems to revolve around Marsters as Piccolo, and whether his skin is green enough -- does the lighter skin mean the movie starts before Piccolo gets his youth back, or is this fine detail simply being ignored and/or abandoned by the movie-makers? If it's the latter, fans worry about what other details from the original story might be changed; for example, another thread of speculation centers around one of the female characters, Bulma, and whether the film will portray her as a "ditz" when in fact she was highly intelligent in the manga and the anime series.
The speculations about Piccolo and Bulma tend to be a subset of a larger split between purists who saw the original Japanese versions of the Dragonball series several years ago, and more recent watchers who have only seen the somewhat altered English dubs that came over to North America. The earliest watchers have more of a tendency to regard the Japanese versions as a kind of "sacred text" in danger of being violated by Hollywood.
These screenshots have certainly fired up fresh speculation about the upcoming film. If 20th Century Fox releases such tidbits as these judiciously over the next few months, punctuated by a dramatic trailer or two, the studio will pretty much guarantee a curious and eager audience by the time the film itself appears in theaters.
The film itself, written and directed by James Wong and adapted from Akira Toriyama's manga, is due to open in theaters next April 10, and will star Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, and Chow Yun-Fat. The film news website, ComingSoon.net, posted at the end of August that 20th Century Fox plans to run the trailer for the first time on October 17, when it debuts another film, Max Pane (an adaptation of its video game of the same name).
According to the Nerdorama blog, the screenshots it posted show Justin Chatwin as Son Goku, James Marsters portraying Piccolo, and Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi. Among the discussion forums, the reactions are mixed, some fans thinking the pictures look promising, and others not entirely sure.
Most discussion seems to revolve around Marsters as Piccolo, and whether his skin is green enough -- does the lighter skin mean the movie starts before Piccolo gets his youth back, or is this fine detail simply being ignored and/or abandoned by the movie-makers? If it's the latter, fans worry about what other details from the original story might be changed; for example, another thread of speculation centers around one of the female characters, Bulma, and whether the film will portray her as a "ditz" when in fact she was highly intelligent in the manga and the anime series.
The speculations about Piccolo and Bulma tend to be a subset of a larger split between purists who saw the original Japanese versions of the Dragonball series several years ago, and more recent watchers who have only seen the somewhat altered English dubs that came over to North America. The earliest watchers have more of a tendency to regard the Japanese versions as a kind of "sacred text" in danger of being violated by Hollywood.
These screenshots have certainly fired up fresh speculation about the upcoming film. If 20th Century Fox releases such tidbits as these judiciously over the next few months, punctuated by a dramatic trailer or two, the studio will pretty much guarantee a curious and eager audience by the time the film itself appears in theaters.
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Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Kame)
Rating:
Don't you mean, the vast majority of the fans are angry about the look of Piccolo? He's not even green, he's yellow and has no antennae. They casted the biggest wimp in Hollywood to play Goku. I'm boycotting this.
Comment #2 (Posted by mike)
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No he/she meant fans that can't understand the meaning of the word ADAPTATION of anime are angry about the look of Piccolo!!
Comment #3 (Posted by Kame)
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ADAPTATION=COPOUT
Seriously, why defend this movie after all the crap that's come out about it? It's like defending Disaster Movie.
Comment #4 (Posted by Phyl)
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Psst! Mike, it's "she." I know my name's confusing. :-)
But seriously, yes, a lot of reactions are really intense, on both sides. Some want the movie to be virtually identical to the original manga or anime, and others don't mind if the look is a bit different, so long as the story itself is honored.
Then there are those who think Hollywood will just ruin it from start to finish, so why bother? It often depends on who the scriptwriter was, and the director and producer. And of course the actors.
I myself was surprised when I realized James Marsters had been cast as Piccolo. For one thing, he's a bit...lean.
I don't have much investment either way, though, so I may go see the movie and not be too concerned, or I may skip it. It's interesting to watch the debate, though, and see how much it means to the fans.
Comment #5 (Posted by Lan)
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I'm actually a big Marstars fan and I firmly believe that he can pull it off. I am a bit dissapointed with my favorite character's (Piccolo's) new look, but I'm going to give it a chance and keep an open mind.
Comment #6 (Posted by eh...)
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Perhaps, in the movie, Piccolo is green but wears make-up to appear more human?
Comment #7 (Posted by Momo)
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Man, I can't believe how much shit this is stirring people up. It's <i>Dragon Ball Z</i> for gods sake...
Why can't everyone just sit back and enjoy the movie for what it is: an epic lulz fest.