A US Kamen Rider Movie?

[Mr. Underachiever]

I think it's safe to say at this point that the US Kamen Rider adaptation will NEVER be the phenomenon that Power Rangers was/is. But that doesn't mean it can't be successful. Let's say the show still does well for itself. Let's say it goes on for another five or more years and becomes a decent to moderate success. Then it dies. Since we've been on the subject of whether a PR revival would work, would a US KR one work? Naturally, I'm getting a little ahead of myself since there's only one season of US KR, and it's not even halfway over yet, but it's still something to think about.

So, would a US KR revival (as in a movie) work in the vein of Transformers and GI Joe should the show die for however many years and come back? I already said how I believe a PR movie WOULDN'T work. Why? Because PR has too much of a negative connotation to it. Like Funaro said on BentaBoard, PR will ALWAYS be seen as "Teenagers with Attitude." Saved by the Bell meets Robotech. It CANNOT do anything too "mature" and be taken seriously. And that's something I feel all the drones who keep spouting about how PR needs to be so uber-dark don't get--the more PR tries to move away from "Teenagers with Attitude," the stupider it looks.

But US Kamen Rider doesn't have that problem. It didn't start off that way, so if they wanted to make a mature movie with hard violence themes, even right now, it could be taken relatively seriously since it doesn't have that corniness attached to it (especially since it has no connection to Saban's Masked Rider, which I don't think many people even remember). The thing is, though, PR would have to be dead for a few years before a theatrical Kamen Rider movie could work without the two shows being compared.

But, yeah, that's that. Thoughts?

 

[Bolt]

It'll never happen. KR doesn't have the same (or really any) commercial or fan base in the US that Power Rangers had, and it's safe to assume that it would most likely not ever be able to step out of PR's shadow.

 

[SapphireBlue]

Isn't KRDK supposed to have a movie after the series?

 

[Kamen Rider Armor Ninja]

Yeah i read something like that...

 

[NathanTZ]

Isn't KRDK supposed to have a movie after the series?

That's cool because so far KRDK has been pretty good. But unfortunately Bolt speaks truth when he says that Kamen Rider will always be in Power Rangers' shadow in the US. Hell, everytime I show people Kamen Rider ANYTHING, the first thing they usually say or ask is tied into Power Rangers. For the longest time my friend Antman, called Riders 'rangers', and we both call them 'Morphers' instead of 'Henshin Belt/Device'.

 

[Gryphman]

Isn't KRDK supposed to have a movie after the series?

They want to do a movie. It really all depends on how well the show does.

 

[Bigdog]

That's cool because so far KRDK has been pretty good. But unfortunately Bolt speaks truth when he says that Kamen Rider will always be in Power Rangers' shadow in the US. Hell, everytime I show people Kamen Rider ANYTHING, the first thing they usually say or ask is tied into Power Rangers. For the longest time my friend Antman, called Riders 'rangers', and we both call them 'Morphers' instead of 'Henshin Belt/Device'.

Not if Kamen Rider was introduced into the comic industry akin to the modern Batman comics , The First , and Shin. The first series already has potential for it to be reworked and adapted into an american comic considering how Batman like and Spiderman like it already is. It would probably be like my fanfic that I cancelled some time ago , like the Ultimate Marvel series before it went downhill. For example, the hero in Kamen Rider reminds me alot of David Banner in the Hulk series and would be a werewolf like creature first controlled by Shocker , than by his morals or lack thereof. While he's normal ,he would try to harness the power or get aid to get access of it through the suit ,and not through a changer because it seems too much like Power Rangers to most westerners , and because it is too much of an Eastern concept very much like posing and doing the rolecall in Power Rangers or Sentai. The only hero I know of that does is the one from Dial H for Hero or Ben 10. A belt could be used , but it should not be an elaborate Power Ranger esque transformation like in the first film , but like the Iron Man for the suit and Hulk for his dark beastial side. That's my views on how it could be done as a potential moneymaker film and comic franchise.

 

[Wheatley]

In an interview with Steve Wang on SciFi Japan, he said that he was going to do an original Kamen Rider movie long before Saban's Masked Rider, but he couldn't get the rights. Well now that he does have the rights to Kamen Rider, and once they gain profit out of KRDK, he could most likely go back to that original Kamen Rider project.

Oh and as for KRDK not being the pop culture phenomenon that MMPR was back in the 90's, I didn't think it would be THAT successful, but I do believe it will be more successful than most of the Disney/recent seasons. MMPR and all the very early seasons by Saban are untouchable, but KRDK still has a fighting chance of being more successful than the Disney era seasons, and yes, that includes RPM. It only got slightly higher ratings, so KRDK could easily catch up, especially when the toys arrive.

 

[seanrider]

If there was a Kamen Rider movie will it us footage from the japanese movies? Or will it probably be new American footage?

 

[Bolt]

and once they gain profit out of KRDK, he could most likely go back to that original Kamen Rider project.

That's assuming they do make any kind of real profit from it. Aside from some of you guys here on the board, I don't know anybody that watches it or has even heard of it. And I have very nerdy friends. I think the problem is the advertising (or complete lack thereof) and the fact that the fanbase is going to consist mainly of American Toku fans, which are exceedingly few, or curious PR fans, which still have PR to cling to anyway. PR's ratings have plummeted and there's little reason to believe that what most people would perceive to be a "spinoff" would do any better.