Dragonball Evolution Wasnt THAT Bad

[DigDoug]

Faithful adaptation of Dragon Ball can not work in live action in any way, it'd just be way too cheesy looking. When watching animation your suspension of disbelief is more flexible and allows you to take it more seriously something that would not happen in live action were expectations are different.

I thought Speed Racer came out fine.

 

[Kamen Rider Oni]

Speed Racer was a blast, DBE was not.

 

[DigDoug]

Speed Racer was a blast, DBE was not.

That's the thing. Speed Racer went completely over-the-top with its cartoonishness, and that ended up making it a really fun movie. I feel that if a DB movie were made in the same way (not holding back on the wackiness, and by a staff that was actually enthusiastic about the material), then it might be really good.

 

[Kamen Rider Oni]

Yeah, they really embraced what Speed Racer was when they made it. DBE was just trying too hard to make it DB but in a real world setting without embracing what makes DragonBall, DragonBall.

 

[DigDoug]

I definitely wouldn't say that DBE was totally grounded in reality, but it did feel like the writers and director couldn't decide whether to make which elements of the movie more realistic and which to make more fantastic.

 

[Kamen Rider Oni]

Well hopefully the next one, if it happens, will be better thought out.

 

[The 2nd Evil]

If anything, Dragonball Evolution suffered due to being pushed through production as fast as the sutudio could to avoid the WGA Strike.

 

[Bigdog]

That's the thing. Speed Racer went completely over-the-top with its cartoonishness, and that ended up making it a really fun movie. I feel that if a DB movie were made in the same way (not holding back on the wackiness, and by a staff that was actually enthusiastic about the material), then it might be really good.

Exactly what I was thinking. I plan to write and direct a reboot of Dragonball exactly like you described, plus divide the first manga into a trilogy and try to keep as much of the original as possible while blending in elements from Chinese and futuristic design.

 

[-sdp]

Yes Speed Racer was great but it was not that faithful to the source material either, it also went for an over the top style not to mention the much larger budget. In fact if DB had been like Speed Racer people would still have hated it, I mean after all Speed Racer is more of a cult movie, only a few people.


Dragonball in live action could have been much better BUT it CAN"T be a faithful adaptation like some people wanted it'd just be silly. DBEvolution had the right idea changing things up, I liked it and it seemed awesome, only thing is it was boring to watch. Goku being in High School and what not was not the problem with the movie.

 

[kibapower]

No adaptation is truly 100% faithful, they always will change stuff depending on time or different ideas. What you're suggesting is that it can never be even remotely close to the original, which I disagree with. People will always nitpick on movies but if the overall opinion is good then it won't matter much.

The high school is part of the issue since this type adaptation usually stays pretty close to the original source, less they annoy viewers of such drastic changes. Still can be good, I see both options open overall.