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Live-Action Remake of Akira 329

Posted by CowboyNeal from the casting-tetsuo-the-biggest-challenge dept.
GusherJizmac writes "Looks like Warner Bros. is looking to remake classic anime, Akira, as a live action feature-length film. Will current computer generated special effects be enough to bring this masterpiece to life?" We touched on this earlier, but now it looks closer to production, since Norrington has finished shooting for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
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Live-Action Remake of Akira More

Live-Action Remake of Akira

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  • no way. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ice-nine ( 149145 ) <gentaro@nOSPAM.gmail.com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @10:57PM (#4429456)
    no way this can ever be as good as the anime. there's something about anime that just can't be done right with live-action and real actors.

    • Re:no way. (Score:3, Informative)

      by WoodenBoy ( 553109 )
      Agreed. Anyone catch the live action [imdb.com] version of Fist of the North Star that came out a few years back? Ugh. Didn't even come close to catching the feeling of the original.

    • Re:no way. (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by PhxBlue ( 562201 )

      Crushing people into blood-balloons, mostly.

    • Re:no way. (Score:5, Funny)

      by wadetemp ( 217315 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:05PM (#4429494)
      You're right. Besides, never in a million years will they every be able to get the "Kaneda! Tetsuo!" bit quite right. Often immitated, never equaled.
    • "no way this can ever be as good as the anime. there's something about anime that just can't be done right with live-action and real actors. "

      You're right. Nothing could top the South Park remake of Akira.

    • It might actually be good for Anime (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hillct ( 230132 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:29PM (#4429591) Homepage Journal
      At one level, this is true, there is no way that live-action can duplicate anime, but the re-creation of this classic is not about duplicating a piece of anime, but presenting a great story to an audience which would otherwise never experience it.

      Also, providing conciencious marketing, attention can be drawn to the fact that the live-action version is based on an anime film, so it may draw new viewers for the original and perhaps anime as a whole.

      --CTH

    • Re:no way. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Docrates ( 148350 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:40PM (#4429644) Homepage
      You know, I disagree. After thinking about it for a while, I must admit that what I like the most about Akira is NOT what can't be reproduced with current live action techniques. I don't care that much about the blood, the extreme violence or tetsuo's tentacly arms extending tens of meters.

      I loved akira for its representation of a degenerated (realistic?) society, for the oppressed yet special lives that those kids lived, for tetsuo's insecurities and his relationship with kaneda, for the magnitude of devastation that one powerful deranged kid, that in all honesty could have been me or any of you, brought about tokyo. It's this apocaliptic view that made it a classic for me, and surely they can do that in a live action movie. It won't be easy, but nether was LOTR, and they pulled it off quite nicely in my opinion.

      • Re:no way. (Score:3, Insightful)

        by NeuroManson ( 214835 )
        "I loved akira for its representation of a degenerated (realistic?) society"

        I can't even watch the riot scene from the opening of Akira without thinking "Welcome to the Seattle WTO protests!" nowadays.

    • Re:no way...but what about the Matrix ?? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Mattzilla ( 525821 ) <Democritus AT sympatico DOT ca> on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:13AM (#4429756)
      Don't forget where the Wachowsky brothers got their inspiration from...MANGAs ! Now I agree that Akira is a work of art as anime but with the current technology at the hands of the right people this could really be something.

      Tell me I'm not the only one who noticed the reference to Ghost in the Shell when agent Smith lands on top of the building on one knee with his gun pointing up as the roof cracks at the impact. That was a good example of a pure manga-style anime scene which looks quite good in live-action in fact if you watch the Matrix documentary its obvious that this was a Manga turned live-action and what a surprise...it was a major breakthrough.

      People were saying the same thing about LOTR and that's not half as bad as people feared (even the hardcore fans of Tolkien). If we keep an open mind and judge this film for what it will be (not what we *think it will be* then we'll at least give them a chance to try and bring another dimension to Akira...I personally hope that it'll be as good as the Matrix in terms of effects and that we'll get that Manga/anime feeling that made the Matrix so different (for me anyway)

    • Re:no way. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by NineNine ( 235196 )
      Unfortunately, George Lucas seems to think that Star Wars is better done with computer generated shit than live actors. What's going on with movies today? The ones that should be live action are all computer generated, and the ones that should be computer generated (or animated) are live action.

    • Re:no way. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by lucasw ( 303536 )
      no way this can ever be as good as the anime. there's something about anime that just can't be done right with live-action and real actors.

      Likewise, there's something about several thousand pages of black & white inkings that can't be done right with a couple hours of animation. Comprehensible story-line, for one.
    • Yeah, you just know they're going to wreck Akira. Who knows, the Hollowood version might even make a whit of sense.. *BLASTPHEMY* !

  • the actors (Score:5, Funny)

    by pizza_milkshake ( 580452 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @10:58PM (#4429462)
    the actors will have to be very good at stressed-out grunting and making their *grrrrrrr* faces. on the bright side, anna nicole smith can play tetsuo when he grows into that blob in the stadium.

  • DRM please! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Longinus ( 601448 )
    Wow, this is one DVD I wouldn't mind seeing bastardized via DRM. The fewer people who see this the better.
    • "Wow, this is one DVD I wouldn't mind seeing bastardized via DRM. The fewer people who see this the better."

      Actually, DRM wouldn't affect watching the movie, just copying.

      You know what'll happen, right? They'll put some heavy copy restriction stuff on the DVD, and when it never appears on Kazaa, they'll claim DRM will stop piracy. Then, when the DVD's don't exactly fly off the shelves, they'll claim that customers are thieves and won't pay for stuff.

      Hrmm.. when I wrote that it was meant to sound funny in a charicaturish kind of way... Unfortunately, I don't think I exaggerated enough.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:00PM (#4429473)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • No way. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by antisocial77 ( 74255 ) <bjwtf13 AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:02PM (#4429479) Homepage Journal
    All apologies to the CGI geniuses out there, but there is no way in hell your graphics will match the insanity that was Akira.

    Akira isn't just a movie, it's a work of art. There are just some things that don't translate from comic books to live action, and at the bottom of that list is Akira.

    • Re:No way. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Flounder ( 42112 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:16PM (#4429541)
      The scene where the glass windows of the buildings shatter and rain down on the crowd still impresses the hell out of me.

      I would rather see a second movie follow the comic series. But considering that Akira lived in the comics, and died in the movie, that might be kind of hard.

      Dammit, stop trying to remake every semi-successful foreign flick. Just work on some of the anxiously awaited comic projects here in the US. I'm still waiting on a Terry Gilliam-directed The Watchmen.

    • Look at spider-man though. Spider man was hyper CGI'ed, and yet it worked, it kicked total ass. Before that would anyone have said that they could take spider-man, do scenes in CGI that looked strait out of the comic book, and mix that smoothly with live action?

      Spider-man kicked ass, and really opened my eyes to what is possible. Of course Akira the movie with probably suck, but I would not say it is impossible to translate anything into live action, not after that. Even the tick did a good job of it.

  • It's already out... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You can get it on Kazaa or Morpheus...

  • The Biker's Challenge (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:03PM (#4429488)
    "In the process, the biker must do battle with anti-government activists, greedy politicians and irresponsible scientists."
    How about dealing with the societal and ethical impacts of forced and natural evolution and experimentation? Or maybe I was watching a different movie...
    • How about dealing with the societal and ethical impacts of forced and natural evolution and experimentation?

      I think that was the whole point of the "irresponsible scientists" part of the quote.
  • Think about it a second. Making an animation from live action probably that bad. For example, the Star Trek cartoons told their stories as well as the original live action TV series. It's also not hard to imagine Planet of the Apes as a cartoon.

    But going back the other way? It gives me the willies. There's so much that can be lost, and it's just a hard problem in general. It's a little like a cryptographic one way function. Easy to compute y = f(x), but coming up with x = f(y) is hard.

  • What is it about the US... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by QuickSilver_999 ( 166186 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:06PM (#4429496)
    ...that makes us have to redo a cartoon as live action? I just don't get it. The rest of the world doesn't view cartoons as just something for the Saturday morning kiddies, but here if you watch anime, most people look at you like you have two heads.

    It would actually be nice if Disney would just release all of those old Japanese Anime titles they bought up as DVD's with English Sub and Dub tracks. Instead they bastardize them into some multi million dollar flop. *sigh*

    • Because you can't win with foreign material, especially animation.

      Some people bitch that subbed versions are annoying to watch (myself included).

      Some people bitch that the first Akira dub was .. shall we say.. less than perfect (myself included).

      Some people bitch that the most recent Akira dub wasn't all that good either (myself included).

      Short of learning Japanese, Akira is like watching a color movie in black and white - you're only getting half the stimulation. I love the visuals, but there just isn't a nice way to show the whole story. The Japanese just produce far too different entertainment than the west.

      And I don't know who you think treats cartoons as just kiddie fare, but almost every adult I know owns a decent collection of the Disney movies. We can bitch about Disney's product all we want, but the sad truth is, they produce the closest thing to adult animated entertainment that we have.
      • True on many points.

        However, I know very few adults who buy (or will admit to buying) Disney tapes and DVD's for themselves. They're usually buying it for their kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids/whatevers. And to be honest, I've never really seen anything GOOD from Disney in the animation department. Most of the stuff they put out is just too childlike, and the few that I've seen that have any adult topics are way too overdone for my tastes. And for the amount of money that Disney puts into the production of one of these films, I really expect better.

        You may be right about Akira, but what does that say about the American entertainment that I would rather watch Akira, even in a bad dub, or reading the subs, than the latest and greatest crap put out by Hollywood?

        After watching a few anime flicks, you start to wonder why the so called "stars" of movies make so much money. 90% aren't really any good at what they do, and 90% of the scripts really aren't even worth being produced. And yet the salaries they make are so high in the stratosphere, the average person will never see them.

        At least with Anime, your hero looks EXACTLY like the writer intended (for the most part), and the plots usually at least have some substance to them. Sure, the voice may not be the best sometimes, but it's still better than dealing with an actor in a role when you KNOW there are better fits for the character. I once watched a movie, which was originally a book I had read. One of the characters was from Texas, nicknamed Cowboy, and in the book it was quite clear how he looked. White redneck is the phrase that came to my mind. But in the movie, the PC police made him a large black man, and he had a North Easterner accent! I couldn't even finish watching the first 10 minutes of the film. I gave up and got the heck out of there. :(

      • almost every adult I know owns a decent collection of the Disney movies. We can bitch about Disney's product all we want, but the sad truth is, they produce the closest thing to adult animated entertainment that we have.

        I agree except that all my Disney released films are Studio Ghibli. ;-)

    • erm... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by rizawbone ( 577492 )
      disney has always made a point to release thier anime with subs and original voice track.

      in my opinion, disney does a bang up job of bringing legitamacy to japanese anime in the USA. not only do they release these movies with superstar talent to bring attention to the picture, they always have maintained a steady release schedule.

      i really dont see where you can call what they do 'bastardization'. there are very few above-par english dubs on anime, so them bringing thier own into the mix doesn't affect consumers.

      if anything disney helps by exposes the art to a wider audience. good for them.
    • I think the problem here is that the US has run out of decent scripts to make movies from. Lately the better selling movies (with a few notable exceptions) have been translations from books:

      The bourne identity
      harry potter
      sum of all fears ...to name a few

      Translations do seem to make more profit than your average backflip-shooting-two-guards-with-a-pistol movie (ie. MI:2)...

      Thats not to say that the US hasn't come up with some brilliant movies over the past few years, its just that its come out with a lot more shit, and i think they'll be hoping akira doesn't fall into that category.

      Maybe I'm just bitter; this is of course all IMO, just i haven't seen an origional decent american movie for awhile.

  • Doomed to failure (Score:2, Insightful)

    by f00zbll ( 526151 )
    If there was ever a bad idea, this has got to take the cake. Possibly the only way to make a better movie than the original anime is to do a trilogy that goes into greater depth and goes back to the original comics for material.

  • uhhh (Score:3, Funny)

    by Stalyn ( 662 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:08PM (#4429503) Homepage Journal
    "League," set in a version of Victorian-era England where fictional characters like Dr. Jekyll, Capt. Nemo and Allan Quartermain band together to fight crime for the queen, is scheduled for a summer 2003 release via Twentieth Century Fox.

    Do we really want this guy to do Akira?

    • More info about "League"... (Score:5, Informative)

      by starvingartist12 ( 464372 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:31AM (#4429819) Homepage
      Actually, the "League" comic book [wildstorm.com] is a pretty good concept by Alan Moore (Writer of "Watchmen" - arguably one of the best comic books - and the "From Hell" comic books).

      It's one of those indepth comic books and draws various literary characters from the Victorian-era. I mean, someone has even posted a panel-by-panel annotation [geocities.com] for it. The second series has a martian invasion of earth similar to War of the Worlds.

      So we really want this guy to do Akira? I don't know. But that doesn't mean you should dismiss the "League" concept so quickly.

      Final thoughts.... Hopefully The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen won't be butchered like the "From Hell" movie. Hmm... IIRC, Sean Connery is going to be Allan Quartermain.

    • Re:uhhh (Score:2, Insightful)

      by iainl ( 136759 )
      Well, it does mean that the last two things Norrington has done (League and Blade) are both based on comic books, and we know that Blade was really good. I've heard positive murmurings about League as well, so I'm actually not that ready to damn him in advance of seeing what he does with Akira - if he does it as a new adaptation of the comic, rather than just trying to remake the film then it may turn out to be of interest.
    • "This is a local film, for local people. There's nothing for you here!"

      Oh, sorry, that was just the League of Gentlemen, not the other one...

      Grab.

      (PS. If you live in the US, you may not know the show. Get the videos, *now*. I guarantee there's no wierder TV show than League of Gentlemen.)

  • This time.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by r_j_prahad ( 309298 )
    I hope they are doing this one better than that poor Tomb Raider movie. Jon Voight's daughter, whatever is her name, just did not have large enough boobs to be Lara Croft. And the plot was a real sleep inducer. By the time any really interesting F/X hit the screen, I couldn't hear the soundtrack over the snoring.
    • I hope they are doing this one better than that poor Tomb Raider movie. Jon Voight's daughter, whatever is her name,

      One minute of searching on IMDB.com would have revealed it was Angelina Jolie.

      just did not have large enough boobs to be Lara Croft.

      I'm not sure one can have Lara Croft's video game cleavage could translate onto live action without looking like a joke, which the game character's cleavage looked comical enough as it is. I think they'd need a porn star with absurd implants to pull that one off on the big screen.
    • I disagree. I find Angelina Jolie (cache names in my brain) to have quite ample tracts of land for the character. Hell, I'm sure Billy Bob felt the same way.

  • Rated R (Score:2, Insightful)

    by anball ( 555994 )
    That's going to be one bloody movie. I swear there was more blood and guts in Akira than any other movie I've ever seen (granted there are worse out there, but I'm not about to see them). I think I'll just stay away from this version. Akira won't be the same without the gore, and I won't be the same after seeing it again. Thanks, but no thanks.

    • Make that NC-17 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by TeknoDragon ( 17295 )
      ...if they keep the rape and bludgeoning of small deformed children

      I wonder if they can get Mr Miagi to play the spazzed-out scientist?
  • I don't think messing up anime into films is a good idea.. The only thing good i can think of that is that it will get greater exposure, but as in the case of Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and countless other victimized animes, is this really what we want? These animes were just fine until some media exec decided to pay the language translation & dubbing people the minimum wage..

  • He said it best...... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Siriaan ( 615378 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:10PM (#4429513)
    I think Roger Ebert, well-known closet otaku, said it best in his review for Titan AE [suntimes.com]:

    I argue for animation because I believe it provides an additional dimension for film art; it frees filmmakers from the anchor of realism that's built into every live-action film, and allows them to visualize their imaginations. Animation need not be limited to family films and cheerful fantasies. The Japanese have known that for years....

    The thought of what a live action Akira might be like scares me.

  • Staying true? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by raiyu ( 573147 ) <raiyu.raiyu@com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:11PM (#4429518) Homepage

    "I've been a fan of the anime for many years and understood which elements would have to be brought to a live-action translation of it," Robinson told Daily Variety.

    I really hoped that the interviewer would have asked Robinson if he read the manga, because the manga is epic compared to the movie. A lot of first time viewers, and rightly so, complained that alot of Akira didnt make sense. And thats because it was a movie that that tried to capture a story the size of the Bible in just two hours. I really dont see how he can stay true to Akira if he never read the manga, and from his comments, he gives no indication that he has. Personally I think the money could have been much better spent creating a high quality Akira animated series, like the GITS2 series being made now.

    But then again hollywood is going ape over superhero movies, and they figure they should give anime/manga a shot, but for a live action movie, especially for the first anime live action American movie, I think Ghost in the Shell would have been a better fit. It would have been much easier to accomplish visually, it is on many levels an equal to Akira, and it is certainly more understandle for the larger audience, even without reading Shirows manga.

    On a personal note, if the movie does not contain the
    "KANEDA!!"
    "TETSUO!!"
    "KANEDA!!"
    shout sequence at the Olympic stadium then it isnt worth watching.

    • Re:Staying true? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:37PM (#4429632) Homepage Journal
      ...first anime live action American movie, I think Ghost in the Shell would have been a better fit. It would have been much easier to accomplish...

      And what, exactly, do you think "Matrix" was? It's all about the exploding watermelons. [kobran.org]

    • Re:Staying true? (Score:4, Informative)

      by krmt ( 91422 ) <therefrmhere@yah o o . com> on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:36AM (#4429834) Homepage
      And thats because it was a movie that that tried to capture a story the size of the Bible in just two hours.
      This is just picking nits, but there's no way in hell you can honestly compare Akira to the bible in terms of complexity. Yes, I've read the manga (I was just able to finally get volume 6 this month) and despite it's mass, it can't touch the bible in terms of plot volume, let alone dialog volume, character count, or anything else.

      Akira was written by one guy, Katsuhiro Otomo. The Bible was written by committee. Which do you think is going to be more complex? ;-)

      I think it's interesting that you mention the manga though, because the anime was made before the manga had ended. Otomo himself didn't know all the turns it was going to make to get to the end, but he obviously had some idea or else the manga and the anime wouldn't have ended in such a similar fasion. The anime unfortunately skipped out on all the post-apocalyptic style stuff in the latter half of the manga, but the basic themes remained intact. It's not like the anime was Starship Troopers or something.

      If this guy wants to copy the anime, he won't be starting far from the mark of the manga. He'll leave out Akira's Empire and whatnot, but he could still capture the essence of the story without it.

  • Hm... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Wakko Warner ( 324 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:15PM (#4429534) Homepage Journal
    I'm still waiting for the live-action Overfiend series.

    - A.P.

  • Live Action != Better (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:15PM (#4429539)
    And why do they think making it live action would be worthwhile? You don't buy anything by going that way, despite popular belief. If anything, you put more strain on the audience.

    Look at Inspector Gadget, for example. A cartoon man with a telescoping neck is quite acceptable. But when you do that in live action, like in the Inspector Gadget movie, it's DISTURBING. It doesn't even look right! You start asking questions like "How can a hat possibly contain a helicopter?"

    While I'm on the subject, let's talk about Video Game to Movie licensing: Any game brought to the screen should be ANIMATED. Nobody has ever wondered what Mario would look like as a live human. And now that we know that, we regret having that question answered.

  • The New "Westernised" Akira (Score:5, Funny)

    by Komrade S. ( 604620 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:16PM (#4429544) Homepage

    Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck star as Tetsuo and Kaneda, who will for the purposes of this film be given wholesome American names such as "Mike" and "Richard" (In the final act, Mike makes a humorous observation that Richard's name can be shortened to Dick!)

    The two high school football players who were wrongfully accused and placed in a boys home (Not that there's anything wrong with that) do battle with the evil Osama Bin Akira (Played by Vin Diesel). The battle results in the evil leader using his mind control powers to send Mike battling against democracy by channelling previous generations of communists through dark rituals involving Lenin and Satan.

    In the end, Mike is brought back down to earth by Richard singing the national anthem over a loud speaker and waving old glory. The two have a long embrace and make a joke about how they love each other but aren't gay.
    5 stars!

  • blasphemy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NeoCode ( 207863 ) <[moc.sregor] [ta] [reyalpdemannu]> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:18PM (#4429551)
    There has to be something wrong with the suits at Warner. First they killed the Batman series with that shite B&R flick. Then they packed Supes V Bats for a new and revised Superman (the first draft script [aintitcool.com] for which is just horrendous.)

    And now this. Wtf are they smoking?! Hate to be a fanboy ranter, but there are some genres that just DO NOT cross (except for maybe The Matrix). Akira is THE standard for anime and probably the first anime movie 90% of the people in the west saw.

    Do it right or don't do it at all. And Warner's track of doing things right is not very good.

  • More information... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Loki_1929 ( 550940 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:18PM (#4429552) Journal
    Apparently, Will Wheaton will star, Natalie Portman will make a brief appearance (her first "full-frontal" scene), the special effects will be rendered on a Beowulf cluster of Ti notebooks running whatever the latest beta Linux kernel is available, a new character will be created who can only say the words, "cowboy" and "neil", and the movie will end with Yoda using the force to make the entire universe disappear.

    Well between the all-star cast and the killer ending, I'd say we don't have much hope of any sequels...

  • Remember... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by djupedal ( 584558 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:19PM (#4429557)
    A movie has both video and audio. I imagine that while the visuals will hard to improve on, we can look forward to an otherwise stimulating (more modern) soundtrack.
    • You're kidding right?


      Why would you want to change the music?

      The last thing I want to here while watching Akira is the lastest hit by Smash Mouth or techno drum beats from the Chemical Brothers.


      I like both groups, but not here.

    • Re:Remember... (Score:2, Informative)

      by Facter ( 144202 )
      A "more modern" soundtrack???

      Who gives a toss about that??? If they make a live action soundtrack, then they should just use the OLD soundtrack, remastered and perhaps remixed a little - the original soundtrack is absolutly *AWESOME* - I have it on CD, and is one of my most favorite parts of the movie.

      If they do a live action, without that original soundtrack, and instead put some cheesy pop/rock/nu-metal coz its cool soundtrack to it, that will further degrade the whole thing.

      Akira would *not* have been as great as it is, without that soundtrack...

  • Battle Angel Alita (Score:4, Interesting)

    by alphaseven ( 540122 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:28PM (#4429588)
    Battle Angel Alita [battleangelalita.com] is also possibly going to become a movie (James Cameron possibly involved?). I think it has a better shot at being successful because at least that had sympathetic characters and a comprehensible plot.

  • Maybe. Just maybe. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Twirlip of the Mists ( 615030 ) <twirlipofthemists@yahoo.com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:35PM (#4429616)
    If you concede that The Matrix was almost live-action anime, they might just be able to pull this off.

    Think about the early chase sequence between the agent and Trinity. Now think about the chase late in the movie in the open-air market, complete with Ghost in the Shell-style exploding watermelons. They might just be able to make it happen.
    • I only saw the ghost in the shell after seeing the matrix, and the entire time I'm like, damn! I see where the matrix ripped off their ideas.

      However the actual matrix idea was somewhat original and way cool

  • Why is Akira a classic? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by veganjay ( 244303 ) <veganjay AT yahoo DOT com> on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:37PM (#4429626)
    Not to troll, but why does Akira get all the attention that it does?

    I enjoyed the film, found it interesting, but it did not "blow me away", like it seems to do for everyone else...

    The animation was very well done, but other than that - I found the plot confusing, and that the characters were not developed enough. The main character was hardly introduced; it was difficult to get a feel for his character - his struggles, his motivations, etc. I have not read the manga, but from what I have heard, there is more depth to the story. (Granted there is only so much that can fit into two hours.)

    I'm assuming that if this is actually done live-action, and especially if the western audience is kept in mind, many things will be changed - some for the better, some for the worse. In which case, more time may be spent developing character background. But, it also quite probable that the overall feeling may get lost in the translation even using computer graphics. Regardless, I'm still interested and will probably see it.

    Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-anime. Miyazaki's films, especially US releases Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro, are some of the most amazing films I've seen.

    I just haven't seen the fascination with Akira yet. Perhaps I may, if I read the multi-volume manga, and watched it again...

    --
    jason

    • Re:Why is Akira a classic? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Try hallucinogens. Lots and lots of hallucinogens. Plain ol' beer or weed won't do, you gotta have the colors breathing so during the stadium scene when the bass voice goes "oooooo," rainbows shoot out your pores.



      Then you will understand Akira.

    • I think the main reason Akira "blew away" people, especially in the U.S., is that it was their introduction to non-Saturday-morning anime. Of course there are superior films, but it was the first one to be widely distributed here, AFAIK. For some people, it's held in such high regard only because they haven't seen anything since then.

      BTW I just finished the recently-released manga translation, and it is excellent...well worth the $100 or so for all 6 books.

    • "but other than that - I found the plot confusing, and that the characters were not developed enough. "

      You haven't seen the restranslation. The original one was really, really shitty. You had to either get a fansub or know a bit of japanese to really enjoy it. The new retranslation that Pioneer has released is great. It's like a whole new movie!

      • Re:Watch it again. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by bellings ( 137948 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @04:24AM (#4430544)
        I have to second this. When I rented the crappy, blurry, poorly translated VHS video many years ago, I was impressed by the animation, and interested by the story.

        But, since I didn't have a clue what was going on, I was able to fill in the gaps with anything I wanted in my head. I imagined a damned awesome story in there, which stuck with me for a long time.

        I picked up the new DVD recently, and I was blown away. The animation is truly fucking incredible. And the story actually made sense -- and it was a pretty decent story!

        But, it wasn't an awesome story. It was a good story, but not an epic "peel back your brain like an onion, forever reworking your perception on the universe story." I watched it about 6 times in 3 days, hoping to find something awesome there, but it just never showed up.

        I was extremely disappointed -- I'd spent the last 8 years thinking that Akira might have been a truly genre shattering story, and that I had simply not been smart enough to understand it. Instead, it discovered it was just a pretty danged good story, combined with beautiful sound and graphics.

        I'm thinking of picking up the comic book at some point, just to see if there's more there that didn't make it into the movie. I'm afraid of being a little disappointed again, though -- it might just be another decent story with beautiful graphics. Perhaps I should simply adjust my expectations.

        Anyhow, I'm not sure if I'd really appreciate a live-action version of Akira. If they didn't try to follow the previous movie too closely, like some sort of ill-concieved psycho remake, it might be pretty danged interesting. If it turns into the classic Hollywood movie, I probably won't spend any money to see it.
    • Well, first off, watch it outside the mindframe of a jaded anime fan, and remember when this came out. 1988. What did we (outside of Japan)have as the epitome of anime at the time?

      Macross (Robotech for those less versed): Semi okay anime, but still stock and standard for the time.

      Gundam: Once again, stock and standard.

      As far as "true" masterpieces in anime go, the best things released were Ninja Scroll, Wings of Honneamise (actually a damnned kewl flick, from the makers of FLCL and Evangelion), and of course for the umpteen bazillionth time, Vampire Hunter D.

      So as far as mainstream examples go, in 1988, anime was a pretty dismal market in the US. Almost no real exposure or basis for comparison to measure Akira by.

      Therefore, by 1988's standards, Akira rocked. Same way that in 1976, Star Wars kicked ass, because there were no prior examples to measure it by. However, with current tech in special effects and all, anyone could make a comparable film that could kick it's ass just as easily, for substantially less than it originally cost, in comparative dollars.
    • Well let's see.

      I saw Akira back in '88 when it was originally released, that was the first time I saw an Anime on the big screen.

      The German translation was quite decent but at the same time I had also read the Managa as far as it had been released in Germany which might have given me an edge over the average person in the audience.

      So what makes Akira stand out?

      The Story for one, it is a VERY complex story and in the usual Japanese sense you have a hard time getting into it with a western mindset, it didn't really give any quarters and the overall execution was amazing.

      Of course the masses didn't get it and after 2 weeks it was out of the Theater again.

      Is Akira confusing? Yes, I guess initially it is, especiallly if you don't know much about Japanese culture / mindset but in the end what stands out about the movie is that it was probably the first largely released Animation movie that was NOT targeted for kids in the west.

      On the same note, have a look at "Gonin" purely Japanese, purely shocking, just by the way it was done. This also goes for other movies like anything done by "Beat" Takeshi ("Fireworks" for example (note, "Fireworks" is the US release title, for some reason they could not leave the original titel like in the rest of the world: "Hana-Bi")).

      Michael

  • I wonder ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by ehiris ( 214677 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:44PM (#4429657) Homepage
    ... If Mini Me will get a role ...

  • Soundtrack (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Osiris Ani ( 230116 ) on Thursday October 10, 2002 @11:53PM (#4429683)
    If a live-action remake is to come anywhere close to touching the greatness of the original, they would need to have the Geinoh Yamashirogumi [yamashirogumi.gr.jp] (English [altavista.com]) create the soundtrack for it as well.

    As far as I'm concerned, the Akira soundtrack [amazon.com] is among the finest scores ever created for a film. It's quite perfect as the background discourse for the overall feel of the production.

  • I'm all for it, for one reason only... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:00AM (#4429711)
    Kaneda's bike - I've *got* to see the real thing!

    We've already got the limited edition DVD of the animated Akira, so why not a live action? It'll be interesting to see what they can do. I just hope they have the budget to actually make a credible attempt.

  • Akira was already a remake! (Score:5, Informative)

    by shumway ( 411915 ) <chris...shumway@@@gmail...com> on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:02AM (#4429714)
    1. The Akira animated film was an adaptation of the far-superior manga epic. (The film could only squeeze about 1/4 of the full story into the two-hour format).
    2. Despite its divergence from the original format/story, the film still kicked ass. There's no reason that a further adaptation to a different format won't also be successful (Actually, based on what I've read about LoEG and my knowledge of Hollywood in general, there are several, but I'm willing to reserve my judgment until I see it).
    3. Read the original Series [darkhorse.com]! 6 hefty volumes of insanity, drugs, mass destruction, and clown gangs. If you are lucky, your local library might even have it (request it if they don't).

  • Tetsuo & Kaneda brothers? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by motardo ( 74082 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @12:04AM (#4429723)
    Apparently they are going to be making Tetsuo and Kaneda brothers in the movie for some stupid reason.

    • Re:Tetsuo & Kaneda brothers? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is a shame, but I think I know why they did this. There is really sharp homoerotic tension between Kaneda and Tetsuo in the movie (I don't know whether this is intentional or in the manga), and much like with Sailor Moon, that is not allowed to survive into an American movie.

  • Not a good idea... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by E-Rock-23 ( 470500 )
    While I loved Akira, I don't think making a live action version will be a good idea. Let's go through the list of similar (near) failures:

    1. Super Mario Brothers - Boy, didn't that one screw up. Only good thing about that movie was John Leguizamo, who is awesome no matter what.
    2. Final Fantasy - While a good film in my opinion, it didn't do too hot at the box office. Not to mention the story could have been way better, and should have been more along the lines of classic FF.
    3. Resident Evil - Good flick, but still didn't do too hot in theaters. Saving Graces: The ladies, of course. Hot hot HOT!
    4. Tomb Raider - Too much Angelina Jolie. Good story, but could have been better. This one did OK at the box office, but still not _that_ big.

    And here's the big one...
    5. G Savior. I'm sure alot of you are saying "What the hell is G-Savior?" It was a live action attempt at a Gundam movie. And boy, did it tank. Not one mention of the word Gundam, and even less big robots blowing stuff up.

    It's easy to see why a fan of a masterpiece like Akira wouldn't have their hopes set too high for a live action flick. If it does work, though, I'm sure we can expect to see alot more Anime translated to live-action. I can see Mononoke Hime, Ghost In The Shell, hell FUNimation might go for broke and try to do Live Action DBZ. Wouldn't that be interesting (and frightening).
  • Lately hollywood has been going off on a frenzy of remakes and proposed remakes that makes everyone wonder 'What the heck are they thinking?'

    Two in particular that caught my attention.

    1. Cris Rock playing Inspector Cleusau in a Pink Panther Remake.

    2. A proposed remake of the classic caper film 'The Italian Job' set in Los Angeles!

  • Keanu as Keneda (Score:3, Funny)

    by schroet ( 244506 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @01:42AM (#4430065)
    Whoa!
  • Why would you 'remake' this classic? The Anime genre is as much about the style of the drawings as it is about the story. Remaking just the story part going to lose most of the appeal of the original. Sorry to say, but this looks like a typical Hollywood thing to do. I'm really a little upset about the stupidity of this project even though the final outcome might not be ... half bad.
  • man no one here has any faith in hollywood. adn for good reason too! anyone see that shameful butching of "Fist of the North Star" live action deal? i damn near took a crap on my tv to show my distaste for that. And so with many things hollywood will make some cheesy cross between power rangers and godzilla which will only make anime that much more unatractive to the non anime watching crowd. Thanks hollywood for improperly using your galatic powers of influence adn mind control yet again. You do know that there is a special place in hell you yous guys for all of thecrap that you been putting out don't you? eh what does it matter just so long as you can make billions that you can't take with you when the reaper man comes for you riding tall on his mighty pale stead, Binky, you're happy right?

  • oh god, PLEASE, ANYTHING but live action akira... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bani ( 467531 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @02:42AM (#4430216)
    we need live action akira like we need anime plan 9 from outer space...

    akira looked "cool" but that was about it -- the story was total spaghetti.
  • I mean, Street Fighter was SUCH an awesome movie once they did the live action version of that.

    How can it fail?!?! heh...
  • I am wondering why it is the fad of recent times to bring cartoons into Live Action. I for one, do *not* approve. In many cases, cartoons tell the story and character designs much better then live action could hope, unless they have huge budgets for computer graphics. Flintstones, for example, all the ways they had comparable technologies with their animals. The little elephant vaccumm cleaner... I feel bad for the actors, that have to stand and act with a blue screen actor, trying to imagine the blue guy actually looks a totally different... America should give cartoons more of a chance to be mature and for adults. In America's culture, it is so hard to find grown up plots and thoughts without sex and violence going along with it.

  • Remake BAD movies, not GOOD ones (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Dirtside ( 91468 ) on Friday October 11, 2002 @11:01AM (#4432107) Journal
    Back when they remade "Psycho" a couple of years ago, someone made the astute observation that filmmakers should remake BAD movies, in order to try and improve them, not GOOD ones. What's the point in remaking a classic? Odds are, you're just going to fuck it up. With bad movies, there's nowhere to go but up.

    (By "bad" I mean everything that isn't a classic, so remaking mediocre movies like "The Thomas Crown Affair" is fine.)

  • Do it for substance, not for style. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Vegan Pagan ( 251984 ) <deanasNO@SPAMearthlink.net> on Friday October 11, 2002 @11:31AM (#4432310)
    Norrington can't capture the style.

    The anime captured the manga's style because the same guy made the manga and wrote/directed the anime. Norrington's a different guy using a different style. The only director who I think can do Akira's style in live action is James Cameron, who has other plans and wouldn't do it anyway because it's too similar to Terminator 2. If Norrington is mainly interested in Akira's cyberpunk/post-apocalypse style, he should have stuck with Blade or another screenplay because this way he's up against Akira's baggage and The Matrix sequels.

    What Akira's anime lost was substance: it only told about 1/4 of the manga's story, and what it kept it rearranged. If he made two 3-hour movies (split conveniently before and after the apocalypse), he could get most of the manga's storyline. That way an Americanized live action version of Akira may actually feel closer to the manga than the anime version did. But does he have the guts to do that?

    And even if he had the energy to make it, could he withstand the bad PR? Akira stars a loser teen who gets to act out revenge fantasies and orgies (think Columbine) and its big event is another boy who shows his fear of murder by blowing up a city (think WTC). For Norrington to get the $100M or so needed to make Akira, he'd have to remove those parts, risking ruining the plot.

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