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Live-Action Remake of Akira
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.
What will the cash cows think of next? I mean this is just an attempt to capitalize on an already successful movie. In other words, no matter how shitty this movie is a lot of people will go to see it anyway. And it will probably be pretty bad....
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.
"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...
...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*
- No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades really cramps his style.
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.
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.
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.
"No manual entry for woman."
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..
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.
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
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
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 write in my journal
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.
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
Akira is in my opinion total perfection. It is the greatest movie ever made. The last thing it could ever need is Hollywood to screw it up. If you cant understand the movie, don't change it. There must be some way to prevent this. I just will not stand for it! We don't need some idiot in Hollywood to kill the greatest story in film I have ever seen. I must vent!! Too angry from news!!! Similar anger to Carrot Top induced murderous rage. Must rampage!!!
If only Bill Gates had a penny for every time Windows crashed... oh wait.. he does!
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.
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).
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
You can't be more right. Akira is overrated, at least.
The only anime that could make it as a live action movie is Space Battleship Yamato.
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.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
I don't see this being done. Whatever Hollywood comes up with, good or bad, is going to be heavily compressed. Already people are saying that Tetsuo and Kaneda will be cast as brothers, which totally sidesteps the whole fraternity/pledge thing and replaces it with Saving Private Ryan.
Live action *could* be good. They could make the characters appropriately scary. As it stands, Kaneda's a goofball, and Tetsuo looks nine years old. In live action, they could give these characters some...oomph?
I doubt they will. In Hollywood, everything has to have neat moral meaning. Kaneda won't be slimy, just witty. The Marshal will start off distrusting his employers. Kei will stop being annoying and become literal. Tetsuo will probably have a redemption, at which point you are free to leave the theater, numb the pain with alcohol, and watch The Matrix and/or Fight Club for the 27th time.
The genius of Akira was the absence of clear answers. No single character had any idea what the fuck was going on. It was only when Tetsuo threatened the city that a bunch of people put aside their petty differences and focused on reality. Even then, some of them didn't.
Yet all their sudden goodwill couldn't save them from Tetsuo. They created an immature, ego-driven monster and it went right out of control . They had to open the bottle - Akira - to blow up the city and take away the evil for them.
Just like when we dropped the bomb.
The nuclear image frames the movie like a pair of bookends. The nuke, the "elephant in the room" for every Japanese debate about... self-worth, self-control, damn near everything.
For comparison, Saving Private Ryan is framed by scenes of old men paying their respects to fallen comrades. Awww...*sniffle* The bittersweet tears of the victor...competent, morally true, and assured an eventual victory. How nice for us. Ask the Japanese how they feel about themselves.
This project is comparable to Dune. Too much interplay of morally-neutral characters to do anything but pictoralize. Best-case scenario: Just as confusing as the original. Worst-case: Americanized.
"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.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
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.)
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
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.