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Live-Action Remake of Akira

Posted by CowboyNeal on 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.

12 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. This is insane... by Psx29 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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....

    1. Re:This is insane... by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, parent poster's tone is a little harsh, but he makes a good point.

      So what if the movie sucks? What's the worst that'll happen? It's not like the original movie will suddenly become a crappy movie. It's not like people will watch the live action one and then criticize you for liking the original. Heck, it's not like you're going to be strapped into a chair and forced to watch it.

      If the movie tanks, the MPAA will learn yet another harsh lesson about trying to fix something that ain't broken.

      If the movie is a success, it means that the director was able to add something of value to the movie, this giving you and the rest of the viewers something new to be entertained with.

      So, yeah, I agree with the parent poster: LIGHTEN UP!

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:This is insane... by Buck2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not like people will watch the live action one and then criticize you for liking the original.

      People will criticize your liking of the original because they don't understand the difference.

      Then, if you actually influence them enough to watch the original, their preconceptions will be tainted enough by the second hack that they will not be able to appreciate the original with all due respect to the element within which it was created (and this doesn't just mean anime as much as the time period).

      In the end, the secondary remake, which usually sucks, will wash with the value of the original and marginalize those that "liked the first one" first so that they become disenchanted with the general public opinion ... hence posts like "DON;'T REMAKE 1T I7;S KWEL! N0w! AflEck!!s FAG"

      --

      As my father lik@(munch munch)... ....
    3. Re:This is insane... by Perdo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "So what if the movie sucks? What's the worst that'll happen? It's not like the original movie will suddenly become a crappy movie."

      Highlander.

      I wish I would have never seen the second movie. It absolutely ruined the first movie.

      --

      If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.

  2. No way. by antisocial77 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  3. What is it about the US... by QuickSilver_999 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...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.
  4. some things were better left unbroken by He+Was+Gamecubed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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..

  5. He said it best...... by Siriaan · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I think Roger Ebert, well-known closet otaku, said it best in his review for Titan AE :

    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.

  6. It might actually be good for Anime by hillct · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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
  7. Maybe. Just maybe. by Twirlip+of+the+Mists · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
  8. Re:no way. by Docrates · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.
  9. oh god, PLEASE, ANYTHING but live action akira... by bani · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.