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.

Comments

no way.

[ice-nine]

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.

[Flounder]

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.

Re:no way.

[NineNine]

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.

One way function

[Charlton Heston]

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.

Re:This is insane...

[eyeball]

Oh fuck you. They aren't forcing you to watch it. They aren't using public funding to pay for it. Hell your (hypothetical) girl-or-boy-friend will probably not even make you watch it. Some people may like it. Please, for the love of God, get a life.

Staying true?

[raiyu]

"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?

[cybermace5]

...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.

Live Action != Better

[Anonvmous Coward]

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.

Re:some things were better left unbroken

[danny256]

but as in the case of Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and countless other victimized animes, is this really what we want?

The dubbing for this was pretty good, and I don't think the stories were ever that great to begin with, so don't blame the americans for Pokémon.

Remember...

[djupedal]

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.

Make that NC-17

[TeknoDragon]

...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?

Battle Angel Alita

[alphaseven]

Battle Angel Alita 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.

Why is Akira a classic?

[veganjay]

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?

[MKalus]

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

Re:Why is Akira a classic?

[cenobita]

well, i can't speak for anyone else.. but i think a lot of the long-lasting appeal that akira has is due largely in part to when it was created, too.

in my case, "akira" was my introduction to anime, along with "vampire hunter d", "a wind named amnesia", and miscellaneous stuff over the next couple years like "silent mobius", "baoh", and "neo-tokyo".

up until "ghost in the shell", "akira" was really one of the only anime films that could really be considered an epic. add on the inclusion of computer-assisted effects and graphics, and that counts for a lot. nowadays, we take that kind of thing for granted, but for people like me, who weren't weaned on cgi as kids, you learn to take those early contributions a lot closer to heart.

the plot, imo, was confusing..but only the first time around. subsequent viewings revealed a little more each time i'd watch it, which is kind of nice. i like the idea that watching a film can be like cutting off layers of an onion. even now, there's still some minute detail that pops out at me, and i wonder, "how the hell did i miss that?"

as for the manga, there is definitely more depth..but that's a given. as you mentioned, there's only so much you can fit into two hours. otomo's graphic novels clocked in somewhere around 80 issues..we're not talking 10-15 page little books, either. i'm being lazy in not going to look through my collection, but i seem to recall most of the books being roughly 60-80 pages in length.

i think if there is a live-action version, they should try to incorporate more detailed elements from the books. a focus on characters that were in the movie, but had meager attention given in comparison to the manga would be a good start. joker (the leader of the clowns) actually bands together with kaneda later in the graphic novels..this isn't even remotely touched upon in the movie. an unfortunate side-effect, but again..only so much in 2 hours.

if you want to track down the manga, i believe they released larger collections of the series. i'm going off memory from over a year ago, but i believe each collection was made up of 5 or 6 issues.

to finish it up, though..akira was put out in '88. i don't know when you first saw it, but i saw it not too long after it came out. anime wasn't nearly as available as it is now, so i tend to look back on it (and still watch it) fondly. i don't think it's a story for everyone, which is why i'm fairly against a live-action version (appealing to the masses will only ruin the film..you can't dilute something like that)..but i do think it's merits, at least as an innovator, are obvious. for the story, though, i think it's stood the test of time very, very well.

now if only the re-dubbing on the 2-disc dvd wasn't so awful, i could walk away truly happy. i usually go with subtitles, but i actually like the dubbing on the original.

Soundtrack

[Osiris Ani]

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 (English) create the soundtrack for it as well.

As far as I'm concerned, the Akira soundtrack 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...

[Tumbleweed]

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.

Tetsuo & Kaneda brothers?

[motardo]

Apparently they are going to be making Tetsuo and Kaneda brothers in the movie for some stupid reason.

Re:no way...but what about the Matrix ??

[Mattzilla]

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:What is it about the US...

[QuickSilver_999]

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. :(

dead before it hits the floor

[isbhod]

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?

Re:Watch it again.

[bellings]

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.

Re:What is it about the US...

[dalassa]

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. ;-)