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Evangelion Live Action Movie
Rob Sollanych writes "ADV Films has just announced the production of a live action movie based on many people's favourite anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Special Effects will be developed by Weta Workshop, Ltd, the company that made the Lord of the Rings look so good."
I am utterly baffled by the fact that no one has made a big-budget Giant Robot movie yet. It's such an obvious genre to take advantage of modern CGI. There's a well-established market, not only on the "anime-based" side (Robotech, Battletech, Mechwarrior) but in the primarily domestic audience familiar with Transformers. Hell, the powerloader scene was a favourite in Aliens.
So why on earth hasn't it been done yet? I want my giant robots!
but things in LOTR that have the heaviest computer manipulation are things that are magic or take place in the ring's netherworld
That's just completely untrue. What about the thousands of warriors at the Battle of Helm's Deep? The majestic fortresses, the grotesque oliphaunts?
LOTR was filled with CG from head to toe, for subjects neither explicitly magical nor netherworldly. (I won't go into Golum- one could say he's magic too, instead of simply malnourished)
The CG needs for an Evangelion movie (an ill-starred project if there ever was one) will be similar to LOTR. They'll have to create realistic depictions of huge, improbable structures for the actors to be projected in front of. Then they'll have to build large creatures which look natural when stationary (like the Ents) and command them to move in ways that are smooth and life-like, but far from human-like.
(warning, sarcasm threat level today is at RED)
How can you possibly say that? Look at all the great work that has been done bringing anime and the like to the silver screen. I mean, just look at Fist of the North Star.
And besides, the effects studio not only did LOTR, but also gave us the effects in such quality shows as Andromeda, and Mutant X!
How can this NOT be good?
OK, all sarcasm aside, I don't see how this can be anything but a bad thing. Even so, there is some potential, but it will still PO lots of fans. The only way that this could have some merit is if they did the same thing Sam Raimi did with SpiderMan, that is don't try to duplicate the story exactly, but try and capture the "feel" and the essence doing a stand-alone movie that doesn't really fit into the existing material. This has the greatest potential for success, but also, as with SpiderMan, the greatest potential to tick off the purists and the avid fans.
I don't have much hope for it though. Pity. I'll have to wait and see what happens.
"...At the end of the day"..."when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself." RIP Layne Staley
I mean, I tend to agree that really astonishing works - like Evangelion - do not really 'need' to be re-made in a new way, but at the same time, I don't think it hurts anything. The Gus van Sant remake of Psycho, for instance, was nothing special at all, and not as good as the original... but who cares? I could have ignored it. It's not like it *replaces* the old film.
Besides, WETA kicks heroic amounts of ass, and they get an automatic vote as far as I'm concerned for the top-notch work in LOTR. They deserve some credit.
My question is, how 'live-action' can it really be? Live actors surely, but I'm guessing the bulk of the action will be CG... and do I want to see a top-quality CG adaptation of an Evangelion battle sequence? Hell yeah.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
I really enjoyed watching the characters interact in the Evangelion. But the last episode was a total letdown, which really ruined the series. So I thought about watching "End of Eva" but several reviews that said "don't bother, it's basically just screwing over the fans."
I'm sorry to say that you're on of those persons who didn't understand the series insofar as the goals of Ikari Gendou. Gendou had exceedingly good intentions, despite his cruel actions. Episodes 25 and 26 demonstrate what would happen if Gendou was successful. Did you happen to notice in 24 how all the voices were echoy? At this point, 3rd Impact was near and Gendou was about to reach his goal of uniting all of humanity and eliminating the fears that created the AT Fields. Shinji is trapped in his own little world of pain and 25 and 26 show the other freed souls helping him out so he can eventually join everyone else in bliss. Notice in the end of 26 where Yui and Gendou are together and happy, Shinji and Asuka get along in a playful way, Rei is goofy and outgoing... none of this was literal. This was to show the removal of pain, hurt, and doubt. Humans living in perfect existence... in harmony.
You should definitely watch Death:Rebirth and End of Evangelion. Death:Rebirth goes back a bit before the series to show how this all started (with the revival of Adam) and a few extra tidbits that could not be shown on broadcast television in Japan. End of Evangelion (which is my preferred ending) shows what happens if Gendou failed in his goal and 3rd Impact turned out destrutive. Shinji basically freezes at the moment of truth and decides to destroy humanity ("Nobody will ever care for me; I wish they were all dead.").
I think you'll see the obvious contrast between the two endings if you review them both.
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Does this mean that it won't go all wacky and weird in the end, like every anime?
Akira was great until the weird-ass things started happening... like giant blobs of flesh and stuff.
Spriggan was good until the exact same thing happened.
Serial Experiments: Lain was absolutely FANTASTIC until all that supernatural stuff started to take over the plot.
What's with the freaking out? Do Japanese anime creators resort to drugs to finish off their masterpieces? It's as if they were on to something good and then they just decided to rush the ending... "umm... err... oh screw it, I'll throw in some freaky psychosomatic flesh monsters... that'll do it!"
But with all honesty, I hope it turns out good. With the advent of a live action Battle Angel Alita, it'll be nice to see some non-anime mech footage hitting the screens.
My vote is for Dominique Swain to play Osuka! She's a hottie
I interprested things as episodes 25-26 being Shinji coming to terms with himself. And that EoE is happening at the same time. Either that the beginning of EoE is taking place during episodes 25-26 (hence Shinji being more catatonic than usual) or that episodes taking place after the 3rd impact and humanity merging into one.
BTW I interpreted the end of EoE as Shinji recreating humanity as we are but Shinji and his Evangelion drifting away into space.
In any case this is what makes series like NGE worth watching. There are no real answers, only more questions. And the extreme amount of christian references in NGE would problably go by most people, I know I didn't notice half of them before I had watched the series and check out some fansites.
i guess you guys didnt think about all the possibilitys, thats what fan fiction is all about! who said the plot was going to be placed in about the same time as the serries? it could be past, present (some lost episode or whatever), or future. both present and future could also be in some other alternate story line type thing. i guess we will never know until someone leaks that info or they start showing it to us bit by bit via trailers. i personoly would like to see it on some lost episode.. or a difrent ending (as i understand it the ending presented in the two movies was made the way it was because of lack of money). i sencerly hope they do this right and make shinji, asuka, rei they way theye were in the serries.. i felt like i have somthing in common with all 3 of them.
one Disc to rule them all one Disc to bind them
THat's actually the most sensible comment I've heard on this all day....
Johnny Depp must play Misato's squeeze - I don't remember his name.
You're probably one of those people who became livid when Tom Bombadil was stripped from "Fellowship of the Ring", too. Do you really intend to hold it against them if they don't develop every last character in exactly the same way as the 13-hour series during a 2-hour movie?
:) for Eva fans.
I don't know about him, but I personally found the idea of eliminating TB good, as it does not add much to the story and can be safely removed without messing up with the plot. I turned livid at "Faramir's massacre" or the Elves helping the humans at Helm's Deep, or Merry/Pippin "tricking" the Ents, as these are completely useless from the point of view of book->film conversion, but also fuck up what Tolkien wrote (and the elf one indicates a serious misundestanding).
Evangelion has a lot of strong/important points. If they want to keep "the message" they cannot change much. All the elements cited above ARE important, remove them and be ready to become target practice (verbal only
As I always say: there's nothing wrong in filming a grandma on a toliet for two hours, just don't title it "The Lord of the Rings".
When basing movies on "huge" books, people should basically not mess up with any element. The book was "huge" because of what it is: stick to it or do something different. Changing stuff looks like wanting to get easy cash from the big name.
My knee-jerk reaction to this was utter disgust. How dare they take my favourite anime and make it to a crappy big budget live action movie. But I thought about it more, and now I don't mind as much.
This can sorta be a good thing. People not into anime could watch the movie, be amazed and want to see where it all started. So they get the anime. Find they like the anime. Watch different anime shows. Become anime fans. More anime fans means cheaper anime...right? Right?!?!!
Can the 26 episode series be condensed into a movie?
Probabaly. Cut out all the fluff episodes near the begining(the octahedron angel, the dance episode, The Day Tokyo 3 Stood Still) and it could fit. As long as it's at least 2 hours, then a good portion of the story could fit, probably missing a few key important scenes. It should be better than Death.
I am really curious as to how this will turn out. Maybe they can get Anno to help work on the script. Maybe it will suck. Maybe it will be alright. I'll go see just to see how it turns out.
But please dear god don't change the names!! I couldn't stand that in The Ring. Samara?!?! It's Sadako!!
Did you suffer through the entirety Eva and for some reason weren't granted the same level of transcendence that most Eva-faithful appear to have gone through? Sure, parts were fun, parts were exciting, parts were a bit emotional, but you simply can't find it in yourself to declare that Eva somehow ties everything together into a logical conclusion filled with actual meaning? Are you certain that the random Judeo-Christian imagery, surreal character development, and insane ending are actually a high school level attempt to fake depth of plot, philosophy, and maturity?
Take your suffering and at least get a good laugh out of it with Toastyfrog Jump's Neon Genesis Evangelion Thumbnail Theatre.
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While it's true that the original BattleTech mech designs were stolen lock, stock, and barrel from Macross, the two actually represent opposite ends of the giant robot thought spectrum.
In Macross, giant robots move at the speed of a fighter jet and the grace of a ballet dancer, all the while spewing death in all directions. In BattleTech, mechs are clanky, lurching, usually unreliable, mobile gun platforms. Gundam is somewhere in the middle (the Gundams themselves usually being closer to Macross while the hapless rank-and-file mechs are closer to BattleTech).
All that aside, this is a completely horrible idea. The worst bit, to me, is that ADV is producing it. These are the people who so totally respected the original work that they plastered English-language overlays on top of signage in the DVD edition of Eva. They are the single most mercenary distributor outside of the porn merchants, always willing to pander to the lowest common denominator for a few dollars more, and it certainly shows in this decision.
So, do you think they'll use their usual crew of no-talent melodramatic hack voice "actors" onscreen, or will they just dub them over the unfortunates who do end up on screen?
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The real question, of course, is whether or not the filmmakers will realize this....
one interesting interpretation of the final beach scene with shinji & asuka is as follows:
notice that asuka has brown eyes here, and that in the rest of the series they have been blue. mistao has brown eyes.
also, asuka is wearing an eyepatch and sling, much like rei in the first episode.
i tend to think that maybe it's not asuka who is there at the end. her eva was destroyed, but possibly not the entry plug. so, possibly the three women that shinji fantasized about "melded" together into combination of the three. asuka's body, rei's persona, and misato's motherly love for shinji.
probably one of the better speculations on that...however, what it means for "what happens next" - i have no idea.