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Keanu Reeves To Star In Cowboy Bebop
It excites me incredibly to know that a Cowboy Bebop movie is happening. But it makes me scared to think that Keanu is getting the lead in what might be my single favorite Anime series of all time. I'm very skeptical that he can pull off this role. For now we'll have to wait and speculate who the rest of the cast will be. I'm mostly curious who will get Faye Valentine. And we can only cross our fingers and hope that the soundtrack remains intact.
Unless this is one of those 3D movies in which case he will just suck.
Keanu Reeves knows Japanese?
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
...he would have made a better Edward!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I think he is more than qualified.
and utter disappointment. why doesn't somebody just staple a 'fro to a wooden plank and let that be Spike. micheal clark duncan can be miscast as Jet and the hot chick from transformers and try acting as Faye. Ein will be CG and Ed will be any female actress...using CG to reduce their size.
and dont get me started on what a catastrophe the soundtrack will be.
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
Poorly animated with stilted dialog is the way I'd also describe Keanu Reeves.
Just as the Starwars, or any media that we grew up to like. A redo of it with new actors no matter how good they do it will always seems lame to the old faithful fans.
When something new is released and it isn't just right, for our expectations, then it just seems like an abomination.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
It's going to go to some hollywood bimbo with connections.
What I want to know...
Who's going to play Ein?
Because I believe this was predicted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYltu4usfXk
Why are you scared, Rob? I think Keanu would be great as Edward.
Oh... you mean he's playing Spike.
One might ask the same about birds. What ARE birds? We just don't know.
don't for get the seat belts for the action sequences
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
I don't care who the cast is, it still sounds like a bad idea.
I think I am going to go watch the entire series right now to wash the very idea out of my mind.
Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
Yiiiihaaaa. Duuuude.
Reeves is in no way suitable for this role. Not even close. His voice lacks the gravely, emotional sarcasm that Spike is portrayed as having. His near monotone delivery will kill the character and reduce him to a mere shell of the original. Not to mention his hair won't be anywhere near as flowing as Spike's.
The only thing he has going for him is in the looks. His face has a similar appearance to the comic and his body is more or less the same build. Other than that, it's, "Whoa!" all over again.
But hey, since it's a semi-geek thing, I'm sure it will do as well as Serenity did.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I'm gonna go out on a limb here:
I think he can do it.
My first thought was definitely 'oh no'. But then I remembered that Spike is a little quirky anyhow... And very, very rarely do they manage to make a live-action with characters that really match the Anime's.
What I'm most scared of is that they'll try to match the voice acting of the English version, instead of trying to get the tone and attitude of the Japanese version. Voice acting makes a huge difference to the overall feel of the character.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
I stand behind his one word tradmark and am looking forward to this movie.
I'd cast Christian Bale as Spike... but that's just because I want to see him in every movie I watch now.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
If they have to redo the soundtrack, I hope they hire Bill Cosby.
I want to see Milla Jovovich as Ed. That would be perfect.
"I'm mostly curious who will get Faye Valentine." I'm hoping for Man-Faye.
Spike: Adrian Brody or Adam Brody
Jet: Clancy Brown
Don't know about the others
but yes, they definitely need The Seatbelts/Yoko Kanno. Bebop isn't bebop without the music.
I'll probably have to skip this movie. I love Cowboy Bebop, but keanu reeves is one of the absolute worst actors of all time. I mean that both as serious and funny. So with a light heart I'm going to go find a bottle of cheap vodka to wash away the idea.
Can anyone explain to me why good actors such as Heath Ledger die, OD, or whatever but people like keanu don't? If the man had any honor as an actor he'd step down and let some one who can act take the part.
Oh, and here's to hoping Bruce Willis is cast as Jet. The voice may not be right but the look would be. Oh, and if Halle Barry is in the movie in any way I'm leading the boycott.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
See you, space cowboy
Extending a career of almost entirely bad performances (including the ones where that's appropriate, like _The Matrix_), Reeves ruined _The Day the Earth Stood Still_. It would have been a formulaic remake anyway, but Reeves made it his own with his craptastic performance. Ruining one of the greatest classic SF movies.
Anyone who gives him any work at all should be run face-first through a 70mm film projector.
--
make install -not war
I can't be the only one who has no idea what Cowboy Bebop is.
Stop making live action remakes of animated work. Actually, stop making remakes at all, but damn, some things work in animation for a reason.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
I'm mostly curious who will get Faye Valentine.
There's already a porn actress that goes by that name . . . maybe she could do it? :) (If Googling she also occasionally goes by Faye Reagan - and offtopic IMHO she's in the top 5 best looking gals currently in the business).
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Ack!.... oh god... why are they going to ruin this series. *cry*
Keanu would be good for Spike. I think the reason people criticize Keanu Reeves' acting is because they judge him based on the Matrix, which didn't have the script or directors to show off any actor's abilities. Look at stuff like A Scanner Darkly or Bram Stoker's Dracula and you will see that the guy can act. While I don't expect the Cowboy Bebop movie to win Keanu an Academy Award, I do think he'll do a good job. Spike is a character who deals with complicated issues nonchalantly so an emotional actor would be more likely to ruin it than Reeves.
I think Reeves could, actually, work for most of the scenes (Spike tended to be very melancholy and low key most of the time) but the directory will have to really push to get strong emotion out of him in certain scenes (such as fighting Vicious). As for Jet, I think a shaved Ron Pearlman could pull it off pretty well. Not sure who I'd pick for the rest of the parts.
Rules of Conduct:
#1 - The DM is always right.
#2 - If the DM is wrong, see rule #1
This is absolutely made for Scarlett Johansson. She could play the part well, she has experience playing a noirish character from something that was not originally live action thanks to The Spirit, and she has all of the requisite... y'know... "physical properties."
... I much rather would have liked to have a Cowboy Neil movie.
Summer Glau would be nice. I hope Keanu Reeves plays Jet Black not Spiegel though.
The best actor ever to play batman?
...until, of course, the Dark Knight. My expectations might have been unreasonably high, but the Dark Knight still managed to blow them completely out of the water, and it was pretty much a perfect film. I draw this comparison because the English voice actors for Bebop were absolute perfect fits. This is no easy task, as fans of anime might know, because poor English dubs can ruin even the best series.
Kevin Conroy, who was the voice of Batman in the animated series of the early 90s. Likewise, the best actor to play the joker was Mark Hamill, in the same series.
I like Cowboy Bebop even more than I did the Batman series, and I just can't see Keanu Reeves, judging by his body of work (read: a travesty), doing anything but destroying Spike Spiegel forever.
And that's just the lead role. Who knows what will become of all the other aspects of the series that made it so good? It seems to me that this is yet another remake or "tribute" made to extort as much money as possible out of us unaware Americans by giving it broader appeal (Why else would they cast Reeves? Why bother even making a movie? The fans got what they wanted with Knockin' On Heaven's Door.) instead of actually paying homage to one of the greatest TV series ever made.
You're looking too hard for someone to flame. You sounded stupid. Grow up.
There are certainly exceptions, but I would wager that most live action adaptations of japanese animation/manga have been failures. Which means the worst case scenario boils down to "Cow Boy Bebop live movie is bad, just like nearly every such adaptation, life goes on."
However, I would have a little hope for this one, because the ambiance of Cow Boy Bebop is kind of a stereotype of "american wild west" (or at least its representation in japanese minds). And Keanu Reeves does not strike me as such a bad choice for Spike; I mean, physically speaking they have the same build, don't they?
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I want to see the move, but not if he is attached or he actually learns to act! DON"T KILL COWBOY BEBOP!!!
I don't quite understand why people dislike Keanu Reeves so much. Well, I think he has a tendency to end up in these lame movies with roles that are easily mocked. I wouldn't call him a great actor, but he's certainly far from the worst. And he's not nearly as obnoxious as others.
My problem with this movie is the fact that it's yet another remake and it will probably be crap. They'll try to reinvent everything, completely missing the character of the original. I expect the end result to be crap much like Speed Racer.
Part of my problem, however, is the source material. Cowboy Bebop is decent, but like most other anime is very derivative and features convoluted storylines. Over the years I've found that anime fans tend to have low standards. As long as it's Japanese they love it. I can't count the times I've read glowing reviews for one thing or another only to find it's not very good. Even what is widely considering to be average anime gets overly positive reviews. And when something is actually pretty good, then it's really blown out of proportion.
My point is why bother remaking anime? The fans will never be happy with it. Few others will know enough about the source material to be interested which means the movie will have to stand on its own merits. At that point, they may as well have just come up with something unique and potentially more interesting. But then Hollywood and unique go together like oil and water.
Speaking of anime remakes, Battle Angel Alita is also coming in 2011, with James Cameron as the director. The manga's storyline has turned to crap, but I still have a fondness for the original story. Even though I'll probably be disappointed I am foolishly looking forward to the movie.
Anime is creepy and weird.
whats wrong with keanu? he plays a really good character that is detached and reserved. good pick in my opinion.
I can see it now: "I know Jeet Kune Do."
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
I think they thought if they combined Space Cadet and Gay Cowboy it made a Space Cowboy.
This is going to be fantastic! It's like the polar opposite of Spike playing as spike!
He'll be a retarded, gay, time traveling bounty hunter who's the soul salvation of humanity with AIDS on trial who smuggles information in a partition of his brain while doing everything he can to stop a bus from going 55 miles an hour while fending off demons... and... I think I need a beer.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
I think Ving could pull it off. . . Jet Black - Ving Rames, Danny Glover Faye Valentine - Odette Yustman (Cloverfied, The Unborn), Tricia Helfer Ed - Dakota Fanning Vicious - Jason Isaacs
Cancer couldn't kill me... You don't stand a chance.
If they're going to yutz it up with Keanu, what else can they do wrong? Let's see:
Spike: Keanu Reeves
Jet: Samuel L. Jackson (not the cool one from pulp fiction but the lame one from Star Wars and b-movies)
Ein: Taco Bell dog
Ed: Rosie O'Donnell with CGI and optical effects like from Lord of the Rings to make her appear hobbit-sized
Vicious: the comedian Steven Wright with an albino wig, retains deadpan delivery.
Fae Valentine: the girl from Lazytown that all the pedos have the hots for
Coolie-yo: A brand new CGI character invented just for the movie who brings a fresh blast of hip-hop sass and in-your-face attitude, voiced by Chris Tucker
For every other character in the film, make it be Shia LaBeauf making like Eddie Murphy in the Professor movies, he plays every part. "Nononononononononononononononononononononononono!"
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Wonder who's going to direct. Not many could pull this off. Joss Whedon certainly, but not many others.
[Insert pithy quote here]
What really scares me here is that this seems like it's a real article that just had the names replaced. I know there are people like that out there but damn.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
all i have to say is.. YES!
In addition to her role as Motoko Kusanagi, Yoko Matsugane must play Valentine. And, while we are discussing the glorious Yoko, will she please take some nude pictures before she gets old? The world should not miss out on the greatest female body ever.
"Whoa, Jet" and I'm sure, knowing the American movie studios, that Kanno will not be doing any of the soundtrack.
The sad thing is that people really stop what they're doing to write things like that.
Now if he shaves his head and hits the gym and wants to play Jet..
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
It's like....I want to stop reading, but I can't. It's a fucking train wreck.
I think it broke my head.
Whoa
You know, I like Star Wars, but I don't DEEPLY DEEPLY LOVE IT like many here. Yeah I know, turn in my geek card, etc, except I DEEPLY DEEPLY LOVE a lot of anime, so I think I should get to keep it.
Anyway, bearing that in mind, I didn't really mind the "new" Star Wars. Actually, I liked it (except Jar Jar, obviously), and thought all those people complaining about how Lucas was basically ass-raping their childhood innocence, etc, were kind of overreacting.
But holy shit, now I know what they meant. I fucking love Cowboy Bebop, I fucking LOVE it, and now Hollywood is going to fuck it up the ass.
There is NO WAY this movie is going to be a worthy continuation or even a semi-accurate movie version of one of my favourite anime series of all time. NO FUCKING WAY. They just cannot do it, Hollywood just cannot make that kind of movie. Cowboy Bebop is deeply nihilistic in a way Hollywood just does not understand. I have nothing against Keanu Reeves but there is no way he can possibly even comprehend the character of Spike. No-one like him can. I am sorry but happy dumb Americans living in sun-drenched California just cannot understand this kind of emotion. They don't even know what to shoot for.
Faye Valentine? Dear god it'll probably be Lucy Liu. Why not eh? It's an "asian" series so we should get someone from "asia"! Argh!
God, I'm sorry Star Wars fans. I should have fought for you. "Next they came for the Star Wars fans, but I did not speak up, for I was not a Star Wars fan" ... well now they've come for me ...
Let my new 7-digit UID be a lesson to all - write down your passwords.
This is going to be a bigger travesty than when Alanis Morissete played God in Dogma. Cowboy Bebop has about as many hardcore devoted fans as God does, and so the outrage is going to be just as bad. On top of that, it's a good series, and Keanu is not a good actor.
My predictions as to the rest of the cast:
Jet - Eddie Murphy
Ed - Hermione from Harry potter
Faye - Brittney Murphy
Vicious - James VanderBeek
"Oh no, Yoko Kanno!!! Now we'll have to use Danny Elfman!"
The sad thing is this was a real BME interview.
I can only hope Keanu pulls over a miracle, but if not, here's the rest of the cast to round out what could be a horror that exceeds the impending Dragon Ball and G.I. Joe flicks: Jett: Sylvester Stallone -- Fey: Paris Hilton -- Ed: Shia LaBeouf -- Ein: Gilbert Gottfried -- Vicious: Ice Cube -- Julia: Renee Zellweger.
I know I know I know, let's get Paris Hilton as Faye, Larry the Cable Guy as Jet, and the director's preteen hermaphrodite as Ed. Get the writers from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, make sure the executives are in charge of rewrites and hire McG as director. It'll be so craptacular that people will flock to theaters just to see the screen melt.
I dunno, with some of the choices the studios are making... Some enterprising theater owner should just replace all the chairs with airline seats. At least there'd be a barf bag within easy reach.
God I'm depressed. Isn't it lunch yet?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
"Woah."
... it's the army of lawyers and other shitbags that leech onto any movie celebrity and have to sign off on every shot, every costume, whether Spike is taller than Jett and whether Faye's boobs are pert enough, every detail. They will work tirelessly, 24/7, to ensure that the life is sucked out of Cowboy Bebop in order to ensure that their Keanu "brand" is not compromised. This is generally the fate of any movie with a big star. The only hope for this movie would be a cast of unknowns.
This is how art works, it builds off itself. If you really love Cowboy Bebop, then you should applaud somebody trying to reach the masses with something based on the original.
Typical people might not care about anime, but if they watch this movie, and like it, and then someone says 'you know it's based off an anime', then maybe they will watch the original! And the original art gets more exposure than it would have if it had been keep in it's 'sacred' box and never taken out.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
But then to also pick one of the worst actors in hollywood....this has no chancein hell of doing well.
It's become popular to trash Keanu, and I'm not saying he's Johnny Depp, but I could also see him doing a respectable job here.
Pressing the panic button at this point is pure groupthink.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
It is indicated many times that Spike is 27 years old. It is allegedly a deliberate allusion to the 27 club, which counts Hendrix, Joplin, and Cobain amongst many others as members. Besides being a shitty actor, Keanu is far too old to portray this age. Too bad Heath Ledger didn't get this role 2 years ago.
two comments:
1) Yeah, get the original voice actors to overdub.
2) I was watching the 70's movie "Death Wish" starring Charles Bronson, and one the three punks who kill his wife and rape his daughter had all the right gangly moves that Spike sometimes has, the actor was none other than Jeff Goldblum. Too bad he's far too old for the part.
A live action Edward.
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
For those who can't grasp why anime fans cringe at a US production of live action version of Cowboy Bebop go watch Speed Racer. After you have watched it and stopped kicking the cat I dare say you will get the idea.
Milla Jovovich as Faye Valentine, she played a pretty good ass-kicker in resident evil...
I am calling BS.
My sister told me a couple of weeks ago that Keanu was making the Bebop movie. My first reaction was "Aw fuck is he going to play Spike". However her response was that she wasn't sure but she thought he might be "Making" the movie maybe not also "Staring" in it. That perhaps Keanu is wanting to branch out into Producing or possibly Directing the live action version of Bebop. Perhaps I am just deluding myself.
However if you RTFA, and then RTFA tha TFA is based on, it makes me wonder how much of this is fact and how much is just writers speculation. The only fact is that Keanu's association to the project was leaked. The writer said Keanu "would" play Spike. Not that it was leaked that "Keanu WAS playing spike". I think the writer chose their words most carefully to be more sensationalistic and get more people reading the stupid article.
Anyway thats my 2 cents.
It will probably suck anyway, as most of these things don't translate very well. I tried watching the live action version of Deathnote not too long ago and didn't get very far. I am sure the new live action DragonBall Z will also win some Oscars. It is however fun to speculate who will play each. Someone mentioned Bruce Willis as Jet, and that might not be too bad.
They could have picked somebody worse than Keanu Reeves. He's familiar with the character and that's better than most live-action adaptions attempted by Hollywood.
The soundtrack is probably my greatest concern. It'll definitely make or break the movie for myself and no doubt the majority of the anime community. I'm anxious to hear if Yokko Kanno will be involved with the project.
licensing rights are cheaper than original storylines as most motion picture groups collude to absorb profit loss in an economic recession through 'baseball card trading' of reserved rights to media. they arent as cheap as a sequel franchise, but we're close and the returns are greater. this is a simple business transaction thats been mistaken for a creative work. a manager with a business objects interface to the sales tables in a MPAA database somewhere has determined a certain interest point/pricepoint for this concept has been reached. people like Cowboy Bebop, and its future trend is negative enough that damage to the core brand is irrelevant. cost benefit analysis has been instigated and the numbers state clearly 'we should do this'
do not expect anything more than references to jokes you've seen before, controlled and comfortable moves in the storyline, and occasional current events punctuation to increase relateability to the noncore audience cajoled into seeing the movie by an 'avid fan'
if this were a creative work, you'd see far more japanese names in the production and direction list. the flintstones and speedracer should serve as an example.
Good people go to bed earlier.
If 20th Century Fox wants to pick Keanu Reeves as Spike Spegiel, then there should be a few cameos by Damon Evans.
The Rapture is NOT an exit strategy.
or the somewhat lesser, "Afghanistanimation"
Brendan Fraser, now that would have been truly scary.
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/12/17/keanu-reeves-eager-to-do-something-good-with-cowboy-bebop-movie/
You're right. American cinema is much better. A love story always must be present, no matter how badly forced. The good guy will always win. Moral choices are seldom ambiguous. It doesn't matter how it happens but that car WILL explode. Can I be xenophobic too? Or would it be anthrophobic?
On the one hand, considering Spike's normal nonchalant attitude, Keanu's lack of acting abilities could actually be a happy accident for the role.
On the other hand, I'm going to go cry somewhere for about an hour.
And a side note: Some time ago someone made a faux Live-action CB poster, rather well done, with their suggestions for casting. It had three stripes, going left to right, of equal size, one for Jet, Spike, and Faye. It circulated the internet quite a bit, but I can't seem to find it now. Anyone know where I can see the image of which I speak?
This is how art works, it builds off itself. If you really love Cowboy Bebop, then you should applaud somebody trying to reach the masses with something based on the original.
Name one live-action adaptation of an anime that was good and didn't just mar the name of an original. Just one.
Or name a live-action adaptation of a western cartoon. Or of a video game. Or any American remake of a non-art film from the east.
The closest I can think of is the American remakes of Japanese horror films (but I'm no fan of either the remakes or the originals), or "The Magnificent Seven" which wasn't a remake so much as a complete recasting of "The Seven Samurai" and is just not the same thing.
Face it, Hollywood getting its hands on an anime for a live-action remake stands a very good chance of being right up there with "Starship Troopers," "Mortal Kombat," "Godzilla," or "Silent Hill." Even those formats which make for fair adaptations stand a good chance of screwing up. Think of the average comic book movie. (e.g. The Hulk) Think of the average remake of a classic movie. (e.g. Cheaper by the Dozen)
Hollywood has almost never taken an original idea and made it better or even nearly anywhere as good as the original. That's not what Hollywood does. A live action Cowboy Bebop, especially one starting Keanu Reeves, stands about as good of a chance as being likable and introducing a whole new audience to the wonders of anime as Congress stands of passing a budget without some pork project in it.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
That the cartoon version will be more animated than Mr. Reeve's performance.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I was under the impression that a Cowboy Bebop movie was already released.
One thing you have to remember, is that Keanu is actually an anime fan himself (I remember correctly), so at least we have an someone who can hopefully appreciate the role instead. And yes while he isn't one of our better actors of the times, Keanu has some class (well something like it) and okay so he wouldn't be my first choice for Spike, but think about this.
The moment the film comes out, Cowboy Bebop will be on everybody's lips, and so it can either succeed or fail. However people will wonder what the hell it is, and soon we might see people release what the true point of anime is.
Also, Steven Blum will be doing the voice of Spike if it's animated. :P
Apart from Blum being Spike's American dub voice, if you GIS for his picture, you'll find that he looks a whole hell of alot better-suited to the part of Spike than Ted "Theodore" Logan.
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
Worst
Day
Ever
For years I have fantasied about a perfect cast for Cowboy Beebop. What about this:
Spike: Lenardo DiCaprio
Faye: Jennifer Aniston
Jet: Jack Nicholson
Ed: Ellen Page
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Forget about Keeanu for a second and ask your self... what (part of the) story are they going to tell? Are they going to try to cram the whole series into 2 hours? Are they going to just cover one episode? I'm thinking that what ever they do it will be a mockery of the the original work.
"It's because they're stupid, that's why. That's why everybody does everything." -Homer Simpson
I honestly have never heard of Cowboy Bebop before today. And I don't think Keanu Reeves is a bad actor, but he is typecast in my opinion.
Remember JarJar Binks? This is oscar material.
Anna Ohura will play Faye Valentine.
She is well known amongst followers of Japanese film arts.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa.
"The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
I suggest everyone watch the anime and ignore this rubbish.
My only hope is that at the end of the movie, or perhaps better yet the start, they point people towards a DVD box set of the anime.
Remaking timeless anime into a live action movie, especially for America, is impossible.
"we've got trenchcoats and bad attitudes" - John Constantine, HellBlazer
Has it reached anyone's attention that there are people with a significant amount of education and technical skill who do not know what the h*** you are talking about? I.e. they have absolutely no idea who or what "Cowboy Bebop" is? Will he(or she) be on the A-list at the SAG awards, or the inauguration next week? While the comment attracted my attention because I generally like Keanu Reeves, I have no idea what the rest of the story is about.
didnt that guy pull off bill and ted's bogus journey ? didnt he pull off matrix ?
notice how on the opposite extreme ends those two roles are ?
if he can pull off extremes, he should be able to pull off something in the middle, with some indiana jones/tough&rough flavor.
Read radical news here
you know we geeks love that kind of thing ?
Read radical news here
I'm surprised no one has thought maybe Man-Faye would get Valentine's role!
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
Did you even bother to watch Cowboy Bebop? Or did you just read about it on Wikipedia?
Just because the main character claims that he was dead once already - that does not mean that there is room for goth necrophilia.
Nor is the main character acting like a drunk/mad scientist on drugs.
Which covers about the entire depth of Depp's acting.
Bale on the other hand DOES act like more than one (or three) character in his movies.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Bale would probably do a great Spike Spiegel. Bale would probably be great as Bugs Bunny from all we know.
But, baring cloning, we can't have Christian Bale in EVERY role. :(
Science - why do you fail us every time we need you the most?
Then again...
I can really see Keanu as Spike.
Come on... He is tall, thin, does not talk much and we are used to see him do kung-fu and just plain stand there being cool.
Who else (besides Bale) should we get?
Johny Depp? Brad Pitt? George Clooney? Tom Cruise? Steven Seagal?
We could fare a LOT worse than our favorite surfer dude.
Imagine it slated a few more years until all of the above actors are too old and/or too busy - but Shia LaBeouf is just the right age, and finished with second Indiana Jones trilogy and Transformers 3?
See what I mean? He is PERRRRFECT for the role. Got his very own natural Spike hairstyle.
Spike and Julia? Who knows...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Right on the money.
Lets be honest...unless they give him a CGI makeover...
There is NO WAY this movie is going to be a worthy continuation or even a semi-accurate movie version of one of my favourite anime series of all time. NO FUCKING WAY. They just cannot do it, Hollywood just cannot make that kind of movie. Cowboy Bebop is deeply nihilistic in a way Hollywood just does not understand. I have nothing against Keanu Reeves but there is no way he can possibly even comprehend the character of Spike. No-one like him can. I am sorry but happy dumb Americans living in sun-drenched California just cannot understand this kind of emotion. They don't even know what to shoot for.
Sunrise Inc., which produces the anime series, will be closely involved with the development of the English-language project.
Sunrise's Kenji Uchida and Shinichiro Watanabe will serve as associate producers alongside series writer Keiko Nobumoto.
Series producer Masahiko Minami will serve as a production consultant.
Now... If they only get Yoko Kanno to do the music... it could actually be quite good.
Not like the original. But not Star Wars prequels either.
Or Dragonball. *shudder*
Without Yoko Kanno's music though...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Did all the other one dimensional actors pass up the part? No Michael J Fox? No Tom Cruise(sp)? They couldn't find someone that sucked more?
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
...if Keanu Reeves is Spike, Brendan Fraser should play Jet.
I find it hard to believe I am actually writing this, but Keanu could be actually a good choice for this role. Bebop's cool calls for a pulled-back emotional expression, and Keanu, being unable to express human emotion, is a natural candidate.
Also, I am sure this will brings lots of kids to the original series which is a very good thing.
I am more concerned with the script and the not yet selected director. A good director can pull out exactly what's needed from Keanu Reeves, something we saw in Matrix I.
How about Ving Rhames as Jet, a black-haired Christina Ricchi as Faye, and... Haley Joel Osment as Ed? It works.
Surely by now everyone who wants to see the original series has seen it so I won't be spoiling anything by mentioning that they have already killed off the main character in the last episode of the series. They slipped the movie in there by claiming that it took place in between episodes towards the end of the established storyline. So, unless they plan to do a condensed version of the standard storyline, as established in the original television program, what else can they really do that hasn't already been done with these characters? The back stories have already been fleshed out and the conflicts were mostly all resolved in the final espisode, unless they want to do spin off stories of what happens to the surviving members of the Bebop crew after Spike departs.
Spike hardly speaks, so it's perfect. As long as Keanu rarely has to open his mouth he's a fantastic actor. Just look at the first matrix, he barely has a dozen lines.
this sounds almost as bad as the new Neuromancer movie, which is supposed to starr none other than Hayden "Anakin" Christensen.
The thing which made Bebop great was the larger story-line. The unfolding of the various characters as they healed themselves, or resolved their personal/emotional issues. That's what good sci-fi does these days. --Watch some of the old and loved Doctor Who episodes. The ones we (well some of 'we') thought were so great back when we were kids. By today's standards, they're amazingly FLAT; all about the plot and the cleverness and the adventure, but zero examination of the emotional dimension. These days, people are well acclimated to the science, (or whatever you want to call it). --Exploring that stuff is no longer the point of these stories. The thing we don't get, however, and which we are so driven from an instinctive level to explore is how we emotionally fit within these new concepts. The alternate realities and the high-tech wilderness of it all. People want to know how it feels to be human in an expanded set of possibilities. Emotions matter now. How cool is that?
--I mean, heck, look at the last couple of Bond movies, for goodness sake! 007 has a soul??? --He's a broken man with plenty of murder/lockpick skills, which yeah, we were all dazzled by in the 60's and 70's, but how did he get that way? Turns out, he's deeply messed up and needs a matronly M to keep his threads all tied up from unraveling. --When the question of James Bond's mental stability even crosses the public mind, you know we are living in a new era!
But to explore emotions properly in a story, you need space. Or rather, length. Emotions aren't like car chases; on one moment, off the next. It takes time for lives to unfold and relationships to evolve. Bebop, and Firefly, and Doctor Who needed a dozen or more episodes for these issues to be properly explored. You can't achieve some of the really great moments we saw in those series in a 90 minute format. Not easily, anyway. --They already made a Cowboy Bebop movie. It looked and sounded fantastic. I still listen to some of the tracks now and again. But compared to the lower budget TV series, it was listless and redundant. It was the series which sang!
Same with, "Serenity", which I know is well-loved among fan circles, but my feeling is that the popular reaction came more from the grassroots victory it represented over FOX's short-sighted cancellation of the series than it did from the movie actually being particularly great. It was clever, painfully violent, and tried to cram too much into too little, and when it ended, I was relieved and I didn't miss any of the characters. It was the series which truly studied relationships and the concept of, "Found Family"; that's what made it good. Some of the most powerful moments came with revelations of character which had been building to a crescendo for ages. --When Jane was locked outside the ship, and Mal was going to let him die for being a psychotic monster but changed his mind when Jane demonstrated that he had a semblance of a conscience. Stuff like that is gold, and I just don't think it's within the realm of likelihood that we're going to see anything resembling that in a film. Not in any meaningful way. And certainly not with a wooden post like Keanu Reeves.
Ironically, the problem is that Spike, while being the, 'Strong Silent type', was also a bit of a cheeky bugger with a lot of iron and self-confidence, whereas Keanu has never struck me as having known himself. Always a bit dreamy and confused. Poor, poor casting. --Because, I don't really believe much in, 'acting'; the eyes and unconscious, uncontrollable expressions of a person always come through the actor whether they like it or not.
The Bebop series was a great anime, and I'm as much a sucker fanboy as the next guy, so I'll probably plunk down my. . . Jeez how much does it cost to see a film these days? Well, I'll plunk that down just to see the thing. But, honestly, it would be foolish to expect much.
Heck, I'm still trying to figure out what the heck is going to happen with that Toby McGuire Macross project.
Erk.
-FL
voice .../quote
that's Steven Jay Blum's fault, not sticking to the original spirit and setting of the character.
Read radical news here
No. Ed is young, not anorexic.
Whoever plays Ed needs to look young, be energetic and willing and able to be kinda crazy. The best person I can think of for the role is Julianna Rose Mauriello.
Than even waste bandwidth to see not only this no talent shitbag not act a part he is not even remotely suited for, but find out just how much some stupid uppity stuffed shirt college bitch who has never even heard of this series much less seen a single episode is going to totally ruin the name Cowboy Bebop.
What.
The.
Fuck.
Why don't you make a live action Akira and cast Woody Allen as Kaneda and as Adam Sandler as Tetsuo.
Fucktard idiots.
I know what I should expect, however I hope they don't fuck this up.
They could have cast that kid who played Darth Vader (Annikin) in the last Star Wars... that kid was even worse than Keanu...
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
No! No! No!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
(Both to the movie itself, and the star.)
Game... blouses.
To some extent, there are two ways to become an A-list actor - either develop some experience (which requires getting older), or look really really hot when you're young (in which case you don't usually have much experience.) Some people can be good actors while they're still young enough to play parts that require good acting skills as well as physicality and youth, but not enough, and it's easier for a young actor to get cast in a big movie by looking hot, and harder to get cast in a movie that requires acting skills without being in good parts that get them seen. But in general I agree with you - there are good actors who aren't well-known and would do fine in most sci-fi, if the movie people can find them.
The typical problem with sci-fi movies, though, is that they're either putting too much money into special effects as opposed to writing, or else they're imagining they need more special effects than they can afford, so they overdose on totally cheesy CGI.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Depp has done a huge range of acting, and I've almost always been impressed (though I haven't actually seen Pirates etc.) He's not just Sweeney Todd. I found it really surprising that the lame punk from 21 Jump St. could turn into the stunningly good character in "Benny and Joon", or the quite reasonable Gilbert Grape, or, ok, Edward Scissorhands was kind of weird, but there's probably nobody else could have done it as well.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I was hoping to see a better-resolution image of the actor (e.g.) than the 1-pixel image you included. Does the site you referenced require a login to see images?
The couple of images on the main imdb page for him look like he could do the right facial expressions for Spike.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Yer right, Brendan Fraser would be far more wrong for the role than Keanu.
I actually really like most of Keanu's movies - he's not always playing a deep character, but they seem to _work_ in ways they might not with somebody else. (Haven't seen Day the Earth Stood Still, though...) He's not the right actor for Spike, wasn't even the right actor 20 years ago, and he's too old now. Somebody suggested having him play Vicious, which might work.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Look, if you're going to do it wrong, put some real effort into doing it wrong...
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Kayden wrote:
This points out one of the things that I enjoy most about anime. Characters often do not fall into the neat good-guy/bad-guy template, but often fall in between the two, or even flip to the other side. This even applies to the stories themselves, where the tone of the story can completely change.
In "Cowboy Bebop" we see this in many of the characters and in the story itself. In fact, the first episode of the series gives you little idea of what the series is actually going to be like.
In one series (I won't reveal the name to avoid spoiling anything), at a certain point in the series a completely shocking and unexpected event happens that completely upends your perceptions of everything in the series from the first episode. The revelation of Darth Vader's true identity in Episode Five of "Star Wars" was a minor surprise by comparison.
Although in many anime series the characters tend to remain a bit static, there are many where the characters develop over the course of the series. Among these are: Robotech, Figure 17, Key The Metal Idol, and Video Girl Ai. Even in the Dragonball Epic (Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT), most of the characters (most notably Gohan) do evolve over the course of the series.
In U.S. animation for the most part the characters tend to remain static over the course of a series, although this has changed in recent years (Gargoyles, and the entire Animated DCU [see below] come to mind). Still, characters like Scooby Doo and The Flintstones remain pretty much as they were (with minor variations) when they debuted.
Animated DCU consists of:
You've gotta be kidding. Ein is amiable and intelligent, while Keanu has all the charm of of a ship-mounted laser turret. He could probably pull it off as a Vicious-like syndicate henchman. He is long overdue for a sadistic villain role.
WHAT?!?! But I love my laser turret! My cutesy wootsy waser turret. Your a good wittle waser turret aren't you.
Why not Keanu as Viscous. That might be interesting to see. Make him go real dark.
Ugh. I don't think it COULD be worse actually. - Kelly http://conventionfans.today.com/
in case you have never seen the series:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Spike_dies
also i hear that Laurence Fishburne will be jet Carrie-Anne Moss will be Faye Hugo Weaving will be Vicious Ed will be full cg like gollum and Ein will be voiced by George Clooney :-p
There is nothing like going to the laser turret store to buy a cute little laser turret for the kids. It sure is fun to see them out playing in the yard. Plus, we don't have to worry about the neighbors dog crapping in our yard EVER again!
Party at O'zorgnax's Pub! Buy me a Slurmtini aye?