Looking forward to it. Whenever it does come out.

TwisTz | March 05, 14:25 CET

Makes sense, given both the competition in August and the amount of CGI they have to do on a production that only started filming in January.

baxter | March 05, 14:41 CET

Man... I wish they'd just get it over with. :(

Dan Corson | March 05, 18:57 CET

Not surprised, and frankly of the opinion that it will be a better film for the delay. I couldn't fathom how they'd get all the effects and post production done in time for an Aug '08 release considering they're still filming.

Of course, we now have to deal that many more months of hand-wringing and wailing by the DB fanbots who are convinced that any live action adaptation is sacrilegious.

Whenever it comes out, I'll be in line to support James.

thundercat | March 06, 01:23 CET

"Of course, we now have to deal that many more months of hand-wringing and wailing by the DB fanbots who are convinced that any live action adaptation is sacrilegious."

That's not fair to us Dragonball fans, thundercat. Look at it like this: What if someone took Buffy and, other than a few names and themes, changed almost everything about it? What if they threw away everything about the characters that made them resonate? Better still, how about they drop a few key characters like, say, Willow, Xander, and Giles. Would YOU be at all supportive? Because, that's basically what they've done here. I guarantee you'd be as pissed as I am about this. I also guarantee you'd be doing some 'hand-wringing and wailing' of your own.

Dan Corson | March 06, 02:07 CET

Not all live action adaptations turn out bad though, even with all the changes. Not to lose coolness points, but I loved Sailor Moon, and they turned that into a 50-episode live action show with a lot of changes, but (although it wasn't the original Sailor Moon anymore), it was excellent in and of itself, if that makes any sense. It was well done, and some of the changes, while not being *better* than the original, were very interesting and welldone on their own merit. So give them a chance, and try not to judge the movie based on too much expectant criteria.

cookiepartier | March 06, 02:51 CET

That already happened... or did you not watch the movie first?

GimpyD | March 06, 03:31 CET

Please accept my apologies, Dan Corson. My comment was based on conversations I've read on various Dragonball and anime blogs I've frequented while tracking progress on the film, on which, frankly, the histrionics are epic among the hard core fen.

cookiepartier's comment states more eloquently the position I share. I recall a similar situation when Constantine was developed for the screen and comic fans decried the casting of Keanu Reeves and the story alterations (character, back-story, etc) that were made and swore up and down the block that the movie should never ever be made as was being proposed. Didn't stop me from enjoying the heck out of it and from celebrating the story in all its massive glory up on the big screen.

The Dragonball film is not a low-budget studio afterthought. I'd much rather they take the time to polish the effects, etc. rather than rushing it to release.

As far as April being the dumping ground for films, The Matrix premiered the first week of April (or thereabouts) and that didn't do too poorly if I recall.....

thundercat | March 06, 10:05 CET

Dan Corson, could you maybe give some exemples of stupid details they changed? I haven't heard anything about this film so far except James is in it, which isn't bad at all. ETA: (Just to be very clear, I'm not in any way suggesting there aren't any changes, I'm just curious.)

A bit of a casual Dragonball fan myself I'm mostly curious. IMO they already ruined Dragon Ball with GT, so this film can do litle harm.

But I understand your feelings. I'm not all that happy with the Buffy live action -> comic transition either, though I know I don't have to read the comics. And with the Buffy comics, we atleast have Joss as writer, so I get you're pretty pissed.

[ edited by the Groosalugg on 2008-03-06 13:57 ]

the Groosalugg | March 06, 16:57 CET

It's human nature I guess but I do love it that when other fans kick up a fuss because their favouritest thing ever is being screwed up they're fanbots engaging in histrionics ;).

I can just imagine the response on here if news was released of a Buffy movie that recast, radically changed or dropped main characters.

(personally I quite liked 'Constantine' and thought, despite the changes, that they captured some of the essence of John Constantine - apart from one time when they dropped the ball - but I can also understand my fellow fans being initially horrified)

Saje | March 06, 17:21 CET

You'd think that by now anime fans wouldn't take adaptations so seriously. I'm a Naruto fan myself and a casual DB/Z/GT watcher, and if there's anything I've learned it's that all adaptations change things. They start with the manga. It's bare bones, right to the point and can be gruesome. The manga is adapted into anime, usually taking the whole of the manga and adding filler and lessening the impact of blood and carnage. Then they take the anime seasons, and create anime movies that aren't even considered canon in the tv anime, more like "what if?" fillers.

Thats everything already adapted by the creator. Then it get's Americanized. Edit out major carnage or self mutilation, keep the language to a kids level, and then dub it with english voice actors. From the manga to the English dubbed anime, you already have a bastardization of the original. Live action movies would be better adapted directly from manga then anime. But even then American audiences wouldn't be able to grasp the cheesiness of it all. A pure adaptation would only appeal to long time Dragonball fans, and sadly, most have moved on. But you should be used to bastardization by now.

GimpyD | March 07, 00:54 CET