Neon Genesis Evangelion - Live Action Movie?

[Apok]

http://dramaticmovies.about.com/cs/upcomingreleases/a/neongenesis.htm

Uhhh...

Is anyone else worried about this? I'm trying to think of a way they could do the film without completely mangling it, but I just can't. I smell disaster.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

http://dramaticmovies.about.com/cs/upcomingreleases/a/neongenesis.htm

Uhhh...

Is anyone else worried about this? I'm trying to think of a way they could do the film without completely mangling it, but I just can't. I smell disaster.

Certainly could be... Certainly could be... But then, I think that the last two volumes of the main series, Death & Rebirth, and End of Evangelion were disasters...

Weta will be doing the special effects so we've at least got that going for us. Even if you go only expecting the spectacle of seeing EVA-01 tangling with an Angel it ought to be worth the price of admission. If we get more, so much the better...

BTW, ADV Films is releasing 'Director's Cuts' of the last two discs of the main series in January and one of the extra features on the DVDs will be some of Weta's production designs for the live action film. Could definitely be worth checking out for the hardcore Evangelion fan.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I never did like Eva all that much...rare for me to not like a mech show. But I could at least tolerate it...but Live Action?

Ugh...I've actually heard about this many times in the past couple of years. Everytime, it makes me cringe. The reason anime WORKS is because its animation. Translating it to live action is the same as taking a book and making it into a movie...its just hard to get it RIGHT.

 

[Skade]

Evangelion is overappreciated I think. Its a fine series and all, but it has a lot of problems, some of which are translation/cultural issues, but many are related to the overemoting (or lack of emotion) in the characters. I do think it could make a pretty decent movie though.

I'd be curious if the pilots will actually be kids though. I imagine they will go with late teens and early 20's instead.

Who would you cast?

 

[jdavis]

I don't think it will be all that good, not only are you translating it to live action, you are also condensing the story 10 fold. The effects will be either extremely expensive or extremely poor quality(depending on their budget), the story was pretty convoluted to start with and the ending was..... well it really wasn't very American audience friendly. It will be tough to get a decent 2 hour movie out of it and do it any justice at all.

 

[Skade]

I am certainly in the minority here, but I think a movie might actually be better if done well.

I think one of the problems with the series, and anime in general, is that it was too drawn out. How many times did we need to see Shinji freak out, then because he had no choice become the hero? How many times did we need to see Rei beaten and crushed and still do what she needed to? How many times did we need to hear Asuka bitch and moan? It became tedious, perhaps not as tedious as DBZ characters discussing power levels, and grunting ad nasuem, but still quite repetive.

My hope is that the movie gets a talented anime fan to write a script from scratch, keeping all the elements of the story and no condensing them, but recrafting them into a 2 hour spectacular.

Some things will not survive this process. The convoluted "explanations" at the end of the series are gone. You won't get to see every angel attack Tokyo. You won't necesarilly get each characters introduction, and the penguin is probably right out.

 

[Dark Jezter]

If Evangelion stays true to the anime, then it should be interesting to see how American movie audiances react to 14-year-old kids in skin-tight jumpsuits.

 

[Pants]

Some things will not survive this process. The convoluted "explanations" at the end of the series are gone. You won't get to see every angel attack Tokyo. You won't necesarilly get each characters introduction, and the penguin is probably right out.

What WAS the point of that damn Penguin, Pen Pen? I have some very strange fears that it had to do with some weird sexual innuendo, but I have no proof.

 

[demiurge1138]

Edit: Infernal double post!

 

[demiurge1138]

What WAS the point of that damn Penguin, Pen Pen? I have some very strange fears that it had to do with some weird sexual innuendo, but I have no proof.

Pen^2 was just the odious comic relief. Not everything in the show was some symbol or other. Just most of it.

That said, I actually think I'll enjoy the movie more than I enjoyed the series, predominately because I didn't enjoy the series. With the exceptions of a few of the fight sequences (and I think the Saichel battle is one of the best kaiju fights in history), the series was too long, drawn out, angsty, whiny and dull. The budget problems in the second season were especially irritating- after watching ten minutes of a thirty minute show and realizing that you've not seen one piece of new animation, it started getting to me.

But the basic concept of a reluctant hero fighting against an apocalypse that's the fault of who he works for is interesting, and the designs were usually very good, so there are some elements that I liked. Which is why I think I'd prefer a "Hollywood" remake (as in less angst, more likeable characters, fewer budget problems). This is one reimagining I don't have a problem with.

Demiurge out.