Michael Bay's Mobile Suit Gundam ?

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Mobile Suit Gundam live action movies done by Hollywood

SURE, FIRE UP!
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CHECK YOUR HEAD, DUDE!
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ShadowCell
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The only way Tom Cruise should be allowed to appear in Gundam is as some nameless grunt who dies a horrific death. Like one of those ZAFT soldiers who gets Cyclops System'd or something.

I'd pay to see Tom Cruise explode into a hideous shower of blood and gore.
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Aegis
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Ugh... like we need more of this 'Top Gun Macross' ridicule. That somehow sounds worse than a live action Gundam, probably because I consider Macross to be much more sacred than Gundam, and the idea of having Tom Cruise practically soil it by name alone is just... *shudder*.
ShadowCell wrote:I'd pay to see Tom Cruise explode into a hideous shower of blood and gore.
Unfortunately, this is Tom Cruise we're talking here, the same guy who played a white samurai wannabe who, for some reasons left unknown, can't be killed even after getting sprayed by a gatling gun. :P Chances of that happening... well... I suppose one can dream.
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razgriz
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oh great so that means they are going to hire tom cruise to play mu "surviving positron blasts is my middle name" la flaga :oops: eh i think i just died a little
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wing zero alpha
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On the other hand, maybe Tom can be one of Revil's bodyguards when he's negotiating with Degwin... :twisted:
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wing zero alpha wrote:On the other hand, maybe Tom can be one of Revil's bodyguards when he's negotiating with Degwin... :twisted:
I'd love to see how he would survive this one; then again Cruise is the Kira Yamato of Hollywood. :lol:
Putting the actor aside, a live Macross would be really possible rather than a Gundam. However movies with fighter planes don't really sell that well (Stealth is an example) and Mecha live action doesn't fair either.
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Dygenguard
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ShadowCell wrote:I'd pay to see Tom Cruise explode into a hideous shower of blood and gore.
In a movie...or for real?

Either way, his blorgle blats or whatever will go back to Lord Zenu, thus dooming us all.
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swordoath
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I've maintained for a long period of time that G-Saviour is underrated by many people, but it does show that a live-action Gundam film would be difficult to do properly.

Now, a Robotech (more name recognition than Macross) film I could most definately see working, as it hits the same nostalgic nerve as the Transformers film.
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Yeah but Robotech is considered an insult to the hard work of Kawamori along with those who created Southern Cross and Mospeda(Taking and modifying something that is not yours), making it a live movie with Robotech name would add more salt to the wound. (No disrespect for the Robotech fan, but thats just how some people see it.)
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swordoath
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Nagato21 wrote:Yeah but Robotech is considered an insult to the hard work of Kawamori along with those who created Southern Cross and Mospeda(Taking and modifying something that is not yours), making it a live movie with Robotech name would add more salt to the wound. (No disrespect for the Robotech fan, but thats just how some people see it.)
It wasn't really "taking something that wasn't yours" as the rights were paid for, and besides that, the Japanese production studio supposedly liked the changes according to the Shadow Chronicles news website, which was quoted on Wikipedia.

I'm not saying that Robotech's continuity is better or worse than Macross' insofar as development of a movie -- all I wanted to convey was that the name Robotech is more centralized to the American audience that the film will no doubt be catered to. If it had to come down to it, I'm sure efforts could be made to convert it into a workable Macross movie for the Japanese market -- which of course, would be only fair, citing your points.
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wing zero alpha
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Nagato21 wrote:I'd love to see how he would survive this one; then again Cruise is the Kira Yamato of Hollywood. :lol:
I was thinking more along the lines of Char Aznable; both are highly overrated pretty boys with zeolous beliefs and strong misgivings toward women. Oh yeah, and they both have fan bases that worship the ground they walk on.
Putting the actor aside, a live Macross would be really possible rather than a Gundam. However movies with fighter planes don't really sell that well (Stealth is an example) and Mecha live action doesn't fair either.
If anything, Stealth's problem was that it became infamous in the first few days for its script, and word of mouth can be a serious box officer killer. Otherwise, fighter plane movies have been known to make money, although I don't think it'd work for a Robotech movie.
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I really don't see a live action Gundam being made in any kind of half-decent form in the foreseeable future. For it to really capture the spirit of Gundam there'd have to be some really bleak, distressing moments and violent deaths - when you consider who much it would cost to produce, I think studios wouldn't see any mass/family appeal. But hey - if an Evangelion movie ever gets made (well) maybe I'll be more optimistic. And no, Bay should not direct. Transformers and Gundam are VERY different animals.
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Ascension
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*facepalm*

Someone back on the first page... I don't feel like going back to check who... said that if T-formers does well people will start looking to Japan for giant robots to turn into movies...

Why does this keep getting brought up? Transformers was not originally Japanese! Some of the animation work was farmed out to a Japanese company, and the series continued to be shown in Japan (with major changes) after its American cancellation, but the show's original conception was Western!

Logically, if Transformers does well, what movie makers will be looking for will not be giant robots to make into movies, it'll be eighties American cartoons to make into movies, trying to buy into the nostalgia market. I predict a new He-Man movie.
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Honestly I was unaware of the fact that Transformers were American in origin. Probably due to most of the recent series coming from Japan (except for that attrocity Cartoon Network is working on). Then the fact that all the toys seemed to be coming from there, and that they have exclusive shows like Beast Wars II. Doesn't help that in one movie trailer, one of the characters even joke that Optimus must be from Japan.
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:D well lets face it, when you think advanced giant robots, you're not necessarily thinking "oh wow, look at what just came from seattle"
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graham: I AM A FLAG!!!
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wing zero alpha
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Ascension wrote:Logically, if Transformers does well, what movie makers will be looking for will not be giant robots to make into movies, it'll be eighties American cartoons to make into movies, trying to buy into the nostalgia market. I predict a new He-Man movie.
Not exactly. According to wikipedia, there are plans in the works for a Star Blazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato) movie and at least one screenplay has been written recently for a Voltron movie. That being said, I doubt there's going to be a Gundam movie since that didn't hit it big here outside of Wing, but in a way we are looking to Japanese cartoons to put on the big screen.
Last edited by wing zero alpha on Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aegis
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Phantomexe87 wrote:Honestly I was unaware of the fact that Transformers were American in origin.
The confusion lies in the fact that the original toys were Japanese in origin (thus the joke of Optimus being from Japan... because his original toy really was made in Japan), as opposed to the series itself. Just looking at those toys, there's a reason why the Dinobots had cockpits, or why you have a base with a rocket that doesn't seem to belong with the rest of the vehicles, or a VF-1 Valkyrie named 'Jetfire'. Taking the toys together, however, the series we now know as Transformers is very much American based.
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While I do still hold out hope for a live action MSG movie, I don't know that I'd want Michael Bay to direct it. He'd probably take it too far from the original story.
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The idea I've toyed with in my occasional fits of delirium is this:

Make 0079 into a live-action TV series. Hear me out.

You've had a bunch of quite decent American sci-fi/TV shows in recent years. Even if many aren't to my liking, it's proven now that a TV audience can find these stories compelling, even if they are highly complex and high-concept in some cases (Battlestar Galactica comes to mind).

So why not Gundam? Go for first Gundam for many obvious reasons: it's the first, it's the set up of the most intricate Gundam universe, and it doesn't have extremely unrealistic looking Mobile Suits (specially with the retcons in recent years). An American TV show would also be ideal in the sense that the cast could be multicultural as it is in the original show, a la Star Trek.

Who'd write it and/or direct it though? Well, I have just the man. Someone not avverse to finding meaningful animation, and who has written a complex storyline for a succesful sci-fi TV franchise. I talk of none other than J Michael Straczynski. I read once that Gundam had inspired certain parts of Babylon 5, so perhaps old JMS is familiar with it? He has proven he can handle an ensemble cast with hidden motivations and complex personalities, alongside a larger-than-life war drama. I think he could handle Gundam 0079 just fine.

Of course there'd have to be changes. The storyline would probably have to be extended to at least fill many US TV seasons. This would be the hardest part, as it'd probably mean creating a whole new continuity for 0079. An idea for this would be to introduce concepts and characters from other UC sources: 08th MS Team, 0080, 0083 and even MS Igloo, not to mention the original 0079 novels. The White Base could, for example, gain a second Gundam unit piloted by Chris Mackenzie.

Finally, I think the whole thing should have Tomino working closely with the project. While I am not suggesting he should write it, I'm saying he should work closely with the main creative force behind this proposed TV show to iron out ideas and concepts.

I don't think this is possible to be frank. Unless they got JUST the right creative team, it's too easy to go the action way, or to just wreck it completely with piss-poor b-movie characterisation (hi G-Saviour, I won't spare you either). However, considering the quality of CGI as well as the compelling nature of the original Gundam, I think it'd be a fantastic thing to see on air.
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Kosh has an interesting idea, but I simply have to poke holes in it. :twisted: The idea in itself might work in optimal circumstances, and I think most of us have agreed that it should be a made-for-TV series and not a single feature movie.
I read once that Gundam had inspired certain parts of Babylon 5, so perhaps old JMS is familiar with it?
Good call, especially if JMS is familiar with Gundam as used it for inspiration on some aspects (for the life of me I can't imagine what they were from the top of my head). Then the question remains would he be interested in rewriting Gundam to be suited for American TV. My understanding is that he favors slightly more original material.
The storyline would probably have to be extended to at least fill many US TV seasons.
Here we have a marketing problem, because high-concept often equals high costs, and few channels are willing to put up the bill for something like that without serious predictions of good ratings. Bear in mind that even B5 almost got axed in the end of the fourth season, and it shows. But again admittedly you should have a screenplay that's set in a larger storyarch to give Gundam a chance to work its magic (if any :P ).
Finally, I think the whole thing should have Tomino working closely with the project.
Again this is my hearsay but Tomino is not apparently that keen on working together with someone who wants to rewrite his creations. We'd have a serious problem with who is really running the project in that case.

I fear that if it were possible, it might have to be a fairly stand-alone production in the US with the necessary rights purchased (if they can be purchased for a sum that doesn't sink the project right from the start). There would have to be a major commitment from one party to a product that quite frankly doesn't have a guaranteed hit value.
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Not meaning to step on anyones toes here but wanted to point out the fact that MSG IS optioned by a unnamed Hollywood company for a movie, and Tomino IS going to be writing it accourding to him. The news was out and about the net back in 2005, but has since fallen off the radar (to the point I cant even find the original story)

I know more was posted by Aintitcoolnews, but that was since debunked though the original story from Tomino that he did have a Hollywood studio option it is still legit to my knowledge.

As for Macross/Robotech, never going to happen unless they can sort out the licensing issues once and for all.... which considering 2 years ago they said it was sorted out enough for Macross Zero to be licensed here, and I still see no Macross Zero over here (nor and company who owns the rights to it) we can see how likely a Macross/Robotech movie is.

As someone pointed out, Voltron IS optioned and is being written by someone who has a deep love of the show. They are also being legit on the script, the version I read which is the first copy wraps all three shows together (Go-lion, Voltron Lion and Vehicle Voltron) with the plot playing very much like Go-lion, except with characters and interactions that deal more with the Voltron version (the only contribution of Vehicle Voltron to the script is some of the guerrilla fighters on earth are named for the characters from that show.)

And Evangelion's live action rights are owned by WETA right now, with a huge number of pre-production sketches having been released.

http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/projects/ ... on_genesis

I would suspect that after AVATAR is done with Jame Cameron, they will be moving to this, as Cameron will then be working on Battle Angel.
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