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Making a Dragon Ball Z film franchise work

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M

Mr.Swag

Banned
I dont know what studio would want to take this $200 million gamble.

Also, first movie just has to be Goku vs Vegeta.
Start with the raditz fight, twenty minutes total.
Have goku train in the afterlife as piccolo trains gohan, the other Z fighters get a two minute montage.
Show vegeta and Nappa kill that one planet.
Then they arrive and kill some Z fighters, maybe change it so that the saibamen dont exist.
GOKU arrives!
Fight Nappa, vegeta kills him.
Goku v Vegeta epic fight.
The end.
 
F

flaxknuckles

Member
flkraven said:
With the way the last Dragonball movie turned out, no studio is ever going to start off with the original series. I'd love a standalone Dragonball movie or 2, but it isn't realistic. The only way it will happen will be if DBZ gets made and it becomes huge like Transformers. Then we may see a prequel trilogy similar to a LoTR/Hobbit situation.
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But they didn't even adapt the original series. They just wiped their ass on a camera lens and doodled on it with a carrot. If a good director got a hold of it, a Dragonball movie would be amazing.
 
S

Succinct Verbosity

Member
I think the dragonball stuff would have to be relogated to flashbacks to be honest. The first film should end with the ominous threat of frieza appearing asa teaser and then go into that.
 
F

flkraven

Member
flaxknuckles said:
But they didn't even adapt the original series. They just wiped their ass on a camera lens and doodled on it with a carrot. If a good director got a hold of it, a Dragonball movie would be amazing.
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I agree with you. The executives who actually pay to have these movies made are not as easily convinced. They will just see the cost + gross earnings of the previous flick and say no. I'm just thinking as realistically as possible. More than likely, the Dragonball series will not be made into a live-action film any time soon, but if it somehow is, it will start with DBZ
 
G

Goldrush

Member
The original is a classic adventure story and would be pretty easy.

As for Z and after, they could mimic the tone of the Marvel movies, but that would be boring. Personally think the movie should take its cue from Rambo and other action movies of that period. Just inject a gallon of testosterone into every shot. Make it the most macho movie ever.
 
K

KidGalactus

Member
Dragon Ball Z is dumb, and too focused on drawn out fights to make into an interesting story.

However, I think it would be possible to create a compelling experience from the original Dragon Ball.
 
P

Platy

Member
Sephzilla said:
Here would be a really basic version of how I'd do a DragonBall film franchise

  • First movie - An abridged version of DragonBall. Cover Goku growing up and fighting Piccolo. End the movie with Goku & Piccolo vs Raditz.
  • Saiyan Saga - Begin with the aftermath of the Raditz battle, end the movie with Vegeta's retreat and the set up for Namek
  • Freiza Saga Part 1 - Everything up to Goku's arrival
  • Freiza Saga Part 2 - Everything after Goku's arrival
  • Cell Saga
  • Buu Saga
Click to expand...

This is a good one, except the Fireza being put in 2.
You simply CAN'T have a movie from a franchise praticaly without it's main character in the action.
Simple version of freeza is good enoght for a movie
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
GuitarAtomik said:
I think this would be a better breakdown.


  • First movie - An abridged version of DragonBall. Cover Goku growing up and fighting Piccolo.
  • Saiyan Saga
  • Frieza Saga
  • Cell Saga Part 1 (basically Android saga)
  • Cell Saga Part 2
  • Buu Saga
I still think letting the events of Dragon Ball breathe with two movies (second being King Piccolo focused) would be ideal though. That's where most of the character relationships are established whereas DBZ has a huge chunk of them just sitting on the sidelines watching the fights on TV.
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I don't think squeezing the Saiyan Saga into one movie would work, honestly. You'd have to basically open the movie with Raditz and then squeeze an entire years worth of training (and the bonding between Piccolo and Gohan) inbetween that fight and the Nappa/Vegeta fight. I think ending one movie with Raditz and Goku dying and then foreshadowing the Saiyans would work better and be a logical sequel hook.

The only saga I think that should get a true two-parter would be the Freiza saga simply because theres a lot of stuff that happens before Goku arrives and after Goku arrives. Cell Saga could get trimmed down into a single movie easily, that saga has a ton of unnecessary filler.
 
P

params7

Banned
Lot of DBZ influenced fight scenes have shown up recently. Kung Fu Hustle, Matrix Revolutions, Superman, etc.

The DBZ I want to see should have shit tons of aura/environment effect just like in the anime. I want to see earthquakes and mountains breaking into pieces from power up effects. The movie will be pretty emotional/spiritual and that is why if done right, could really turn out to be a great film. We probably will never see it realized though.
 
L

Lyte Edge

All I got for the Vernal Equinox was this stupid tag
There are some series that you just don't go the live-action route with. This is one of them. Dragonball is full of cheesy/wacky character designs and drawn-out, long battles. Even its animated versions have had pacing problems. Leave it 2D.
 
V

Venomgxt

Member
A dragonball movie should take place 1000 years after dragonball Z so there will be entirely new different characters in the same universe. Maybe the main character could be related to Goku and Vegeta. I think that would awesome. Directed by Tarantino.
 
S

Scooter155

Member
TheVampire said:
Yeah seriously that last fight between Superman and Zod was how a live action DBZ movie should look.

Just with added energy blasts coming from their hands instead of eyes.
Click to expand...

And, you know, people saying "Kame ha me ha" really slowly and dramatically. That's basically all I want. Man, why do I still want this so bad? I haven't watched the show or read the books in years...

Also, I think a Dragon Ball movie could be really cool and slightly more family friendly (if they cut out all the pervy stuff) than a DBZ movie.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
Sephzilla said:
I don't think squeezing the Saiyan Saga into one movie would work, honestly. You'd have to basically open the movie with Raditz and then squeeze an entire years worth of training (and the bonding between Piccolo and Gohan) inbetween that fight and the Nappa/Vegeta fight. I think ending one movie with Raditz and Goku dying and then foreshadowing the Saiyans would work better and be a logical sequel hook.

The only saga I think that should get a true two-parter would be the Freiza saga simply because theres a lot of stuff that happens before Goku arrives and after Goku arrives. Cell Saga could get trimmed down into a single movie easily, that saga has a ton of unnecessary filler.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Raditz showing up and the subsequent fight doesn't make sense as the ending to a movie that's largely about any of the events that take place during Dragon Ball. That would be an extremely weird epilogue that would feel like a second ending. Goku's fight with Raditz and dying is a good story kick off and so much of the time in between him dying and returning can be condensed.

Frieza saga can easily be condensed since the majority of it story wise is the Namek saga. No reason to bust that up in to two. Just get to the Ginyu fight by the middle and move on.

Cell saga probably could be one movie. It's just that having the Androids as villains and then Cell as the final one would be strange structurally.
 
A

Alchemy

Member
Sephzilla said:
I don't think squeezing the Saiyan Saga into one movie would work, honestly. You'd have to basically open the movie with Raditz and then squeeze an entire years worth of training (and the bonding between Piccolo and Gohan) inbetween that fight and the Nappa/Vegeta fight. I think ending one movie with Raditz and Goku dying and then foreshadowing the Saiyans would work better and be a logical sequel hook.

The only saga I think that should get a true two-parter would be the Freiza saga simply because theres a lot of stuff that happens before Goku arrives and after Goku arrives. Cell Saga could get trimmed down into a single movie easily, that saga has a ton of unnecessary filler.
Click to expand...

You're way overstating the amount of content in the Saiyan Saga. You could get through Raditz and the training in 45 minutes easy, with the last major chunk of the movie being the Saiyan fights, reducing the screen time of the Saibamen if needed. There really isn't that much content in the year between Raditz and Vegeta/Nappa. The whole thing would be pretty easy to fit into an hour thirty.

Maybe we need a proper origin story for the characters/setting, but I wouldn't do that in the Saiyan Saga if at all. Do a single Dragon Ball movie to set everything up if needed.
 
J

jax

Banned
Why is everyone saying the cast has to be primarily Asian? Last time I checked, the planet Vegeta doesn't have a continent called "Asia". Lemme check my Planet Vegeta Geography Alamanac.. Yep no Asia there. While Asian cast members would be nice, having the majority of the cast (ie Goku, Gohan, Vegeta etc) asian would only get even less people to see the movie. (They'll think its shaolin soccer 2 or something or a martial arts film) it needs to be marketed as a good time space adventure, similar to GOTG

The movie needs to be primarily focused on Martial Arts, Special Effects (fer Ki blasts) and most importantly, Space Travel.

8 movies is waaaay too many as well. 6 movies at the very most. First 3: Saiyan Saga .. Raditz, Vegeta, flashback to Bardock, etc.
Second film? Space Training, Ginyu, Frieza, Super Saiyan.
Third: Buu. Skip the cell saga as it is garbage. Fusion. SSJ3, etc.
At this point they can retcon with Dragonball Prequels but again heavily focused on Space Travel.

Also, shift key OP. Do you have it?
 
K

keltickennedy

Member
The Artisan said:
I am in the camp/boat that believes that this is possible, and could potentially become the greatest movie series of all time if it is done right
Click to expand...

cgahOou.gif


For me there are just some things that are just better animated and should never go live action. Dragon Ball/Z is one of those things. It just wouldn't work. So much of the appeal of the franchise is it's style and look. Most of that gets lost in live action.

If it had to be done, I would say make the first series (Dragonball) a condensed CG movie.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
FUBAR McDangles said:
Definitely agree with this.

Honestly, a trilogy of Frieza/Cell/Buu would probably be the only way it would work.
Click to expand...

If they had to do this, it wouldn't make sense to do it at all though. The amount of changes to the story they would have to make for it to make sense to anyone not already very familiar with the anime would be staggering. Like Dragonball Evolutions staggering. This is true for jumping straight to the Saiyan saga as well. For any of these movies to make any sense and remain even remotely faithful to the source material, they need to start at the Dragon Ball era. Otherwise they'd have to completely rejigger the lore to levels that I don't think fans would be comfortable with.
 
T

The Silver

Member
GuitarAtomik said:
If they had to do this, it wouldn't make sense to do it at all though. The amount of changes to the story they would have to make for it to make sense to anyone not already very familiar with the anime would be staggering. Like Dragonball Evolutions staggering. This is true for jumping straight to the Saiyan saga as well. For any of these movies to make any sense outside of COMPLETELY rejiggering the lore, they need to start at the Dragon Ball era.
Click to expand...
All of the US started with the saiyan saga and it was fine. It's the most simple and easy to get, its a straight up aliens attack concept.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
The Silver said:
All of the US started with the saiyan saga and it was fine. It's the most simple and easy to get, its a straight up aliens attack concept.
Click to expand...

US started with Dragon Ball actually. Just not the whole thing. You could get away with doing that with a cartoon series (especially one that already had a LARGE audience aware and savoring to see it), but that's not going to fly for a movie. Not even remotely. You have to remember the context in which DBZ was released over here too. How late we got it, yet were exposed to so many elements of it beforehand.
 
T

True Savior

Member
For Dragon Ball , as a story , to work in a movie series it needs to start at his child adventures. Him and everyone else around him growing up is essential to create a conflict. Piccollo isnt just strong. Piccolo is stronger than everyone else we had met until then. A lot of people.

He is a jeopardy , not only to our hero , but everyone else that populates the world. When he threatens Earth , its substantial because the author filled Earth with something. It's the adventures of Son Goku as a child that introduces to the audience the universe where the action is set.

Dragon Ball z is basically a continuation of his life. It's accompanying our hero's life. The different steps. From husband , dad and granddad. But it all starts as a child. Not the fucking Saiyan Saga.

For Dragon Ball , from a visual standpoint , to work you simply need to hire talent who knows how to film action. Which i would say its pretty rare.

And yes , Man of Steel is a great example of what you can accomplish visually . It's definitely similar.
 
G

genjiZERO

Member
Dragon Ball would never ever work as a film.

And not just because you have the Japanese v. English split in the fan base, and because of the whole whitewashing issue.

It's just that the world it exists in would always come across as hokey and silly if there were real people in it. Live action plus heavy use of "magic" simply doesn't work. Also, they could never get actors with the talent to do it. Jackie Chan in his prime is the only person I can think of who could depict the fighting style of Goku faithfully.

jaxapollo said:
Why is everyone saying the cast has to be primarily Asian? Last time I checked, the planet Vegeta doesn't have a continent called "Asia". Lemme check my Planet Vegeta Geography Alamanac.. Yep no Asia there. While Asian cast members would be nice, having the majority of the cast (ie Goku, Gohan, Vegeta etc) asian would only get even less people to see the movie. (They'll think its shaolin soccer 2 or something or a martial arts film) it needs to be marketed as a good time space adventure, similar to GOTG

The movie needs to be primarily focused on Martial Arts, Special Effects (fer Ki blasts) and most importantly, Space Travel.

8 movies is waaaay too many as well. 6 movies at the very most. First 3: Saiyan Saga .. Raditz, Vegeta, flashback to Bardock, etc.
Second film? Space Training, Ginyu, Frieza, Super Saiyan.
Third: Buu. Skip the cell saga as it is garbage. Fusion. SSJ3, etc.
At this point they can retcon with Dragonball Prequels but again heavily focused on Space Travel.

Also, shift key OP. Do you have it?
Click to expand...

No you're right. They're white because that's the default.
 
T

Tawpgun

Member
Dunno how to make it live action without it looking completley absurd.

They'd have to put Nolan on it and bring down the cheesiness of DBZ. Only way it would work live action and with american audiences.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
genjiZERO said:
Dragon Ball would never ever work as a film.

And not just because you have the Japanese v. English split in the fan base, and because of the whole whitewashing issue.

It's just that the world it exists in would always come across as hokey and silly if there were real people in it. Live action plus heavy use of "magic" simply doesn't work. Also, they could never get actors with the talent to do it. Jackie Chan in his prime is the only person I can think of who could depict the fighting style of Goku faithfully.
Click to expand...

I honestly think it could work if they treat it more like an adventure fantasy movie (Imagine that. A story based on Journey to the West treated like an adventure fantasy). You can meet in the middle somewhere between the source material and what I think audiences would expect. Take out most or all of the regular day animal people. Make the clothing a little more realistic and context appropriate. Try to make any modern day elements like cities and cars more like they're from an alternate retro future world to emphasize it is not ours. It could work. Like I said earlier, that Trunks fan film posted the other day shows it can be done. They would just need to dial back the slavish visual adherence to the source material in some spots.
 
G

genjiZERO

Member
GuitarAtomik said:
I honestly think it could work if they treat it more like an adventure fantasy movie (Imagine that. A story based on Journey to the West treated like an adventure fantasy). You can meet in the middle somewhere between the source material and what I think audiences would expect. Take out most or all of the regular day animal people. Make the clothing a little more realistic and context appropriate. Try to make any modern day elements like cities and cars more like they're from an alternate retro future world to emphasize it is not ours. It could work. Like I said earlier, that Trunks fan film posted the other day shows it can be done. They would just need to dial back the slavish visual adherence to the source material in some spots.
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't need to imagine this because it's already a thing!

There's a surprisingly decent HK kung fu film that's basically the first part of Dragon Ball, but with more Journey to the West type imagery.

You can watch the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzFzyYEf8Zc
 
Freshmaker

Freshmaker

I am Korean.
The Artisan said:
I am in the camp/boat that believes that this is possible, and could potentially become the greatest movie series of all time if it is done right. there are others however that believe that this is impossible and/or never should be done anyway, citing dbevolution.
Click to expand...

You'd need someone to toss money at it and take it seriously. That's a tall order.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
Tawpgun said:
Dunno how to make it live action without it looking completley absurd.

They'd have to put Nolan on it and bring down the cheesiness of DBZ. Only way it would work live action and with american audiences.
Click to expand...

they would just have to tone down the cheesiness. I think the comedy should be kept to a minimum and that the film series should be darker and more dramatic.

I said something along the lines of this on kanzenshuu and someone actually responded saying it sounds like the person I'm looking for to make these films is nolan.
 
D

Dusk Soldier

Member
For casting, I think they should do some Asian characters, and some white characters. Trying to do an entire Asian cast in Hollywood, would limit the talent pool too much.

For the spit of the movies. They should do a trilogy to start.

First movie: the King Piccolo arc. It's an arc that actually focuses on the dragonball lore, and can be easily modified to add character introductions.

2nd movie: Do the namek arc, but have it take place on earth. Vegeta and Raditz/Nappa can be some of Frieza's generals at first but turn on him when they learn he destroyed the saiyan home planet.

3rd movie: Android/Cell saga. Definitely no need to turn this into multiple movies.

If they some how manage to keep everyone together for a second trilogy:

movie 4: Buu

movie 5: Broly

movie 6: Wrath of the Dragon.
 
T

TCKaos

Member
Fuck that whole "adapt the whole series" noise. Pick your battles and make a trilogy.

Dragon Ball

Start the film with Bardock returning to planet Vegeta and attempting to warn King Vegeta about Freeza. He fails, and he goes on his rampage in an attempt to stop him. Goku is launched just in time for Vegeta to get destroyed.

Cut to the beginning of Dragon Ball. Goku meets Bulma and the two go on a hunt for the DragonBalls. They go on wacky antics involving entering the Tenkaichi Budokai, meeting Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, Krillin and Master Roshi along the way. It turns out the Dragon Balls are also being collected by King Piccolo. Goku kills Piccolo and we see him vomit out his egg. Goku goes to train under Kami. Film ends.

Post credits scene shows Goku entering the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and meeting back up with the old gang. Goku locks eyes with Ma-Junior and Tenshinhan panics. Goku and Ma-Junior smirk. Movie ends.

Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans

The opening credits is the conclusion of the battle between Ma-Junior and Goku. Goku wins by the time the credits finish and then the timeskip happens. Raditz crash lands on Earth and finds Piccolo, then Goku. Stuff happens. Goku trains with King Kai while everyone else prepares in their own way. Nappa and Vegeta eventually show up. Stuff happens. Vegeta escapes. Gohan, Krillin and Bulma prepare to leave for Namek. The final scene of the film are them taking off with cuts to Goku in the hospital and Vegeta landing and recovering on Freeza Planet #whatever. Final shot is of Freeza speaking to Zarbon and Dodoria about the Dragon Balls. Post credits scene is Vegeta arriving on Namek and noting that Freeza's men are already there. He blasts off in to the distance and the film ends.

Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Super Saiyan

Krillin, Gohan and Bulma land on Namek. Within a few moments they start fighting Freeza's men with no idea of what's happening. They're confronted by Dodoria and Zarbon. Vegeta intervenes and saves them. The first Dragon Ball they look for is being held by Nail, Guru and Dende. Guru, Nail and Dende explain the situation to Gohan and Krillin. Vegeta finds Guru's lookout with Gohan and Krillin still there, Ginyu Force arrives. Fighting happens. Goku arrives. Recoome, Burter and Guldo get rekt. Jeice flees to find Ginyu. The body switching shit lasts like ten minutes. Fight over for a moment, Goku out of commission, Dragoning ensues. Freeza arrives. Fight with Freeza happens. Goku arrives. Goku and Freeza duke it out. Krillin dies. Goku goes Super Saiyan. Fighting ensues. Goku manages to kill Freeza but planet Namek explodes. Film ends with Goku's space pod flying through space as a book-end with the first scene of the first film with Goku's pod escaping Vegeta and flying to Earth but replacing Vegeta with Namek. Post credits scene has Goku land, preparing to fight Mecha Freeza.

Trilogy ends.
 
S

Shining Sunshine

Banned
Umm no it won't work.

It's anime, it's stays anime. You're blowing big budget on something old that most people will say is corny material nowadays.
 
A

Alienous

Member
It's far too weird.

You're either faithful to the franchise and make a weird-ass film, or you make something that might as well not be DBZ at all.

All that said, General Vegeta in Man of Steel did make me think that a Saiyan Saga movie might be workable.
 
F

FlashbladeGAF

Member
I almost want a Disney type approach, where we see a young (start of Dragonball) Goku oblivious to the outside world (and girls), either meeting Bulma for the first time or some challenge that would tie in to the flash forward/present day Goku (DBZ)

The fights are fun and all, but Goku and the world building could be set with a young kid having a small adventure that could possibly lead him to a Dragonball

Fans get the best of both DB worlds, and the humor/characters set up the drama that would come later with the high intensity fights
 
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