LIVE ACTION ROBOTECH (WB gets the rights)

[Macross73]

i wouldn't have minded a LA DYRL by SK but this just doesnt feel right

and honestly the more i think about it the less I like Tobey as Hikaru I mean Rick.

he's supposed to be about 15 -17 and Tobey is what 32?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I think they could just forget all the stuff that happened on earth and make this all about space and the SDF-1 surviving for 1 year against an unknown race of aliens.

Forget calling it robotech and just name the movie: Macross

The movie is a disaster movie and the macross = the titanic, which defends earth and is destroyed heroically using the deadalus maneuver in a last ditch attempt to kill the leader of the mind-controlled aliens. The macross is not as powerful as the humans thought but being our only defense it is relied upon by the entire planet earth to "buy time" and the skill of the crew will be the entire focus of the movie, not the love triangle or pop music. (this I reckon should still feature in it but not be the focus of it like in macross)

The next movie would be a post-apocalyptic movie about the survivors from the first war and they would use those transformable tanks to defend whatever is left of the wrecked SDF-1. Bioroids would be the weaker alien species that had come to earth to finish what was left of it in hope of building their power to fight against the invid. But first they would need to kill off humans. Although weaker than zentradi the humans also have problems with slower and less sophisticated mecha. (makes this a lot slower than macross and make it feel like a gundam 8th ms team in terms of danger. No dodging or acrobatics in this: these are designed for firepower not speed)

The third movie would be all about the enigmatic insect species which is looking for a home to live on after an energy shortage and just so happens to invade earth. No mention of protoculture in the movie, just make it about how humans have left earth and much-preferred to live on mars and merely want to kill insects because they are scared they will use earth as a base to create hives which will eventually use up all the resources and infest mars once there is nothing left on earth if they don't act soon. (little do they know the invid are more intelligent than at first seems - able to choose a form at will and modify themselves witheach encounter as they learn to adapt to the species of alien they fight with and develop more powerful forms.)

The modular transformation would be a secret the original aliens who built the sdf-1 ship would have thought up as a way to alter its fighting style in accordance to what aliens it had to fight with. There would be no other reason than because that's how the aliens stayed alive for so long: they needed to adapt to anything they themselves encountered and this meant unconventional forms that no other race could plan for because they kept to their strict fighting tradition instead of incorporating the best parts of all and kicking out what didn't work. (think of it as being like how mixed martial arts involves a bit of things from different styles)

This philosophy would make its way down to the very use of robot suits needed to fight the giant zentradi aliens which they themselves had created. (so the battroid was born, in the same way the clone troopers in starwars were used to fight the droids in Starwars prequel movies - battroid allowed them to kill giants)

There would be no name for the mysterious race that crashed to earth and the legend of the ancient ship and the heart of its meaning as a "masterpiece" by the designer of it, would be in how it successfully melded "the best of different cultures" whose spirit carries through in the movie when the warlike zentradi aliens and the humans eventually learn from each other and share their technology and knowledge. (this will be the key to why the ancient ship is legendary and the intention of the person who made it - a one of a kind ship destined to unite people of different races and tradtions and why the zentradi fear its "power" because it will bring culture to their barbaric tradition. Cue love story between human ace pilot and the ace alien pilot) The macross itself had to be a mystery for those who found it to have to figure out for themselves.

All these themes should be put into a trilogy of movies:

1. the fighting philosophy of the aliens who built the sdf-1 which was destined to unite human with alien to bring peace through the sharing of different cultures. Battroid is "anti zentradi mode", fighter is for dogfights against alien space fighter pods, GERWALK is for ease of landing in any place to keep the mecha ready in combat in any situation. (many situation involving rescue and a need to stop anywhere without a landing strip)

2. love story bringing the two cultures together which clash in a war and end in peace (resulting in mixed race babies which = the next generation of pilots who are a mixture of human intelligence and alien brute strength. Love brings peace. Ending a war to bring peace leads to long term happiness, vs killing to control. (definitely emphasise the difference lisa has towards ending the war vs her father who wants to show power to frighten and use fear which won't work against such powerful aliens)

3. the importance of sacrifice - remember how many deaths there were and how serious hikaru was when he batty slapped minmay in DYRL? Great moment! The message should be: Toughen up, nobody isn't sufferring. Have the entertainer understand that everyone else is going through hard times and as ridiculous as an idea as singing to save the world is, the people you sing about in the love songs might not be alive tommorrow if you don't try everything first. (go back to the first point of using unconventional fighting strategies to confuse the aliens and try anything to adapt to survive.)

Those are my wishes if they go through with it. "Robotech" is a silly name and although its recognisable I would prefer if they just called the movie "Macross" after the very ship the humans secretly reversed-engineered all their technology off of and use to survive a coming war which they will win against more-experienced and battle-hardened aliens. Really make this the "underdog story" and make the movie feel like everything rests on the crew of the Macross and if they screw up there is no second chance. (don't actually focus on the robots themselves just have them there - so destroids will fight in the background just as AT-AT do in star wars - don't over emphasise the robots. And keep us focused on the above three things I mentioned)

The idea of a transforming battleship itself is so cheesy but if they change it around so that the transformation was a secret the aliens who built had kept from others then it would be an interesting twist. Give the ancient designer of the SDF-1 the credit for transformation instead of humans this time. Because they can't quite use the cartoon designs for mecha, they could get away with a more alien-looking SDF-1 and VF-1. This way HG can milk two seperate things: the vf-1 toys as they appeared in the 80s cartoon, and the movie designs. (some of the mecha look outdated anyway)

Edited September 8, 2007 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Roy Focker]

Come on and lets keep our fingers crossed for a Zero-G coca-cola musical number shower scene featuring Tobey!

[Macross73]

i'm thinking Min may will be a rapper

[terry the lone wolf]

Meh. Call me when they get this past the greenlight stage. Frankly I'm a little hopeful that this might help actually break the legal impasse we've had all these years. It's one thing for Big west to snub some small import company for some (in the grand scale of things) minor merch rights. It's quite another to snub one of the biggest studios and miss out on the next Transformers (I know I know but you know that's what every one involved is hoping it will be) and all the profits that come with it. Hopefully the combined legal muscle of WB and BW (heh) can work something out, and we can get legally sold Macross merch right here in the states as part of the deal.

My feelings exactly; Big West would have to be idiots not to jump on this. Hey, the'll prolly share in the producing credits & it wouldn't be a stretch to change the name of this flick from ROBOTECH to SDF MACROSS: The Movie in Japan.

[Mr March]

Actually I was the first to truly state that, but who's counting? I'm sure if they do attempt to do a straight retelling, which they'd have to for the audience to understand the world, many changes would have to be made.

I've been intentionally ignoring you, that's why you got missed Just kidding. My apologies Mercurial. This thread has grown so big so fast it hard to keep proper track.

I tend to do much more reading and less posting on these boards, but I have to say that the idea of a live action Robotech movie is like a punch in the stomach. It's even more disturbing to read all of the members' posts over at Rt.com that are blindly celebrating the concept and eagerly awaiting this flick...Yikes...Transformers this is not...

I wouldn't be so worried. As others have said, if it succeeds, it's going to have virtually nothing in common with the original outside of theme and concept, so we win regardless. If it fails, it'll be utterly forgotten just like their latest animation. Besides, I have faith in HG's ability to create totally worthless, forgettable fluff with everything they do post-Macross Saga. I will admit this Robotech film damages the chances of a live action Macross in Hollywood, but it's no use me crying over spilled milk at this point.

[bsu legato]

There's no way they'll actually be involved, but you have to wonder if Special K and the Nue Crew will at least get some sort of "Original Story By" or "Based on the characters and situations by" credit. I mean, no matter how much HG likes to gloss over this aspect, the first chapter of Robotech IS SDF Macross, just shellacked with a glossy, candy coated veneer of wholesome, over-narrated Americanization.

[Mr March]

There's no way they'll actually be involved, but you have to wonder if Special K and the Nue Crew will at least get some sort of "Original Story By" or "Based on the characters and situations by" credit. I mean, no matter how much HG likes to gloss over this aspect, the first chapter of Robotech IS SDF Macross, just shellacked with a glossy, candy coated veneer of wholesome, over-narrated Americanization.

That all depends upon what was negotiated with WB studios. But you're right that once the deal has been signed, HG would have virtually no say in how the film actually gets made. Still, it's their spawn as the rights holder, so I trust their brown thumb to spoil any potential bud

Edited September 8, 2007 by Mr March

[Guest sh002]

ha ha ha ha. just design the "veritech battloids" like the much loved movie transformers. no robot skin/armor with a million parts transforming and quasi-animal faces. we were going for the organic/alien/zentraedi look. imagine something like starscream used as a toy and their fighter. oh the horror.

[Guest sh002]

oh and if bigwest were to release a better movie, a live action macross movie in japan would kick ass.

Edited September 8, 2007 by sh002

[Radd]

I expect we'll see much more MOSPEADA/Southern Cross than Macross influencing the production....if even that. HG seems to have backed off entirely from depicting Macross designs and story elements in recent productions, probably due to the results of the legal bout between BW and Tatsunoko not so long ago. If Tatsunoko has no rights to create derivative content, it seems highly unlikely that they could sell those rights they never had to another company.

[Guest sh002]

imagine an alpha looking like tf movie starscream.

if they were to use alphas instead and they used the original alpha designs for the big screen, they would look cool. but then i'd have to post in the transformers thread and ask why weren't the the g1 designs used again?

[ChrisG]

I expect we'll see much more MOSPEADA/Southern Cross than Macross influencing the production....if even that. HG seems to have backed off entirely from depicting Macross designs and story elements in recent productions, probably due to the results of the legal bout between BW and Tatsunoko not so long ago. If Tatsunoko has no rights to create derivative content, it seems highly unlikely that they could sell those rights they never had to another company.

I agree. This is already evident in the way Shadow Chronicles depicted various things. Aside from sticking to the Mospeada designs, they go out of their way to avoid mentioning anything Macross-related. When the SDF-1's arrival is mentioned at the beginning of the movie, they don't show it. They have Maya Sterling mention that she's "half alien" rather than "half Zentradi," so I'm pretty sure the live action movie will follow suit and dance around anything that has to do with Macross. They may be able to use some story elements, but I'm sure the specifics will be quite different.

[Keith]

If you guys are expecting anything other than Independence Day, then I don't know what to tell you. Two things can be safely assumed. The name "Macross" will appear absolutely nowhere, and Big West won't get involved, because they seem to be smart enough not to whore out the franchise.

[protostar8]

Honestly, the chances of this being a film that will please fans is almost zero. I don't think any of the major producers in Hollywood care about source material, they just care about their "vision" of things. And if that means making the mechs/suits of armor look nothing like their namesakes, then that's what's happening. We already saw it with Transformers and from the Voltron script, so why this would be any different is beyond me??? I kinda think that they'll use those newer mospeada designs we saw a month or so ago (the ones that could be the designs for a new mospeada re-imagined show or follow-up in Japan).

[Black Valkyrie]

Or fully a new concept, just with the name and totally new VF`s.

[Black Valkyrie]

Dig this if Harrison Ford was in his 30s I choose him for Roy

[Keith]

Dig this if Harrison Ford was in his 30s I choose him for Roy

Nope, it's already been decied, Bruce Cambpell!

[Aegis!]

I don´t know why people are so enthusiastic about all this, if anything this is just great news for robotech and HG, not only will their franchise be on the spotlight but they´ll gain public awareness and get REAL support to stop Macross from ever leaving Japan.

This can only mean bad things for macross...unless BW & Nue get their act together and reclaim their designs and whatnot. I don´t know what legal issues still stand between HG/Tatsunoko vs BW/Nue but If Warner wants to use the ¨3 mode variable fighter¨ concept and win millions of dollars in the process BW should definitively do something about that.

[eugimon]

people are enthusiastic, because not all of us think that robotech succeeding means death and dishonor to Macross.

[Guest sh002]

as a normal macross fan, no matter what my analysis and thoughts are about the legal issues of macross/robotech are, i have no real say, control, influence, etc so i don't even bother trying to fight it. bigwest doesn't know i exist. at the end of the day i can still criticize this movie if it comes out and know that macross is a better series with better everything.

[wolfx]

I feel that this is a make or break movie that is gonna happen. It has the potential to rival Starwars in terms of a cult sci-fi movie but there's more ways to fail this movie than to make it succeed so I won't bank on that happening. It'll most likely end as Hollywood trash with lotsa explosions.

BUT ZOMG who am I kidding....I so wanna see the SDF-1s main cannons firing and in the distance of space see lotsa explosions. That will be so awesome. But strangely, I feel seeing F-14-esque planes flying in space in live action will look very strange. It works in anime but LA.....i dunno.

[Mr March]

But that's just the thing Aegis. We are not all excited. Most of this thread is just a bunch of us Macross fans speculating what is most likely to become of this film. Perhaps a "3 mode" transformable will not even appear. It may be two mode only. Besides, it's not like the three mode transformation is some sort of copyright concept. Several animes have used that aside from Macross.

I agree that this is lousy news for Macross, but then again, a live action Robotech film doesn't have much to do with Macross. This is just part of being a Macross fan. We know we'll see more lame Robotech productions trying hard to ride off the success of the first Macross Saga from waaaayyy back in 1985. But really, how is that any different than any other overblown, worthless franchise that finds extended long life among the consumers in this...our age of celebrated mediocrity?

[do not disturb]

interesting news.

i'll probably keep my expectations low as usual and watch it....but i'm certainly not paying to watch it.

Edited September 8, 2007 by do not disturb

[sqidd]

interesting news.

i'll probably keep my expectations low as usual and watch it....but i certainly not pay to watch it.

What are you gonna do? Sneak in?

[do not disturb]

What are you gonna do? Sneak in?

ha, it'll be $4 bootleg in chinatown the day after its release.

if you wait a week or so, you usually get a really good copy.

i <3 NYC!

and talk about some terrible english, i got edit that post. lol

[chowyunskinny]

IGN did their version of casting the movie

I'm agreed with Clive Owen as Breetai, like I had, but some of their other picks are kinda weird.

Amanda Bynes as Minmei?

IGN Robotech Cast

[Noyhauser]

But that's just the thing Aegis. We are not all excited. Most of this thread is just a bunch of us Macross fans speculating what is most likely to become of this film. Perhaps a "3 mode" transformable will not even appear. It may be two mode only. Besides, it's not like the three mode transformation is some sort of copyright concept. Several animes have used that aside from Macross.

I agree that this is lousy news for Macross, but then again, a live action Robotech film doesn't have much to do with Macross. This is just part of being a Macross fan. We know we'll see more lame Robotech productions trying hard to ride off the success of the first Macross Saga from waaaayyy back in 1985. But really, how is that any different than any other overblown, worthless franchise that finds extended long life among the consumers in this...our age of celebrated mediocrity?

And on top of that I think it will probably ensure that we will NEVER see Japanese Macross goods in North America. Flush with cash from the signing rights, HG have everything to lose to let Big West come into this market. This is their cash cow and they will milk it to the grave.

[konimon]

IGN did their version of casting the movie

I'm agreed with Clive Owen as Breetai, like I had, but some of their other picks are kinda weird.

Amanda Bynes as Minmei?

So IGN assumes the movie would be based on Macross Saga.

Those are weird indeed. I rarely find movie casting gets it right, but Minmei just cannot be...

I didn't mind Robotech/Macross thing as I always made my own choice importing Japanese macross toys and DVDs over robotech stuff.

Now, if Robotech the movie gets made here in US we would have no choice getting toys from Toynami when we could have gotten far superior product from Yamato?? Not that Toynami shouldn't make Robotech product, I just like to have choices that keep me out of any legal stupidity which I don't care. I now hope creative license go to where it belongs at last.

[Project Phoenix]

I am very sad to hear Tobey Maguire is doing this. Who in HG brainwashed him to do Homotech? This is terrible. I thought Voltron is gonna end up like the live action of Thunderbirds, uninspiring, boring, and childish. But I think RoboCrap will beat Voltron to the punch. The Razzies will have a field day when it comes out.

HG should keep spewing Shadow Chronicle junk until they go bankrupt. This is an obvious attempt to emulate Transformers' success by making it 'believable' and up-to-date. I got 3 words for HG: Ain't gonna happen.

Remember the live action Fist of the North Star or GunHed? I shudder at Tobey Maguire calling himself 'Rick Hunter'. As far as I am concern, Rick Hunter is name of the titular detective from the 80s cop drama 'Hunter'.

[jenius]

I think you guys are nuts to think Toynami would be involved in any toys for a new Robotech movie. This would be a new project with its own rights that could go to anyone and we know Toynami doesn't have much in the way of production capacity so it seems far fetched to think they'd try. Well, one scenario I suppose would have Toynami and another company getting the rights, that other company would make the common toys while Toynami released "high end collectibles" like another MPC.

On another note, it's been a pretty safe bet for the last 10 years that we were never going to have any legitimate Macross products in the US and this doesn't change anything. If HG can't have their hand in the pot, we're not getting Macross items. If people were hoping HG would just vanish then this probably doesn't help there... I'm sure HG stands to make some money off this deal.

[Roy Focker]

I doubt the movie will be set in any establish saga of Robotech. If it is made it could be a new story. Aliens, transforming robots and the name Robotech is all it needs.

[Wes]

I'd suspect it'd be a Macross 2 rip-off. Everything like the original just a little off, they call the Macross something else for some odd reason, and then, just when you think it's passable, an ending to ruin your childhood.

[Duke Togo]

I doubt the movie will be set in any establish saga of Robotech. If it is made it could be a new story. Aliens, transforming robots and the name Robotech is all it needs.

QFT

[Oihan]

I don't know why most of you are being negative nancies about this. I don't see how this will ruin things for us Macross fans (seriously, come on now); and I don't see how the movie being based off the Macross Saga isn't plausible. There are too many unknowns...why not hope for the best if anything? It's not like Robotech is going to steal the Macross name and Macross as we know it will cease to exist. I'd be more disappointed in the Robotech movie if it had nothing to do with the Macross Saga (more specifically SW1) if anything.

Edited September 9, 2007 by Oihan