Marzan Posted June 6, 2017 Posted June 6, 2017 So a live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop is in the works. I'm not sure how I feel about this. English language live action adaptations rarely end up being well made or popular. And living up to such a fantastic and popular series will be impossibly hard. Don't even get me started on that soundtrack. https://www.polygon.com/tv/2017/6/6/15745854/cowboy-bebop-remake-live-action-tv?utm_campaign=polygon&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter Thoughts? Quote
Dynaman Posted June 6, 2017 Posted June 6, 2017 Cowboy Bebop is one of the shows that actually has a decent chance in a live action version, but still I have doubts. Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted June 6, 2017 Posted June 6, 2017 I'll admit I was curious about seeing Keanu Reeves as Spike when the rumors hit a few years ago. But now, I don't think any live action adaptation will do Cowboy Bebop any justice. Quote
Valkyrie Hunter D Posted June 6, 2017 Posted June 6, 2017 6 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said: who will play Ein? Samuel L. Jackson Quote
akt_m Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 (edited) http://heroichollywood.com/christopher-yost-cowboy-bebop-adaptation/ => http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1472584/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_5 Edited June 7, 2017 by akt_m Quote
dizman Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Maybe some more one off adventures with the crew will be fun... ehh who am I kidding this is terrible news. Lets hope the idea goes down in flames before it leaves the script stage. Quote
TehPW Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Unless the stars align just right... No. Those ***holes haven't even done Battletech (live or anime) or Macross as live action... Quote
Big s Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Unlike ghost in the shell with its many different interpretations, cowboy bebop was perfect as is and I can't see how to make it live action and under series budget. Maybe a miracle will happen, but I think this one can never live up to its source. Quote
peter Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Meh, let them keep trying until they get it right. Quote
myk Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Just say no to live action adaptations. Scarlett I love you, but no... Quote
Chronocidal Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 (edited) Yeah, I want to hop onboard the NOPEtrain as well here... but... I can maybe think of one potentially workable way to make something entertaining. You focus the entire series on different characters. Other bounty hunters, police, government officials, etc. in the same universe, attempting to make a buck, do their jobs, and getting stymied by the original cast's shenanigans, arriving a couple minutes too late, and having to deal with the aftermath of things they already did. Most you would see of any original character is a suspiciously familiar figure in the background, walking the other way. Not saying it's a great idea, or even a passably good one, but the series established a pretty iconic universe, and I wouldn't mind exploring some of the other corners of it. Give things a different feel, pick a different soundtrack style. Don't try to compete with or even imitate the original, because that's just asking to fall on your face hard. Edited June 7, 2017 by Chronocidal Quote
kajnrig Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 I'm surprised at the blowback to this. I saw this, immediately thought of Firefly, and was like "Yep, this has the potential to be good." I mean, Cowboy Bebop certainly lends itself more readily to a live-action adaptation TV adaptation than GitS does. It has more potential to be good, though I'm still skeptical that it will be. Quote
peter Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Chronocidal said: Yeah, I want to hop onboard the NOPEtrain as well here... but... I can maybe think of one potentially workable way to make something entertaining. You focus the entire series on different characters. Other bounty hunters, police, government officials, etc. in the same universe, attempting to make a buck, do their jobs, and getting stymied by the original cast's shenanigans, arriving a couple minutes too late, and having to deal with the aftermath of things they already did. Most you would see of any original character is a suspiciously familiar figure in the background, walking the other way. Not saying it's a great idea, or even a passably good one, but the series established a pretty iconic universe, and I wouldn't mind exploring some of the other corners of it. Give things a different feel, pick a different soundtrack style. Don't try to compete with or even imitate the original, because that's just asking to fall on your face hard. I've had similar thoughts as well. Just have the mains pop in and out, almost like cameos. Thought this could work for a new SDF Macross TV show set in the same period, just about different people. Quote
Atheonyirh Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 Let them do it. It doesn't harm the existing anime in any way. Quote
Chronocidal Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Atheonyirh said: Let them do it. It doesn't harm the existing anime in any way. See, I would agree, except that it can damage the market. So far, Hollywood's struck out repeatedly on anime adaptations. They don't understand the material, they don't understand the audience, and when they try to adapt material they don't understand to an audience that the original material wasn't even targeted at, they fall on their face over and over again. How did GITS go? They tried to adapt a property that has a particular target audience and established fanbase by changing a bunch of things to appeal to a wider audience. In the process, they dumbed it down to the point where 1) the original fanbase wasn't all that interested, 2) it didn't draw in any new fans, and 3) it became a completely unremarkable money pit that will get relegated quickly to the $5 bargain bin at Wal-Mart. Hollywood's conclusion? "Oh, I guess anime doesn't sell well." What did they expect to happen? For all the market research they've done, they're trying to sell refrigerators to Eskimos, and still acting surprised that sales are tanking. Somewhere along the way, someone's got to realize that people don't want adaptations of stuff they love. They want original material that gives them more stuff to love. Edited June 7, 2017 by Chronocidal Quote
kajnrig Posted June 7, 2017 Posted June 7, 2017 ^ Drawing comparisons to GitS isn't totally apt, though. GitS was an adaptation in the form of a single movie, not a television serial. If this were a movie production, I'd be as dismissive as everyone else, but the fact that they're going for a TV show makes me just the slightest bit curious. A TV show is the absolute best way they could have possibly gone, so they're starting off on the right foot at least. Quote
Graham Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 We already have Killjoys for a live-action futuristic bounty hunter fix. No to a live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop. They would not be able to do the source material justice. Quote
Big s Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 I'd probably be more interested if it was a movie, the lower budget required for a series will just make all the space stuff look stupid. Shows with a high need to effects never look that great. Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 A thousand times NO. You'd think Hollywood would've noticed by now that every attempt to make a live-action anime adaptation in the west ends in abject failure, and usually ends up as either "our secret shame" (e.g. G-Saviour) or a standing joke (e.g. Dragonball Evolution) among the fans of the original work. At best, it's just mediocre enough to be a mainly commercial disaster like Speed Racer or Ghost in the Shell. Even the superficially flattering comparisons that were almost certainly used to pitch the idea ("like Firefly but successful") are kind of damning in hindsight. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 18 hours ago, kajnrig said: ^ Drawing comparisons to GitS isn't totally apt, though. GitS was an adaptation in the form of a single movie, not a television serial. If this were a movie production, I'd be as dismissive as everyone else, but the fact that they're going for a TV show makes me just the slightest bit curious. A TV show is the absolute best way they could have possibly gone, so they're starting off on the right foot at least. That's my thinking, too, if this actually gets the go-ahead. A series will allow for character development over a span of time. I think casting a crew of unknown but talented actors who actually look the parts (with maybe one or two veterans in there to give it credence), a modest budget with talented effects people, and a writing staff who understand both American and Japanese cultures and can borrow from both, could make it work. I think CB is one of the more doable animes in terms of look and effects, since most of the time they were on one world or another, and the anime borrowed heavily from noir American film and Westerns. Unlike GiTS, which does have a lot of Japanese look and feel, CB often feels like a Space Western. For so many years growing up, with only a few exclusions, Superhero shows and films sucked. The Hulk with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno probably rates the highest IMHO due to the ability of the writers and actors to make David Banner and the Hulk sympathetic characters who reached an audience on an emotional level. I still like watching it. Special effects have certainly helped sell the new movies, but finding the right writer(s) who really get the material is key. Consider Daredevil- Affleck sucked, Netflix show is great. The recent LEGO movies, which could have been abysmal super-cheesy films, benefited from a more irreverent approach than LEGO's previous animated works, and it was terribly successful instead of just terrible. So, in my mind, just b/c a genre of film has failed in the past doesn't mean it has to fail for all time. I think if the right writers and producers and actors come along, who take the material and interpret it in such a way as to remain faithful and yet make it relatable to multi-cultural audiences, just about anything can be successful. I had hopes for GiTS, and it's a shame it didn't perform well. GiTS is another anime that I think would have faired better as a tv series, to allow for more in depth exploration of the characters and the philosophies espoused throughout the manga and anime. Movies are too limited in time, and force the production team to trim a lot to meet time constraints, audience consideration (age, culture, general education), and rating constraints. Let's face it, America on the whole is not a country steeped in profound thinking and philosophy, and our entertainment, even most geeky entertainment, reflect that. So, I think Cowboy Bebop, with its American influences, has a better shot than most anime of success with the right folks on both sides of the camera. If it's greenlighted, I hope it does well, and paves the way for more successful anime series adaptations. I'm thinking Deathnote. Quote
kajnrig Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) 30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said: a writing staff who understand both American and Japanese cultures and can borrow from both ... I hope it does well, and paves the way for more successful anime series adaptations. I'm thinking Deathnote. It'd have to be more than just American and Japanese, but I get the point. The original show took many elements from Native America and the Middle East, as well. Isn't Death Note already coming out as a Netflix show? I could've sworn there was a trailer for it already. EDIT: Movie, apparently, due out August 25 on Netflix. Edited June 8, 2017 by kajnrig Quote
Focslain Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 14 hours ago, Big s said: I'd probably be more interested if it was a movie, the lower budget required for a series will just make all the space stuff look stupid. Shows with a high need to effects never look that great. Considering shows like Babylon 5, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Battlestar Galatica. Not to mention more recently The Expanse, sci-fi has the effects in TV series to do the CB space scenes just fine. But yeah, this is going to fall into writing and the cast. *crosses fingers* Quote
kajnrig Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Focslain said: Considering shows like Babylon 5, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Battlestar Galatica. Not to mention more recently The Expanse, sci-fi has the effects in TV series to do the CB space scenes just fine. But yeah, this is going to fall into writing and the cast. *crosses fingers* Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Television special effects have been perfectly serviceable since like the mid-2000s. It would be slightly difficult to pull off more kinetic dogfight sequences like "What Planet is This!?" or "Road to the West," but hardly impossible on a decent-ish television budget. This isn't Macross we're talking about. Edited June 8, 2017 by kajnrig Quote
myk Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 It's not about the effects, it's the casting and the...."corniness" of just about everything that's been converted to live action. Does anyone remember the Yamato live action movie? How about Fist of the North Star? Let's not even talk about the video game conversions. Talk about cringeworthy. Some things should just be left the way they are; IMO anime is one of them... Quote
jenius Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 A show 'inspired by shows like Cowboy Bebop' would sound neat... live action CB sounds awful. It's like people who keep trying to make Robotech shows... just do something original. Quote
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