Battle Angel Alita (aka. Gunnm)

[ClockworkCupcake]

Since I can't post to the old thread due to it being archived (well, it is 10 years old after all), I thought I'd start a new thread.

James Cameron has been talking about a live-action version of Battle Angel Alita for well over a decade. The latest news is that it's now under way for a July 2018 release date, with Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) directing because Cameron is too busy with Avatar 2, 3, 4, 5, ... n to direct.

It's quite ironic that the basic plot of Alita is "cyborg girl has no memory of her past, and strives to discover herself" which is pretty much what the live action of Ghost in the Shell ended up as (which is completely different to the manga and anime, of course). I wonder how this will influence the Alita film? It would be quite ironic if, in order to differentiate it from Ghost in the Shell, they significantly changed the plot to something else such as her having her memories. Which, of course, would miss the whole point of Alita. But whatever they do it is now going to be compared to the Ghost in the Shell film.

I'm not sure about this film. The original Battle Angel Alita manga is something deeply personal and special to me. I'm not sure I want to see it turned into a film.

[ClockworkCupcake]

According to IMDB it is in post-production and still due for release in 2018
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Well, it's still happening, and there is a trailer.

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2017/12/08/the-live-action...

http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/battle-angel/53...

Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Saturday 9th December 11:41

[randlemarcus]

Then, speaking with kind intentions, stop posting about it, and dont watch the film.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

randlemarcus said:

Then, speaking with kind intentions, stop posting about it, and dont watch the film.

I'm actually open-minded about the idea of a live-action version, with reservations. I'm interested in seeing how it is compared with Ghost in the Shell, and I'm also interested in hearing what other people think, hence the bump.

With equal kind intentions, you didn't have to reply to this thread.

[130R]

Those are some big eyes .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

[Clockwork Cupcake]

130R said:

Those are some big eyes .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

Yes. It works in manga and anime, but looks really freaky in CGI

It's the first time that the Uncanny Valley has really hit me - usually I am unusually tolerant / unobservant when it comes to that.

[Halb]

Saw the trailer for this before the Jedi film, didn't know anything about it...it looks...weird...and interesting as a lot of Japanese stories are. I have no love for ANimie, but I love Studio Ghibli films, since they tend to be nuanced and intricate far beyond most Western films.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

New trailers are out, and they appear to have toned down the manga eyes a little (but not done away with them altogether).

Release date has been pushed back to February 2019.

https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/battle-angel/5...
https://geektyrant.com/news/alita-battle-angel-pus...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/releaseinfo

[croyde]

Dug this up because I watched it today. Just come back.

Seems like there has been nothing for weeks at the cinema that I could use my 2 for 1 Meerkat deal and take my boys, 13 and 16, to.

They loved it and I really enjoyed it despite being in my late 50s.

Story has been done before in various films but great visuals and likeable characters. The CGI is very believable and you forget very quickly that some of the characters are not real.

I'd even watch it again.

[ukaskew]

It's very, very rare that I don't find at least something to enjoy in a film, but I didn't get on with this at all. Maybe i was expecting too much of the Cameron/Rodriguez combo, but it felt incredibly generic, didn't do anything new or unexpected and really lost its way in the final 45 minutes. It even made the fatal error of spending more time teeing up a sequel/franchise than actually ending the film. Given that it's far from certain that this will be successful enough to green light a sequel, that seemed like a bold choice, particularly so as it meant it didn't really work as a standalone film.

[croyde]

Watched bits of the 1993 cartoon and the new film stayed pretty faithful to it.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

croyde said:

Watched bits of the 1993 cartoon and the new film stayed pretty faithful to it.

The original "cartoon" was a fairly poor adaptation of the source material though.

[Mastodon2]

I won't bother watching it. These manga / anime to "live" action adaptions don't really work for me. Some things just don't need to be made into a movie. I'm sure the upcoming Monster Hunter movie will end up being total dogst too.

The manga eyes thing really bothers me too, they work in manga and anime as part of the art style because you're looking at a cartoon, when they use CGI to graft them into live action footage they look stupid and out of place.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

The banner on my Facebook page has been an Alita one for years. I'm sure some people are now going to think it is because I am a fangirl of the film. And I haven't even seen it yet.

[ukaskew]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

The banner on my Facebook page has been an Alita one for years. I'm sure some people are now going to think it is because I am a fangirl of the film. And I haven't even seen it yet.

I've watched the film and would never have guessed it was related to that banner pic.

[ajprice]

I saw the 3D preview on Monday night. Maybe the red carpet and Q&A stuff in the preview got me out of the mood for it. I said in the films I've seen this week thread already, but it was a pretty generic girl growing up father/daughter relationship story along with the cyborg fighty stuff. It's an odd mix of a PG and a 15 that's ended up as a 12A. It's still pretty good, and I might go again to see it in 2D.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

I've just come back from seeing it in the cinema (in 2D)

It's like someone watched the 1993 OVA, flicked through the first few volumes of the manga, and then made a film based on the gist of that with some changes and revisions as they felt like it (eg. in the source material, "Alita" was the name of Ido's cat, not his daughter) and Desty Nova is just a crackpot scientist and not "the big bad").

It wasn't unenjoyable but it rather played fast and loose with the source material, cramming stuff in which probably didn't make a lot of sense to people unfamiliar with it, and was rather a jumbled mess. The 'anime eyes' on Alita didn't really bother me, though.

Effectively the story is a revised version of Volumes 1 & 2 of the manga (which is what the 1993 film was too), and with some stuff from volume 3 shoehorned in for good measure. For example, Motorball doesn't appear until after Hugo's death and is how Alita gets over her grief. It's literally a new chapter in her life - one of many.

The Damascus blade being merely stolen from Zapan, rather than forged for her, was also a disappointment. But I suppose it was quicker and more expedient for the film.

Overall, it could have been worse but it also could have been a lot better. And the "set up for a sequel" ending was rather lame I have to say.

Edit: It stuck more closely to the source material than Ghost in the Shell did, though.

Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Saturday 9th February 19:00

[frisbee]

The special effects were impressively unnoticeable, especially the movement. The story on the other hand was utter cack.

I always have a soft spot for futuristic films that have a lived in feel though, so 6/10.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

frisbee said:

The story on the other hand was utter cack.

Sadly the film failed to capture the story of the manga.

This is the same as happened with Ghost in the Shell - take a fantastic, intelligent, thoughtful story and dumb it down into a Hollywood blockbuster.