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Does The Fabled ROBOTECH Movie Have A Writer??
Merrick here...
A "good source" for the folks over at CHUD says that Lawrence Kasdan has been drafted for scripting duties on the Tobey Maguire-led ROBOTECH live action movie adaptation. You can read their report HERE.
Fascinating choice, if correct.
Geeks will remember Kasdan as a scripter on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (with Leigh Brackett), RETURN OF THE JEDI (with Unca George), and RAIDER OF THE LOST ARK (from a story by Lucas & Philip Kaufman); he's also written/directed a raft of titles including SILVERADO, GRAND CANYON, WYATT EARP, and the awkward adaptation of Stephen King's DREAMCATCHER. He's recently been associated with the long-brewing remake of CLASH OF THE TITANS as well.
ROBOTECH is about the development of giant fighting machines (mecha) that are back engineered from alien technology found here on Earth; said tech is subsequently used to fend of extraterrestrial invasions (this is an extremely simplified description). The long-lived franchise has previously been realized via numerous animated installments that looked like this:
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great day!
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Count me in, Kasdan has the midas touch.
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Robots are cool.
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Too bad about the wreck that is Dreamcatcher. His son is pretty good too. Loved Zero Effect.
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...may be one of the WORST films I've ever seen. Abysmal.Interesting that Kasdan would climb out from under his rock to take a stab at adapting some anime. ROBOTECH no less.Oh, if only he could have revisited his former glory and taken a stab at writing a script for INDY 4...
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Except in the Transformers movie, where Megan Foxx was the only thing worth watching. Man, that was a tedious film.
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also not too keen on Tobey as Rick Hunter.
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..please no emo jazzdance..
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we get some movement on a long gestating project.....of course i miss the days when we'd truely get a suprise at the box office...I mean wouldnt it be cool o get a TRUE suprise again...I'd love to see movie "X" coming December 1 with no leaks , just a one sheat and a trailer and have everyone scatching their heads wondering how such a film got made
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In NO WAY should Tobey Maguire be playing Rick Hunter. He was fine as Spidey, but we need someone a little, I don't know, more innocent, but less weird looking. This is the kind of thing they should be handing off to Elijah Wood (although I think he's done too much) or Topher Grace.
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I think Rick Hunter may actually have a bigger mouth than Spidey. Rick is also capable of showing wonder & enthusiasm.
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LK should be given more writing work. Lucas and Spielberg made a mistake not hiring him to write the script for the latest Indy film. i also think there a quite a few comic book franchises that would have faired better had he been the scribe. Whoever hired Kasdan for Robotech should get a raise in salary.
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I think I have confidence in Mr. Kasdan. I loved Ep. 6.
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raping my really badly written anime fueled childhood.
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..I don't know
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that movie made me angry through its stupidly written script and story ideas. its as cheesy as From Dusk Till Dawn, except that its not done on purpose. Im amazed how it managed to get such a good cast aswell. MORGAN FREEMAN for gods sake! he doesnt make bad movies!
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The thing that makes Robotech... correction... Macross... so damned good was the depth of characters and the complex storyline that does NOT go down predictable avenues. I think a 2 hour movie would fail miserably. Macross was, in my opinion, one of the finest pieces of television writing ever. Unfortunately it was sold to networks as a low-rent Transformers rip. I fear that's exactly what the movie will be.
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It's what recorded broadcasts are for. Incest is the best, Minmei; put your creepy cousin Kyle to the test. Lisa Hayes was hotter anyway.
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There's a romantic montage that raps the music up with the dialog:"Look a Motel." How classy.
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This would be a bad ass movie.
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Robotech was a US adaptation of the anime series Macross. Just thought I'd say this as the Robotech series combined 3 separate anime series together as one, in order for them to be able to distribute Macross in the US (since they needed minimum 100 episodes to distribute and Macross was far less than that). All subsequent Robotech stories are based on the messy 3 series and are absolutely terrible.
Long story short: Please adapt from the Macross story and title it Robotech - but DO NOT adapt from the collection of Robotech stories that are outside of the Macross adaptation!
I don't even like to think about Robotech in the context of Macross. It's like throwing Care Bears into a G.I. Joe episode. -
I like Kasdan as a screenwriter. Yeah, DREAMCATCHER and WYATT EARP sucked but I'm hoping his script will be like RAIDERS, EMPIRE, and SILVERADO.
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Scott Bernard series. Watched that video. atleast first few minutes.
Wow. Maybe it is the musical number that pulled in Tobey Maguire. -
is the term.
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Good call on the "anime geek" response there pondscum, you got it almost verbatim.
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...minus the mecha, of course.
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I think they would do this thing real justice.
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What director would be perfect for a space opera/coming of age/fighter plane story?
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Even as a kid, it made me cringe
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Make this movie happen!
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Matthew McConaughey as Roy, Gerard Depardieu as Capt. Gloval, Halle Berry as Claudia, Leelee Sobieski as Lisa (maybe) . . .
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Do the right thing and remove yourself from this project. If you truly want to see it work, as you say you do, *Produce* it, but do not *act* in it.
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just sayin
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Wow thank you for bringing that fact to our attention. That fact that literally 99% of people who watched Robotech have known for decades.
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Harmony Gold's license of Macross excludes Japan, and since Big West has been steadily creating new Macross for 25 yrs, and WB will want their Robotech live action movie in Japanese theaters, this will NOT be a Macross movie. There will be a debate over this until the movie comes out, but the simple fact is, Robotech's Macross cannot coexist with the original Macross in Japan, for the same reason that Harmony Gold blocks original Macross in the States. This Robotech movie will more than likely continue the storyline of the latest Robotech animated SHADOW CHRONICLES, which avoided every possible opportunity to utilize Macross characters and designs.
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It's not that I don't think they'll do an awesome job, but I'd rather they do Neon genesis Evangelion instead! C'mon, even those of you who hated the Matrix Trilogy and know what Evangelion is know that this is right up their alley, it's fuckign perfect for them, and lets face it, anyone who hated the Matrix Trilogy will likely hate Evangelion for all the same reasons! Though the new rebuild movie was pretty fucking awesome in a straightforward way so I guess I'll wait to see how the other 3 come out...
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so many pitfalls.....
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about us caught in intergalactic war.
Movie#1: Space ship crashes on earth, race of giant warrior clones attacks earth looking for it, all the macross stuff happens, ends with earth being utterly decimated by ariel bombardment
Movie#2: The people who built the spacecraft arrive at earth wondering what happened to the giant warrior clone race they sent to retrieve it, the war goes on as they try to get to the secret organic powersource hidden inside the ship. Ends with earth even more decimated.
Movie #3: the REAL badguys show up that the previous 2 groups were at war with, a mindless, locust-like swarm of aliens attracted like a moth to a flame to the secret organic powersource that is now all over our planet due to being unleashed.
great, epic, arching story. The only problem with cartoon Robotech is that Macek lazily used the same term 'protoculture' to interchangably refer to human culture and the energy source, and it made the story seem very disjointed and confusing. -
HG blocks Macross from being released here? Didn't Animeigo or ADV put it out though? I'm almost sure I remember something about Macross box sets coming out. And if it's true a US Robotech movie wouldn't be able to call on the Macross part of the story what's even the point?
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You're a fucking jackass and I'd like to pop you in your bigoted face. Harmony Gold's bastardization of Macross can hardly be labeled a REAL tv show. Robotech was a marketing scheme to sell toys and model kits that left audiences hanging with open ended plots and unconnected storylines. As for your attitude towards Japanese culture, you pussy, you wouldn't be worthy to step on their soil. You fuckwit.
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Manga Entertainment put Macross Plus out in a deal gone bad. Big West did not authorize. Who knows if they're suing... probably not worth the time and money it would cost them. They're busy with Macross Frontier. As for the Robotech LAM and whether or not there is a point... GREAT QUESTION. Macross is the first and most popular chapter by far. Of course, Harmony Gold dodges the question at every turn. "let the speculation begin" they say. That's a nifty way of saying, "we can't do Macross but we're happy to have you think that as long as possible, cause the bad hype will kill our movie." Now, they could very well do an origin movie where a giant space ship crashes on earth and some good looking people fly transforming fighter planes around, but it won't be called Macross and they won't be flying Valkeries.
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yes... HG blocks any true Macross in an effort to protect their "macross saga". Nobody even knows if they still have the license though. For some reason, nobody will challenge the assholes.
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yes... HG blocks any true Macross in an effort to protect their "macross saga". Nobody even knows if they still have the license though. For some reason, nobody will challenge the assholes.
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You had me goin there for a minute Cecil. You're not a racist ass, you're punking us. Good one dude.
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I have the original dubbed version that's remastered and uncut - and it is far better than the americanized version. The voice acting, sound, music, violence, story - everything is much more powerful. I strongly recommend giving it a try if you enjoy the first part of Robotech. Remember that the reason they chose to combine all 3 series into 1 was because they desperately wanted to show Macross any way they could.
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ROBOTECH is an afterbirth. It is the bastardization of three different anime series. Now, if it were left there as is, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But, no, a shitheel company, Harmony Gold, decided they owned ALL things Macross, regardless of whether they had anything to do with it or not. They have claimed to own entire SERIES they never had anything to do with because it had the name Macross. This absurd excuse of a company has let down its own fans for over 20 years by claiming it had plans for new Robotech series that never came to fruition. Even after producing the lame Shadow Chronicles, they've already put their claimed sequel "on hiatus". Fuck robotech, it is MACROSS that fans want to see and it is MACROSS that Harmony Gold will do everything it can to block even though they have no legal leg to stand on. HG needs to be bitchslapped in the worst possible way.
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Robotech comics, books, shelved tv sequel, shelved 3d tv sequel trailer, website and name - SUCK. Hard.
Do yourself a favor and watch Macross uncut, Macross the movie, Macross Plus and Macross Zero. Avoid Macross 2, Macross 7 and Macross Frontier (sorry, it sucks). -
WHAT, Axebox?!?! Frontier is AWESOME!!! The animation and designs are amazing and the characters are great! Did you see episode 10 where they homage Macross Zero?!
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Yes, it does work overall - Or, it's a good IDEA. However, bastardizing 3 unrelated series to make that work is a BAD IDEA.
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The only reason Harmony Gold has been able to get away with their crap is because no one has challenged them in court. The one toy distributor that did stand up to them was told "we have the rights, but you can't see them, trust us." and HG got away with it. No, someone needs to call HG on their complete BS regarding copyright law. They did sneak in and grab the Macross name and logo a few years ago, but that is ALL they own other than the rights to broadcast the original series. Notice how HG has completely steered clear of creating any new Macross images in their animation yet Big West and Studio Nue in Japan have been producing Macross sequels for the last 20 years. The only reason those shows haven't been released in the US is because Harmony Gold raises a big stink and even though the Japanese would win such a challenge it would still involve expensive court time which they don't want to bother with. HG shouldn't even get a day in court. They should be laughed at and told to pay any legal fees they've caused other legitimate companies to pay.
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Jun 13, 2008 2:42:35 PM CDT
oh man, i just want to close my eyes and wince, but there might
by murdermostfowl
goodguy: Harmony Gold has finally made peace with Macross... they even sell the Official Dub on their website. I know for the longest time they tried and tried to deny it, but they finally realized that there were people who loved them all the same and there was no use in shitting on the memory of Macross.
CecilBenedict, I assume you are just trying to be a Troll. ;)
Robotech movie? It *should* never happen. Will it? Sadly, maybe. Will it be aweful? Meh... even if you are a Robotech lover, the actual story in the "Macross saga" isn't all that changed from the original Macross one. it's just edited for violence really and there are only minimal changes to the story line to allow for the other 2 series. ( Of course the largest changes being the last episode, which IIRC even had new content animated for it )
So there's a good chance that it won't suck too bad. I think they will make a huge mistake if they try to tell the whole story as one movie a la DYRL. Better to fit into 2 or 3 movies.
Too bad ol' Eddie Olmos is firmly embeded in the psyche as Adama now, becuase he would have made an awesome Gloval.
The toughest thing will be casting and writing on the one major pplot point that works in the series and might never work in a movie. Minmae must be likeable AND annoying. BSG pulls this off perfectly with Baltar, but Minmae needs to be the shining example of perfect character development, or it will ruin the rest of the movie.
Another reason why you'll need at least 3 movies, to get time to give all the characters real depth. Especially the Zentradi... they can't just be "pure evil" for this movie...they obviously weren't for the series, but there is major opportunity here to really get into their mindset which will make for a much more enjoyable sotry. -
Ok - you're right: the designs, production value, animation, effects - even the directing - are very, very strong. However, the characters are all mostly charactures of other anime characters. I mean, how much longer will we have to endure Shinji (evangelion) replicas? And in Macross???? --- For you, goodguy, I'll give Frontier another shot. :)
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The license agreement allows them to sell the original series, but it specifically forbids them to create new Macross series, including sequels. The fact that they're still strangle-holding Macross doesn't mean they've made peace with anybody.
Axebox, I'm honored that you will attempt Frontier again. It's just good clean fun. -
Is one of the top ten best anime movies EVAR! Hope the movie version of the American redux is good. Kasdan seems a good choice.
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a giant robot. Poop and shit combined, gay-a-tron 4000, it would be. Jackalope!
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Oh and lets be clear; this ROBOTECH film will NOT be an adaptation of Macross. It can't be because Harmony Gold never had the rights to sell the story to begin with. As Harmony Gold is filled to the top with liars and criminals (check out the IRS investigation and raid of HG president Agrama's headquarters a few years back.) No, WB has either been lied to by HG in terms of Macross OR WB simply wants to make their own Transformers movie, story and origin be damned. My guess is the latter. Trust me, Toby isn't going to be playing Rick Hunter. It will be an all new character invented for an all new movie called "Robotech".
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i wish people would shut up about Macross. Yes they used the same animation but Robotech and Macross are two entirely different shows and it pisses me off to no end when people cant wrap their heads around that. This will be a "Robotech" movie; not a "Macross" movie. One is an anime, the other an american cartoon using anime footage. Its not that hard to understand!!!!
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Robotech just fudged the protoculture explanation slightly (in order to make it fit with the other 2 series), dumbed the characters/voices down, removed some violence, trimmed the length of the episodes to 22 min., created 80's pop score/songs and had a coked out narrator speak 100 words a minute that actually drove some children to suicide (it's true - look it up).
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I don't know what you're smoking, but it must be good stuff. Keep up the great responses, I need a good laugh. Joker, I appreciate what you're trying to say but Macross and Robotech are connected, as much as I wish it weren't so. Harmony Gold (to their credit) kept the majority of the original Macross story intact. To this day, the vast majority of those who call themselves "Robotech Fans" are really referring to Macross. Nobody liked Robotech's second generation (Southern Cross) and the third generation was slightly better received than the second, and Harmony Gold has been riding that miniscule wave of approval for over 20 years now. Notice how The Shadow Chronicles was filled with Mospeada (third gen) designs and characters? Notice how there was NO Macross designs, updates, or referenced of any kind? Why would HG completely and utterly ignore what they know is the most popular segment of their Robotech series? Because they know they can't dare do any sequel to those characters and designs. I would have loved to see them try because they deserve to get their asses handed to them in court.
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No wonder the Zentradei freaked out...
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I'm sorry. I love Macross. I've seen both the original Japanese and American Robotech. This being said the ending is still shitty. It has a great story, great characters, but the ending with MINMEI singing is just too cheesy and should have been handled differently. I hope they rectify the problem in the movie but still keep the idea of culture shocking the Zentradi and being the key to their downfall.
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well put. I'm not sure why the hell they're even making a Robotech movie. They can't use the name Macross, they can't use Macross designs, and nobody cares about the other chapters. And WB is NEVER going to make a movie that they can't show in Japanese theaters. HG is doing the only thing they can which is to finally create their own work (even if it IS based on Mospeada- which they do own as far as I can tell) with this Shadow thing. They're working on the second in the Shadow series, and according to HG it's going to work into the LAM. So how COULD it be Macross?
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The way I see it, either Harmony Gold bullshitted WB into believing they could do a live action Macross (highly unlikely as WB would have checked out what they were purchasing) or WB didn't give a shit about the legalities since they basically just wanted to buy the name. Its highly likely the movie will be called Robotech, but the story will bear little to no resemblance to Macross, Southern Cross, or Mospeada. What I'd really love to see is Studio Nue/Big West break out of their shell in Japan and let the world have the real Macross and all its fantastic sequels, including the movie DYRL, Flashback 2012, Macross 7, and the amazing Macross Frontier. I'd love to see Harmony Gold get their ass handed to them in court.
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I'm no lawyer, but why would anybody think Harmony Gold would have the right to sell the rights to a property they licensed from SOMEBODY ELSE?!
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A look at Harmony Gold's history shows they've had no problem lying to fans (about new series, release dates, etc), the IRS, and various toy distributors. They've used lying as a business technique pretty much their entire existence, so it doesn't surprise me they would attempt to sell the rights to Robotech (including Macross). They may have even had some rights to do so, but without a doubt, HG has lied in the past when they've claimed to have the rights to Macross sequels they had absolutely no hand in making. They basically think that since they purchased the rights to broadcast the original series only they have the right to make money off every subsequent series made based on Macross. Thanks to their greed, Macross fans have had to pay a lot more for Macross merchandise available only in Japan.
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but let's go with someone fairly unknown to play Rick. Someone who's got a bit more range would be excellent as well.
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Jun 13, 2008 7:31:58 PM CDT
I can see Maguire playing Max Sterling, but not Rick Hunter
by monkey_king
The guy who played Prince Caspian would make a great Rick Hunter. Jennifer Aniston as Lisa Hayes. Kerry Washington as Claudia Grant, etc....
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Harmony Gold does not have the rights to make one. They can merchandise Macross (toys, video games, comic books), but they cannot do a production using any of the character or mecha from the show. They will most likely base the show on The New Generation (MOSPEADA), much like they did with Shadow Chronicles.
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Gershwin and Pondscum, together at last.
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Sadly, in the course of writing the script for Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Leigh Brackett was stricken with breast cancer and passed away just after delivering her script to Lucas. Leigh Brackett reportedly provided the emotional and spiritual strength of the screenplay, something that was lacking in Kasdan's Return of The Jedi screenplay.Leigh Brackett was the main, and core writer of the script for Empire, and should be given her proper credit...not a back-up credit to Kasdan.To this date, Lucas denies it, and has his defenders...others say different!!!
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It's worth noting that Macross is in rights hell. Legal feuds between Big West and Tatsunoko Production are the reason why rights holder Harmony Gold has not released the Do You Remember Love movie in the US. Notice how little Macross made it into Harmony Gold's Shadow Chronicles production. Basically, it would be very suprising if there is much recognizable Macross in the movie.
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And Shia LaBeouf as 'casuality number 1'... like the soldier with the little girl here, at 06:05: http://tinyurl.com/45ulqu that would make my day.
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Jun 13, 2008 9:24:18 PM CDT
Actually, Leelee Sobieski is just the right age to play Lisa
by prometeo
She was around 25 at the ending of the saga, and Rick was a bit younger, perhaps on his 23. Minmei was the youngest, turning 16 on the first half of the series
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You nailed every point and you're definitely right about the Shadow Chronicles and the less than likely possibility of Macross elements in WB's movie. I believe Big West and Tatsunoko had their case settled in a Japanese court a few years back and the result was confusing as hell, which didn't help the worldwide distribution issue. However, one thing is clear; Big West owns the rights to make Macross sequels. They've made some mediocre to supercool sequels like Macross Plus, Macross 7, Macross Zero, and the currently running Macross Frontier. I'm sure Big West doesn't want the hassle of Harmony Gold's sue-happy dipshits by going international with Macross, but given past rulings, BW would win almost every case against Harmony Gold. Its too bad they don't want the fight.
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And fucking release Zero and Frontier on blu-ray. Dubs's not really necessary since I'm desperate, but it would be awesome! Robotech, Macross whatever, as long as it's pretty much faithful to the American Robotech which is what I grew up with I'm all for it. And damnit the Mospeda motorcycles were awesome!
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IIRC he was supposed to be around the same age as Minmay (16). Roy Fokker continually refers to him as a child and treats him like one.
Of course I think they would naturally have to increase everyone's age for the movie. It's just not believable. Remember Luke Skywalker was supposed to be a teenager too.
An updated version of Macross/Robotech should make Rick/Hikaru and Minmay in their mid 20's, Max, Misa/Lisa and Ben Dixon/Kakizaki in gheir late 20's to early 30's and Roy in his 40's. Gloval in his 50's
BUt I've changed my mind on this film anyway... it will utterly bomb. I just got done watching the midseason finale of BSG and this series is so awesome, any chance there was for a Macross series is basically gone unless there is some miracle amount of talent and film making on board for this.It has to be someone with skills and passion for the actual Macross story. A cookie cutter starwars clone won't work.
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If the lack of interest for SPEED RACER was any indication how keen people are for live action anime... thats not a good sign. I loved SPEED RACER, btw, even though it wasn't perfect, it was flawed, it was also great... especially if you were a fan of the original series. If not, theres probably not much in it for you.
That said, I think a Robotech movie could very well work, and do okay, but they would have to alter it pretty heavily to appeal to mass audiences today. Well, lets see. I'm certainly intrigued by the prospect. -
So I don't think it'll suffer, also when you consider the source material, this doesn't need to be some stylish production, it's pretty straightforward sci fi space opera... and if they nail the robot veritech action correctly, then it'll be an FX fun fest! And everyone will dig that in light of Transformers. We just need a director than can bring to life the dogfight mecha action scenes... It's gonna require a heck of a budget though! Frankly the more I tihnk of it, the more it seems the Wachowskis and John Gaeta are right for the job! But I'd still rather they do Evangelion, or hell, both!
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And it was an awesome tribute to Zero! Damnit it's really too bad there's all these legal rights shit over who gets money going on over Macross in Japan, which ironically means they won't get my money as I'm freely downloading fansubs fo this! It's like they want me to pirate it!
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I actually enjoyed THE SHADOW CHRONICLES immensely, but had a bunch of questions regarding certain plot elements that were dropped/changed. Essentially, Tommy Yune rewrote the last chapter of the 'Rubicon' book from the Sentinels line, then rewrote the first 2 chapters of 'End of the Circle'. The rest of 'End of the Circle' never happened based on TSC. Great film that bridges all three series.
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you wouldn't like it if the japanese make a live-action tranformers movie and called it bulkybots, would you?
robotech - what a lame ass generic title! i guess they have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. -
it's called macross plus! which that fast&furious hack transformed into stealth with jessica biel.
nothing hollywood will make can be better than macross plus. the movie was sooo confident in its uber coolness, it tags this at the end of the movie:
dedicated to future pioneers. -
Wow, thanks for that youtube clip of the final battle space battle in the Robotech series. It really took me back to when I was 12 and discovered that this series was more adult than Transformers and G.I. Joe.
Robotech Movie? I have serious doubts how this series can possibly be contained in an 2 hour movie. Ideally, it should be a 3 movie deal. But, I also doubt that the series storyline isn't strong enough for the general audience to come back for the sequels (except for the hardcore fans). I guess we'll see.
Tobey as Rick Hunter?? Initially I was against it. But, it wouldn't be the worst thing. In terms of looks, I'd would think Emile Hirsch has the look of Rick Hunter and maybe attitude of the character. We'll see. -
You do realize Transformers are just an American company's collection of pre-existing Japanese designs, right? Nobody is having a hissy fit demanding it be called Microman or Diaclone. The only difference I see with Robotech is that the Macross story remains mostly intact as to where Transformers is just a whole new story. The changes people complain about, like a lack of violence in the American cartoon that was aimed at kids could certainly be shaped more like the Japanese Macross anime without any hassle. I would be fine with a live action Robotech that started with Macross and worked its way through to Mospeda, and planned it out a little better from the start. I don't think they could do that very well with a series of movies though.
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Are you high? I know to anime fans that's probably the case but ask the general American public and you're going to find a hell of a lot more people are familiar with Speed, and that's long before the film came out.By the way, Stealth had about as much to do with Macross Plus as Akira had to do with Scanners.
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I like Leigh Brackett's work for Howard Hawks but she only had a few story meetings with Lucas wrote one draft of TESB before dying of cancer. Kasdan wrote the next few and final draft and it's mostly his work in the movie.
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Harmony Gold hasn't released DYRL, because they don't OWN it. They licensed the original series from Tatsunoko Productions, not the entire line of future Macross properties.
The fact that people keep ignoring is this- Warner Bros is not going to make a film that can't screen in Japanese theaters. They don't care enough about the few Robotech fans that exist to ditch out on the millions they would make in Japanese box office sales. So they'll create a new origin and call it Robotech because it's an established property. Sure, there might be a "Rick Hunter". He's a ROBOTECH property. He won't be flying anything that resembles a Shoji Kawamori Valkerie, and you won't see the word MACROSS. An Americanized Macross film CANNOT coexist with the current Macross properties being created by Big West in Japan. And Harmony Gold does not have the right to create new animation or live-action using Big West copyrighted designs. They have the original show. And the twats have been milking it in it's many "collector" and "remastered" incarnations for years now. -
Another anime adaptation right on the heels of Speed Racer but my hopes are up.
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I can't vouch 100% for the accuracy of the statement, but Harmony Gold's Kevin McKeever has said that they do have the rights to the Do You Remember Love Movie.
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First off, McKeever has been known to stretch the truth about rights issues. Second, it is typical of Harmony Gold to see how far they can push their "rights". On their website, they are selling DYRL labeled merchandise. My guess is they're betting Big West knows the cost of a legal challenge wouldn't be worth it even if they won as toy sales of this nature is a small niche market. Also, if Harmony Gold had even a tiny percentage of the rights to DYRL, they would have released seventeen different versions of it on DVD by now. They had almost nothing to do with Tatsunoko on the production of Shadow Chronicles so I doubt they've formed any recent agreements with them. Still, if you have any sources, I'd like to check them out.
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Just because the studio doesn't or might not have the legal rights doesn't mean they won't make the movie. Once a Hollywood machine starts putting things in motion and is invested in the production, my guess is the Japanese companies will either be paid off or scared off. Probably alittle of both.
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Ever since Transformers I have been hoping for a Robotech flick. I know they greenlit, Speedracer GI JOE and Robotech shortly after TF so please....GIVE IT TO BAY!
OR TONY SCOTT!!!
AND follow the core story layed out in the comics. Namely the first issue of Macross Saga. (and if you didn't know, Macross Saga was the FIRST Japanese imported comic to the United States) -
Pixelsmack, Macross was an animated series. What comics are you talking about? The Comico issues? Those were American Comics based on Robotech, not Japanese imported Macross comics.
And INWOsuxRED, first you're assuming WB would risk a major lawsuit just to satisfy the few Robotech nerds that want to see the word Macross in the title. Then you're selling the Japanese as a culture short by "guessing" that they'd be either bought off or scared off by even the largest of evil corporations. It's all about honor there, dude. They're not backing down from WB.
Nobody wants the kind of trouble that would ensue from copyright infringement. The LAM will be even a further bastardization than Robotech was. The names won't be the same, the designs certainly won't be the same, and the word Macross will not be used. Whether Robotech will bomb like Speed Racer or rake it in like that other toilet twinkie Transformers, will have to be seen. -
The mecha and character designs are owned by Big West and Studio Nue. That is not in dispute, I'm sure even Harmony Gold will tell you that. This issue was settled in court 5 years ago or so. What HG has are the international rights (outside of Japan) to the original animation (releasing it, editing it, making paper airplanes out of it), and the merchandising rights (comics, toys, video games, etc). They cannot make a new series based on the original show using the characters or mecha. They do not have the rights to release any of the Macross sequels, and even if they did, they dropped the ball (and their case) by allowing Manga Ent. to release II (previously released by US Renditions) and Plus. Macross 7 will not be released internationally because of the music rights, which are truly a mess. Zero was not very popular, but there are some pretty solid rumors that they are looking to release Macross Frontier internationally. As for DYRL, if I recall correctly, they *should* have the rights to it because of their deal with Tatsunoko (and Tatsunoko's deal with Big West), but because it was released previously as the edited "Clash of the Bionoids" years ago, they've essentially lost the rights to the animation itself. They need to find out who actually has the rights and work out a deal with them to regain control of it.
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The initial issue, technically Issue Zero was an unmolested import of the Macross to the United States. The FIRST imported Japanese comic (english adaption). The issues that followed were all Americanized Robotech properties. Here is one on Ebay....
http://cgi.ebay.com/MACROSS-1-CGC-9-4-robotech-2nd-highest-grade_W0QQitemZ140240418178QQihZ004QQcategoryZ155291QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem -
Dude, that's a Comico comic book. It's not Japanese art and it's not imported. It was created here after Harmony Gold licensed the series. They used the Macross logo because they had the rights to it.
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