[LAEM] Alright then, what do we want to see?

[Olin of Xephon]

When you get past the "oh it's not going to be anygood" or "god, I hope it's good" part, you get to the "I hope they have THAT in there" or "maybe they could do this" part of the anticipation.

So what DO we want to see in the First Evangelion film?

I think rather then condense the series into one movie,(how would that work?) they should make three or five. I read somewhere that that's what their planning but it might just be a rumour.

I'd like the first movie to cover everything from Shinji's arrival in Tokyo to Asuka's arrival at the school.
This way, we get (re) introduced to the main cast, and I think the action and intrigue (and the plug suits) will get the atention of your general American audience.

The second could go from "the two of you dance like you want to win" to
Shinji's rescue from the Sphere angel.
I think this one would be the most popular with said American audience as it has a lot more Asuka, loads more action, and less whining from Shinji.
(You know that's going to be the first major complaint)

The third would begin with Kaji investigating the Marduk Agency, and begin to delve into the darker mysteries of Eva. I would leave it at a cliff hanger, maybe right after Asuka's fight with the mind raping angel.
This one would be pretty big to, but probably not as well recived as the first to film. (I can already here some of my class mates moaning, "man, that was confusing!")

The fourth would begin with Rei's sacrifice for Shinji and the revaltion that she is a clone, delve into the orgins of NERV and end with Kaouru's arrival or demise.
This one would be like Matrix reloaded. Most fans would consider it crap, saying they made it to confusing and/or depressing. They aint seen nothing yet. Of course Like with Matrix, everyone would go and see the last part.

The fifth movie should be a reimagined End of Evangelion (complete with Shinji's famous Asuka's bed side scene)
While I want most o fthe same things to happen, They should NOT try and copy EoE too much, it would just fall flat after the masterpiece that was the orginal.
Here is where they would have to be the most creative, suprise both the general audience and fans alike. Of course by the time they make a fifth movie, they may have gotten the hang of it enough to do just that.

I predict dismal reviews and backlashes from the mass media on the last one, but us hardcore fans will have loved it, and it would be one of those messed up endings tha everyone would have tosee just once. Thus a lot of money for ADV Films.

I can dream.

How many parts do you think they should condense it into? What scens should not be left out, and which ones do you think they'll have to leave on the cutting room floor?

How should the Eavngelions and angels be handled?
What do you want to see in the movies?

[Dave]

I don't believe this movie will be made. Just a hunch. But if it is somehow made, Olin's idea's sound quite good. They better find some extremely well developed fourteen year olds though if they wish to draw people in with the "plugsuits" as Olin said.

[houtaru]

Oh I think it will be made. But I believe there is a 80% chance that it will suck. So I predict about a 20% chance that it will be good or fantastic. I'm being honest about my feeling on this, sorry for being negative. I have very little faith in hollywood. That's why my friends and I are so impressed when a good movie comes out. (Lord of the Rings, Kill Bill, Spiderman 2)

I've noticed that a lot of fans want the movie to follow the story from the first episode to about the ninth (where Asuka and Shinji bond). That would be cool, but I don't think the motion picture will work that way. I think they will change the story entirely. The characters will be approximately the same, but their names, the story, and all the locations of the anime will re-imagined.

It may be a good re-imagining though, because Gainax is invovled. I hope so. However, I have a feeling we will see a new pilot we've never seen before, a new primise on why seele and Gendo want to 'destroy' the world, and NO religous symbolism at all. My point is, that they WILL change the story. Possibly beyond recognition.

That's not such a bad thing. It's not wise to compelely copy the anime. I'd like to see it set in Tokyo-3, but I doubt that will be the case. I would like to see some other surprises that weren't in the anime. Perhaps a new pilot could give us more perpective on Shinji's delima. Perhaps events from EVA-R (a popular fanfic) could be included. Perhaps Hikari could be a pilot instead of Toji. (Then he has to go the hospital to see his sister and Hikari). There are many possiblities here. What I most want to see, is something new to motion pictures; something we've never seen before.

Also, this may be a film series, but dont expect it to go beyond four films. Kids age quick. By the time you get to EOE, the actor that plays Shinji (or whatever his american name will be) will probably be 18. It will probably be three at the most.

Anyway, don't expect it to even go into production for at least 4 years. Most likey, it will be even longer. Unless, of course, that Akira live-action movie that hollywood is doing is a huge hit. (Expect that one to take at least 4 years too).

[Hexon.Arq]

Oh, hotaru, honey, Spiderman 2 wasn't a good movie. 8)

I'm one of those people who doesn't expect a carbon copy, but I also don't believe the story has to change drastically. A lot of people seem to suggest this simply because that's what always happens, and they've probably gone through so much heartbreak in the past, they accept it as an inevitability. The simple fact is, and ADV know this, that if you change things to the extent to which you seem to suggest (beyond recognition), it would no longer be Evangelion.

Very often I find myself imagining the film as a completed product. I test different visual styles, kinds of music, modes of acting, tones of dialogue, pacing, and occasionally re-examine who I think the characters are and what an American audience would find most interesting about them and how to illustrate it. Sometimes my daydreaming will go a step beyond that and examine what, in light of the unwoven product, has resulted from it, even to the point of soundtrack packaging. A lot gets changed, but some very fundamental things are set in stone, otherwise I'd be imagining a completely different movie.

(Be aware, I don't want to sound bitchy, but...)

Now, this is merely daydreaming, but it's daydreaming in conjunction with studied and calculated cause-and-effect theory and impressions. One imagines what an average Western audience likes about the product, and works backwards from there. Foremost on my list of keeps has, since the very beginning and despite all arguments, been the preservation of nationality and ethnicity. There is simply too much to be lost with Westernization, and I'm not just speaking from the standpoint of an otaku who opposes change. An American-made movie set in Japan with a mostly Asian cast is in itself a means of drawing attention. It can easily be argued that America has an almost masturbatory hunger to convert, and as a result we have a definition of "diversity" in films that basically consists of adding more black people, a comical Mexican, and a guy named Hsu. Not only is this becoming a sickening trend (I wouldn't be surprised if the conversion from Japanese to American, even cleverly disguised as British, makes the French despise us more), but I feel that it is a poison to the American people. In the past, I have likened it to moving around one's furniture in order to help their blind cousin get around as though he were in his own house. We say that a story is great when it transcends cultural boundaries. Okay, so where were all the Hispanics in LOTR? Not in the book? Oh darn, and yet Hispanics still went to see the movie? Well, I'll be damned. :shock:

(I could (and have) type for days on the subject, but I'm getting sleepy.)

Anyway, that whole thing about imagining...

Uh, basically I just have an idea of what to do with film one. It's not the most progressive and fast-paced approach, but I think it represents a good approach to both please fans and revise a decent-sized chunk of story THAT ACTUALLY GOES SOMEWHERE. (Read: doesn't just consist of extracting elements, forcing them to tell a story, and then stoping at some arbitrary point in the original scenario.)

...But I'm really tired now. I'll post that later.

What I most want to see, is something new to motion pictures; something we've never seen before.

Well, to be honest, I think the original story pretty much falls into that category. But if you want to go beyond that... that's a pretty big demand right there.

[EVA-01X]

If it just gives EVA Justice.... I'll be happy. But if it turns into just another action/end of the world/ass kicking movie, then somebody will die a very gruesome death..... :twisted:

[Dave]

Masturbatory hunger... well there is a phrase you don't here everyday. Um... I may be just an idiot but I didn't quite get what your saying Hexon... do you want the cast to be Japanese or do you want an americanized cast?

[Phaze]

I hope it's released on DVD, so if it does turn out horrible, only fans of the series will know the shame.

[Hunter21]

I think Phaze may have hit on a good idea, direct to DVD films/series/anthologies seem to have better chances of making it through a whole series. As long as they avoid putting out realy hasty and poorly written/acted stories (as example look at Starship Troopers 2 -I actually got so pissed off I shot this DVD with a shotgun) it could work.
As to what do I want to see, Olin put it quit well, although I would not mind changing the ending to something more upbeat. I just think this would attrack a bigger audience. Also I want to see them keep the original sound track, and not try and modernize it.

[houtaru]

Oh, hotaru, honey, Spiderman 2 wasn't a good movie. 8)

Lol, I thought you'd like that. My friends and I loved Spiderman 2. But hey, a few people hated Lord of the Rings too.

I think you made the point, hexon, if i'm understanding you correctly, that american directors will 'convert' evangelion from asian actors to english ones. I'm dissapointed in that as well. The fact that it was set in Tokyo-3 made the story much more interesting to me. But if the actors are all Japanese, how will they explain how everyone is speaking english? Maybe that's one reason they will change it. I wish they wouldn't. They'll probably set it in New-York-3. How disgusting.

[Hexon.Arq]

Wow. I didn't realize I could be that incoherent. I posted that just as my eyelids were strating to drop, so... there. I was arguing against Westernization. A lot of fans have argued against it; the rest just don't care. It's an old subject, but it's one I feel very strongly about, not just for this movie, but in general. Since it's so tired, I don't think that anyone will make a thread about it, but if they do, I'll give my 22,222 cents there. (And I'm not going to start it; that simply invites anti-bitching.)

The thing is, I don't think ADV has any intention of allowing the film to suck. They aren't Universal, or anything (although, that could be a nice source of additional funding, assuming ADV can stand still in the midst of conglomerate wind). Something that could be intersting for the license, albeit scary for a die-hard fan, is if this ends up being a truly great film that bears only the slightest semblance to Evangelion. At this point, the only party to fear is the non-existent director.

To be honest (I'm going to sound like a fanboy asshole, watch), if a Westernized version were made, and it gave the story a wonderful treatment, received oodles of praise, and made a ton of money, I am one of those obsessive hunchers that would actually be unhappy about it. It's simply me; it's a trend I don't like, and a pill that I think does more harm than good. If the director wants to totally Westernize, (even a lot about my approach is a fair share more Western than the original, especially concerning the characters) let him go ahead. In fact, if he basically intends on doing what Verbinski did with The Ring but with better designs, I say make it an over-the-top CG extravaganza with lots of punchy one-liners, fattening action sequences, and a gratuitous shower scene. Asshole that I am, I couldn't wait for that to suck. It would be a spinoff of a license that's already huge for what it is (and a lot more), and the real revision would still be waiting in the wings, kind of like the relationship Jackson's Kong will (should) be to the 70's remake.

But enough about my bitching, (I'm not going to slit my wrists if I don't get my way, or spend a lot of time ranting after the film has already come out), to the issues at hand. I got so worked up in my J-Helter Skelter, I forgot the topic.

The approach to the first film, IMHO, were the intent to stay as true to the original storyline as possible while not copying it, would work better if Asuka were omitted. While it works for some stories to include elements of later chapters in the film adaptation (I can't think of any, however; oh, and the chapter to which I often refer is roughly the basic idea of the first six episodes), I think that in order to capture the essence of the characters at hand (Shinji, Misato, Rei, and to a lesser extent Shinji's "friends", as well as, need we forget, Shinji's whole deal with wanting to leave Eva), there is simply too much shit to deal with if you want to do it right. I know the intent might be to translate the story as quickly as possible, but in the spirit of "beginning-ending" division, I think it'd be best if no one tried to bog down Shinji's inner conflict just so that he could have something to get over and we could meet another character midway through the film.
Of course, one could argue that Asuka could be introduced right from the beginning, thus not calling for any kind of rush into the action via sacrifice of character development. The problem is that if Asuka were around, the circumstances surrounding this chapter would be vastly different, and thus the story would find itself becoming something else entirely.
Basically, I'm simply attached to the idea of the "A-6" storyline being adapted into a film. Not a direct line-for-line adaptation, mind you, but it presents all of the winning elements for a film about responsibility, accepting fate, and learning to feel again. Add on too much of the rest of the story, and you lose that.
If there is any confusion as to what this story could be like (I'm not a writer, so even my imagined version has holes), it essentially (though not completely or solidly) goes like this: 01, 02, 03, 05, 04(a), 06, 04(b). Still confused? Maybe it's just a bad idea.

On thing I would like to see, though, is more involvement from the auxiliary characters. What I'd hope would be ensured is that there are no Tom Bombadils.

---

EDIT: About speaking English...

1. This is about one (two?) whole generation(s) into the future. A change I am not loath to, and might even be more drastic than that. Based on the world as it stands now, it does not seem totally unreasonable to approximate that by the middle of this century, a lot of people will be speaking English, maybe not as a first language, but I'm willing to bet it'll be a lot easier to communicate wherever you go. In Japan right now, English is a requisite from the 5th grade upward. The stretch has already become less alien.

2. NERV is a U.N. organization. Most U.N. business is conducted in English where applicable. This means that to work in a higher office (not a progressive knife-wiper operator), you'd probably have to learn a good deal of the language. It wouldn't make sense to hire someone like Aoba, who probably has to file occasional "reports" which are reviewed by god-knows-who other than Ikari if someone has to translate them. That, and the bridge-bunnies are young (refer to [1.]). Meander out of Tokyo-3, and you might come into the subtitle-overload mode. That's okay; it's a touch of realism (T3 is more likely to have English speakers than anyone else in Japan). It's also not unlikely to expect a lot of international traffic, and that many translators could be expensive.

3. It's a movie. This is probably an odd place to list this reason, but if people like the comic book science of Spidey, they aren't going to spend a lot of time contemplating the whole language issue. If we're talking about an average American viewer (AAV), I think they'll just appreciate not having to read too much.

4. Second Impact. Billions dead. Lots of work to do. Streamlining communications = easier. Schoolchildren all across the globe forced to gain comprehension of an already widespread language given the circumstances. Older generation: Japanese > English. Younger generation: Japanese < English.

5. Not everyone has to speak English. I like subtitles. They make even stupid movies seem a little smarter. I have seen plenty of films where characters casually shift language gears often. My own family does this with Spanish. If (6.) is taken into consideration, then Japanese might still make frequent appearances to cloud the comprehension of characters who haven't as good a handle on it. Don't forget the Japanese government. Also, I think it calls for a good measure of German too. (Misato worked in Germany for a good few years, right?)

6. Something I suggested a long while back has to do with one character specifically. If Shinji arrived at his doom from another point in Japan, reason might dictate that his handle of the English language might not be all that great. What I suggested was that he fly in from some Western country like (*ulp*) the U.S. or Britain. (I favor the U.S., not becaue it's where I live, but because a British Shinji would be too reminiscent of a young Mr. Potter) This is only a suggestion, mind you, but since the point of his separation at the onset was only there to illustate backstory (Gendo's abandonment of him) I don't think that it is really detrimental to his character in any way. If one wants to grab from the manga , Shinji was banished to live with family (was it Gendo's or Yui's? I don't remember), and any argument about how "Asian kids have different pressures" (I never fully grasped that concept, American dumbass that I am) can still be maintained as a result of his unaltered "upbringing".

Basically, I view English as a means of making the story more accessible to English-speaking viewers. While this isn't a carbon copy, purists who call for a completely Japanese-language film already have one in essence: the anime. The change is also notably better for purists than changing the characters' nationalities and ethnicities in order to accomplish the same.

Also, IMHO, (6.) presents a beautiful new context for film one (A-6). Moving to a new town to face one's father is one thing. Leaving behind an entire country? Going HOME? That's something different. It's then that "Why did you come here" takes on a whole new life.

[Olin of Xephon]

God, A westernized Evangelion NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
And I'm not bitching, that would be horrible.
I guess it won't be done without some American cast members, but God, NO NO NO NO! Do not westernize it!

I was actually thinking of something like Kill Bill (American made very Japanese feel) or maybe they could kind of blur the nationalities, but if it doesn't feel Japanese it will be stupid because Evangelion is a friggin Japanese show!

...But I'm going to remain optimistic.

Sit here and wait for them to get into production, start shooting (they could do four or five movies if they shot a bunch of them at the same time like Lord of the rings) and get a actual realease date.

Just sit around, hoping for the best, while I grind a very large ax :twisted:

[DatDude]

I would like to see them scrap the live action idea and just make another animated series.

[Hunter21]

You and probably everyone else on this forum.

[Hexon.Arq]

I don't know about that. I, for one, definitely want to see movies, although I think that now (now being both right now as well as anytime in the immediate future, as film trends and expectations dictate) is probably not the best time to attempt a serious revision of the series. At best, one could make a decent spin-off, or "based on and no more" film (what I think they may be tryiing to do), and then develop a thorough revision some years later based on the new Western popularity brought about by the first movie (first not reffering to continuity, but merely license introduction). If, for example, a Westenized version came out and made a lot of money, ten or twenty years later, there might be a worldwide audience large enough to decide, "Okay, the movie was decent, it made us see the anime, and now we want to have the original version in live action. Bigger, longer, funnier, and more disturbing"

Besides, what could a new series possibly be about? Eva-R? :?

[Olin of Xephon]

I want to see the movies, I just want them to be really awesome!

I want to see Anno Hideaki go and do another Evangelion series, maybe better then the first one!

And Hell yes! I want Gainax to animate Eva-R!

And then I want to see a quality action/RPG video game for each of them!

...I'm a greedy bastard.

[Hexon.Arq]

And Hell yes! I want Gainax to animate Eva-R!

I was joking. :shock:

[Karma Burn]

I want a plot, with a side of battles and one fucking huge explosion.

[the_seventh_child]

I want a plot, with a side of battles and one fucking huge explosion.

Why has to be one explosion?

[Karma Burn]

How can you not have a movie of this calibur and not have at least one big explosion?! That would be blasphemy not to include an explosion!

[the_seventh_child]

How can you not have a movie of this calibur and not have at least one big explosion?! That would be blasphemy not to include an explosion!

Sorry i did not mean "an explosion",i wanted to write "one explosion".I'll fix it.And i want to see explosions but not only one,a lot of them.