Removed at the Request of Fox
JoBlo was able to uncover some photos from Fox’s big screen adaptation of Dragonball. I’m not sure if these are official or not, and if not, they might not be up for long (hey, it’s Fox after all). So check out some of the better photos below while you have the chance, and tell me what you think in the comments. It seems like a lot of fans are expressing disappointment on the various message boards, but that’s almost always the case with a big screen adaptation.
Discuss: What are your thoughts on the new Dragonball photos?
April 5th, 2008 at 10:17 am
It’s a pain to watch a train wreck especially when they think it isn’t going to happen and they keep adding train car after train car of more stuff too it =(
April 5th, 2008 at 10:38 am
IT looks horrible!!! Oh dear, isn’t this supposed to be a mega budget movie?? Why does it look like Mortal Kombat?
April 5th, 2008 at 10:40 am
man why can’t Goku be an asian cat? I’m gonna remake Schindler’s List and make everyone black. Eff this.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I think it looks alwsome!!!! I can’t wait to see Dragonball
The gi look freakin’ alwsome!
April 5th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Goku is an alien anyway so I’m not too worked up with ethnicity. Its his Gi that looks terrible. When someone suggested that the originl X-Men uniforms be used in the X-men film, Bryan Singer pointed out how stupid all of them would look. Same here!
And it seems SO Street Fighter-ish camp!
April 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am
the movie will flop
April 5th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Since when was Goku white? Can’t Hollywood get an unknown Japanese face for the role instead of some unknown white guy?
April 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am
ha ha, this movie is gonna be terrible!
April 5th, 2008 at 11:16 am
it’s just sad…. =/ I’m not to impressed. It’s like they are avoiding any of the lore and making up something new with old characters.
April 5th, 2008 at 11:20 am
omg …..i’m crying right now !!!…….this looks horrible..i grew up watching DGB + Z + GT ……Only Mr. Popo looks cool ..oh yeah and that chick from heroes looks HOT ..[i love asian women ]
April 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
That dude at the top is NOT Goku, so stop freaking out.
Plus, since when did any of the characters in the original magna/anime ever look distinctly asian?
April 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Back when 300 was in production, and no one knew anything about it, I saw “set” pictures, and they looked totally lame. I then was like “oh, this is gonna be lame”. Well, apparently I was wrong.
So I won’t say anything about the movie until the first trailer. I’ve watched some Dragonball Z years ago, and it was kinda fun (and addictive!). I’m optimistic.
April 5th, 2008 at 11:37 am
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
April 5th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Yeeeaaah…I don’t even watch Dragonball and even I think goku should be asian…This movie is going to suck.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I grew up on dragonball z and im gonna hold out on judgement to the first trailer. This looks bad but like frank said, if you look at the 300 photos they were horrible. I have high hopes for this movie.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
It’s hard to say this early on since so much can be done in post nowadays but my initial reaction is not good. As someone else mentioned, it looks like the old Mortal Kombat films; low budget and campy.
I won’t completely write it off until a trailer hits but initial reactions are not good.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
…and 300 was nothing special IMO. Good art direction, but that was about it.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I think it looks good for a live action adaptation, better this than a caricature like Speed Racer
April 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Looks like butt.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Lacks style. Looks cartoonish. Unless its going to be uber green screen, I doubt it’ll look any more impressive.
Goku is an alien with a Chinese name. So ethnicity barely matters.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Wait, does he turn Super Saiyan here? He shouldn’t but I’m wondering.
It’d have been cool to have a CGI-ed Freeze (ala Gollum).
April 5th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Maybe im too old or something, but I just don’t get this at all.
April 5th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I’m guessing opening day the theater is gonna look a lot like the 4th pic. Barely half full.
April 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Goku was never asian to start with…heck not even half of the character were asian, they traveled around the DB world(which is not exactly our earth, but has in some places a chinese-like vibe) and met each others
only chichi, roshi and maybe two or three more were clearly asian-like
the”only” thing that make me worry, is that goku goes to school…and is unpopular…
and remember set pictures ALMOST never look good
anyway, i’ll have to wait for the first trailer to have an opinion
(sorry if my english isn’t very good)
April 5th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I don’t like the idea of Goku getting bullied at all. DB had a wacky universe with talking dinosaurs and all manners of cyborgs and freaks. Heck, Guillermo del Toro would be perfect for this but alas …
I think its rather hopeless to try to ground DBZ in reality. You cn do that with the Marvel characters but not DBZ. Its pure fantasy. And that’s why its so fun.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
My bad about Goku being asian then. Like I said, I don’t watch the show. I just always thought he was asian…My fault for being ignorant. Either way, I still think it’s going to be pretty bad.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
dreden & Clarence
Either way, he damn sure wasn’t animated by an alien.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
hahahahahahhahahaahahaa…
ahhh…
hahaahahahaaa
April 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
The outfits look nothing like the anime series. It looks like another horrible adaptation along the lines of Street Fighter.
April 5th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Should never have been made live action, EVER. It’s like the live action version of Underdog, pointless.
April 5th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
So, how about that Ernie Hudson guy playing some old, wise wizard or whatever the hell you call them?
April 5th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
sorry if my comment sounded rude
but in an universe like the dragon ball one, a kid with tail, a man with 3 eyes and four arms and green people are aliens, the “normal” people are the humanoid animals and the humans..you could say
the thing that still give me hope is the fact that stephen chow is the producer
and being the huge dragonball fan he is, one would expect at least a little involvement
james wong on the other hand hrmm final destinations hrmm
April 5th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
@ derden
I get you, and you make a quality point. In the end it really shouldn’t matter. I can honestly say I didn’t know Steven Chow was producer and that does bring hope over all. I suppose my beef would be that by DEFAULT the asian thing would stand to reason.
But like anything, it’s whatever. They just put the turkey in the oven.
April 5th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
People who are obsessed with Dragonball are complaining about the quality of something? Hilarious.
April 5th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I think i’m going to kill myself now!!
April 5th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
You can’t do DBZ in live action ,you just can’t
April 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I want to burn my fucking eyes out!!!!! who evers makeing this movie , this is what one hard core fan has to say FUCK YOU. I HOPE YOU FUCKING FAIL and one more time FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
April 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
@ Frank
You weren’t wrong…’300′ was lame.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
@Alex
Box office results and user ratings/reviews obviously thought different. And I liked it very much as well.
But, of course, it’s a matter of taste. All I’m trying to say is that production photos almost never reflect the quality of the end result. They are, after all, just set pictures. And with a movie like DBZ, I expect loads of post-production stuff being added to the final product.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Damn is there anyone with faith in this movie??..
April 5th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
@ Frank
“300″ had no plot. It was all style over substance. If you play that movie back at regular speed you have a 40 minute movie. That said, stylistically, it is certainly a benchmark.
And since when do “box office results and user ratings/reviews” mean anything? Roger Ebert gave “The Day After Tomorrow” 3 stars and that movie did well and a lot of other reviewers liked it, but it’s clearly a horrible movie.
…I think “300″ actually stole the shitty CGI wolves from “TDAT” if I’m correct.
April 6th, 2008 at 12:06 am
@ Kode: I have faith in it, but I think they shoulda started in the Z series, ’cause that’s what most americans watched, and they shoulda had Eric Bana as Goku, Nathan Jones as Nappa, the midget from Pirates as Krillin, and god only knows for Vegeta. Besides that, I think we need to pray for no more delays and trust in the power of Stephen Chow. Oh, and by the way, I HAVE been told that “turbolover” is a word for a vibrator. I’m not like that, I just own a Subaru STI and like Judas Priest.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Chatwin has no muscle whatsoever.
Unless they add it in after, he is going to be terrible.
How can a scrawny kid with no muscle fight off aliens?
I had hoped they would make Chatwin beef up for this roll, but apparently they don’t care about making Goku anything like the Dragonball Goku, other than the ki’s vague resemblance.
April 6th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
everything is all wrong. goku’s hair, what he’s wearing, and the fact that he’s white. i always thought that if a live action film were to be made he’d be asian. in this film i was expecting some uber graphics. i’m talking about non stop fighting in the sky. heck get an asian guy to power up throughout the whole movie and i’ll watch it.
April 6th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Firstly, these look soo fake, secondly, since when are there like 3 refs in world tournament, they would get blown to pieces, second… that girl, if you could place her to any1 it would be emperor pilafs assistant..but they dont appear after goku is 17ish and competes for his last time before marrying chi chi, thirdly, there were no monks and no mr popo in dragonball
April 6th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
everybody in the dbzworld is asian… just watch the original videos… they speak japanese… hehehe
looks crappy… looks like something that came out of that guy who will quit if 1,000,000 people petition for him to stop making films.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
That pic of Goku doesn’t even look like Chatwin at all…
Yamcha, maybe?
April 7th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Oh crap! I knew this would be horrible. They should’ve done a CGI instead. It looks even worse that the first Streetfighter.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:40 am
if that is mr.popo it will suck cuz from what i can remember mr.popo was black as night, they shouldve just left him a white guy and made him black in post…wouldve been awesome haha
April 7th, 2008 at 6:40 am
The picture of the guy who I think is Goku looks nothing like the main guy from The Invisible who I thought they signed on to be Goku. Either that or he can change his entire profile to look like that of someone who is constipated. I am really going to hold off any judgement till I go see it.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Hey mira esto!!! ahhhh taaa super bacan!
April 8th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Ok I’ll admit it I liked the Mortal Combat and Street Fighter movies (what can I say, they’re my guilty pleasure.) As bad as the characters are and the terrible writing and effects, its still a fun flick to watch because it’s so bad. Thats just my opinion, but these pictures…..My expectations are low for now, I’ll wait for the trailer. But this had bad news written on it since they announced the cast.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
If you look at the old man carrying his candle….Behind him is Goku. Justin chatwin. I still have hope for this movie even though the set pic looked crap.
April 12th, 2008 at 6:47 am
I agree with True fan, btw, what that guys wearing looks like one of those pijamaa’s they sell in Argos or Woolworths. This is FAAAKE,
P.S Mr popo did appear, he kicked goku’s ass remember? After he climbed Korins Tower
April 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
does anyone have the new pics of dragon ball i didnt get to see them can you share with me pls
April 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I wonder why am I still seeing comments praising the movie after all these pictures. Shouldn’t every sensible person be going on a boycott against the movie after this? Or is there a desperate shortage of sensible people in this country?
April 20th, 2008 at 11:14 am
well dont be stupid their tring to make kind of a new story so that all the fans dont realy know whats gona happen next i think this movie is gona be great just because its dragonball and maybe if the movie is a succes theyl release a new dragonball series
sorry about my english
April 20th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Some people’s intelligence are as bad as their english
May 5th, 2008 at 1:04 am
It would be great if Goku will be Tony Jaa :) There will be cost reduction in special effects :)
But I hope this film will be good… I’ll go and watch it in the cinema, because I grew up on this story…
May 5th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Those who REALLY grew up on the story should be the ones NOT going to the cinemas for this crap
May 14th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Making this kind of mockery and exploitation out of DB is FORBIDDEN.
As a die hard DB/Z fan whole my life I will defend DB with my life if it takes, I won’t stop protesting till the end even if I am the only one in the world left.
All true fans know well that DB should always stay what it is, not to turn into hollywood pop culture stereotype! therefore brothers, please sign my petition it takes about 10 seconds!
http://db-lam-protest.forumotion.com
http://www.petitiononline.com/dblam444/petition.html
thank you very much for reading!
June 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Close minded people. those who actually have an open mind about this movie im proud of you. we all know that life action movies will be somewhat different. story’s are somewhat the same but not completely, understand that! the original writer of the dragonball series wrote this script with other writers, having the original creator on this project is always a good thing and besides be happy that Uwe Boll isnt doing it, he destroys movies, look at bloodrayne, i mean seriously. you have a great director, great writers and honestly great actors weather you like it or not. tyler bates is doing the music to the movie which i know will be kick ass since he is the same one that does the music to 300 and the fast and the furious original scores. deal with it, stop complaning and saying its gonna be bad, give it a chance.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
“The original writer of the dragonball series wrote this script with other writers”!!!???
Stop kissing up to a movie that’s ruining a series you don’t even know about.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:38 am
WHAT THE F!?!?!? “The original writer of the dragonball series wrote this script with other writers”!!!???
THE ORIGINAL WRITER IS PROBABLY DISGUSTED! he never confirmed he gave licence!!!
He is one of the best genious on the earth and he would never like what they do with his masterpiece!
Its just a matter of time when all the fans from all over the world would protest this pile of shit back to dust! together with the ultimately respected Mr.Toriyama Akira, Mr.Katsuyoshi Nakamuru, and rest of the ingenious crew!
@stephen, if you weere a DB fan, you would be be spitting on your post now!
THIS IS BEYOND THE LEVEL OF MOCKERY AND MUST BE STOPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 28th, 2008 at 5:43 am
man I was so mad I made so many grammatic and spelling mistakes… sorry about that.
All in all, TRUE DB FANS will never sell their PURITY, PRIDE AND MORAL for ANYTHING especially not for something low as money or entertainment…
And thats what was DB/Z always about! That’s what Mr.Toriyama was always preaching through his masterpiece!
its ridiculous that now they want to turn DB into the oposite of what it preaches…
Retarded humanity and retarded materialistic personalities rule the world… just SAD!
June 28th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
@ vegeta_dtx
Not a bad forum and petition, BTW.
Too bad it seems the Asians aren’t that cool with joining a foreign forum or signing a foreign petition even though the whole continent’s organizing for a boycott.
Perhaps to them boycotting this flick’s a common sense so to be taken for granted they’re just playing down the hype and using the simple mouth to mouth method instead.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Thank you Mozar, pleasure to have your signature as a true DB fan or at least non-DB fan but a reasonable person ;)
I hope petition will grow after upcoming textual video rant I currently work on, and which I will upload on youtube.