Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy in Theaters 215
echocharlie writes "Steamboy is rolling into US theaters on March 18. The movie features the notable return of Katsuhiro Otomo, who hasn't directed an animated film since Akira, so big things can be expected. The film opened in Japan earlier to
mostly rave reviews. The english cast features Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina, and Patrick Stewart. That's interesting casting since all three have had prominent roles in comic book movie adapatations (X-men, Spider-Man 2, and X-men respectively), not to mention Mr. Stewart's famous sci-fi ties. Anime films without Pokémon in their titles haven't fared well at the US Box office (see Appleseed, Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in the Shell 2, et al.). Hopefully with an adequate number of theaters carrying the film, Katsuhiro Otomo's latest opus will gain the exposure it deserves."
Huh? (Score:5, Interesting)
Any ideas where this is playing? (Score:2, Interesting)
We're carrying it (Score:3, Interesting)
As usual Europe has to wait!! (Score:2, Interesting)
Patrick Stewart (Score:4, Interesting)
I hope Steamboy turns out to be as good as Akira. The initial reviews are not that encouraging however due to the movie's lack of emotional depth. But the visuals are supposedly breathtaking and I will pay for that.
Will the DVD be in Japanese? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not a big anime nut, but I just get an awkward feeling when I watch anime in english.
Box office scores... (Score:4, Interesting)
It looks more like the problem is getting theaters to take the risk of showing it. If more theaters adopted these movies, they might fare better, and the difference wouldn't be as large. For example, if you divide the grossing number by the number of theaters that it was shown in, the difference isn't that significant anymore. Maybe it's just a chicken and the egg thing...
Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally, I can't stand the run-of-the-mill anime with their 'flying' backgrounds and fixed character-only-moves-his-mouth stuff. They did that to save money on the budget. GITS 2 was an incredible achievement in animation that wouldn't have been possible without some major dough.
And finally, it is hardly a fools quest to try to promote some quality entertainment into the brainless mainstream. Let's try and raise the bar.
It's going to have a tough time, because... (Score:5, Interesting)
Akira is cryptic enough that American audiences wouldn't have a problem with it. But "Steamboy" is going to be a major problem with US audiences. The title, frankly, sounds pretty fruity. Couple that with the fact that most people will initially dismiss it as a "cartoon," and you've got a recipe for failure.
The whole concept of naming things in Asian culture versus American culture is really at odds, and things that sound ok or even good in Asian languages sound absolutely hideous, sexual/pornographic (LG/Lucky Gold anyone?), or just plain silly.
Porco Rosso sounds like a kids show.
Princess Mononoke is average, nothing particularly detracting about it, but nothing to make you think either.
My neighbor Totoro / Totoro next door sound like a black and white haughty French film that's only been seen by 7 people in the world outside of Cannes.
Naussica of the Valley of the Winds - really long title that doesn't flow exactly right (too many "of"'s in there).
Ghost in the Shell - this one had potential if marketed right, but it sounds like a horror movie, and just plain wasn't promoted properly.
Perfect Blue - Sounds like the name of a good pr0n movie.
Wings of Honneamise - This sounds like flying Hollendaise sauce. Really sounds food related. The life story of Julia Childs or something, perhaps!
I know I'm missing some, those are the ones I've seen/can think of off the top of my head, and in just about every case, the name just doesn't seem to be something the average American is going to want to see. Steamboy is not going to be an exception. No matter how good the movie is, the name is going to be a HUGE turn off to people.
The studios need to have a message board where people can submit English names for these shows that are appealing to the target audience... and that audience votes on the best name. This would save a lot of marketing dollars, and also, I think, provide the title with the best possible name for the money as it were.
Eh...
Just my 2c worth
Re:Huh? (Score:4, Interesting)
But it was never a bit hit in theatres, which is what really matters as far as counting profits is concerned. Most anime, as the submitter pointed out, isn't. I don't think we're a culture of "cartoons are for kids" any longer ("Shark Tale" was probably the first American animated hit targetted at older kids and teenagers).
But anime has two things working against it in this country. First, most theatrical releases are subtitled, not dubbed, and most Americans dislike watching films in other languages when we have so many English-language films to choose from instead. (Foreign language films in general do poorly at the box office here.) And second, they're just not widely promoted -- partly because the distributors know about the no-dub-no-sales factor.
The real question to me is.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Am I the only one around here that believes a lot of those 'great' anime films are terribely shallow? Is there 'intelligent' anime out there?
Miyasaki's movies are great, I've seen just about every one released in the US. But besides one or two over movies and series ( eg. Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop ), Anime movies quite often suffer from...
Flat Characters - Eg. Isolated loner teenager
Standard Plots - Eg. Isolated loner teenager becomes empowered.
Bad Art - Eg. Static screens that hold for seconds as dialog proceeds.
Bad titilation - Eg. Half naked girls that look 15 but have supermodel bodies.
Etc, Etc.
I continue to search through those movies, hoping to find gems ( I watch a lot of film ). But not holding my breath.
Re:English Dubs (Score:1, Interesting)
I can't discern any but the most extreme swings of emotion in the Japanese voice acting, so what difference does it make? Perhaps if I understood the language I would be able to hear subtle changes in emotion. If the animation is good, I can sometimes look at characters' faces to gauge their emotions, but then I miss a line of dialog in the subtitles. Perhaps haughty otakus like yourself shouldn't just assume that your way is the best way for everyone.
Few things annoy me more than people who will not watch a movie simply because they "have to read" it.
For what it's worth, I find people who whine about dubbed anime pretty annoying, too. Every anime I've ever seen on DVD has both Japanese and English audio tracks at least, and only the Japanese one is ever encoded in anything better than stereo. What do you really have to complain about? I could understand if people who generally prefer dubs, like myself, were annoyed by poorly written or acted English dubs, like I sometimes am, but what the heck do people who prefer subtitles anyway have to complain about? (Obviously I'm ignoring the specific case of dubbed theatrical releases so I can indulge in a more general rant, and I apologize to the parent poster, who simply struck a nerve and probably doesn't deserve to be flamed.)
Re:Box Office Performance (Score:2, Interesting)
The Oscar was based mainly on the merit of the film, and fame of Miyazaki, and not any real push by Disney. Part of the reason that Disney relented to release the film in the US was that it won 1st place at the Berlin Film Festival in early 2002.
Disney did not have merchandise rights for Studio Ghibli films - just distribution rights. If you were a Disney exec and had to decide whether to push "Spirited Away" or try to get people to buy more "Lilo & Stich" toys, which would you do? This isn't a a conspiracy per se, but it does help support that a lack of marketing hurt the film's commercial success and that it was Disney's choice.
Re:English Dubs (Score:3, Interesting)
I used to be you. I used to dismiss all dubs as total crap merely because all the dubs I had heard were, in fact, total crap. And, for the most part, they are still total crap, but that doesn't mean it's all bad. As Anime slowly moves closer to main stream there are a number of vendors pushing for better quality dubs. I now find it disingenuous to dismiss them all as crap, even if the vast majority of them are.
why do foreign movies have to be dubbed?
We hear words much faster than we can read them. I also watch all my Anime subbed and on some of the dialogue heavy titles, you get content overload. I'm specifically thinking of the Ghost in the Shell series Stand Alone Complex, but there are certainly others.
The more mental cycles you spend reading, the less you can devout to admiring the artwork and noticing subtle movements. Most people don't have onboard subtitle processors, and don't see the need for one. And with the wealth of content available in their native language many fail to see any reason to learn new tricks.
Wonderful but flawed ending (Score:3, Interesting)
The movie's plot is geek heaven, being based around the age of steam and the engineers who made it happen. A key part of the film is set in the Crystal Palace [wikipedia.org] for the opening of the Great Exhibition [wikipedia.org], and it's all beautifully drawn. As others have pointed out, the climactic ending sequence is spectacular, but far too drawn out. But, regardless, this movie is a blast.
Was at the US premiere... (Score:3, Interesting)
Overall, though it was not the best thing I'd ever seen, it was quite good. Although certain stylistic touches reminiscent of Akira are present, the overall tone of the work reminded me far more of the Otomo-directed segments in Robot Carnival and Memories-- a very good thing, believe me. The story is okay, yet (pleasantly) surprisingly Miyazaki-esque (I was reminded in particular of Laputa and Kiki's Delivery Service), and some scenes, especially toward the end, are outright spectacular in their composition and sense of imagination. The use of CG in the film also brought Miyazaki to mind, as the techniques used are much the same as those employed in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
The print was crisp and the dubbing was on par with Disney's work on the Ghibli films. Sony Pictures did a great job in preparing this for American audiences, IMHO-- at least as good as their work with The Triplets of Belleville.
My only gripes about the film concern the sound mix (way too loud in certain scenes-- as in, action movie loud-- for my tastes) and some of the editing decisions (there were a few jarring cuts, and more that a few that felt way too short. Long, lingering cuts are a strong point of Otomo's; as it seems, the opposite can hold true for his short cuts).
Aside from those gripes, I enjoyed it, and one can definately see the ten years' worth of work (six spent in animation!) on the screen.
P.S.- One of the questions asked after the screening were about whether or not there would be a sequel or a spinoff TV series; Mr. Komori and Mr. Takagi would neither confirm nor deny it, only saying that there's been some discussion about it. Hmm...
Re:Was at the US premiere... (Score:2, Interesting)