Post
by Rorschach » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:04 am
Live-action Cowboy Bebop: now there's an interesting idea. Only problem is, if Hollywood does it, it WILL screw it up.
What makes Cowboy Bebop a good anime is not the special effects, which are pretty standard stuff, but the story, which is not. If Hollywood wanted to make a success out of Cowboy Bebop, it would have to hire the original Japanese writer and let him work, free from the restraints of Hollywood politics. Sadly, such is highly unlikely to happen, especially if it happens to be in an election year.
The great thing about Cowboy Bebop is that it has Star Trek special effects without Star Trek's politics or worldview; there's no utopian dream here, only a world filled with fairly advanced machinery and people a lot like the ones we've got right now. It's also a world absolutely devoid of gun control, filled with smokers (Spike, especially), and mildly unfriendly to environmentalism and all forms of big government.
Imagine how that would play with Barbara Streisand, Sean Penn, and Alec Baldwin, just to name a few! Arnold Schwartzenegger's about the only Hollywood politician (and actor) I can imagine fitting in very well with a Cowboy Bebop flick. Him, and Mel Gibson (who's more an Australian actor anyway, and I can't really see where he'd fit in at his age, though I think he could have played Spike back in his early Mad Max days).
So basically, unless this idea for a live-action Cowboy Bebop gets punted to an independent studio, and directed and produced by an apolitical or libertarian crew with new actors, it'll be a flop.