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NEWS: Paper: DiCaprio Considers SMAP for Ninja Scroll Film


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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:09 am Reply with quote
A film about Japanese people in Japan doing things from Japanese historical fiction that will feature Japanese actors, really? Who'd have thought that? He's crazy I tells ya!
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4635
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:17 am Reply with quote
I really hope this movie turns out well. Ninja Scroll feels like an anime version of Die Hard with the way Jubei gets beaten hard and still pulls it out with a combination of luck and determination.
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bahamut623



Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1463
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:26 am Reply with quote
This would be interesting to say the least. I like the idea of going with Japanese actors, although SMAP has always come across as silly to me, but hey, maybe they can pull it off.
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therealssjlink



Joined: 30 Apr 2005
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:44 am Reply with quote
I like Kimura Takuya.

I think he would make a better Samurai, but whatever.

That is all.
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yojimboray



Joined: 18 Aug 2008
Posts: 108
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:54 am Reply with quote
I am stunned, literally stunned, by this news. Thank you, Leo- I hope this turns out to be a monster hit for you and, for us anime fans, I hope this upcoming project succeeds and helps us forget the upcoming craptasticness of Dragonball: Evolution.
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Proman



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:38 am Reply with quote
In all seriousness though, did anyone actually expect the movie about Ninjas to have a lot of Caucasian people in it (I suppose that anything is possible in Hollywood but that would have been a stretch even by their standards)? I'd be more suprised if DiCaprio said something similar about the "Akira" movie.

Still, this is certainly encouraging news, though I think that casting aside it's equally important that they use a good screenwriter and a capable director.

I also have to admit that I'd be far more interested in seeing the long promised sequel than this remake.
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David.Seth



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 453
Location: near SF
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:52 am Reply with quote
Proman wrote:
In all seriousness though, did anyone actually expect the movie about Ninjas to have a lot of Caucasian people in it (I suppose that anything is possible in Hollywood but that would have been a stretch even by their standards)?


Well, Hollywood has done this kinda thing before:

they did it to Seven Samurai (which became The Magnificent Seven)

hell, in a grimace inducing performance, John Wayne played Mongol chief Temujin (aka Genghis Khan) in the Conqueror.

These are a couple examples I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. Hollywood has no problem putting white actors in what should be Asian roles. Avatar the Last Airbender anyone? Jackson Rathbone who is staring in the live action adaptation said this about playing an Asian-based character:

"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

yeah way to be sensitive ratbone.




and an honorable mention goes to Fisher Stevens (caucasian) who played a very stereo typical Indian man in Short Circuit.


edit to add bit of live action air bender


Last edited by David.Seth on Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:53 am; edited 3 times in total
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:59 am Reply with quote
So are they gonna keep the gory scenes and the spoiler[rape of Kagero?] Or are they just gonna pussyfoot around the material?
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David.Seth



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:09 am Reply with quote
I hope they keep all the blood and gore. While not really my taste now, Ninja Scroll was one of my earliest gateway animes. I watched that movie countless times. As for the spoiler[rape of Kagero], they could keep it faithful to the anime, but i wonder if they will. If it is included, maybe it will be implied rather than explicit.
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Ai no Kareshi



Joined: 13 Mar 2005
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Location: South Africa
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:12 am Reply with quote
David.Seth wrote:
and an honorable mention goes to Fisher Stevens (caucasian) who played a very stereo typical Indian man in Short Circuit.

And was hilarious doing it, by the way!

I'll always love that movie.
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David.Seth



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:15 am Reply with quote
Ai no Kareshi wrote:
David.Seth wrote:
and an honorable mention goes to Fisher Stevens (caucasian) who played a very stereo typical Indian man in Short Circuit.

And was hilarious doing it, by the way!

I'll always love that movie.



lol quite right. I LOVED those movies when I was a kid. Every time I went to my grandparents house they would put on part 1 or 2 and I would be entranced.

But that doesnt change the fact that Hollywood hasn't always treated ethnic characters with respect. Birth of a Nation, while very important in film history, is horribly racist. And all the westerns that portrayed native Americans as savages. And while its gotten better over the years, it still happens today (it seems especially with Asian and Middle Easterners).


Last edited by David.Seth on Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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Ai no Kareshi



Joined: 13 Mar 2005
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Location: South Africa
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:19 am Reply with quote
David.Seth wrote:
But that doesnt change the fact that hollywood hasn't always treated ethnic characters with respect. And while its gotten better over the years, it still happens today (especially with Asian and Middle Easterners).

Agreed, agreed. I just had to point that out. Razz

Of course, Japan has its own share of racial stereotypes in anime.
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David.Seth



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 453
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:35 am Reply with quote
lol kinda like Mitchell Gorō Tanabe from the Ping Pong Club (the American character) I loved all their jokes for him, like his horrible BO, the very hairy body, his somewhat phallic belly button ("an outie!"), not to mention that he's wearing a USA t-shirt the first time we see the character (because you know, i don't go anywhere without my USA shirt, especially when visiting other countries lol).
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:33 am Reply with quote
Cool. Ninja Scroll is the only one of the numerous upcoming anime adaptations that I think really needs a Japanese cast. I can see the others working still as reasonably faithful adaptations even with an American cast but not Ninja Scroll. To work Ninja Scroll needs to be set in Japan with a Japanese cast.
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:18 am Reply with quote
David.Seth wrote:
Hollywood has no problem putting white actors in what should be Asian roles. Avatar the Last Airbender anyone?


Ugh, I may never get over that. Sad
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