Battleangel

I wonder, can he pull this off or not? I’ve been over this many times before but always come to the conclusion that Cameron had lost his mind and that all the rest was just rumours. Now it turns out that Ain’t It Cool News wasn’t so far off in their prediction (for once). It has been widely known in anime circles that this project has been brewing for almost a decade.

I still haven’t seen any conclusive evidence to point to an actual production movie though. Apparently, it will have to wait until 2006 or 2007 just to make sure that the technology to view the damn thing (in digital 3D) will be available. The debate is still ongoing whether you’ll need 3D glasses or if someone just got the quote wrong. The claim is that as long as you have a digital cinema you can view the movie as 2D. Sounds great in theory even though I have never seen digital cinema first hand. I for one don’t see this happening. At least not where I live, digital cinema has had an extremely limited breakthrough so far. And I don’t see it happening in my “home cinema” setup either. Unless Cameron has some considerable knowledge that I don’t it all seems too much like an amusement park attraction of sorts. There is no way that 3D, stereo vision, would contribute to the story in any way and it will produce an awkward gap in technology. It’s strange perhaps to hear me oppose the use of technology but I am just concerned that the soul of the project will be lost to special effects and the fancy to break new cinema ground.

It’s strange though that I find no info on Kishiro Yukito’s official site about this. Obviously, he if anyone should know what is going on. The rumour still has it that the last time Cameron approached Kishiro for a movie he was turned down. And for good reason I imagine. I wouldn’t want my dream trampled upon by Hollywood either. Must have been right after Titanic also which sent most tech geeks running, cursing and screaming.
IMDB is not so helpful either. It currently lists the same old Untitled James Cameron Project (2006) as it has for a year now. That will probably change once the movie enters pre-production I guess but it’s still fishy imo.
Also the selective choice of CG characters deserves a mentioning. Apparently the main character, Gally / Yoko / Alita (in order of preferability) will be ALL computer generated. And while some might object it’s not such a bad idea really. I mean, while human in appearance, Gally does have features that are unlike any human’s. Doing the cosmetics and prosthetics for some actress would be no less task than to make a CG character. In this area I’m much more confident in the use of technology and the CG characters to date have convinced at least me that it’s the way to go. It does alleviate one major hurdle for the movie since a bunch of shallow actresses wont have to fall over themselves to don the mostly skin tight apparel that Gally wears. Not to say that a CG character wont spark the same sensation of attraction and sexiness. But I find that women, in particular in big budget Hollywood productions, have a tendency to play more on their appearance than on their talent. Maybe they have no talent to begin with but I’d guess it’s more an issue of social expectations. Not only they themselves, but also the studios, want an image that often conflicts with the philosophy of the movie in question. Maybe I’m overreacting here and maybe I have another Cameron project fresh in memory. But the danger is real, and in a world like that of Gunnm, it MUST NOT happen.
The prospects are endless. If this really does happen we will no doubt see toys, computer games and god knows what in the image of Gally and her world. This will be a frenzy for some Regardless if it flops or not.