T5W#84-Top 5 Live Action Movies that should be Anime

With the Ghost in the Shell Movie only a week away, after this Friday, I was given a suggestion from a friend for this weeks Top 5.  It was a reverse of recent events: If Anime can be made into live action films then why not the reverse?  This was tricky.  I think film might somewhat surpass Anime as one of my favorite pastimes.  I love going to the movies and will usually see more other than a professional film reviewer will in a year.  So choosing 5 of the hundreds (knowing me if not thousands) of movies ive seen for this list was pretty damn tough.  And I had to choose ones I thought id want to see in Anime form….have I mentioned this wasn’t easy?  Well luckily I narrowed it down and for todays T5W I offer you dear readers, My Top 5 Live Action Movies that should be Anime.

 

#5-Dune (1984)

The 1984 David Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert legendary scifi novel might not get everything…or really anything right about the source material.  It still remains a close, personal favorite film of mine for it’s atmosphere, music, cast and visuals I still associate with Dune to this day.  The world of Dune is huge, well beyond the movie.  And if the Monogatari series can crank out 50 million Anime based on the light novels, why cant Dune?  This series should have been brought to life properly long ago (who knows why SciFi Channel ditched it after two successful miniseries).  Why not in Anime form?  You could bring all of those epic battles and visual marvels (Riding freaking Sandworms through the desert) to the big screen or TV screens in a way Live Action media cannot.  Here’s hoping Studio Ufotable (Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works) decides this is worth it cause with them at the helm, Dune would look incredible.

 

#4-Alien (1979)

The Alien series has two really good movies and the rest are…so so.  For this list, im opting to go with the classic horror flick that started it all.  If it’s one thing Anime knows how to be, it’s terrifying.  And yes, thinking of making Alien an Anime does instantly make my mind go to that realm of…well what most immature people think Anime is best known for.  Hentai implications aside, Alien as an Anime could be nightmare fuel for years to come, especially if the main monster itself can be done proper justice.  The claustrophobic feel of the Nostromo’s tight corridors and air ducts, the feel of intensity as the Alien creeps in and picks off the crew one by one until only Ellen Ripley is left with minimal defense against it.  Anime can do scary and, to me, Alien is still as scary as scifi horror gets.

 

#3-Underworld Series (2003-)

If it’s two things Anime knows how to do, it’s vampires and sexy women being badasses.  Enter Underworld, a movie series that has practically been begging to be made into an Anime given how Anime like it already feels.  Vampires, Werewolves, rich lore, feuding clans, internal politics, and a drop dead gorgeous woman trapped in the middle of it all.  Some of the limitations the movies have on how the Vamps and Werewolves look could be dealt with in Anime form, hell could even add some variation how each of the warring monster clans look.  Do I even need to touch on Selene and her leather clad awesomness?  Throw in some Hellsing levels of bullets and blood and you’ve got…well a good Hellsing successor.

 

#2-The Hunger Games (2012)/Battle Royale (2000)

These both share the same spot because, let’s face it, The Hunger Games shares a lot in common with Battle Royale (especially the first movie).  If you’re going to make one into an Anime, you might as well (finally) make the other into one as well.  A savage competition between kids where the final prize is survival?  Yeah feels a lot like a set up for Gundam (hmmmm) or even recent shows like Magical Girl Raising Project.  Nevertheless, this is the kind of story that Anime was made to tell.  And it can be as brutal and heart wrenching and all out mind blowing as it wants to be (without a PG13 rating holding it back).  Battle Royale never shied away from being controversial with its premise and The Hunger Games…well did it’s own thing for a younger audience.  Anime could be a bridge between the two audiences.  If you’re with it, you’re with it.  If not, well you might be missing out.

 

#1-Pacific Rim (2013)

Granted you could go and just watch Voltron, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Rahxephon…all at once.  While Guierllmo Del Toro says otherwise, it’s hard to ignore all of the Anime and Japanese Monster Movie inspiration that went into the modern day masterpiece that wasn’t based on an Anime.  That being said…why hasn’t Pacific Rim gotten an Anime adaptation yet?  How about a prequel, showing us the heyday of Jaegers vs Kaiju that we only got a glimpse of in the movie?  Maybe a more expanded version of the story from the movie (I often think the film is basically Episodes 1-3 of an Anime before it jumps right to Episodes 25-26).  There are so many ways to go about this one and it sucks we still don’t have it yet.  Pacific Rim 2 is due out in theaters in 2018 (I think).  So why not take the opportunity to get in on an Anime tie in then huh?  With Pacific Rim we got the Live Action Anime we all wanted to see…it’s only right the film return the favor for the medium that so inspired it’s creation.