MovieChat Forums > Shingeki no kyojin (2015) Discussion > Director and Modelling Director rants

Director and Modelling Director rants

posted 10 years ago by parknourie
6 replies | jump to latest

As you probably know already this movie has taken quite a beating from the critics in Japan.

More unfortunate is the makers' reaction to the critical panning.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-08-03/live-action-attack-on-titan-modeling-director-has-choice-words-for-critics/.91208

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/attack-on-titan/bad-reviews-critics-reaction/

Here's some quotes:

Modelling Director

Everyone says Hollywood movies are great! Well, then they can go right ahead and watch nothing but Hollywood movies! Movies with high budgets and a lot of advanced techniques are great, aren’t they? Especially movies with high budgets! You should watch movies that have been hit in the face with stacks of cash! People who like to compare Hollywood and Japanese movies really enjoy that sort of thing, right?

I’m sorry, but deciding what movies to see based on their budget, and comparing everything to Hollywood, that’s like how some people feel secure buying Okame natto [one of the most popular brands of natto in Japan] when they go to the supermarket.They have that absolutist ideology where if everyone says it’s good, they believe it’s good too. I think I’ve got it now, Thanks!

Director

Awesome! I had no idea what I’d do if the great-teacher movie critic actually praised us, so I feel so relieved now. Er, what I meant to say is, who’s the idiot who gave this guy an early release of the film?!

One of the critics' review that angered the director:

The only character who gets away with being funny while acting stupid is Hans...all the other characters, the story, and the direction is just as stupid as she is” and "I wished the titans would eat the kids so the movie would just end

Reading this I kind of feel bad for the director but then again, he made it and it doesn't look too promising based on the trailers.
I am extremely worried for the film's sequel.
But oh well. Let this be a lesson.

[–] Giraffe_Monster 10 years ago

They only have themselves to blame, it's their own damn fault for completely re-writing the story, characters, settings, etc.

I mean, what the hell were they expecting? I honestly don't understand, they know that both the manga and the anime are very successful, there are millions of fans already worldwide, why rape the source material in such a dumb way? To make a few extra bucks?

That's just stupid. It's their loss, but then again pretty much everyone saw this coming.

Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

[–] parknourie 10 years ago

You are absolutely right.
This rant reminds me of Kevin Smith's stupid rant against the critics with his movie Cop Out.
I thought that was a bad decision. And now this movie has two key makers going at it.

[–] Giraffe_Monster 10 years ago

Yeah x)
Also, this bit:

Everyone says Hollywood movies are great! Well, then they can go right ahead and watch nothing but Hollywood movies! Movies with high budgets and a lot of advanced techniques are great, aren’t they? Especially movies with high budgets! You should watch movies that have been hit in the face with stacks of cash! People who like to compare Hollywood and Japanese movies really enjoy that sort of thing, right?

It's funny because I just watched this (below) today, and I think it's extremely appropriate:

http://io9.com/maybe-its-the-movies-that-suck-not-the-cg-visual-effec-1722284505

Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

[–] dougo13-587-139884 10 years ago

But according to the director, the original author gave them the idea to do the film any way they wanted:

"Question: Some of the most significant changes we've seen in the trailer so far is that the cast is all Japanese. And that is very different from the original in that Mikasa was the only Asian person left alive. So what were the thoughts behind changing all that and making it just the Japanese cast this time?

Higuchi: Because I am Japanese and I can direct only in Japanese, when that happens the actors are usually Japanese.

<laughter>

Interpreter: That's just a joke only, the producer is going to add the real thing. Our producer adds…

Yamauchi: This story goes back to the Fall of 2012, when TOHO acquired the rights to the original manga. Mr. Isayama, who is the original creator, clearly stated to us that he didn't really want us to mind the setting in the original manga that much. The only thing that he wanted to have us keep true was the world in which these giant titans eat humans. That was really the extent to which he wanted us to stay true to the manga. So he said "feel free to make whatever you can and make it something that is interesting and that is something that only live action could do. Mr Higuchi, make it your own thing." Mr. Isayama was very much involved with the creative process as well. Anyway, with his blessing we sort of felt free to take some liberties with the original manga."

If so, that was a pretty dumb idea IMO.

[–] Giraffe_Monster 10 years ago

The only thing that he wanted to have us keep true was the world in which these giant titans eat humans.

And one of the things they did was completely re-locate the setting to an alternate universe - where our technology, IRL, existed before the Titans appeared, I mean they even have rocket launchers ffs, no such thing was ever shown in the source material - so that audiences could be more "familiar" with it, as opposed to just doing something that's reminiscent of the manga/anime.

What a bunch of-

Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

[–] parknourie 10 years ago

It really takes away the intrigue and well-structured World the original manga had.
Pretty disappointing that Isayama was very enthusiastic about all this.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw the posters of this movie which had Hange holding a rocket launcher like a newborn baby.
And one of the other posters had a chubby dude with a giant axe. Is he trying to locate a giant beanstalk and chop it down?

What we basically have here is a generic monster movie with seriously average special effects.