The questions asked in the manga are about humanity, and what it is. If you are almost all machine, are you still human, if you are mostly organic but have a mechanical brain, are you a human then? If you all organic but have no humanity, are you human? If you are all machine but have compasion and humanity, are you a human now? There are more questions asked and themes explored, the more you dive into the story. The movie was VERY condensed, and perhaps some things are somewhat heavy handed, but seeing Alita in live action was worth it. (PS. The Manga is VERY popular and infuential)
Ghost in the Shell asked the same questions. Some of it is Ship of Theseus philosophy. If you have no original parts of yourself left, are you still you, or a completely new person? Is your soul part of you? Does the soul exist? Etc.
This is a question much older than you may think. I am a Christian (Pentecostal), with a 'classical education' - But ignore that for a moment. Consider, biblically Adam and Eve were the first two *humans.* But when they left Eden there were others. God defined human as "body", "soul", "spirit" _(the mind is the non corporeal part of the body)._ Since God imparted the "spirit" into Adam and Eve that made them _complete_ "humans" in His eyes. Anyone else, like those outside of Eden, were "Body" and "Soul" and in Gods eyes were not fully complete at that time. So the idea of defining what is, and what is not "human" is a very, very old one. _Peace._ _(BTW, I personally have no issues with evolution, but that is not the topic here.)_
Fun fact - The director, Robert Rodriguez, makes his own chocolate. There's a "making-of" video out there where he shows how he does it. The chocolate bar Alita tries in the market is one of his.
The reason why there's so much lore and world building is that the Manga it's based on was pretty substantial, with several spin-offs and sequels, so they had a lot to work with.
9:48: that’s how her face is in the manga. This was James Cameron’s first attempt at making a live action film adaptation of a manga/anime; which was something he always wanted to do. They are legitimately trying to live action the hand drawn animation style of a manga/anime character, which is why Alita specifically looks so weird but good-- the anime character design troupe you know, the large eyes, heart shaped/cat shaped face(for female characters)…it was a deliberate artistic and aesthetic style choice for Alita character design true as possible to the character
It doesn't make sense. If they wanted to follow the japanese art style where the eyes are an important part of the character's personality - then why didn't they make small and big eyes for everyone? In manga and anime it only works because all characters have a similar style, so huge or tiny eyes do not stand out. But here she's the only one with such deformed eyes and it doesn't make any sense. It looks pointless and superfluous.
@@wakkadakka9192 because in the Manga she's specifically described as Doll like, as if her specific anime eyes are notable and exceptional in her context. In the movie this ends up working to hint that she is indeed URM/Martian, with the explanation being that these proportions are common for Martians, probably because of genetic adaptation to less light and gravity.
@@ravissary79 that doesn't hold up when there are a lot of other characters with very similar characteristics (e.g. large eyes) which do not get exemplified in any other character; Ido is supposed to have this gigantic chin but Waltz's looks pretty normal. There are means by which you can showcase a 'doll-like' characteristic and IIRC the director went this direction specifically because he wanted to emulate the large eyes of the manga, which again doesn't float well because she's the only one who has them. Robotic parts don't evolve to adapt to light and gravity, her entire body aside from her brain is synthetic and manufactured so there's zero reason why she should have large eyes because of an environmental adaptation.
@cobaltplasma it holds up perfectly fine if you paid attention to what i said about her being doll-like. You're confusing drawn style with in-universe reality. In the Manga, Ido is a normal human, not a chin mutant. He has a big chin because Manga isn't drawn with slavishly untra realistic faces. So go by the WORDS is something us exceptional. No one is the story acts like Ido is exceptional looking except his forehead symbol (not in the movie). But people DO react to Alita. And like i said, she ISN'T normal in the plot either: she's a Martian total body replacement cyborg. This means there's room for interpretation fir how much of her stylized look can be depicted in a less mundane way in "live action". Thos allowed Cameron to play with the idea tgat her distinctive visual style could be appropriated in live action with the in-universe explanation of her origins as the reason. And no, she's not the only character with an abnormal face. Both the mantis-blade armed murderer and Gruishka, both have highly misshapen faces due to augmentation. And in the case of Zapan, it's hinted that this isn't a natural face either, as she says he spends on his money on his face. When she cuts his face off its clear that underneath it was am almost totally cyborg skeletal structure with a fleshy tongue but covered in a high quality life-like face. Essentially he payed a lot to look normal. For the sake of cost vs technology, it doesn't make sense to mocap half of the cast if prosthetics will do. It means only she and her former comrades in flashbacks needed to be mocapped in this specific way. (Though obviously, Gruishka was as well). Ultimately it aids the world building to utilize the Manga style in this way.
The interesting trivia bit you didn't get....Cameron had the rights to Alita for decades but he didn't want to make it until the tech was right to do it justice, we got Avatar as his proof of concept for the tech he wanted to use for Alita
During all that time spent not doing it he instead for some reason also made a TV-series with Jessica Alba that was even more loosely based on this story.
They are being worked on still, AFAIK the last thing Cameron and Rodreguiz have said is that the script(s) are done and they are going to be made still. The last news was in March of this year if I remember.
I saw in an interview or something that James Cameron really loves that franchise and he'll definitely make more, I hope he does coz I really enjoyed this film
This movie surprised the hell out of me with how good it is. The fact that Ed Skrein is in it as a villain is pretty awesome. especially after seeing him in the first Deadpool movie as the main villain, Ajax AKA Francis.
As a long time fan of the manga I'm so happy we got this movie. It's not perfect and we might never get a sequel but some love for Alita is always nice.
Gotta say it was surprising it was even as good as it was. Considering Hollywoods very bad history of adapting Manga or pretty much anything from Japan entertainment media into an American film
@@shadowphoenix1696 Yeah, I was shocked by how great a movie it is! Considering that, yes, you're right, there is a LONG LIST of horribly adapted movies/TV shows that try so hard to "Americanize" Japanese comic lore (Netflix's godawful "Cowboy Bebop" adaptation is only the most recent). James Cameron is definitely a different sort of breed from other Hollywood creators.
Fun fact: This movie actually began when Guillermo Del Toro showed his friend James Cameron the manga for Battle Angel Alita. (Both met in Del Toro's directorial debut "Cronos" and Cameron helped with a ransom when Del Toro's father was kidnapped in 1997. Yes this happened). James Cameron was so enamored by this manga, he began development for a film Avatar, which would be a testing ground to create a belivable cgi character & world. (Yes. The Avatar movie series wouldnt exist without Alita.) Of course Cameron would step down as director being too busy with his Avatar film series, but was still determined to have the film completed. He would then pass the reigns to Robert Rodriguez and continue Alita as its producer.
too bad he left the movie to someone else and they fucked up hard, the movie is nearly an insult to the manga, so much cut content and so many ruined characters
11:34 - as many people pointed out its from a manga, but the reason why it feels YA is because the script was literally written in the 90's. This is an abandoned James Cameron project from back then and that's why its full of so many 90's tropes (which now feel very YA).
It made $400 million on a budget of between $150 and $200 million. After advertising and the theaters' take, it probably didn't break even. If it had a made a billion, we would have had two sequels by now.
Yeah, sadly it was not a commercial success. I don't know exactly why. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It did suffer a bit from that whole setting-up-another-movie thing. That so rarely works. If you want a franchise you need to complete one story in full with a satisfying ending, and then leave open the possibility of more. Imagine if in Star Wars, they didn't blow up the Death Star and have the medal awarding ceremony at the end, but ended it with Luke taking off from the moon in his X-Wing instead. That's basically what they did here.
@@fakecubed I think it's more to do with her eyes. Before the movie came out, the majority of what I heard people talk about was how her eyes freaked them out. Not enough people went to see it to make it worth making another.
Coincidentally, Zapan is portrayed by Ed Skein... aka "Francis" in the Deadpool movie. And yes, there is plenty of material after they try to get to Zalem; among other things, there's the entire "Final Order" story arc. Too bad they'll probably never make the sequel, despite setting us up for it in this movie.
A great reason for the face of Alita being slightly off is to help maintain that 'uncanny valley' feeling that makes you question her humanity. Along with being more true to the source material. It does work really well in maintaining that feel of alienness
I don't think I ever really questioned her humanity. She's way too sweet for that. lol The uncanny valley vibe was gone pretty quickly too, probably also thanks to her wholesome character and her actresses work.
This movie was awesome, especially for a live-action adaptation of the popular manga but most importantly the way they made Rosa Salazar look like Alita from the Manga was perfect!
All the characters in the manga have big eyes, it's simply the art style of the book (and of many other manga/anime). I think the filmmakers took that aspect far too literally.
Yes, but the originals design is actually very light on the common "expressive eyes" of other series. And the main character actually does not have massive alien eyes "because reason". Compare her to comic Hugo here: www.cridutroll.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/hugo.jpg
@@Rocket1377 Mars is further from the Sun, and thus has a lower general level of illumination. Larger eyes for Martian characters makes sense from a technical standpoint.
George - I wonder if, someday, we'll have enhancements for facial features to this extent; like we can have eyes THAT huge? Ella Purnell - Am I a joke to you?
I read the manga long ago. It was crazy. One of the bits that I still remember was a motorball champion with a stereotypical viking horned helmet. His fans would hold their hands out through the fence and he'd chop them off and stick the hands on the helmet spikes before winning races.
I saw this in the theater, I really enjoyed it, but i will never understand why so many science fiction writers keep insisting rollerball will be the biggest thing in future sports. I just don't see that happening. Also, this feels like it should have been spread out over two or three movies instead of packing all of it into one.
Greatest sci-fi manga ever made, the sequel spin-off is silly fun, the prequel threequel is peak. The movie is more based on the OVA from the 90s, which leads to the massive video game direction. buy the big deluxe edition collection George, you know you need it. Ed Norton is INSANE casting. Hopefully this trilogy will be finished.
Rosa Salazar did such a great job in portraying Alita, she won all our hearts. She read some of the books to learn the character, and she even hugged Yukito Kishiro the creator of the Manga when he visited the set, the chocolate was made by Robert Rodriguez. And it the Manga the dog saves Alita and lives a long and happy life. The film follows the two episode Anime , but lot of the dialogue is taken from the Manga. I love this movie so much that i have all the Manga s. And still reading bthe current Mars Chronicles, following Our girl as a 3 year old orphan on Mars.
29:40 Ahhh, the 90's anime OVA showed the puppy getting sliced apart. Really gruesome! But man such a good anime, shame it was only a 2-part OVA. The manga is so good too I only wished they animated more of it! They did a fairly good job with this movie, pretty much telling the same story as the anime did but adding a few more details from the manga. There's a lot to unpack, lore-wise.
Agreed. They did a great job with the origin story, and laid the foundation for a sequel. Not sure if the movie did well enough at the box office to justify a sequel for the studios. We can always hope
@@slimmccoy8863It didn't, unfortunately. There was a movement among fans to try and get everyone they could to get it on Blu-ray when it came out, in the hopes that the sales would convince the studio to go ahead with a sequel
James Cameron did a TV series called "Dark Angel" in 2000 that went 2 seasons with Jessica Alba as a genetically enhanced superhuman prototype, the show is ironically set in 2019.
I'm in my 60's. I've never been much of a reader of comics, graphic novels (except for Alan Moore) and then later manga, but I found this movie utterly engrossing. It led to me seeking out the manga and delving into the really well-developed world in the series and its spin-offs.
So glad you two reacted to this, one of my favorite movies. Simone looks awesome as Alita. :D Reading the comments, people have said most of what I was going to say anyway. Thank god for good people with more time than me.
If you're curious about the source material, there's a manga, an anime, a Playstation 1 game, and a couple of novels. If you want to know how Mars lost the war if they had an army of Kunstlers with Berserker bodies? Earth had one 500 year old vampire, and SHE knows kung fu.
The battle Angel setting is very well adapted to role playing. A city of scraps and refugees with almost no laws... but there is a powerful hidden overlord who just puts bounties on anyone who commits murder. The player characters become hunter warriors.
Love this movie. Few things in movies has made me tear up more often than watching Alita discover herself, from the moment she opens her eyes to the moment she raises her sword to Zalem.
Just to add some information where this movie differs from the original manga. -Dyson Ido does the bounty hunting not only to pay for the expenses of the clinic, but also for the thrill of the kill. -Alita was named after Ido's dead cat -Alitas first body was originally designed for Ido's daughter who was murdered 5 years prior age 12. -> Alita's first body was that of a twelve year old. Her second body (the first shown in the movie) belonged to a murdered prostitute. -Hugo is 12 years old and obsessed of getting into Zalem. He is Alitas first (unrequited) love and doesn't really have a clue that she loves him. No sexual tension there whatsoever. -Iron City is actually made from Zalems junk and thus looks much more industrial and not like a meditaranean village. -the berserker body wasn't found by Alita it was in Ido's posession. And he strongly disagreed to give her this body as he wanted her to remain innocent. There's loads more, but these are some of the main differences that i currently remember.
Yeah, a complete list would be a very long one indeed..🐈⬛ -The main brute antagonist does not have a full pit stop and tech support team. -He has no contact whatsoever with Nova. -He does not enjoy the pain at all. Especially not that elbow deep to the eye pain, lols.😹 -He is the completely redesigned mhe character from the animation rather than the original for some reason. -He gets his way more high tech slicers himself, from the champion of another sport that isn't even in the movie. Which is also one of the more obvious inconsistencies in the movie.
I’m so happy y’all reacted to this. This movie is extremely underrated and definitely should have gotten a sequel. I also think Rosa Salazar is great in this (there’s some cool behind the scenes features of the amount of work she did getting the motion capture work right for this character). And Christoph Waltz is excellent as always.
First volume of Alita/GUNM I read was the one immediately after this film's events. Fun fact: Alita bares some striking similarities to Street Fighter's Cammy, another amnesiac soldier with a doll-like face, who was created during the initial run of the manga.
This is from a truly amazing, very long lasting manga, still going on, spanning ages, and lifetime of Alita. 35+ volumes. Let's say this movie is the introduction, first 2-3 original volumes.
Given that the first one lost money (esp. given the marketing costs), I still doubt it. I mean, if it happens, great, but I'm staying cautious. (Yes, the gross is higher than the production costs, but it's gross, not net. About 50% of ticket prices go to the studio on average, and for China it's closer to 30%).
@@Argumemnon Even if it broke even, nobody invests $200 million to get a return of $200 million after many years. Opportunity cost always has to be factored in.
I adore the manga & anime for this character and world. When this movie came out I saw it four times at the cinema. - the film makers were hoping to make two movies, hence the open ending feel. That being said; the main antagonist for Alita was herself. In that she had to learn that no matter how powerful she seems she can still loose people she holds dear. - the movie is a mash up of mainly two books with think like motorball added later - although the drawing style is from anima/manga believe the canon for the large eyes is due to URM being on Mars, so technically less light aka larger eyes to see in low light - why they attacking from ground? Never attack an enemy from one angle. Distract with your main force while you send a small squad in to make a mess of things - one criticism I’ve seen before is why does Alita know how clothes work but didn’t know how to eat an orange…. Well, clothing is fairly universal and she is from Mars, how the hell is she to know what an orange is?! It’s a massive world and I’m impressed that Rodriguez was able to bring some life into it. Unfortunately it didn’t do as well as Fox wanted, so the second movie has been scrapped, and seeing Disney doesn’t appear to be interested this seems to be a one and done. Enjoyed your reaction from Vancouver Island!
Yukito Kishiro, the original manga artist, has been doing the manga for about 30 years now - and even with the occasional long break for health issues - there's a LOT Of material to continue the story with. Nobody knows how much longer Kishiro wants to keep doing the story. But manga artists - when they get a successful series like this going, tend to continue for a LONG time. Some have spent 40+ years on a single story.
Battle Angel Alita is James Cameron's dream project. In the early 2000s, he tried out the same premise and setting with his "Dark Angel" series citing that the only reason he wouldn't adapt it at the time was due to SFX not being up to his standard that he wanted to see Alita in. Dark Angel is a great series that is sadly lost in time. DVDs are expensive and the high seas are spotty, if not risky.
The problem with making a movie solely built to kickoff sequels is by leaving so many plot points unresolved, you risk having a film that people don't like, thus sabotaging your chances of having the sequels you were banking on.
Noice! This is such a great movie, and unlike some other franchises that never seem to end, truly deserving of a sequel or two. Y'all have saved Monday (no easy feat), Cheers. 🥃
Rosa Salazar (Alita) is an amazing actress, after watching this movie I looked up other things she had done and there is a miniseries called "Undone" on Netflix where she plays a teacher who discovers she has the power to control space/time. Or is she mentally ill? It is a wild ride, and the whole thing is Rotascoped, where the film is redrawn and then animated, giving it a otherworldly feel.
wow such a nice suprise this was to appear on my notification. my favorite movie nerds reacting to a beautiful adaptation of a classic manga. its a good day.
my head-cannon is that the large eyes came about as an advantage for space-faring robo folk to better see over extreme distances. space is called 'the expanse' for a reason!
Despite playing fast and loose with the original manga I just can't help but love this film. It managed to live up to the hype for me after literally years of waiting.
Best manga/anime to movie versions, along with Oldboy, Ichi The Killer, and Edge of Tomorrow. It feels like a franchise because it is mostly faithful to the source material which comprises of many volumes, adapting 2 out of over 20 vols. (motorball should have happened the next volume but I guess it fits well the way they did the movie script). The first series ends in 9 volumes, where the author rushed the ending thinking he was not going to make it out of his bad health, but he got cured and the continuation starts of from half of the original series, to the second series, Last Order, which comprises of 19 vols. A new series entitled Mars Chronicles is currently ongoing, about Alita's backstory.
It sucks but the dog was the motivation for McTeague. You see he can't be bothered during any part of the bar fight but once Grewishka hurts a dog he stands up and gets involved. I get it. Usually no faster way to take me out of a movie but this wasn't to make us hate Grewishka. It was to make McTeague hate him enough to stand up when there is no bounty involved. He even says "He wasn't a dog lover." EDIT: Rodriguez =/= Del Toro and Del Toro =/= the origin of the grinder trope.
One-wheeled vehicles turn by leaning to one side so it's riding on the side of the wheel. Steering on a Onewheel is just like steering on a skateboard or a snowboard. Think about when a ring is rolling along and when it starts to fall over it turns and devolves into chasing itself in a circle of equal radius as it approaches being horizontal.
WHAT?! I'm not just some lowly YA crap, you guys!! A MANGA, I'm based off a glorious cyberpunk MANGA! 🤣🤣🤣 And yes, I recommend you read it! The movie, which is one of the best manga/anime adaptation ever made IMHO, covers roughly the first 3 books (out of 9, of the original series - there 3 series). So yeah, this was meant to be a trilogy. I hope we get to see it made!
I like how Altita can be a superhero as a woman yet can retain her femininity and heart. She doesn't try to be a cold person that doesn't need or care about anyone, like most recent Hollywood female characters.
You guys really should read the manga this movie is based on. It's such a hugely epic thing and this movie only barely scratches the surface of what it is. And I LOVE this movie, I can't believe it got made at all!!! But the story is so much deeper and complicated and beautiful and terrifying than what they got to do here.
Best anime/manga adaptation of it's time. The movie is pretty much frame for frame to the anime which is a classic, but they added a lot of depth that just worked for me personally. I fell in love the first time I saw it. Helps that it has a fantastic cast.
Even if the franchise didn't happen, it covered quite a few of the manga in a very effective and touching fashion. The bounty hunter reveal storyline, the motorball storyline, the climbing to Zalem storyline all included. And it was done with a terrific cast and enough money to make it a spectacle. Maybe if you'd read the manga first, George, you could have appreciated it 100%.
9:47 "I'm not sure what I feel about the deliberate fake face" She's just supposed to have a normal human face in a comic where everyone's face is drawn that way, but one of the pre-production concept artists, almost as a joke, did a rendering of her as if someone tried to make an anime face for real, and Robert Rodriguez loved it. Yukito Kishiro, the original manga artist was somewhat mystified by the decision the first time he saw it, but said it grew on him.
Alita was released in theatres on Feb. 14, 2019 three weeks before Captain Marvel on Mar. 8th with Avengers: Endgame on its heels on Apr. 26. Obviously, the anticipation for "the next MCU movie" was palpable at that time. Here's my head canon about what happened with Alita: Battle Angel: The MCU fandom's lukewarm reception of Captain Marvel, after so much hype, likely caused a lot of people to forget Alita was even around--even though reviews from people who DID see Alita were encouraging people to go see it. In perfect hindsight fashion, if Alita had released three weeks *after* Captain Marvel, with James Cameron's name associated with it, I feel it would've had a better box office and we wouldn't have to work so hard to convince them to make a 2nd one. 👍
"Is this from YA novel?" If by that you mean legendary manga series and anime then yes 😂 I think why Alita has that 'augmented' face is because they want to made her closer to the manga/anime visage.
@@MakotoAtava Critics have no impact whatsoever on Hollywood's decision-making. Critics only matter so much as they drive audiences to or away from the movie theaters, and how that impacts the profitability of a film.
The cast in this was fantastic. Not just the leads Rosa Salazar (Alita) and Christoph Waltz (Ido) but all the different characters. A few to note that you may not have recognised - Jennifer Connelly (from 'Top Gun: Maverick' & Labyrinth') as Chiren (Ido's ex-wife) Mahershala Ali (MCUs new 'Blade') as Vector Ed Skrein (Francis from 'Deadpool') as Zapan (hunter who's face was cut off) Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from 'Watchmen') as Grewishka (uber-built bad guy who's eye was gouged by Alita's arm) Casper Van Dien (from 'Sleepy Hollow' & 'Starship Trooper' movies) as Amok (one of Zapan's cronies) Edward Norton (from 'Fight Club' & 'Incredible Hulk') as Nova There's a much-deserved sequel in the works to continue the story and the world building. The graphic novel this is based on is vast, with numerous spin-offs and additions over the years. And while I'm at it, please react to 2017s 'Ghost in the Shell' with Scarlett Johansson - another anime-based graphic novel live-action adaptation that I feel doesn't get the love it deserves.
This fairly closely follows the anime movie (which is on youtubes) which is a very abreviated story from bits taken from the manga (which is huge and ongoing). Look for videos of Ugi, the Mongolian/American contortionist performer who did the mocap for the handstand. She makes it look that easy. Look for the easter egg where the dog lives! Ed Skrein and Kaeen Johnson have a lot of time together leading major parts, in "Midway", playing US Navy fliers in the 1940s war.
There is an anime adaptation of this from 1993. it apparently didn't do well and ended up getting cancelled. the irony of it is, the anime and this movie end at practically the same point. so this feels like a live action version of that (even tho it was based on the manga, not the anime)
Regarding the ending, they really didn't have much of a choice: long running manga like Battle Angel Alita can't possibly be resolved in a single film. I think they did a remarkably good job given the circumstances.
George, this reminds you of Cyberpunk 2077 so much because they are almost the same story. 2:56 Dr. Ido is a ripperdoc. 11:54 Zapan is a 'Saka Ninja 22:04 Hugo and his group are Scavs 26:27 Kansas, the place for bounty hunters, is The Afterlife Vector and Chiren are your average Corpo Scum
This is one of those movies that i ended up enjoying a lot more than I would. In fact I still use my Alita: Battle Angel virtual membership card for Regal cinemas.
Rosa Salazar is so good. It's probably a long shot but Brand New Cherry Flavor and Undone are great shows she's done that I'd love to see someone react to.
The questions asked in the manga are about humanity, and what it is. If you are almost all machine, are you still human, if you are mostly organic but have a mechanical brain, are you a human then? If you all organic but have no humanity, are you human? If you are all machine but have compasion and humanity, are you a human now? There are more questions asked and themes explored, the more you dive into the story. The movie was VERY condensed, and perhaps some things are somewhat heavy handed, but seeing Alita in live action was worth it. (PS. The Manga is VERY popular and infuential)
Starting to read the Manga. First time I saw anything about Alita was the old anime.
James Cameron being heavy handed? Truly shocking.
Ghost in the Shell asked the same questions. Some of it is Ship of Theseus philosophy. If you have no original parts of yourself left, are you still you, or a completely new person? Is your soul part of you? Does the soul exist? Etc.
Transhumanism.
This is a question much older than you may think. I am a Christian (Pentecostal), with a 'classical education' - But ignore that for a moment. Consider, biblically Adam and Eve were the first two *humans.* But when they left Eden there were others. God defined human as "body", "soul", "spirit" _(the mind is the non corporeal part of the body)._ Since God imparted the "spirit" into Adam and Eve that made them _complete_ "humans" in His eyes. Anyone else, like those outside of Eden, were "Body" and "Soul" and in Gods eyes were not fully complete at that time.
So the idea of defining what is, and what is not "human" is a very, very old one.
_Peace._ _(BTW, I personally have no issues with evolution, but that is not the topic here.)_
Fun fact - The director, Robert Rodriguez, makes his own chocolate. There's a "making-of" video out there where he shows how he does it. The chocolate bar Alita tries in the market is one of his.
i have the blu-ray, it's one of the bonus features
I can't watch that scene in this movie without CRAVING CHOCOLATE afterwards! lol
The reason why there's so much lore and world building is that the Manga it's based on was pretty substantial, with several spin-offs and sequels, so they had a lot to work with.
'Pretty substantial' is an understatement. 38 volumes and counting so far.
had :(
The thing is that this movie really only covers chunks of the first volume and the very very beginning of the second with tons of content left out
@@evilscary So far? Don't tell me it's still going. I read the manga when I was a teenager! I need to get back into it.
@@paffles6696 It's currently going into the years of Alita's childhood years and how she became what she is.
9:48: that’s how her face is in the manga. This was James Cameron’s first attempt at making a live action film adaptation of a manga/anime; which was something he always wanted to do. They are legitimately trying to live action the hand drawn animation style of a manga/anime character, which is why Alita specifically looks so weird but good-- the anime character design troupe you know, the large eyes, heart shaped/cat shaped face(for female characters)…it was a deliberate artistic and aesthetic style choice for Alita character design true as possible to the character
In battle Angel it's intentional the manga author wanted the contrast of a super warrior that looked like a doll.
It doesn't make sense.
If they wanted to follow the japanese art style where the eyes are an important part of the character's personality - then why didn't they make small and big eyes for everyone?
In manga and anime it only works because all characters have a similar style, so huge or tiny eyes do not stand out.
But here she's the only one with such deformed eyes and it doesn't make any sense. It looks pointless and superfluous.
@@wakkadakka9192 because in the Manga she's specifically described as Doll like, as if her specific anime eyes are notable and exceptional in her context.
In the movie this ends up working to hint that she is indeed URM/Martian, with the explanation being that these proportions are common for Martians, probably because of genetic adaptation to less light and gravity.
@@ravissary79 that doesn't hold up when there are a lot of other characters with very similar characteristics (e.g. large eyes) which do not get exemplified in any other character; Ido is supposed to have this gigantic chin but Waltz's looks pretty normal. There are means by which you can showcase a 'doll-like' characteristic and IIRC the director went this direction specifically because he wanted to emulate the large eyes of the manga, which again doesn't float well because she's the only one who has them.
Robotic parts don't evolve to adapt to light and gravity, her entire body aside from her brain is synthetic and manufactured so there's zero reason why she should have large eyes because of an environmental adaptation.
@cobaltplasma it holds up perfectly fine if you paid attention to what i said about her being doll-like.
You're confusing drawn style with in-universe reality.
In the Manga, Ido is a normal human, not a chin mutant. He has a big chin because Manga isn't drawn with slavishly untra realistic faces. So go by the WORDS is something us exceptional.
No one is the story acts like Ido is exceptional looking except his forehead symbol (not in the movie).
But people DO react to Alita. And like i said, she ISN'T normal in the plot either: she's a Martian total body replacement cyborg.
This means there's room for interpretation fir how much of her stylized look can be depicted in a less mundane way in "live action".
Thos allowed Cameron to play with the idea tgat her distinctive visual style could be appropriated in live action with the in-universe explanation of her origins as the reason.
And no, she's not the only character with an abnormal face. Both the mantis-blade armed murderer and Gruishka, both have highly misshapen faces due to augmentation.
And in the case of Zapan, it's hinted that this isn't a natural face either, as she says he spends on his money on his face. When she cuts his face off its clear that underneath it was am almost totally cyborg skeletal structure with a fleshy tongue but covered in a high quality life-like face. Essentially he payed a lot to look normal.
For the sake of cost vs technology, it doesn't make sense to mocap half of the cast if prosthetics will do. It means only she and her former comrades in flashbacks needed to be mocapped in this specific way.
(Though obviously, Gruishka was as well).
Ultimately it aids the world building to utilize the Manga style in this way.
The interesting trivia bit you didn't get....Cameron had the rights to Alita for decades but he didn't want to make it until the tech was right to do it justice, we got Avatar as his proof of concept for the tech he wanted to use for Alita
Yeah, fans of the manga (tbf, the anime was the first thing I saw) have been waiting for decades, knowing that Cameron wanted to do it.
During all that time spent not doing it he instead for some reason also made a TV-series with Jessica Alba that was even more loosely based on this story.
@@AltCutTV He said Dark Angel was a test to see if the general western audience would be interested in a story like GUNNM.
Yeah, i remember an interview he did in the late 90's talking about wanting to make this movie. it was a passion project for him.
Wish this movie got its well deserved sequel(s)
They are being worked on still, AFAIK the last thing Cameron and Rodreguiz have said is that the script(s) are done and they are going to be made still. The last news was in March of this year if I remember.
@LordLOC sounds good. Should've been sooner honestly. But Disney bought Fox back then.
@@deopping Yeah the whole Fox purchase really screwed the pooch on a lot of movies, hopefully before 2028 we get the sequel. My guess is 2026 or 2027.
According to reports, 'Alita: Fallen Angel' is scheduled for release next year.
I saw in an interview or something that James Cameron really loves that franchise and he'll definitely make more, I hope he does coz I really enjoyed this film
This movie surprised the hell out of me with how good it is. The fact that Ed Skrein is in it as a villain is pretty awesome. especially after seeing him in the first Deadpool movie as the main villain, Ajax AKA Francis.
As a long time fan of the manga I'm so happy we got this movie. It's not perfect and we might never get a sequel but some love for Alita is always nice.
Gotta say it was surprising it was even as good as it was.
Considering Hollywoods very bad history of adapting Manga or pretty much anything from Japan entertainment media into an American film
Sequel was announced
I really disliked the movie as a fan but seeing Alita in a motion picture was pretty cool I'm not gonna lie
@@shadowphoenix1696 Yeah, I was shocked by how great a movie it is! Considering that, yes, you're right, there is a LONG LIST of horribly adapted movies/TV shows that try so hard to "Americanize" Japanese comic lore (Netflix's godawful "Cowboy Bebop" adaptation is only the most recent). James Cameron is definitely a different sort of breed from other Hollywood creators.
Fun fact: This movie actually began when Guillermo Del Toro showed his friend James Cameron the manga for Battle Angel Alita.
(Both met in Del Toro's directorial debut "Cronos" and Cameron helped with a ransom when Del Toro's father was kidnapped in 1997. Yes this happened).
James Cameron was so enamored by this manga, he began development for a film Avatar, which would be a testing ground to create a belivable cgi character & world.
(Yes. The Avatar movie series wouldnt exist without Alita.)
Of course Cameron would step down as director being too busy with his Avatar film series, but was still determined to have the film completed. He would then pass the reigns to Robert Rodriguez and continue Alita as its producer.
Great info! Thanks.
Cameron paid for a negotiator, del Toro family paid the ransom.
too bad he left the movie to someone else and they fucked up hard, the movie is nearly an insult to the manga, so much cut content and so many ruined characters
according to del Toro, two of the most traumatic events of his life were his father being kidnapped, and making Mimic for Miramax
So it started from an interaction between two top tier directors, neither of whom directed it lmao
11:34 - as many people pointed out its from a manga, but the reason why it feels YA is because the script was literally written in the 90's. This is an abandoned James Cameron project from back then and that's why its full of so many 90's tropes (which now feel very YA).
So annoying there hasn't been a sequel yet after 5yrs.
He apparently likes to wait a very long time to do a sequel
It made $400 million on a budget of between $150 and $200 million. After advertising and the theaters' take, it probably didn't break even. If it had a made a billion, we would have had two sequels by now.
It's not going to happen.
Yeah, sadly it was not a commercial success. I don't know exactly why. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It did suffer a bit from that whole setting-up-another-movie thing. That so rarely works. If you want a franchise you need to complete one story in full with a satisfying ending, and then leave open the possibility of more. Imagine if in Star Wars, they didn't blow up the Death Star and have the medal awarding ceremony at the end, but ended it with Luke taking off from the moon in his X-Wing instead. That's basically what they did here.
@@fakecubed I think it's more to do with her eyes. Before the movie came out, the majority of what I heard people talk about was how her eyes freaked them out.
Not enough people went to see it to make it worth making another.
Coincidentally, Zapan is portrayed by Ed Skein... aka "Francis" in the Deadpool movie. And yes, there is plenty of material after they try to get to Zalem; among other things, there's the entire "Final Order" story arc. Too bad they'll probably never make the sequel, despite setting us up for it in this movie.
*Skrein.
"You're hiding cyborgs under your floorboards, aren't you?"
That's a bingo!
Do the cyborgs control the banks and promote degeneracy in the future?
@@kris5465 If the shoe fits...
A great reason for the face of Alita being slightly off is to help maintain that 'uncanny valley' feeling that makes you question her humanity. Along with being more true to the source material. It does work really well in maintaining that feel of alienness
It's not true to the source material. All manga characters have big eyes. I don't get an uncanny valley vibe when I read the book or watch the anime.
I don't think I ever really questioned her humanity. She's way too sweet for that. lol
The uncanny valley vibe was gone pretty quickly too, probably also thanks to her wholesome character and her actresses work.
@@Dark__Thoughts At this point, I don't even notice the eyes
This movie was awesome, especially for a live-action adaptation of the popular manga but most importantly the way they made Rosa Salazar look like Alita from the Manga was perfect!
And the way the face could emote was really impressive.👍
The face "eyes" was to keep the Manga feel. They actually toned it way down from the i initial design where eyes were even bigger
Yep. I've read the first few books of the Manga and her eyes are even bigger.
All the characters in the manga have big eyes, it's simply the art style of the book (and of many other manga/anime). I think the filmmakers took that aspect far too literally.
Yes, but the originals design is actually very light on the common "expressive eyes" of other series. And the main character actually does not have massive alien eyes "because reason". Compare her to comic Hugo here: www.cridutroll.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/hugo.jpg
@@Rocket1377 Mars is further from the Sun, and thus has a lower general level of illumination. Larger eyes for Martian characters makes sense from a technical standpoint.
I’m now realizing Alita is basically robot Jason Bourne
Hahaha, wow.
lol
Had the same thought watching this reaction 😆It was right when she did the battle stance for the first time, right?
Or Jason Bourne is just male human Alita, considering how old this story is
@@typharian9281 I believe that the Bourne novels (Robert Ludlum) predate Gunnm by several decades.
As a teen I loved the manga, I still have them all on my shelf. I'm still waiting for them to give us a movie sequel.
I love the world they created for this movie! Was a blast to see this in cinema. So sad that we did not get a sequel yet.
I could watch this movie 100 times just to hear Alita tell Zapan,"You do not deserve such a weapon."
I’ve never read the manga before but this is one of my favorite movies. It was incredibly enjoyable for me.
Simone's visible excitement about the huge bar of chocolate was adorable.
George - I wonder if, someday, we'll have enhancements for facial features to this extent; like we can have eyes THAT huge?
Ella Purnell - Am I a joke to you?
I read the manga long ago. It was crazy. One of the bits that I still remember was a motorball champion with a stereotypical viking horned helmet. His fans would hold their hands out through the fence and he'd chop them off and stick the hands on the helmet spikes before winning races.
I saw this in the theater, I really enjoyed it, but i will never understand why so many science fiction writers keep insisting rollerball will be the biggest thing in future sports. I just don't see that happening.
Also, this feels like it should have been spread out over two or three movies instead of packing all of it into one.
Yeah, it's a very dense movie. Particularly the ending.
Greatest sci-fi manga ever made, the sequel spin-off is silly fun, the prequel threequel is peak.
The movie is more based on the OVA from the 90s, which leads to the massive video game direction.
buy the big deluxe edition collection George, you know you need it.
Ed Norton is INSANE casting.
Hopefully this trilogy will be finished.
"This is very Vin and the Lord Ruler." I get that reference!!
It has indubitably been optioned, but I am surprised that we haven't had a Mistborn film - either Hollywood or Netflix - yet.
Rosa Salazar did such a great job in portraying Alita, she won all our hearts.
She read some of the books to learn the character, and she even hugged Yukito Kishiro the creator of the Manga when he visited the set, the chocolate was made by Robert Rodriguez.
And it the Manga the dog saves Alita and lives a long and happy life. The film follows the two episode Anime , but lot of the dialogue is taken from the Manga. I love this movie so much that i have all the Manga s.
And still reading bthe current Mars Chronicles, following Our girl as a 3 year old orphan on Mars.
LOL! George being blind-sided by _20th Century Fox_ was too good!
I'm glad the two of you agree with most of the rest of us:
WE NEED MORE ALITA!!!!
29:40 Ahhh, the 90's anime OVA showed the puppy getting sliced apart. Really gruesome! But man such a good anime, shame it was only a 2-part OVA. The manga is so good too I only wished they animated more of it!
They did a fairly good job with this movie, pretty much telling the same story as the anime did but adding a few more details from the manga. There's a lot to unpack, lore-wise.
Wish they made the sequel
Agreed. They did a great job with the origin story, and laid the foundation for a sequel.
Not sure if the movie did well enough at the box office to justify a sequel for the studios. We can always hope
@@slimmccoy8863It didn't, unfortunately. There was a movement among fans to try and get everyone they could to get it on Blu-ray when it came out, in the hopes that the sales would convince the studio to go ahead with a sequel
James Cameron did a TV series called "Dark Angel" in 2000 that went 2 seasons with Jessica Alba as a genetically enhanced superhuman prototype, the show is ironically set in 2019.
I'm in my 60's. I've never been much of a reader of comics, graphic novels (except for Alan Moore) and then later manga, but I found this movie utterly engrossing. It led to me seeking out the manga and delving into the really well-developed world in the series and its spin-offs.
oh, you got so much to catch up on. Enjoy! I especially like 80s 90s anime aesthetics, check it out!
So glad you two reacted to this, one of my favorite movies. Simone looks awesome as Alita. :D Reading the comments, people have said most of what I was going to say anyway. Thank god for good people with more time than me.
If you're curious about the source material, there's a manga, an anime, a Playstation 1 game, and a couple of novels. If you want to know how Mars lost the war if they had an army of Kunstlers with Berserker bodies? Earth had one 500 year old vampire, and SHE knows kung fu.
The battle Angel setting is very well adapted to role playing. A city of scraps and refugees with almost no laws... but there is a powerful hidden overlord who just puts bounties on anyone who commits murder. The player characters become hunter warriors.
Love this movie. Few things in movies has made me tear up more often than watching Alita discover herself, from the moment she opens her eyes to the moment she raises her sword to Zalem.
Just to add some information where this movie differs from the original manga.
-Dyson Ido does the bounty hunting not only to pay for the expenses of the clinic, but also for the thrill of the kill.
-Alita was named after Ido's dead cat
-Alitas first body was originally designed for Ido's daughter who was murdered 5 years prior age 12. -> Alita's first body was that of a twelve year old. Her second body (the first shown in the movie) belonged to a murdered prostitute.
-Hugo is 12 years old and obsessed of getting into Zalem. He is Alitas first (unrequited) love and doesn't really have a clue that she loves him. No sexual tension there whatsoever.
-Iron City is actually made from Zalems junk and thus looks much more industrial and not like a meditaranean village.
-the berserker body wasn't found by Alita it was in Ido's posession. And he strongly disagreed to give her this body as he wanted her to remain innocent.
There's loads more, but these are some of the main differences that i currently remember.
Yeah, a complete list would be a very long one indeed..🐈⬛
-The main brute antagonist does not have a full pit stop and tech support team.
-He has no contact whatsoever with Nova.
-He does not enjoy the pain at all. Especially not that elbow deep to the eye pain, lols.😹
-He is the completely redesigned mhe character from the animation rather than the original for some reason.
-He gets his way more high tech slicers himself, from the champion of another sport that isn't even in the movie. Which is also one of the more obvious inconsistencies in the movie.
I’m so happy y’all reacted to this. This movie is extremely underrated and definitely should have gotten a sequel. I also think Rosa Salazar is great in this (there’s some cool behind the scenes features of the amount of work she did getting the motion capture work right for this character). And Christoph Waltz is excellent as always.
Alita is a former martian commando, there is a lot less light on Mars, hence big eyes.
First volume of Alita/GUNM I read was the one immediately after this film's events. Fun fact: Alita bares some striking similarities to Street Fighter's Cammy, another amnesiac soldier with a doll-like face, who was created during the initial run of the manga.
Alita's eye aren't augmented, in the manga she grew up on Mars, it's gravity and low light made people's facial features develop differently
This is from a truly amazing, very long lasting manga, still going on, spanning ages, and lifetime of Alita. 35+ volumes.
Let's say this movie is the introduction, first 2-3 original volumes.
Alita: Battle Angel 2 is confirmed, and it was re-confirmed by producer James Cameron as recently as July 2023
a link to your source please.
No way they'll make a sequel.
@@TrCic google
Given that the first one lost money (esp. given the marketing costs), I still doubt it. I mean, if it happens, great, but I'm staying cautious.
(Yes, the gross is higher than the production costs, but it's gross, not net. About 50% of ticket prices go to the studio on average, and for China it's closer to 30%).
@@Argumemnon Even if it broke even, nobody invests $200 million to get a return of $200 million after many years. Opportunity cost always has to be factored in.
I adore the manga & anime for this character and world. When this movie came out I saw it four times at the cinema.
- the film makers were hoping to make two movies, hence the open ending feel. That being said; the main antagonist for Alita was herself. In that she had to learn that no matter how powerful she seems she can still loose people she holds dear.
- the movie is a mash up of mainly two books with think like motorball added later
- although the drawing style is from anima/manga believe the canon for the large eyes is due to URM being on Mars, so technically less light aka larger eyes to see in low light
- why they attacking from ground? Never attack an enemy from one angle. Distract with your main force while you send a small squad in to make a mess of things
- one criticism I’ve seen before is why does Alita know how clothes work but didn’t know how to eat an orange…. Well, clothing is fairly universal and she is from Mars, how the hell is she to know what an orange is?!
It’s a massive world and I’m impressed that Rodriguez was able to bring some life into it.
Unfortunately it didn’t do as well as Fox wanted, so the second movie has been scrapped, and seeing Disney doesn’t appear to be interested this seems to be a one and done.
Enjoyed your reaction from Vancouver Island!
Yukito Kishiro, the original manga artist, has been doing the manga for about 30 years now - and even with the occasional long break for health issues - there's a LOT Of material to continue the story with. Nobody knows how much longer Kishiro wants to keep doing the story. But manga artists - when they get a successful series like this going, tend to continue for a LONG time. Some have spent 40+ years on a single story.
Battle Angel Alita is James Cameron's dream project. In the early 2000s, he tried out the same premise and setting with his "Dark Angel" series citing that the only reason he wouldn't adapt it at the time was due to SFX not being up to his standard that he wanted to see Alita in.
Dark Angel is a great series that is sadly lost in time. DVDs are expensive and the high seas are spotty, if not risky.
That is a real shame. Dark Angel is something I'd rewatch
The problem with making a movie solely built to kickoff sequels is by leaving so many plot points unresolved, you risk having a film that people don't like, thus sabotaging your chances of having the sequels you were banking on.
Yeah, I think the same thing happened with the His Dark Materials movie. Too much set up with no pay off.
Lore dump too much and the audience is going to be either exposition exhausted or not left curious enough about the bigger picture. Or both.
Its a crime that this movie hasn't gotten a sequel yet.
This movie is severely underrated imo, should have gotten a sequel or two, the story gets even crazier and better
Noice! This is such a great movie, and unlike some other franchises that never seem to end, truly deserving of a sequel or two. Y'all have saved Monday (no easy feat), Cheers. 🥃
Rosa Salazar (Alita) is an amazing actress, after watching this movie I looked up other things she had done and there is a miniseries called "Undone" on Netflix where she plays a teacher who discovers she has the power to control space/time. Or is she mentally ill? It is a wild ride, and the whole thing is Rotascoped, where the film is redrawn and then animated, giving it a otherworldly feel.
wow such a nice suprise this was to appear on my notification. my favorite movie nerds reacting to a beautiful adaptation of a classic manga. its a good day.
friend of mine was a concept artist on this movie and he said that this was basically a James Cameron passion project. Comic book adaptation.
I don't know why, but i don't get uncanny valley from her
I really REALLY want them to actually continue this franchise.
my head-cannon is that the large eyes came about as an advantage for space-faring robo folk to better see over extreme distances. space is called 'the expanse' for a reason!
6:12 We already have unlimited arms, George! They're called "bands"!
Despite playing fast and loose with the original manga I just can't help but love this film. It managed to live up to the hype for me after literally years of waiting.
"Is this from a YA novel?" I winced in pain.
Best manga/anime to movie versions, along with Oldboy, Ichi The Killer, and Edge of Tomorrow.
It feels like a franchise because it is mostly faithful to the source material which comprises of many volumes, adapting 2 out of over 20 vols. (motorball should have happened the next volume but I guess it fits well the way they did the movie script). The first series ends in 9 volumes, where the author rushed the ending thinking he was not going to make it out of his bad health, but he got cured and the continuation starts of from half of the original series, to the second series, Last Order, which comprises of 19 vols. A new series entitled Mars Chronicles is currently ongoing, about Alita's backstory.
I loved astro boy . Thought it was done very well .
Oldboy was movie first, then Manga adaptation.
@@Cau_No Nope, manga was from 1996 to 1998, Movie was in 2003
Oldboy original is very very different to the filmed adaptations. Even more so than Alita in some ways.
You guys should check out the story of Tilly Lockey, she got the Alita battle angel bionic arms!
That was a very heart warming video, when she received them.
@@3DJapan It was! & she looks so cool in them 😃
It sucks but the dog was the motivation for McTeague. You see he can't be bothered during any part of the bar fight but once Grewishka hurts a dog he stands up and gets involved. I get it. Usually no faster way to take me out of a movie but this wasn't to make us hate Grewishka. It was to make McTeague hate him enough to stand up when there is no bounty involved. He even says "He wasn't a dog lover." EDIT: Rodriguez =/= Del Toro and Del Toro =/= the origin of the grinder trope.
One-wheeled vehicles turn by leaning to one side so it's riding on the side of the wheel. Steering on a Onewheel is just like steering on a skateboard or a snowboard. Think about when a ring is rolling along and when it starts to fall over it turns and devolves into chasing itself in a circle of equal radius as it approaches being horizontal.
WHAT?! I'm not just some lowly YA crap, you guys!! A MANGA, I'm based off a glorious cyberpunk MANGA! 🤣🤣🤣
And yes, I recommend you read it! The movie, which is one of the best manga/anime adaptation ever made IMHO, covers roughly the first 3 books (out of 9, of the original series - there 3 series). So yeah, this was meant to be a trilogy. I hope we get to see it made!
I like how Altita can be a superhero as a woman yet can retain her femininity and heart. She doesn't try to be a cold person that doesn't need or care about anyone, like most recent Hollywood female characters.
I love the Alita adaptation to the big screen...and I hate how long it takes to make, cause I REALLY want a part 2 (and more if possible).
30:50 "She's not like the other cyborgs"
Thank you for reacting to this one! More Reactors need to follow! Such a great movie!
i'm still holding onto hope that there will be a sequel! I love CineBinge!
You guys really should read the manga this movie is based on. It's such a hugely epic thing and this movie only barely scratches the surface of what it is. And I LOVE this movie, I can't believe it got made at all!!! But the story is so much deeper and complicated and beautiful and terrifying than what they got to do here.
The anime is one of the few anime films i have nostalgia for. Up there with Akira, Ninja Scroll, Bubblegum Crisis, Ghost in the Shell etc.
Best anime/manga adaptation of it's time. The movie is pretty much frame for frame to the anime which is a classic, but they added a lot of depth that just worked for me personally. I fell in love the first time I saw it. Helps that it has a fantastic cast.
Forgot to say thanks for the reaction!
James Cameron has explicitly stated he has two sequels in development for Alita.
Even if the franchise didn't happen, it covered quite a few of the manga in a very effective and touching fashion. The bounty hunter reveal storyline, the motorball storyline, the climbing to Zalem storyline all included. And it was done with a terrific cast and enough money to make it a spectacle. Maybe if you'd read the manga first, George, you could have appreciated it 100%.
Glad you, finally, watched this movie George&Simone.
Never saw its manga until the film came out. Instantly became a fan of Alita
Super underrated movie.
It actually gets better every watch
9:47 "I'm not sure what I feel about the deliberate fake face"
She's just supposed to have a normal human face in a comic where everyone's face is drawn that way, but one of the pre-production concept artists, almost as a joke, did a rendering of her as if someone tried to make an anime face for real, and Robert Rodriguez loved it. Yukito Kishiro, the original manga artist was somewhat mystified by the decision the first time he saw it, but said it grew on him.
I kinda like it. She's this badass 300 year old Martian soldier but looks like a doll. Maybe Mars was colonized by a bunch of weebs.
@@fakecubed "Maybe Mars was colonized by a bunch of weebs." 😁
Underrated movie!
Alita was released in theatres on Feb. 14, 2019 three weeks before Captain Marvel on Mar. 8th with Avengers: Endgame on its heels on Apr. 26. Obviously, the anticipation for "the next MCU movie" was palpable at that time. Here's my head canon about what happened with Alita: Battle Angel:
The MCU fandom's lukewarm reception of Captain Marvel, after so much hype, likely caused a lot of people to forget Alita was even around--even though reviews from people who DID see Alita were encouraging people to go see it. In perfect hindsight fashion, if Alita had released three weeks *after* Captain Marvel, with James Cameron's name associated with it, I feel it would've had a better box office and we wouldn't have to work so hard to convince them to make a 2nd one. 👍
"Is this from YA novel?"
If by that you mean legendary manga series and anime then yes 😂 I think why Alita has that 'augmented' face is because they want to made her closer to the manga/anime visage.
only movie i ever went to the theater more than twice to see. twice in imax and twice in regular theater. amazing in 3d
By far, one of, if not, the best live action adaptation of an anime/manga series
I hate that they won't make a sequel, just for money reasons.
The movie made not enough, thats true but the real reason we don't have a sequel are the critics in first place.
Word is there are in the planning stages for part two!
A sequel is supposedly in the works. James Cameron is actually hoping to do one.
They are making a sequel; we just have to wait until Cameron/Rodreguiz get to it at this point.
@@MakotoAtava Critics have no impact whatsoever on Hollywood's decision-making. Critics only matter so much as they drive audiences to or away from the movie theaters, and how that impacts the profitability of a film.
The cast in this was fantastic. Not just the leads Rosa Salazar (Alita) and Christoph Waltz (Ido) but all the different characters. A few to note that you may not have recognised -
Jennifer Connelly (from 'Top Gun: Maverick' & Labyrinth') as Chiren (Ido's ex-wife)
Mahershala Ali (MCUs new 'Blade') as Vector
Ed Skrein (Francis from 'Deadpool') as Zapan (hunter who's face was cut off)
Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from 'Watchmen') as Grewishka (uber-built bad guy who's eye was gouged by Alita's arm)
Casper Van Dien (from 'Sleepy Hollow' & 'Starship Trooper' movies) as Amok (one of Zapan's cronies)
Edward Norton (from 'Fight Club' & 'Incredible Hulk') as Nova
There's a much-deserved sequel in the works to continue the story and the world building. The graphic novel this is based on is vast, with numerous spin-offs and additions over the years.
And while I'm at it, please react to 2017s 'Ghost in the Shell' with Scarlett Johansson - another anime-based graphic novel live-action adaptation that I feel doesn't get the love it deserves.
This fairly closely follows the anime movie (which is on youtubes) which is a very abreviated story from bits taken from the manga (which is huge and ongoing).
Look for videos of Ugi, the Mongolian/American contortionist performer who did the mocap for the handstand. She makes it look that easy.
Look for the easter egg where the dog lives!
Ed Skrein and Kaeen Johnson have a lot of time together leading major parts, in "Midway", playing US Navy fliers in the 1940s war.
There is an anime adaptation of this from 1993. it apparently didn't do well and ended up getting cancelled. the irony of it is, the anime and this movie end at practically the same point. so this feels like a live action version of that (even tho it was based on the manga, not the anime)
This movie has one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen, released two years in advance.
One of the best anime to live action adaptation, well 50% live action..lol
I remember everyone whining about her eyes when this first released. Meanwhile this movie was a banger despite it.
If you read the Manga, the name Alita(Gally) is not that of Ido's daughter, but the name of a cat 😼.
. But the story behind it is to break your heart
Oh my God i love that you are reacting to this movie. This is so fetch.
Regarding the ending, they really didn't have much of a choice: long running manga like Battle Angel Alita can't possibly be resolved in a single film. I think they did a remarkably good job given the circumstances.
I genuinely love this movie, and it is actually very close to the manga.
George, this reminds you of Cyberpunk 2077 so much because they are almost the same story.
2:56 Dr. Ido is a ripperdoc.
11:54 Zapan is a 'Saka Ninja
22:04 Hugo and his group are Scavs
26:27 Kansas, the place for bounty hunters, is The Afterlife
Vector and Chiren are your average Corpo Scum
This is one of those movies that i ended up enjoying a lot more than I would. In fact I still use my Alita: Battle Angel virtual membership card for Regal cinemas.
35:12 "why is she standing like that?" Well, if you had a cyborg body and martial skills like that, wouldn't you stand like that?
Rosa Salazar is so good. It's probably a long shot but Brand New Cherry Flavor and Undone are great shows she's done that I'd love to see someone react to.