72 replies to this topic

[Baphomech]

Everyone, I'd like to bounce some ideas around:

Battletech is prime source material for an HBO series. It has action, drama, romance(sex), political intrigue and touches of humor, all wrapped-up in a nice sci-fi package (that happens to be devoid of sentient extraterrestrials). Furthermore, a number of other elements would make for an interesting series, as laid out in the following scenario:

For an HBO series, Wolf's Dragoons would be the main protagonists. They have a number of factors in their favor:
- They rapidly become one of the most elite mercenary units in the Inner Sphere
- They have mysterious origins, and later represent a "bridge" for the audience between the IS and Clans
- Natasha Kerensky is a larger-than-life heroine (or anti-heroine), who is the most talented and feared mechwarrior in the Inner Sphere (she could easily become an iconic character in the modern day, if written and acted well)
- Wolf's Dragoons have established nemeses in the form of Wayne Waco and House Kurita

http://www.sarna.net...lf%27s_Dragoons

As far as a seasonal breakdown, lets get started with these posibilities:

Season 1: Set in 3rd Succession War. Begins shortly after the unit arrives in the Inner Sphere. Their origins are unknown, even to the audience. Introduces the feud between the Dragoons and Waco Rangers. Season includes the unpleasantness that occurs with Anton Marik; finale centers around the Battle of Misery.

Season 2: 4th Succession War and all the shenanigens that arise. We see a drawn-out grudge match between the Dragoons and House Kurita.

Season 3: Clan Invasion begins in all its horror. Wolf's Dragoons finally reveal their origins (OMG they're clanners? I never saw it coming!) The Battle of Luthien is a big part of this season, as we see the Dragoons coming to the aid of the Combine in one of the largest and most dramatic engagements of the Clan War.

Keep in mind, I mention Wolf's Dragoons as the protagonists for this because of their reputation, and ability to bridge the IS and Clans for the audience. Personally, I am not a big fan of them, but I see their potential for being the best option for an HBO series.



Now lets look at some possibilities for other formats:

Film:
While I know many of you dread the potential butchery that would ensue from a Battletech film, there are some good candidates, actually. Personally, I would like to see a movie that focuses on Operation Serpent.

http://www.sarna.net...eration_Serpent

You want an action-packed, three-hour, sci-fi war movie? You got it. Any of you who read the Twilight of the Clans series know that Operation Serpent is a gritty, brutal and dramatic fight to the death between the IS taskforce and the Smoke Jaguars defending their homeworld. Epilogue would touch on the Great Refusal and how the Clan Invasion is finally defeated. This could also serve as a good follow-up to the HBO series.

Anime:
"A Battletech anime? Heresy!" Actually, it might work. Have the setting be the War of 3039, with Theodore Kurita as the possible main character.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/War_of_3039

A chance to highlight the Draconis Combine in a tasteful and somewhat positive way, while still maintaining the "perpetual grey area" that is the Battletech universe. This series would serve as a way to take a look at the Combine from a different angle, after the largely negative portrayal it would receive in the HBO series.


What are all your thoughts on this? Fevered dreams, or something we could push for as a community?

[B0NES]

HA! first. 100% Movie baby!

[NoSkillRush]

Anime

[Kurayami]

Grimdark anime with Theodore Kurita as main character.
i would aslo like to see film but lets be honest - the way they make movies novadays it would be just another "transformers wannabe" pile'o'**** - it would be perfectly OK with some Davion story like pathos prince go on crusade to reclame his lost kindom with some romance option dying etc - but that is not exactly what i would want to see)

anime on the other hand can be anything - from true grimdarkness to ultrakawai with ease thus adding endless possibilities to exploit.

Edited by Kurayami, 24 October 2012 - 07:29 AM.

[AvatarofWhat]

I think a movie might just turn out bad. An HBO series or an anime though would have enough time to slowly introduce the battletech universe without making it seem like they just threw a bunch of stuff in for the hell of it(therefore confusing non-fans).

[Orzorn]

HBO or AMC miniseries would be damned awesome. The quality of their shows has really gotten amazing.

Anime could work, IF DONE PROPERLY. Get someone like Ryosuke Takahashi (director/producer for "Real Robot" anime like Fangs of the Sun Dougram and Armored Trooper VOTOMS). I think, given an IP like Battletech, he could do very well with it.

[Monsoon]

The problems with an HBO/Showtime series is the budget, which is one reason so many series are only 10-12 episodes for a season. Truthfully, there's no real reason why this series couldn't be a standard television series. The IP has never been all that graphic, other then violence and even then it's mostly 'giant robot blasts giant robot' style violence, nothing like ROME or Spartacus.

Personally, I think (realistic) Anime would be the way to go, but as a series that usually means a half-hour program and I would think in terms of an ongoing drama, it'd need an hour definitely.

Movie (live-action or animated), only if it were a way to introduce the television series, ie. Star Wars: Clone Wars. (Only better.)

Edited by Monsoon, 24 October 2012 - 07:42 AM.

[Trawgy Burninator]

It would be like Game of Thrones in SPACE

[Takeo]

Would like to see this!

[David Decoster]

As much as I think an HBO series would rock, I voted for 'anime' since it has the greatest chance of increased longevity.
HBO Pro's: larger general audience and better at introducing MW/BT to the world.
Anime Pro's: large established fanbase and (I think) more cost efficient, as well as greater chance of having more than 3 seasons.
Movie: Meh. If they screw it up, it's tar, feather and pitchfork time for the MW/BT fans, and 'WTF kind of crap was that?' by the rest of the moviegoing world. If they actually do a good job, maybe 3 movies, with added risk of sequels not living up to expectations.
Something that would be key would be lore adherence.

[Karyudo ds]

I would have to go with a series really. HBO or anyone else with a budget. SciFi made one good BSG (and possibly their only good series ever...).

I could see a movie, but I think it would have to go the Dredd route and settle on telling a part of the universe rather than actually bothering to explain everything in 5 minutes. You would also need people who take the source material seriously though. So no Micheal Bay or the people like the ones involved in Super Mario Bro's.

Anime...eh. Maybe. There are anime fans and there are a lot of scifi fans who don't care for anime and simply lots of people uninterested in it. Which isn't to say it couldn't be alright, but I just don't see it being taken as seriously as a live action series by audiences outside of Japan...the primary target audience.

Far as places for story goes I think FASA did it best with the first books. They picked mercenaries who have no love for any particular State and thus give you the broadest picture possible. Sort of a wonder the Fox cartoon didn't do that but that wasn't all that well handled anyway.

[TheBossHammer]

NOT. AN. ANIME. If it happened again, Harmony Gold would be on us the moment it hit TV and any chance we'd have of getting back the unseen would vaporize. A film or HBO series would be ok, but it would have to be set in 3049-forward and it would have to completely avoid the unseen unless Harmony Gold relents.

[David Decoster]

Oh and also: anime does NOT need to be about 'the japanese-flavoured population group' of your franchise. I'd like to see an anime for a change where the word Japanese or a Japanese character name does NOT appear in the subtitles.
(Yes, I'm a huge anime fan, and I watch them in Japanese with english subs i.o.t. broaden my horizons.)

[Orzorn]

David Decoster, on 24 October 2012 - 07:45 AM, said:

Something that would be key would be lore adherence.

I can just imagine Micheal Bay making a Mechwarrior "film" (that man doesn't make films, he makes vomit). The mechs would would fire all of their weapons all the time without worrying about heat. Swords would be used, even though its only 3050. The Atlas has huge spikes jutting out of every part of its body, which, by the way, is now made up of thousands of small parts somehow bound together. Victor Steiner Davion has a smoking hot girlfriend whom is never given a real reason to be there, and he pilots his Victor, but it has a huge billowing cape and its left hand now holds a shining red bladed weapon that materializes out of its arm.

TheBossHammer, on 24 October 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

NOT. AN. ANIME. If it happened again, Harmony Gold would be on us the moment it hit TV and any chance we'd have of getting back the unseen would vaporize. A film or HBO series would be ok, but it would have to be set in 3049-forward and it would have to completely avoid the unseen unless Harmony Gold relents.

Harmony Gold holds to right to certain designs appearing in anime. They do not hold the rights to Battletech of any media (whether it be animated, movies, music, anything). They couldn't do anything.

[Kilroy]

Well enough of the hypothetical. Me and some friends are making a 90 minute fan film covering the Refusal War between Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf.

The below trailer is mostly a previsualization. It will include pilots and dialogue as well as seeing parts of the universe asides from the 'mechs.

Edited by Kilroy, 24 October 2012 - 08:00 AM.

[Orzorn]

David Decoster, on 24 October 2012 - 07:49 AM, said:

Oh and also: anime does NOT need to be about 'the japanese-flavoured population group' of your franchise. I'd like to see an anime for a change where the word Japanese or a Japanese character name does NOT appear in the subtitles. (Yes, I'm a huge anime fan, and I watch them in Japanese with english subs i.o.t. broaden my horizons.)

Plenty of mecha anime don't mention nationality, especially Gundam, since it usually is just "spheroids" and "spacenoids" (or feddies and zeeks). VOTOMS also doesn't have this issue, since none of it takes place on planet Earth anyways (their names also aren't Japanese either. Chirico Cuvie, Vanilla, etc).

[Beren Valari]

Trawgy Burninator, on 24 October 2012 - 07:43 AM, said:

It would be like Game of Thrones in SPACE

I have thought about this a lot and what game of thrones has going for it, especially in the books, is the way the story is told from the characters point of view. I think what really draws people into a story is the characters and being able to relate to them and see their perspective. If this could be done for a Battletech series I would be all for it. It would however mean that there would not be so many battle scenes and when there were they would be from the perspective of single combatants not grandiose battles from a gods eye view...

Edited by Beren Valari, 24 October 2012 - 08:04 AM.

[JP Josh]

every single b tech American fan needs to email harmony gold rite now and ***** em out.

then we pirate the series and make our own game muwhahahahha

[AvatarofWhat]

Just get Uwe Boll to direct the movie, it'll be great!...

J/K!

An HBO adaptation of the Blood of Kerensky trilogy though could very well be amazing though

Edited by AvatarofWhat, 24 October 2012 - 08:08 AM.

[Orzorn]

Beren Valari, on 24 October 2012 - 08:03 AM, said:

I have thought about this a lot and what game of thrones has going for it, especially in the books, is the way the story is told from the characters point of view. I think what really draws people into a story is the characters and being able to relate to them and see their perspective. If this could be done for a Battletech series I would be all for it. It would however mean that there would not be so many battle scenes and when there were they would be from the perspective of single combatants not grandiose battles from a gods eye view...

A battle taking place from the cockpit view would be even better. Imagine 7.1 surround sound with a battle going on and you're watching it from the perspective of the pilot, all of his or her reactions (physical, verbal, and emotional) as well. Basically, it'd be a live action version of the Mecharrior 3025 trailer (before it all got reworked into MWO).

Freakin' awesome.