Dragon Ball Movie 3: Makafushigi Daibouken

Like all original Dragon Ball movies, Dragon Ball Movie 3 Mystical Adventure is basically a retelling of what happened up to that point slidly altered. Chaotzu is an emperor with Master Shen and Tenshinhan being his underlings. Bora, Upa, Tao Pai Pai and Arale appear in this movie but with lesser roles compared to their anime counterpart and some references are made to the main story but without the same impact. In fact, it might be the weakest of all 4 purely Dragon Ball movies simply because the scenes that end up being weak homages could never carry the same impact as most of them ... were build up for several episodes or even story arcs. Meaning it is nothing but a 46 minute movie that feels like an extended episode.
Even the way Goku surpassed Tao Pai Pai felt like an asspull where he somehow ended up at the top of the Quin Tower and received a minor advice from God of Martial Arts Korin. Compare that to how Goku worked his ass off to get to the top and received training disguised as a power up (instead the other way around like in modern Dragon Ball).

But what about elements exclusive to the film? There is an inner conflict in the nation where the story mainly takes place. Tenshinhan is conflicted what side he should take in the conflict: Loyalty to his teacher or his Emperor. Sadly this element like many others aren't taken full advantage off. Like we don't know about Tenshinhan's past events with his teacher. Only a small hint of his relationship with his Emperor.

The story has 2 subplots. The gathering of the Dragon Balls and the Tournament that takes place with both starting to merge into one. Every major cast member is involved and contribute in exposing the truth behind the Crane Master's plan. Be it Yamcha, Bulma, Oolong, Puar, Goku, Roshi and even Krillin.
However, there are way too many characters that only exist as lesser important characters because they appeared in the main story like Arale who just exist because the main story had a crossover too.

Overall, this movie is really mediocre by original Dragon Ball standards. It eats more than it can chew and that is its weakness. However, it still has some really good elements like how it uses its cast and the conflict behind the scenes. Also it has a fantastic ending and the best way Chaotzu has been treated in this franchise.

Another Dragon Ball film. Another retelling. This one combines the first and second tournament arc with the Red Ribbon arc. Then it tells it completely differently. For the curious only.

Animation seems a bit sloppy here and there. Certain facial expressions used by our beloved characters don't really match them. Bulma is just all over the place. Everything else just seems like a step down from the anime. It works, but you'll notice it as well. The English voice actors are different from the anime. A few remain the same, but big ones like Goku are wrong. They will annoy you. Goku's voice just lacks conviction. ... But the music is all fitting. So at least we have that.

The story is out of control. It starts with Roshi finishing the training of Goku and Krillin. From there they head to the tournament. But Chiaotzu and Tien are around. For some reason Chiaotzu is a ruler of an empire. It's weird. Tien and Chaiotzu are nothing like their anime counterparts. Then throw in some Red Ribbon Army. A hefty dose of Master Shen. Then you have the show. It's sounds like a mess, but if you look at it as it's own thing it works.

Do you need to watch this? No. Do I even recommend it? Not really. If you are a fan of Dragon Ball and are curious then go for it. It's not going to make your experience that much better or worse.

Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure is erratic, bites off more than it can chew, and fails to write its movie-original character development in an interesting way. Much like the other Dragon Ball movies, this is a retelling of the original series. This time, however, it takes notes from FOUR ARCS. In 40 minutes, this movie attempts to tell the story of Chiaotzu and Tien, the Tournament Arc, the General Blue Arc, and General Tao Arc. However, each and every rendition is stupider and infinitely less impactful than its series counterpart.

At first, I thought the idea of Chiaotzu being an Emperor and Tien having to choose between ... him and his duties could be cool. But this movie entirely fails to make you care (I actually DIED laughing when it was revealed that Chiatozu's wife was literally just a toy doll.)
Arale showing up at the end was also such a "what the fuck?" moment, resulting in a hilarious anticlimactic finale to General Tao.
Throwing so much together in such a short amount of time makes it unpredictable in a bad way, I found myself questioning what the vision was so many times, until I realized that none of these movies are trying to tell a story. They're all mindless floundering, in an attempt to show off as much as they can to get you to watch the original series.

The only saving grace is that this movie had a much better soundtrack, and much better visuals and animation than the last two.
Not reccomended.