Dragon Ball Z Movie 01: Ora no Gohan wo Kaese!!

The first Dragon Ball Z movie.

Each character follows the same personality they have in the series, holding every grudge, knowledge, technique, etc., they had up to the release date of this movie. It develops the pre-existing characters very well. However, most of the characters that were introduced exclusively for this movie are not developed.

The story revolves around the Dragon Balls, just like everything else related to this series; some evil character appears and tries to grab a hold on the Dragon Balls in order to rule/destroy the world. It's not unique or original, but it at least entertains.

The art remains the same as the one ... employed in the series, with the same buffed up muscles we're all accustomed to see. The fight scenes remain as thrilling as they were in the series, too. Art and animation, overall, was pretty good.

I happened to watch the movie already dubbed in English. I guess the voice acting was just alright, but I prefer the original japanese voice actors, the ones that did the voices in the original 291-episodes series. Opening and ending songs are the same as the series' japanese version ones.

If you're a Dragon Ball fan, you're definitely going to enjoy watching Goku and company get into some new fights, just like I did.

When I look back on the very first DBZ movie, I always find it ironic how it's actually among the best in the line up. Each of the following movies venture the exact same path, which is to provide the viewer with low brow entertainment through lots of action and comedy. I have no beef with this. The problem is, once you get pass the first batch of movies, you start to sense the lack of innovation and even creativity. They become unbelievably gimmicky and that feel of a cash in is all over the place. Dragon Ball Z is definitely an anime series you ... must be a die hard fan of to consistently enjoy.

Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone is a pretty fun title. It feels a lot more like the Dragon Ball series, as it takes the viewer on a near non stop action-filled ride. Almost from the very beginning, the action begins and rarely lets up, and it's actually a real joy to watch. The production values pretty much delivers; the battles do utilize that boring reused cel format, but the energy attacks and minimum choreography provide the fun. Especially during one of the moments when Goku is dodging and blocking various attacks from the combined might of the main villains goons.

There are also some nice background shots of the palace they battle in, and later on in the destroyed ruins of the place. The battles at different points takes place during the evening under an orange sun set that looks really nice. Now normally when it comes down to voice acting, I prefer to watch the dub because that way I can focus better on animation and music without having to look down at subs. This is one of those rare moments I can't tolerate the dub though. The voice acting itself isn't the problem, but there's this one musical scene that takes place with Gohan that is far better in the sub, because it actually contains the song. While in English, the entire scene feels bland. On top of this, I do believe the sieyuu is far better, with the legendary Kamiya Akira voicing lead villain Garlic Jr and Masako Nozawa voicing Goku. They had some really good chemistry going here.

The plot follows Goku as he tracks Gohan to the villain Garlic Jr. Garlic gathers the Dragon Balls to make a wish, and from here fist start flying again. During the later movies, characters will appear only to be taken down in record time. Here, characters like Piccolo and even Krillin are used pretty well.

One of the main problems I've always heard about this movie was the 45 minute length. When looking at the fact this is a franchise flick that rarely has a good plot to work with anyway, and a majority of the time the action scenes aren't breaking any new ground. I just can't see length as a problem. If anything, Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone feels too ordinary even for that time.

Overall, this is a solid movie that actually fits into main continuity, something you won't see often in the later movies. The action scenes do depict character deaths yet it's nothing over the top. The movie feels child friendly for the most part. Fans of the series will more than likely enjoy this. Newbies really shouldn't start here since character development is non existant. For them, I recommend coming into the first season of the main series. If that piques your interest enough to move further, then go ahead and give this a shot.

Highs: Short and to the point, knows what it wants to be

Lows: Average at best, mainly for fans of franchise

DBZ: Dead Zone, the movie. Movie. Movie? In... 40 minutes? Kay. Mercifully short, so... thats good. Yay?

The story's about this blue little thing, who wants dragon balls. He and his minions kidnap Gohan, since they need just the dragon balls. The blue thing makes a wish with a dragon balls, the carrot cake and the Jolly Green wrinkle-brick show up, everybody yells and punches the air like spastic apes, this black hole appears, and the blue thing gets sucked. That's it.

So... yeah. I saw it. I saw it, and I... huh? Then what? Honestly... what?! What! Well, I tell you, what! A complete ... waste of time, thats what! Seriously... I know I wasn't expecting anything at all, considering my utter and passionate disliking for this franchise, but to actually admitting that you're expecting nothing, and then get nothing, to surprise you... that just hurts! I know it's what I deserve, but still... it hurts! Alot! I would really like to be angry about this - considering the score - but... I just cant! It just isn't that... it is nothing! Nothing at all! This movie is... nothing! Nothing to be angry about, and nothing to be interested about! It just... came, and went... and is never, ever, coming back!

When I first saw this movie as a parody, from TFS, I actually saw some blind, hopeful, yet short-lived potential, in it - how foolish of me! I tought, it was actually hilarious... kinda cool, actually - my tummy hurts, from all the laughing! So I found the original, and said... hey, it can't be all that bad - it's only 40 minutes long, thus hardly even a movie! What bad can it really do?! So I saw it, and... ended up skipping most of the entire movie, actually! Hups. But that can be justified, however, when there's not enough story, for even a full-length movie - 40 minutes of... bantering, at it's worst! - and the action is so tired, and bland, that I just skipped it, and welt like didn't miss a thing! Which I didn't! I could have fallen to sleep, and still could easily follow the... story, with ease! I mean, really... even for the DBZ-franchise, the premise is really, really boring, bland, and predictable! Some guy just wants some sweet juicy immortality, and take over the world - in this franchise, who even cares anymore?! Today it's Pilaf, tomorrow Piccolo, and next year, either Frieza, or Cell - pick your favourite now, before the lines are closed from the votes! And the villain himself, was so stupid, that even if he had the balls - no pun intented - to wish himself some sweet immortality, he was ultimately beaten, by his own stupidity! And rather easily, too! That's just... wow. Just... wow. It's not even meccha-Frieza level of disapointing anymore! It's just... I don't know! I've lost my words. Just... no. No!

But, since my score is actually quite high, there must've been something good in this... piece of waste, right? Right! Well, as a matter of fact, there was - gasp! The art is actually a TONS of better, than the series - which isn't much, since the action... what little there is, happens mostly on blurmotion - and the voices, expecially Piccolos, are quite better too! Finally, Chris Sabat had his sexy voice right... and not like his trademark of a frog army! Anything else... no, not really! The premise is dull, as a butterknive... made out of paper, and the story is... wait, what story? There was a story?! Where?! Lemme see! Oh, right, Gohan... Gokus brat, becoming forcefully a apprentice, or something... and something about the world domination... destruction... solar system... apples that have drugs, to make this piece of piss enjoyable... or something, I don't know! Like I said, I skipped most of the movie, since absolutely nothing happened! Nothing! It literaly hurts me to realize, how little I just saw, compared to the vast superior parody! No witty dialogue, no interesting plot, nor story, no funny/clever/interesting/actual villain, and... Yeah, nothig, really. This movie is... nothing. It's just.. there! For the fans! Yay?

This movie - seriously, is too short to be a movie! - with all it's artificial taste of a wet cardboard, mixed with some baby Gohans piss, drank by Krillin, is a prime example, of an anime, I like to call, a Candy without the Sugar- anime. It's nice to look at, but you don't want to put it in your mouth! The story's so paperthin, that there's really none at all - fitting, considering what I feel the franchise as a whole - and feels more like a two random filler episodes, put forcefully together, than actual coherent story... which it isn't! The thrill isn't there, the threat's nonexistent, the world doesn't expand - not that it really needs to - and characters... well, they're there... all the same... as always... most of them, not actually doing anything at all. Just giving a fans a wave, and then... leaving... and staying gone... to let all the pointless bantering happen. Yay?

So, all in all... what did I actually get, from watching this? Slight headache? Possible death sentance, from the fanboys? The TFS's parody? You know what... not too bad a deal! I'll take it! Anything else, than another try for this movie! Yay?

Story: 2
Art: 6
Sound: 5
Characters: 1
Enjoyment: 2
Overall: 3