Well... this was released early for me. Not really sure why, to be honest. Maybe it's the fact that I'm currently jobless, stuck in a never ending spiral of pain and rejection, with no hopes, no dreams, no prospects, and only the dvds in my room to give me any meaningless comfort during the sleepless nights where my own crying keeps me awake. ...or maybe I just wanted to watch these films and did. Who knows? But regardless, today we're looking at the first three Dragon Ball Z films, which I refer to as the Transition Trilogy!
Before I begin I just want to stress again that this is all my own personal opinions, and that it is in no way better than anyone else's opinions. Except yours, Tim. Your opinion sucks. ...kidding. Also, I used the Pioneer dvd releases for these movies just to be different, and am using the Japanese voice track, not the dub track. Oh, and I'm calling Higher Dragon 'Icarus' and Tullece 'Turles' because they're easier to type. Anything for laziness, that's the Toriyama way!
DEAD ZONE/ RETURN MY GOHAN!
So our first ever Z film starts off with our film introduction to Piccolo! ...who promptly gets beaten up and is pronounced dead! ...that was quick. We then cut to Kami saying how Piccolo is so dead... which makes no sense because if Piccolo was dead than Kami would be dead... so this is a waste of our time. We then see Gohan studying! ...riveting! Oh, then Ox King has a stroke. And some bad guys kidnap Gohan for literally no reason. They wanted the Dragon Ball on his hat, so the fact they took all of Gohan is kinda creepy. But their master, Garlic Jr, pronounces that he will train Gohan... while sitting on a humongous phallic-shaped throne. ...did I put in the porn parody by mistake? But no, Goku is off to rescue Gohan, and actually uses his brain and gets the dragon radar from Bulma to track them. And then Gohan goes on a drug trip! This film just got AWESOME! Well, while the four-year old experiments with apples, our villain obtains all 7 dragon balls, and wishes for immortality! ...wow, this villain gets crap done! Well, Kami and Goku show up to defeat Garlic Jr and save Gohan, respectively, and the fight begins! Kami shows off just how useless he is by doing nothing but getting beat up, while Goku waits for his three opponents to transform before fighting them... some things never change. Oh, and then the true hero, the men slightly below other men, the Krillmeister himself: Krillin arrives to help Goku save Gohan! ...then Gohan pees in Krillin's mouth. It's hilarious. Well, Piccolo arrives because of course he's not dead, and Krillin decides to babysit Gohan while Goku and Piccolo take down the bad guys! ...and Kami is still being a punching bag. Goku even uses the Power Pole! WOO! Well, Kami decides to literally do the stupidest thing he can and kill himself, but Piccolo stops him. Goku and Piccolo curb-stomp Garlic, but then realize that they're enemies and prepare to fight each other. Then Garlic pops up reminding them that he's immortal. He then does something stupider than Kami, which is saying something, and opens up the Dead Zone, the one thing that can stop him. ...wow, and he was doing so well up until this point. Well, Gohan taps into his berserker state and knocks Garlic Jr into the Dead Zone, which somehow closes itself, and then the sky shatters! ...what? Well, the day is saved, Gohan remembers nothing, and Garlic Jr. is never seen again. ...except in a crappy filler arc.
This film is actually pretty great. The pace is brisk, the humor is spot on, and the action is fun. There's some obvious issues with some of the plot elements, but if ignored you have an enjoyable flick. Also, this movie feels very much like a bridge between OG Dragon Ball and Z. The story takes place before Raditz shows up, Goku and Piccolo are still enemies, there are some original series music ques, and Goku uses his Power Pole! POWER POLE! While the minions are kinda forgettable, Garlic Jr himself is actually pretty good as a villain. He has a history with Kami, he can transform into a fighting state, he actually knew how to use the Dragon Balls without wishing for anything stupid, and with the exception of the end he's pretty competent. Oh, and he has the same voice actor as Pilaf in both the original Japanese and the Funimation dub, so that's a plus for me! All in all, this movie is great.
THE WORLD'S STRONGEST
Our next film starts with Oolong kidnapping Gohan. ...creepy. Ok, Gohan went willingly, but Oolong took a 5 year old to the artic for three days without Chi-Chi or Goku's permission so I'm still calling this kidnapping! Anyways, they get to see one of our villains use the Dragon Balls to...melt some ice. ...really, dude? That's your diabolical scheme? Weak. Well, they are then attacked by the Chinese knock off Saibamen, the Biomen. All seems lost, until Piccolo saves them... then is defeated and presumed dead. ...0 for 2, Big Green. So after Chi-Chi chews out Goku for not caring that his son was gone for 3 days with no warning or explanation, Gohan has a drug flashback... or at least a dream sequence that is very similar to the drug trip from the last film. Oh, and Bulma and Roshi get kidnapped by a giant brain to try and get Roshi to prove his strength so that they can put the giant brain into Roshi's body. ...this movie's villains have odd plans. Well, Goku sets off to save Roshi and Bulma, and Gohan sneaks after him. Goku arrives to find the villains waiting for him so that they can try to kill him, so that they can then take HIS body! ...I need a flow chart for this plan. Well, Goku proves he has the might, but for some reason doesn't want to give up his body, so they try to trap him. But Gohan shows up to save the day with the mightiest of the mightiest, KRILLIN! ...they do not help that much. Soon Goku has to save his rescuers as WELL as Bulma. Not Roshi, though, he saved himself like a boss! Oh, and Piccolo has been turned evil. Again. But the power of Gohan's love... DOES NOTHING! But kicking the giant brain snaps Piccolo out of it. So after accidentally killing his henchman, the giant brain, named Dr. Wheelo, goes all Transformers and reveals his super strong robot body! ...why did he want a flesh body if his plan was world domination? Well, Gohan poles out the Power Pole, gets ready to take out Wheelo... and get's slapped across the room like a punk! Goku then uses the Power Pole to ACTUALLY hurt Wheelo, and eventually Goku, Roshi, and Krillin launch Wheelo into space with a group Kamehameha! Wheelo, being a sore loser, decides to blow up the earth before he dies, but Goku, with the other's help, stops Wheelo with a Genki Dama. ...because that NEVER fails, right?!
World's Strongest seems to be a bit of a fan favorite, at least from I can tell. I constantly see it at the top of best DBZ film lists, and even made number 2 on Team Four Star's best Dragon Ball Movies and Specials! I'm sorry, but I don't see it. It's not a bad film, and is more unique then most other DB and DBZ films, but I don't see why this is a fan favorite. The villain is a 2 dimensional brain with confusing motivations, the setting is the artic which makes everything look rather barren, and the movie seems to be a loose collection of fight scenes with a creep and a brain commentating over most of it. Not to say that this movie is the worst by any means. The animation is nice, the battles are well done, and seeing Gohan use the Power Pole and Roshi fighting in Z is really cool and help in the transition between OG and Z. And the music, of course, is fantastic. My point is that while not bad, I think the movie is over rated. ...I'm gonna get so much hate for this...
TREE OF MIGHT/ A SUPER DECISIVE BATTLE FOR EARTH
Our final movie for today begins with Gohan, Oolong, Bulma, and Krillin camping. ...why, I have no idea. But hey, at least Chi-Chi KNEW this time! Then the forest burns down. ...oops. But never fear, Deus ex-machina is here! Our heroes wish for the forest to be restored! ...just in time for our villains to decide to land on Earth and destroy the forest! ...oops. Well after like 10 to 15 minutes of Gohan playing with Icarus... ugh... the plot finally gets going. The titular (at least in the funimation titling system) Tree of Might is planted, and it's time for the titular (at least in the Japanese titling system) Super Decisive Battle for Earth! And they all fight, for like 2 minutes, then it's Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, and the bad guys. And then Turles shows up! He looks like Goku, but is EVIL! ...that's about all there is to him. Oh, and he wants to kidnap Gohan. ...WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO KIDNAP THIS KID SO BAD! It's getting almost as bad as Princess Peach! Well, Gohan says no to a THIRD kidnap, and so he turns Gohan into a Giant Ape! Turles decides not to go one himself for unexplained reasons. Thanks to evil being stupid and attacking Icarus, however, Gohan turns on Turles. Then Goku cuts off Gohan's tail, and our rip off of the Vegeta and Goku fight can begin! But Turles' men ain't having none of that and attack Goku! And then Piccolo attacks Turles! And then I try not to fall asleep due to lack of tension! Well eventually it's Goku versus Turles, and Turles eats a fruit and goes all Popeye on Goku. But Goku makes one final stand, and uses the Genki Dama... and it fails?! WOW, THAT NEVER HAPPENS! ...except every other time he uses it outside of movies... and Buu. Anyways, evil has triumphed, Goku and his friends are defeated, and the Tree of Might is sucking the last drops of life from the planet. The end, everyone! ...ok, obviously not. Goku decides to use the energy from the giant tree in front of him that holds all energy from earth to make his Genki Dama, and defeats Turles once and for all. Icarus tries to kill Oolong, everyone laughs, and we're done.
Yeah, in case you can't tell I do not like this movie. It kinda sucks a bit. It's not the worst DBZ movie, but it sets the formula that will be followed by almost every one after this one. It's got some highlights, though. The music is excellent as always, they actually used characters like Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu, and Masako Nozawa really pulls off three voices all interacting with each other while making each distinct. But me oh my, the cons are here aplenty. Animation mistakes, forgettable villains, little to no tension in fights, friggin' Icarus, and the crappy pacing that starts painfully slow and then ends on a rushed pat ending. But here's the sad part: this is the standard when it comes to Z films, but we'll get into that more next time.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I call this the Transition Trilogy because these three films really are a Transition between the original series and Z, and especially between the original films and the Z films. The first is literally a transition, taking place between the two series, and features a Z era Goku fighting more like Kid Goku with the Power Pole, and staying mostly on the ground and such. When we get to World's Strongest we are much more into Z with Goku using Kaioken and the Genki Dama, but they still pay homage to the original, with things like Roshi fighting with them and Gohan bringing out the Power Pole. Tree of Might finishes the transition by setting up the standard formula for Dragon Ball Z films and truly bringing Saiyans and space into the movie series. All in all, not a bad trilogy, but kind of a reverse of the Original Trilogy, with the first movie being great, second mediocre, and third bad, but again, that's all my personal opinions. And honestly, I say watch them if you want. You can do much worse than these films... like our next three!
Next time we're firmly entrenched into the Z era with what I refer to as the Space Trilogy! ...it was either that or the Crappy Ripoffs of Better Villains We've Already Seen Trilogy, so cut me some slack on the naming.
I am The R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!
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