Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Dragon Ball Z: ROCK THE DRAGON Marathon Part 1

Welcome, one and all, to the Dragon Ball Z: ROCK THE DRAGON Movie Marathon, here at the Anime Corner. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting reviews for all 15 Dragon Ball Z movies, from Dead Zone to Resurrection F.  A couple of notes to remember about these movies: For the most part, these are not series cannon (those that are, I will point out when I get to them).  They don’t fit into the series at all.  There isn’t even a need for backstory.  Everyone’s favorite fighting warriors club is thrown into a life or death situation with a villain of the flick.  That’s all the basics there.  You may see some familiar faces that may confuse where they fit into any timeline.  But just treat them all as what they are, stand alone, mini universe tales.  Everyone good?  Ok, let’s summon the Eternal Dragon and get these thoughts shared.

 

Part 1

Movie 1-Dead Zone (Return My Gohan!!)
Gohan has been kidnapped.  The evil Garlic Jr is amassing the seven Dragon Balls in a bid to wish for immortality.  He will then be able to take his revenge on Kami, who was chosen as Guardian of the Earth in place of his father.  But his minions just stole the wrong kid.  Now Goku, Earth strongest fighter, is ready to take them on.  With his best friend, Krillin, and his arch nemesis, Piccolo, at his side, Goku is ready for anything.  But can even he stand against an immortal tyrant and his dreaded Dead Zone technique.

When I first heard there were Dragon Ball Z movies, I lit up like a tree.  Normally when “The Movie” is slapped onto a well known title, that means a larger than life experience that the TV Show can’t offer, i.e. my favorite animation guilty pleasure Transformers: The Movie.  So how is the first of the many Dragon Ball Z films?  It’s…ok.  Dead Zone is definitely one of the better films in this series.  The action is pretty solid, the story gets right to the point, and the humor isn’t bad either.  Those of you who have heard tales of Gohan’s little drug trip will be pretty pleased with his apple tasting bit.  Also, this film is one of the few, if only, to fit nicely into the official Dragon Ball cannon, taking place before the events of the Dragon Ball Z series…minus a retcon or two once Radditz arrives in the first saga.  At 45 minutes though, the short and to the point story telling style may make these movies seem like little more than extended episodes.  As a first attempt though, Dead Zone is decent enough, especially if youre a fan of a time before Super Saiyans and Spirit Bombs (Who am I kidding, those are the only reasons you ever watched the show right?).

7/10

 

Movie 2-The World’s Strongest (The Strongest Guy in the World)
Thanks to the power of the Dragon Balls, the evil Dr. Wheelo has been thawed out of his mountain prison.  Time has taken it’s toll though and only his brain has survived.  With his assistant, Dr. Kochin, Wheelo seeks to implant his body in the World’s Strongest warrior.  To this end, he kidnaps Master Rochi, Bulma and Piccolo in an attempt to lure in Goku.  Upon arriving with Gohan and Krillin, Goku is challenged by a trio of bio warriors.  And worse yet, Wheelo also controls Piccolo as well.  Can Goku save his friends and keep his body from becoming a freaky science experiment?

For a while, THIS was my favorite Dragon Ball Z movie.  The setup up, again, is simple: a one note villain and his henchmen are looking to take over the world and somehow the Dragon Balls are involved.  But what makes The World’s Strongest work for me is that this is some of the best action in DBZ EVER!!!  Goku’s Kaio Ken has never felt so epic.  His showdown with Piccolo is old school Dragon Ball rivalry reborn (even if Piccolo is mind controlled).  Plus they even gave Master Rochi a fight of his own and he does fairly well.  If I had to be a bit critical, it definitely has to fall to the stretch that Goku and the others end up fighting a brain in a giant mecha suit and have actual trouble defeating him.  Oh and Gohan gets another musical number to himself: this time it’s about his love for (let’s face it, his step dad) Piccolo…you’ll either love it or hate it.  Other than that, this movie is easily in my Top 5 of this list (and no there is no T5W being dedicated to the movies.  Now the sagas…well…) and is a must see for any fan of Dragon Ball Z.  Of the original three films released with The Ocean Dub behind it (aka the dub before Funimation took over completely) The World’s Strongest is the one I’d pop in the VCR to enjoy over and over and over again. 

8.5/10

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