©1997 Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation
Licensed to FUNimation Productions, Inc.
Released by Pioneer Entertainment
Bilingual Japanese/English with Closed-Caption Subtitles
$39.95
UPC 0-13023-52276-3
45 minutes

Fans of the monolithic DRAGONBALL franchise have not usually had much difficulty in finding something to watch. After all, there were three television series (two of which were phenomenally long), and a large number of both television specials and theatrical movies. With such a large amount of material available, it seemed only a matter of time before Goku and company became familiar characters on U.S. airwaves. And with Pioneer releasing the videotapes, many DRAGONBALL fans could get their fill. But hard-core DRAGONBALL Z fans have been disappointed by the fact that there is not a subtitled release of what airs on television. The movies, however, are a different story. Pioneer is releasing them in both subtitled and dubbed format, and even on LD.
DEAD ZONE, the first movie to be released in the U.S., takes place very early on in the chronology of the DRAGONBALL Z series. (Devout fans know that the movies do not always fit neatly, if at all, into the television series continuity.) The first scene shows Piccolo getting trashed by several unknown enemies. Elsewhere, Gohan is playing happily outside his home when his grandfather is attacked by an unknown intruder. ChiChi attempts to protect her son, but is outnumbered and outmatched. Goku returns to find out that his son has been kidnapped and takes off in pursuit.
It turns out that Garlic Junior is not really interested in Gohan, at least at first. Instead, he is more interested in the Dragonball he wears on his hat. When he gathers all seven Dragonballs together, Shen Long (the Dragon) appears and grants his wish, which is (of course) immortality. Goku shows up to rescue his son. Meanwhile, Kami-sama shows up to fight Garlic Junior. Then Piccolo shows up to settle a score or two, and well, it just gets complicated from there. Lots of hitting and yelling and screaming and things breaking. Garlic Junior opens a rift to the dark dimension and tries to suck everyone and everything through. He fails, however, thanks to well... that would be telling.
Oftentimes DRAGONBALL movies seem more like long television episodes than movies. One of the reasons for this is that these movies are often double- or even triple-featured with other anime "movies," every summer as part of an Animation Festival. Such is the case with DEAD ZONE. The plot really is simple: "Rescue Gohan." Everything else really seems to be incidental. Also, in the middle of the film, Gohan gets drunk by eating these alcoholic fruits and sings a very bizarre song that has zero appeal to viewers over eight years old. It's an attempt at comedy relief, but it goes on too long and where's the relief when the comedy relief doesn't know when to quit?
The animation quality seems a little higher than that of the average television episode, but there isn't anything particularly creative or unique about it. The Dragonball team, however, does what it does very well, and fight scenes and displays of power are very well executed. Voice acting is of varying quality, and I obviously prefer the original voices. Their American counterparts turn in valiant efforts, but screaming dialog in character is a task that is very hard to master. Most notable in the cast list is the veteran Kamiya Akira as Garlic Junior, not a typical role for him.
Of course, watching this on LD enables the viewer to choose how he wants to hear the dialog: English dubbed or Japanese, and the subtitles can be toggled on and off through the closed captioning facility. This is the biggest advantage of Pioneer's anime LD format—three versions in one.
Fans of DRAGONBALL Z will enjoy this movie, but those who have little experience with Dragonball will probably not find DEAD ZONE to be particularly enthralling.