Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Here’s a bit of background on Dragon Ball Z before you start:

Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) actually started out as a Japanese cartoon (anime) that was created by Akira Toriyama. DBZ is a show of super-powerful beings that fight evil. Simple enough. Roughly, in the first four sagas the conflict centered around magical items called dragonballs. Dragonballs can only be created by Nameks, powerful alien beings (Piccolo is one of them). Whoever manages to collect all seven dragonballs will see a dragon appear and grant 1-3 wishes (depending upon which set of dragonballs one is using – there are about 4 different sets throughout the entire DBZ existence). The main hero of the entire series is Goku. Goku is a Saiyan (Saiya-jin in Japanese) – an alien race that thrives on battle (Goku is the exception), but was destroyed many years ago. However, the enemies later on have no interest in the dragonballs whatsoever and are simply bent on various stages of destruction (killing the Z fighters, destroying earth, conquering the universe, etc.).

But then the TV series got nice and popular and what happened? Movies were born from them!

Here the dragonballs do actually come into play as Dr. Kochin, the lackey of the evil Dr. Wheelo uses them to free his master Dr. Wheelo from the thick ice surrounding their laboratory. Finally! Dr. Wheelo is free! WAHAHAHAHA!!

Well, sort of.

Dr. Wheelo has a bit of a problem. He’s a brain. Years ago, his body was destroyed, but Dr. Kochin managed to keep his brain alive. Now, however, Dr. Kochin is helping his master find a suitable body. But he doesn’t want just any body – he wants the world’s strongest body! Back when Dr. Wheelo was happily endowed with arms and legs and such, the strongest person was Master Roshi. So of course, they kidnap him – and Bulma too. They kidnap Piccolo as well (he got in the way) and find uses for him later.

Meanwhile, Gohan and Oolong have seen Dr. Kochin using the dragonballs as well as nearly get killed by weird fighters and were saved by Piccolo, who went missing soon after. They get home and relate their tale to Goku and a few of the others. They agree something odd is going on and Goku heads out to the lab to check it out. He meets up with some nasty Bio-fighters (they’re more mechanical than anything, but have some pretty tough attributes to deal with), and eventually is joined by his best friend Krillin and Gohan. They go all out in their search for Master Roshi and stumble upon Piccolo as well. Except for one thing.

Piccolo isn’t nice anymore.

Dr. Wheelo has put Piccolo under mind control and Goku has to go head to head with him and try and snap him out of it. Dr. Wheelo has finally decided that Master Roshi isn’t what he wants – instead Goku is his new target! And Dr. Wheelo isn’t going to give up easily because his brain isn’t just in a jar – it’s in one big bad*ss robot that refuses to take “no” for an answer!

Will Goku and the others manage to save Master Roshi, Bulma, and Piccolo? Can they defeat Dr. Wheelo and his lackey Dr. Kochin? Will Goku be able to keep his brain?! (such an interesting question…)

I enjoyed this movie. It does have a pretty weird plot which can make it seem kind of dumb in the beginning, but after a while it’s just cool because there are some good action scenes and there isn’t a lot of hanging around, powering up, or talking. It’s like old school Dragon Ball Z or something…it’s just fun! Piccolo being evil was pretty great – it’s always fun to see good guys go bad. It’s just overall entertaining to watch and I used to pop this (or another) in all the time just for the heck of it.

The only weird thing about this movie (well, aside from the plot), are the few inconsistencies within the plot. Goku has a couple of techniques he uses in this movie that he doesn’t use until after the Saiyans arrive in the Saiyan Saga and has no time after that to deal with this…the only time he would have was after he was Super Saiyan and such. But hey, it’s their movie, they can do whatever they want with it. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry because in all reality, it doesn’t matter. ^_~

The dubbing is actually pretty good so you don’t have to worry about lame lines or anything. You can get this on DVD and VHS, so if you want to have it in Japanese you can either get the subtitled VHS or the DVD with options. The dubber version even has the original Japanese music to it, which is awesome. It all depends upon preference, but for once I don't mind the english version at all. You can probably find this movie for pretty cheap nowadays - so you might as well go for it!

NT

Other DBZ reviews:
The Movies:
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Dead Zone
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie - The Tree of Might
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Cooler’s Revenge
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – The Return of Cooler
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Super Android 13
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Bojack Unbound

The Series:
Dragon Ball Z - Saiyan Saga: 8-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Namek Saga: 9-Volume Set
Dragon Ball Z - Captain Ginyu Saga: 2-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Frieza Saga: 10-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Garlic Jr. Saga: 3-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Trunks Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Androids Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Imperfect Cell Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Perfect Cell Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - World Tournament Saga: 3-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Babidi Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Majin Buu Saga: 7-Volume Box Set

Recommended: Yes

Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older