Its more Dragon Ball less Dragon Ball Z. The yay so many minutes of Z they have near the end may leave many a Dragon Ball Z fan disappointed and chomping at the bits as to how much this movie sucks...as a Dragon Ball Z movie. The only thing they...
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Its more Dragon Ball less Dragon Ball Z. The yay so many minutes of Z they have near the end may leave many a Dragon Ball Z fan disappointed and chomping at the bits as to how much this movie sucks...as a Dragon Ball Z movie. The only thing they fail to mention or acknowledge is how true to the basics of the source it is as a Dragon Ball movie. When viewed as a live action adaptation of Dragon Ball (the series that precedes Dragon Ball Z) it holds up better. The sad thing is most Dragon Ball Z fans have probably never even bothered to watch let alone read an episode of the flagship series which was responsible for its later Evolution into Dragon Ball Z to begin with. But the basics from season 1 of Dragon Ball are there with some minor tweaks to plot and character. Spoilers
Goku goes to school in the movie but never did in the Anime. Goku becomes Oozaru in the movie while the sun is still up. In the Anime he only changed at night under the moon while they were trapped in a big hole. In the movie they get trapped in a big hole but there is no full moon overhead and they dig their way into a volcano. Its basically Dragon Ball remixed. Bulma's hair is completely blue in the Anime in the movie? She's a throwback to Lori Petty's Tank girl with one streak of blue hair. Bulma has a tracking device to find the Dragon Balls in the anime and this movie. Bulma tosses out a capsule to make a motorcycle in the anime. In the movie it looks less like a capsule initially? But the general gist is still there. On the Dragon Ball Z front Goku does a lot of dodging in fights he has in the Anime. In the movie there's one scene where he does nothing but dodging all throughout the fight with the bullies because of a promise he made to Gohan his grandfather. In the anime we don't ever get to see Goku and his Grandfather spend time together he is only mentioned in passing. In the movie we do. In the anime Goku reveals his dragon ball to Bulma after she intrudes on him with her tracker. In the movie same thing albeit remixed with a would be fight/action sequence.

He also mentions his grandfather to her in the anime. In the movie same thing. In the anime Bulma comes across one of Master Roshi's skin mags. In the movie? Same thing. In the anime Goku learned to throw the Kamehameha fireball from Master Roshi.In the movie the same but then they also add further incentive for him to learn it by turning it into a more romantic encounter with chichi. There are worse movies than this Dragon Ball: the magic begins comes to mind. That was the first live action Dragon Ball movie. The only other thing missing aside from a few notable characters (flying nimbus included) and props (extending magic staff anyone?) was the humor. Dragon Ball Evolution took itself rather seriously. The original Emperor Pilaf saga had some bodily function humor in the form of fartjokes, bowel movement jokes and one pee joke.