Dragon Ball Z Movie 04: Super Saiyajin da Son Gokuu

Overview:

Certain questions have always plagued mankind. Can absolute morals exist in the absence of a God or some form of karmic retribution, or does morality become relative and all is permitted because nothing is innately wrong? If highly religious countries always have lower suicide rates than atheist countries due to the fear of eternal damnation, should religion be promoted to stabilize society even if we know many of the stories aren't true? Finally, what IS the worst fucking DBZ movie?!

"plot" 2/10

The story of Lord Slug is that there is a super powerful Namekian that comes to Earth in order to gather the dragon balls and ... wish for eternal youth. Keep in mind that he has an interstellar ship and MUST be aware of the Namekian dragon balls, that grant 3 wishes instead of 1 and are less well defended, because the toughest Namek is Nail with a power level of only around 40K. Lord Slug decides to defy ALL logic and come to Earth, so that this movie can totally rip off the King Piccolo story arc from Dragon Ball. Goku and friends must sense this powerful being coming, but decide to do nothing and just allow his minions to gather the dragonballs and grant a wish. If he had wished for immortality, the gang would be screwed because Lord Slug isn't going to open the "Dead Zone" and off himself. Fortunately, Lord Slug is so stupid that he merely wishes for youth without adding that extra bit about not being able to die. How is he defeated? The first step in his downfall involves Gohan whistling. In this movie, Namekians are really weakened by whistling for...some reason. Keep in mind that this has ZERO precedence in the series, and apart from this movie is never used again! Goku then changes into a form that isn't a Super Saiyan, because Toriyama hadn't created the Super Saiyan design yet. Instead he becomes a glowing red form that fans now simply call "Champion of Christmas" after the TFS joke. Goku then finally defeats him with....wait for it....the spirit bomb! Seriously, Fuck this movie!

Art and Sound: 6/10

The fight scenes aren't nearly as good as some of the other DBZ movies, but they aren't absolutely terrible. The animation is generally decent for 1991 DBZ standards and the soundtrack (I'm talking about the Japanese one) is mostly just the same soundtrack from the series without any notable great track additions, unlike say the 7th or 8th movies. Basically the art and sound is fine, but it didn't feel like they were really going all out either. It felt like a quickly made, lazy cash grab because that is exactly what it was.

Overall: 3/10

Does it have some of that trademark DBZ yelling and action? Yes it does. Does it have a few moments that were amusing? I would argue that it does. Is it a good movie? HELL NO! This movie is always a strong contender for the worst DBZ movie along with #6 (Mecha-Cooler) and #11 (Bio-Broly). All 3 are honestly horrible fucking movies that only rabid DBZ fans (like me) could even remotely enjoy, and even that is a stretch. My opinion on which of the 3 is the worst fluctuates, but most of the time I would respond that Lord Slug is in fact the worst of the whole bunch. This is obviously not counting the time traveling Bardock special, because that was a TV special and NOT a movie. Bottom line: don't watch this movie unless you are a HUGE DBZ fan and simply have to complete all the movies, just to say that you did!

Ignore all these other reviews! I'm here to let you know that this movie is good! Obviously it has it's issues, but this is the first Dragon Ball Z movie to be enjoyable to watch. The first three movies simmer around mediocrity. It's not canon so feel no obligation to watch it. However, if you want some more fun Dragon Ball Z action, this is a worthwhile experience.

Let's just address this up front. Is Lord Slug a Piccolo rip off? YES! He is a Namekian. He commands an army (like Piccolo did when he originally took on Earth). He hunts the Dragon Balls to get ... eternal youth. Slug's moveset is even the exact same. He even uses the "turn into a giant" move Piccolo used. Everything about him is a complete, utter, and unhidden rip off. But you know what, I'm not mad about it. It works. The story was good for Piccolo and it's good here. It's not original, but it's not boring to watch by any means. For a rip off, it does a serviceable job of making it entertaining.

To address another thing. Lord Slug did not go back to Namek to get the Dragon Balls because they used the Dragon Balls to exile him. I know this is minor, but reading other reviews bugged me. This is why. Moving on.

The animation and sound is on par with the anime at the time. The fight scenes are animated well. I love when fights actually have a bit of back and worth and are not entirely one sided. Not to mention Piccolo and Gohan get a bit of time to show off their moves. They are not the best fight scenes, but they stand above a lot of the one sided borefests that monopolize Dragon Ball Z. Sound features your regular Dragon Ball Z tunes. Nothing out of place. Voice acting is solid too for the dub.

Forget the haters. Yes the movie is unoriginal. It's not canon though. Just take it for what it is and I am sure you will enjoy it as well.

After watching 4 Dragon Ball Z movies each better than the last, to my relief, they've finally stopped improving. I was getting worried at one point that I would have to start rating them like 8 or 9 eventually. :P

This is the first Dragon Ball Z movie that I watched in Japanese... and it turns out this is one of the few anime where the sub does not seem like much of an improvement upon the dub, if at all (assuming the dub in this one is of similar quality to those in other Dragon Ball Z movies). I mean, did they find a bunch ... of kids to voice this thing?! Because that's what it sounds like, especially Goku's voice.

I think they actually attempted to produce something that's slightly more clever than most Dragon Ball Z movies. Unfortunately, the result isn't pretty. A couple of things happened during the battles that didn't entirely make sense. In addition I'm starting to get a bit tired of the ease at which the Eternal Dragon is summoned, the characters can do it so easily that I'm half expecting them to start collect the dragon balls and summon the Eternal Dragon just to fix a hole in their sock next time round. In case you don't know, once you collect all the dragon balls, you can summon the Eteneral Dragon which grants you a wish, after which the dragon balls all disappears ready to be collected again. Not only does it seem like something that belong more in a game than in a proper storyline, it's also a really bad plot devise that's basically like the cheesey short cut to everything - instead of going through the painstaking process of developing the story, you can just use the Eternal Dragon to get it to where you want it to be and voila, dilemma solved!

But Despite all the flaws, it's still one of the better Dragon Ball Z movies I've seen.

This movie is very underappreciated considering the plot is very well-written. This review will contain spoilers, so you've been warned! The movie gets straight to the point after a light-hearted scene between Gohan and Piccolo. The sudden news of an extinction-level asteroid is about to collide with the Earth. Shortly after, we see Goku and Krillin in a fantastic scene showing them perform a double Kamehameha wave at the asteroid. That scene alone was just amazing, so I won't spoil what happens next! Later on, the movie reveals the antagonist called "Lord Slug" who turns out to be an Ancient Namekian who, along with the ... rest of their kind, were eternally banished long ago by the Namekian Dragon Balls from their home planet Namek for abusing their newfound powers. This movie also shows Goku almost turn into a Super Saiyan, so that's awesome as well. This movie is great. From the story, sound, and also the dynamic between Gohan and Piccolo...this movie does everything right for just being one hour long! It's one of my favorite DBZ movies alongside "Cooler's Revenge" and "Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan", so definitely check it out!

Lord Slug is the fourth film of the Dragon Ball Z film series - and it comes with a plot and villain that are just as generic as the last film - thankfully with the caveat that it's at least a more interesting and exciting film then Tree of Might, but that's not saying much when the result is still quite a bit more forgettable and middling then I'd like to see in a Dragon Ball film, or any film for that matter.

One thing that sets Lord Slug apart is it's set-up that could only really work in a film setting - a doomsday setting ... that pushes the Earth (again) to the very brink through the use of a 'terrafreeze' device after a huge planet-sized object barely misses the planet. The scenes leading up to these plot devices are pretty dramatic, showing the world on the edge of destruction - I just fee that as the world begins to freeze over, we could've just gotten a few minutes of the world reacting to the slow cold creeping around the globe. The art direction for the frozen world looks pretty great, and it looks very different to a lot of other DBZ films, at least in about half the scenes.

Lord Slug himself, however, is a bit of a disappointment. His original premise of being an old, ancient being made me pretty excited to see how he was going to be a major adversary to Goku and crew, but almost instantly is this idea dropped and we get a normal, run of the mill villain who comes off as a budget King Piccolo from the original Dragon Ball. At the very least, we get some cool abilities on display from Lord Slug, but even these feel just like cheap imitations of Piccolo and other Namekians we've seen through the series.

Sadly, you know something is wrong with the film when the side-fights are more interesting then the one against the titular opponent himself. Almost nothing stands out for the actual brawl against Lord Slug; it never falls into boring territory, but outside of his initial, calculated beat-down of Goku and Goku's sudden pre-Super Saiyan power-up, there isn't really much memorable about it until the final stages. On a completely different note, however, this movie is actually pretty funny - Lord Slug has a lot of stupid, yet great one-liners, and Krillan's reaction to the world ending is nothing short of hysterical.

For the love of god, though, why doesn't Krillan get ANY love in these films? When he's not being a babysitter, it seems he's almost instantly removed from the fight. Otherwise, one of my favourite parts of this film is the other Z-Fighters trying to deal with Lord Slug's efforts when Goku is MIA. Gohan going full Musou-style on Lord Slug's goons is pretty spectacular to watch, and there is nothing in this film more satisfying then Piccolo's initial fight against one of Lord Slug's commanders. The build-up to and the side-fights themselves are probably the highest points of the film - it's a shame, because with a similar tone and a little less villan's going down in one shot, this could've ranked with the best.

Lord Slug is a perfectly average and forgettable entry in the Dragon Ball Z film series. Like many of them, it has it's moments, but it feels nothing short of a massive amount of missed potential. I wouldn't go so far to say it's a bad film, but it's very much the kind that you'll watch it once and never think about it again, which is some ways, is a much worse thing to say about a film then calling it bad in the end, anyway.

So, this time in our favourite show, "The Villain Recycle", the following movie's plot is a complete rehash from DB's King Piccolo-arc! Okay... sure, whatever. I mean... Frieza's yet not existant in a timeline, so we cant yet rehash him time and time again to - not permanent - death, no can we?!

Namekian, who's not named King Piccolo... or Kami... or NAAAAAAAIIILLL... lands on Earth, and freezes everything over - something, that Frieza would do, if judged by the name... He wants dragon thingies so he can be young again. Sounds familiar? Carrot and the gang are having non of it, since Piccolo is supposed ... to be the handsomest Jolly Gree Giant on Earth, and so they start throwing their lives, limbs and kids at them, till the Piccolo 2.0 starts to erect... ehm, grow, and break shit - pretty basic stuff... nothing to get excited over. Some expositon in under a one minute happens, some flexing and flailing, Piccolo rips his ears off... what?! Once again, the bad guys are "surprisingly" inadept to kill the Carrot cake, and Piccolo gets finally some touch n' feel on his fellow namekian... slugdemon... pokemon-reject... thing? Asses are being pulled... humans are once again just a mear punchingbags... do Piccohan-fans finally wet their pants all at once?! Rated dirty R for antenna-pulling. Better not see it - namekians can't apparently even cum... just like their fans can't.

This movie is only 50-minutes long turd of a wasted money, and some Piccohan-fanfiction - I had to google that term! - and it took me over 3 hours to finish - I'm not even kidding! Still, I feel like I have to be honest, so I'm gonna say it... namekians are kinda cool! Bearing that in mind, I was kinda excited, when I noticed, that the villain of the "story", is yet another alien - namekian, if you didn't already guessed - and I was of course hoping, that just once... just freaking once, Piccolo of all people... aliens, would be the Hero of the Day, and save the Earth - more or less - since his latest attempt to save the world, was to allow it's inhabitants to be turned into candy, by some pink blop! Or... future attempt, was it? Oh, what the heck, some redemption would do some good for this guy anyway! But honestly, I could already see it now actually happening! Two namekians, green against bigger green, fighting for something, and so on! That would've been cool, and it would've brought something new to the table, as well as possibly expanding Piccolos already almost-non-existant character! But no! Of course, this movie had to be yet another Fanporn- movie, dedicated to Goku-wanks, and oh my, does it stink!

What I first noticed, while watching this... movie, is that a thinner-than-wallpaper- type of stories seems to really be the biggest trademark of DBZ - like the fans would mind about the story, right?! I actually counted down the actual "story-mode" of this movie, that I did, and it turned out to be only about 15 minutes, with rest of the movie being... you guessed it! Fighting, gawking at terror, more fighting, and oh, so very, very awful dialog! I mean... really bad dialog! Cringeworthy! So bad, that not even a porn-movie, would be proud about it... and this movie, is a Fanporn-movie! And it still is such a short movie! Hey! Idea! What if... instead of wasting my time, into all of this boasting, fighting and all this "Ah! He's so strong! I can't beat him! We're doomed!" bullshit, why not... now stay with me... actually give us some actual backstory, for our main villain?! You know... the villain, that seems to be even more hated, that Broly?! The whole quarter of the "story", that ever took place in this movie, was pretty much just about our villain, but the problem was... he didn't do anything! The way I saw it, he, Lord Slug that is, just came - not that way! - crashed into the scene, sat there like a tool, keeped acting like a tool, is later the actual tool, and then, right at the atmost last moment, we're given this under-minute- long backstory about him, and why he's doing all... that what he's doing! That's not a story! That's just some... really pathetically weak writing... at most and/or it's best! Weak, and stupid... much like this franchise, as a whole! Even his big plans were treated most of the time, like some throw-away- jokes, not to be taken seriously, and to be honest... that's how I felt! Nothing was serious, nothing had any meaning, and yet another wish, from a Deux ex Machina, was wasted, into pure idiotism! Someone... take those wreaking balls out of their hands - no pun intented! - and let's see, if the actual story would ever take in place!

Another problem, was... the villain, himself. Not that bad of a villain, honestly.... more like a Piccolo, on steroids. He's supposed to be this "ultimate ruler of the universe" - not Frieza, apparently - but really... he has absolutely nothing, on his name! We don't know him, his character, or his story! His just evil, for the sake of it, and nothing else! And what's up with that stupid weakness of his - whistling?! And Piccolo, too?! Really?! You can take these space-monkeys, screaming at you, and to each other, for like 15-minutes straight in constipation, and blowing shit up left and right, but you can't take couple of minutes, of some teeny whistling?! Wow! That's just... wow! And speaking of space-monkeys... why did we needed Goku, to be a hero to begin with in this film?! No, I know the answer! To give fans more reasons, to wank... but that's not the point! The point is, that this was clearly a bloodfeud, between namekians from opposite spectrums, with one of them being... not so big of a doucheback, than the second! No third hands needed here! Let them clean up their own shit... and rather somewhere else, than this God-forsaken Hellhole-Earth, please!

This movie felt like some stupid filler-episode, that was just mayde even too stupid, to put in actual tv-series, and that's saying alot! It had absolutely no story, very little plot - if any - and throw-away- villain, with no actual story of his own, character, or motives. Everything was too easy either to accomplish, or fix back to normal, so that very little consequense was left behind... if any - casualties of humanlives, and enviromental catastrophies are something, that this wolrd learnd to live with, and accept ages ago! I truly hate it, when our "heroes" treat the threaths of their homeworld, like some sort of everyday-happenings, like a stroll down the lane in a park at sunday-afternoons, and they even dare to laugh at it in the end! Some heroes! What about all those people, that I'm sure were killed, in the process?! Did they ever came back to live, or is it more important for Oolong, to wish another pair of pants?! And what about all that enviromental damage? Whatca gonna do with that?! Nothin'? Kay!

This is one of the purest Fanporn-movies, that I've seen, in a while. No story needed, 'cause who wants one of those - not the fans, right?! Plot is very light, like a cloud, made out of... thoughts, not water, and the villain's so stupid, and boring, that you don't remember him, right after this movie ends... if at all. What you get, is just some fighting, and... yeah, nothing else. Or, if you're a yaoi-fan, you can get something out of Piccohan - seriously, is that a real thing?! - but other than that... I wouldn't recommend this movie to anybody! Not even those, who are stupid enough, to watch these bad anime movies, and then write how bad they are! Like I said, this movie is a filler... or a demo-version of a storymode, for a Street Fighter. Don't expect to get anything good out of this, even if you actually like DBZ.

For once, the fans were right about something - this is one of the worst movies, this franchise has to offer... which is really, really bad!

Story: 1
Art: 3
Sound: 2
Characters: 1
Enjoyment: 1
Overall: 1

Dragon Ball Z Movie 4: Super Saiyan Son Goku, also known Lord Slug in America, is disliked by fans for the main antagonist being similar to King Piccolo:
- both have demonic henchmen
- both are evil Namekian
- both use the Dragon Balls to regain their youth to regain lost power
And Lord Slug also doesn't have many of the features that make other popular villains memorable, but he has motivations unique to him.

At the start of the movie Slug and his men invade earth and use a machine to shield the planet from the sun creating an environment where the demonic aliens can flourish. This plan ... also has side effects on the planets inhabitants as many characters succumb to the cold created by that change. In other words, the movie does a great job displaying the destruction caused by Slug arriving.

This movie has some of the most brutal action scenes in the franchise even some done by the good guys. For example Goku would counter an energy blast of an opponent sending it back inside his mouth. Or Goku breaking the ankle of an opponent.
The setting is also very well used to show tragedy. They move their fight into a theme park which is normally associated with happiness but because of the invasion its dark and lifeless.

The fight against Lord Slug is also entertaining since he uses known Namekian abilities in a very good style especially when he turns into a giant. There is also a very creative way how Goku and Piccolo fight it instead of the boring charging into random body parts to attack like in most Dragon Ball fights. Piccolo being also a Namekian does a good job in knowing how to handle him using what normally is a strength of a Namekian and turning it against it.

Lastly the false Super Saiyan form which is considered by many the most underwhelming or bad. And it did come out of nowhere and considering we got so many forms, it feels like another pointless transformation. In terms of release it did come out before regular Super Saiyan and is a form that you can only stay in while enraged. But honestly it feels no different than a golden colored Kaioken, but then again it turned Goku more aggressive which isn't anything knew after seeing the real Super Saiyan. However, it does look far more powerful than many forms you will see in Dragon Ball Super.

The characters in the movie are well used. While in many other movies characters feel like filler sometimes because they don't accomplish anything. In this movie, even if they don't nor affect the movie, they feel relevant simply because they are affected by the invasion.
Gohan and Piccolo were crucial to beat Slug and Goku obviously does the heavy lifting.

Lord Slug doesn't feel like he is deserving his power and even him being a Super Namekian feels like a rip off of Super Saiyan without the deep lore behind it. But it did foreshadow the Super Namekian in the manga I guess. So isn't very memorable, but not a bad one. As I mentioned Slug has motivations besides regaining his youth, that being turning earth into an utopia for him and his men. And it feels he wants to succeed in it and manages to do so.

There were obviously some issues. Like how Goku used defeated the bad guy with the same technique as in the prior movies. Piccolo continuing the tradition from prior movies to come safe Gohan. Not outrageous since this is the third time, but it will happen more often.

Overall this movie is better than I remembered. The name is kinda a false advertisement since it doesn't have THE Super Saiyan, but a Toei interpretation what a Super Saiyan is.
If you are a Piccolo fan, I think his movie does really feel as brutal as you know him in the past. Not a nanny of the son family.
Action is good with fluid animation and the Japanese music is great setting the atmosphere well.
Not one of the best movies and it doesn't stand out, but an enjoyable experience regardless.

"Gohan whistling and singing is poisonous", yes. Let's make it a thing in dragon ball, no.

The moment, when King Kai said Frieza's name to Goku, I've decided to dissolve this movie into pieces. I could care less it came out before Super Saiyan even appears in anime, Lord Slug takes place AFTER the Frieza saga, and King Kai comparing Slug and Frieza strength to Goku, and Goku's weird Super Saiyan just confirmed it for me.

Now, some say it's a pre-Frieza movie, but the fact that Super Saiyan appears and Slug is stronger than FRIEZA, there's no way Goku can hold against Slug in his ... pre Namek power even with Super Saiyan. That's my argument. If you disagree, that's okay too. This is my only opinion on how I see LS.

Lord Slug is a non-canon movie, meaning anime original, and Lord Slug doesn't appear in DBZ Manga. It was a kind of commercial on Super Saiyan, but that won't play any role in my review.

Without further ado, let's get to the business. And remember, I am treating it as a post-Frieza movie, thank you Kai.

My positives from LS:
1, Art and Sound are in DBZ coat.
2, Alien technology
3, fights with minions are somewhat entertaining

My negatives from LS:
1, Another Gohan on drugs, yes he's not on drugs, but I like to call his singing and whistling sequences drugged. Also, Namekians are weak towards whistling.
2, "I am Piccolo, I am going let evil guys collect Dragon Ball, and I am going to appear when the wish is done. Because plot"
3, There's no way Goku would be near death after getting winded away by Slug's planet, he already survived Vegeta, which is an achievement on its own.
4, Slug is what I call Artificial Villain. His first impressions from the movie are killing his crew for no reason to make him look like a d*ck. It doesn't invest a single bit into his persona doing lazy pure evil villain cliche.
5, How could Goku do Genki Dama, when earlier Kai told him there's not enough energy for Dama? Plot.
6, If Kai says LS is stronger than Frieza, does he mean his 530 000 form or full power Frieza? If he means 530 000, there's no way Slug would survive a single second against Super Sayian.

My Main Course negatives from LS if you consider LS as post-Frieza:
1, Why there isn't Vegeta? No, seriously, where the hell is he here when Goku's on Earth.
2, Why Goku gets himself beaten by Slug without using Kaio-ken or his Super Saiyan, just to turn into a weird Super Saiyan
3, Why the hell is Gohan always useless in DBZ movies? Whenever there's a DBZ movie, I swear he's there, just to be some sort of a reason, why Z warriors are beaten down. It was with Goku in Cooler's Revenge (I watched it before LS), and it is with Piccolo in this movie as well.
4, Why Demon Clan again? I swear that Garlic jr. and Slug are a disgrace to Piccolo Daimao from DB 1986. Daimao was a good villain, but every attempt to replicate Demon Clan came out weak.
5, Where's Tien and Chiaotzu and Yamcha? (if it was pre-Frieza) They can't be dead because Piccolo is alive.

Summary: Even if I would take this movie as pre-Frieza, it still makes no sense to me, same as post-Frieza. LS has some bright moments, but there are lots of wtf moment that just can't get past me.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 04: Lord Slug earns 3/10 no matter if I rate it as a post or pre Frieza. This movie didn't work for me, it has good scenes, but I just don't like it, and it is my 1st 3/10 rating given to the anime.

This is the EXACT SAME PLOT as Tree of Might, but with a Namekian instead of a Sayian this time. There's a lot more humor this time around, and the fights are better thanks to some really creative villains. The movie is still really stupid, but it's at least mild entertainment.

The minor characters get to shine here a lot more than by this point in the show-- Chi-Chi gets to fight again, yay! Oolong has more screentime than most of the TV series combined, yay! Piccolo has a cool fight all to himself where he doesn't get blown up by the end of it.

What's really ... dumb here? Goku goes "Super Sayian" but I guess they hadn't reached that point in the anime when this came out, so all he does is get a big energy field and have his pupils disappear. I'll excuse that from my "Major Continuity Issues." This is just like the last few in that it simply can't exist anywhere in the timeline, but at least it isn't directly referenced again...