Dragon Ball Z Movie 01: Ora no Gohan wo Kaese!!

As the first Dragon Ball Z movie, it could have been worse but it did a decent job in what it wanted to accomplish. We get demons for the billions of time as enemies with the main antagonist being another midget who is stronger than he appears.
He is a generic evil badguy with forgettable henchmen. I say forgettable but they are funny and show a good fight against the heroes.

This movie like almost all DBZ movies can't fit to the main timeline and is more like something that happens at the same time as Raditz arrives in the main story. It doesn't require the viewer ... to have any experience in DBZ since they can watch this and get an idea if it is worth investing or not. And it does a good job introducing the important characters like Goku, Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo.
Gohan's hidden potential gets well build up in this movie and the badguy even considers to make him his henchmen because of his hidden powers. At this point Garlic Jr, yeah that is what he is called, seems like a competent villain who got what he wanted, but when you see the ending he pretty much is responsible for his own demise.

Even with that flaw I think this movie is great since it combines both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z' strength well. Funny scenes are hilarious and action scenes are badass.

Highly recommend watching it especially if you want to see DBZ with filler and all.

I've talked about Dragonball, all the Dragonball films and some of the Dragonball Z films. As such, it seems appropriate to talk about the first film that moved over to the Dragonball Z label, 1989's Dead Zone. Let's get right to it.

Story:

We open with Piccolo being attacked by a trio of strange looking guys. These are the demons Ginger, Nicky & Sansho. They're out to kill Kami and collect the dragonballs so that their master, Garlic Jr, can wish for immortality. And every fan of the franchise has already identified the problem with their plan. Any way, they kidnap Gohan because his hat has ... a dragonball on it thereby dragging Goku into the fight.

Let's start with the obvious problem. These villains are stupid. Like, inexcusably stupid. To start with, if they managed to kill Piccolo, the dragonballs would stop working. Secondly, why are they targeting Piccolo to kill Kami? Yes, the two are connected but why are they attacking the younger, more powerful one instead of the elderly, much weaker one? Third, why are they kidnapping Gohan? Literally, all they have to do is take his hat and leave. Yeah, Goku could still follow them using the dragon radar but he also has a lot less incentive to do it when his son isn't in danger. Besides, they don't gain anything from taking the kid. There is one other thing during the climax that a lot of fans view as a stupid move, but I see it as more of a desperate act on Jr's part to deal with two powerful opponents so that they can't cripple him since being immortal doesn't make you impervious to permanent injuries.

On the positive side, this is a Dragonball Z film and most people who watch it aren't going to care if the antagonists are morons. They're going to want to see some strong action sequences and maybe some funny moments. Which the film does have. So, franchise fans will likely be pretty satisfied with it.

Characters:

The major protagonists are Goku, Piccolo and Gohan with Krillin providing support. Which is a pretty common lineup for Dragonball Z films that predate Vegeta's redemption. The villains in this are kind of weak. Just because they are clods and they don't have much screen time. Which is also pretty common for the henchmen in Dragonball films.

Art:

The film does look good. And the designs are well done. I do appreciate that Garlic Jr looks like an imp from Chrono Trigger. Though this came out first, so I should be saying that the imps look like Garlic Jr. But I think the important aspect for fans of the franchise is going to be that the action sequences are nicely done. That being said, they definitely could have been better. Every battle in this feels like it could have benefited from a little more time and not time spent shouting to get stronger. Time spent actually throwing punches, kicks and energy blasts.

Sound:

I've already talked about the actors for the main protagonists before. They're still good in their roles. As for the antagonists, they're voiced by Kamiya Akira, Totani Kouji (who also had a minor role as a vampire in Dragonball), Chiba Shigeru (the voice of Pilaf), & Hori Yukitoshi. All of them do decently in their roles. The music is pretty much the same as you get in the series. Right down to Cha La Head Cha La as the theme tune. Which isn't a bad thing, Dragonball Z has good music.

Ho-yay:

There is none.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Do a better job of matching the antagonists motivations to their actions. You can do better than Marvel does with Mr. Sinister.

2. Use a bit more time to develop your scenario. I know, the Dragonball franchise isn't known for its strong plots. But you could still use a little more time to expand on the scenario.

3. More time for the battles.

Final Thoughts:

There are two big flaws with this film. The first is that the villains are just moronic. The second is that everything is a bit rushed from the plotting to the battles. That being said, if you're a fan of the Dragonball franchise and you want something quick to watch, it should do fine for you. I'm giving it a 6/10. It's okay for a battle anime film.

The movie was just bad. First of all the movie was way too short for the events happening in there like there was so much room for more. Second of all the movie is a typical non-canon anime movie so pretty much nothing special. Like you see some events in DBZ and wonder: But that already happened in the movie so why is Son Goku surprised? Third of all the movie didn't really explain the new character (Garlic Jr.). He just appeared out of nowhere kidnapping Son Gohan and then a little 1 minute backstory about Garlic Jr. Including... literally nothing about him in it. ... So the movie was pretty bad in my eyes.