Before my power level reached over 9000, I was headed to the fabled land of Junior High. But like every school year, my mother insisted that I get a couple of new shirts. That Friday we headed to the Miller’s Outpost. For our younger readers Miller’s was a combination of Old Navy and Hot Topic. A series of shirts featuring Anime characters with rather pointy hair caught my eye. I picked out about 3 shirts and went home.
The next morning I woke up extra early for some Saturday morning cartoons and while I was admiring my new shirts the TV announcer said a phrase I think we all remember: “Next time on Dragon Ball Z…” I practically fell off of the couch as I desperately looked for a VHS so I could record. Safe to say Dragon Ball Z has had an impact on my life.
Fast forward and DBZ is back, with a variety of new movies – and including a new TV series that just started in Japan. I had a chance to catch an early screening of Dragon Ball Z Resurrection F. Is this the next best DBZ movie and what does Frieza have to do with it?
Story
While I got to see the early Dragon Ball Z episodes with Nappa and Vegeta – my main exposure was to the Frieza saga. Which meant I was more than a little excited about this movie.
The movie takes place after Battle of the Gods. Both Goku and Vegeta are now buddy-buddy with Beerus and Whis and are currently being trained by them. Essentially Goku needs to learn to be a bit more serious – while Vegeta needs to learn how to relax.
While they are off training a bunch of Frieza minions find all the Dragon Balls and resurrect their fallen master. They quickly debrief Frieza and the whole gang decides to take a good old fashioned road trip to Earth – to of course get some much needed revenge.
My personal favorite character of the movie: Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, who makes his way to earth and gives Bulma a heads up that Frieza and 1000 of his soldiers are on their way. Bulma gathers the rest of the DBZ crew and it’s fighting time.
While it’s a simple storyline – DBZ isn’t really known for its storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there aren’t any good storylines – it’s just not its strong suit. Which more than worked for me. The movie felt fun and entertaining. Oh and did I mention that there are new forms for Frieza, Goku and Vegeta?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z_nWwKBiRw[/youtube]
Presentation
During a recent dinner, I had someone mention to me that they had trouble understanding why they bothered releasing animation on Blu Ray. It almost caused me to do a spit take – as I for one appreciate the clean lines and artwork that a properly remastered classic can have. That being said DBZ steps it up and delivers. The line art looking fantastically clean while the colors somehow leap off the screen. Certainly worth watching on Blu Ray.
In terms of Audio the Blu Ray features both a Japanese 5.1 and English 5.1 track. I originally saw the film in English and was more than impressed with the Japanese version. Though I am more of a subtitle guy. Both versions have their merit, but for me there was a lot more word play humor within the Japanese version. SFX and everything else were very top notch. Felt very old school while still keeping a refined movie quality.
The box artwork and inserts for the Blu Ray were also quite nice. With a transparent sleeve for the Blu Ray, which I haven’t seen since the early days of DVD. Inside the box there were plenty of Freiza propaganda posters – which were quite fun. Included in the box was also an Ultra Violet digital download – while I’m not a fan of that format – I did redeem both English and Japanese version of the film.
Overall
I’m not sure how I feel about this film, clearly I’m a bit behind on DBZ – and have missed quite a lot. I would recommend watching Battle of the Gods first. As it would help set the stage for both Beerus and Whis and also help usher you in for the new power levels. That being said I certainly did enjoy the movie – it was both fun and entertaining. If you are a DBZ fan this is a must. Though I’m hoping we might get to see a return of Broly in the near future.