My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Discussion specifically regarding the "Dragon Ball Super" TV series premiering July 2015 in Japan, including individual threads for each episode.

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My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by Acid_Reign » Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:29 am

While Broly’s rebooted character is much more human, I wanted a better narrative arc concerning his relationship with his father. Paragus trains him with a shock collar and forces him to fight against his will. Paragus cuts off the ear of his first and only friend. So I think it would’ve been a better payoff if, freed from the shock collar after Cheelai destroys it, Broly is the one to kill his father, not Freeza, as it was in the original film. Then, realizing only after-the-fact what he has done in a fit of rage, he transforms into Super Saiyan, out of anguish and guilt.

Another option would be keeping Freeza as the murderer, and then cutting to a flashback of a time when Paragus did something loving for Broly right before the transformation, in order to justify it. Because as far as we know from what we saw, Broly didn’t care much for his father, so that being the trigger for Super Saiyan doesn’t feel entirely earned.

Still the most impressive Dragon Ball film to date though. The animation is decadent; the score invigorating. Packed theater was clapping at pivotal moments. Wish I could’ve seen it in Japanese but the dub voices are nostalgic enough that I didn’t mind too much. On that note, 13-year-old me never would’ve dreamed that I’d still be getting new Dragon Ball content at 31 *head exploding*

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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by TysonWine » Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:02 am

I also think Broly killing his father would've had more weight. Not just for Broly, but I think it would've been a more dramatic scene.

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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by BWri » Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:54 am

I think its better that he didn't kill Paragus in this version. Paragus was Broly's emotional anchor on a very solitary world. As much as Paragus abused Broly, he still loved him and didn't want him to be harmed. Paragus established a true parental bond with Broly in this one and I can't see this Broly ever killing his father unless it was by accident.

I thought the movie was okay overall. Nice character moments, fantastic eye candy (not talking about the gratuitous Cheylai fanservice but the art and animation), and a ton of fun fanservice (callbacks and cameos). I don't think the plot was anything special with either the past or current day stuff. I think the past stuff could've been fleshed out more to give more weight to the movie. The fight itself was a true spectacle with some big hits, great impacts, and fun moments which did a good job at telling the underlying story of Broly's growth in combat and his relationships with Goku and Vegeta. While I enjoyed the fighting and spectacle, something was missing with the action to me. I can't yet explain what that is. I think it was due to how much was crammed into one continuous fight. Nothing really had time to settle IMO.

This film overall follows a similar template to the BoG movie. Basically everything in the first half of the movie leads directly to the big fight. I think BoG handled this much better though, because the party bits and skirmishes before the big fight were super fun. The first half of Broly feels a bit disjointed. I think the planet Vegeta stuff could've been dropped to give us more character development for Broly or the Broly on yellow planet stuff could've been been cut back, such as the inclusion of Beet, to further give us more Saiyan drama and invest us in the father's of Goku, Vegeta, and Broly.

Final Verdict: Fun, but flawed. Ended up feeling disjointed, but the big fun moments might successfully distract you from that. Not one of the best DB movies, but indeed this is a breath of fresh air for the franchise. I hope to see more in the future.
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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by Waluigiman » Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:13 pm

Acid_Reign wrote:While Broly’s rebooted character is much more human, I wanted a better narrative arc concerning his relationship with his father. Paragus trains him with a shock collar and forces him to fight against his will. Paragus cuts off the ear of his first and only friend. So I think it would’ve been a better payoff if, freed from the shock collar after Cheelai destroys it, Broly is the one to kill his father, not Freeza, as it was in the original film. Then, realizing only after-the-fact what he has done in a fit of rage, he transforms into Super Saiyan, out of anguish and guilt.

Another option would be keeping Freeza as the murderer, and then cutting to a flashback of a time when Paragus did something loving for Broly right before the transformation, in order to justify it. Because as far as we know from what we saw, Broly didn’t care much for his father, so that being the trigger for Super Saiyan doesn’t feel entirely earned.

Still the most impressive Dragon Ball film to date though. The animation is decadent; the score invigorating. Packed theater was clapping at pivotal moments. Wish I could’ve seen it in Japanese but the dub voices are nostalgic enough that I didn’t mind too much. On that note, 13-year-old me never would’ve dreamed that I’d still be getting new Dragon Ball content at 31 *head exploding*
Maybe the cause of Broly transformation is something similar to Stockholm syndrome or that he realized that Paragus died before he could treat him better.

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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by GreatSaiyaJeff » Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:58 pm

While I do agree that they should have shown a bit more bonding between Broly and Paragus, the opening scenes with Paragus going to save Broly and killing his freind so him and Broly can survive shows that he cared about him in his own messed up way. Personally when Broly freaked out, he knew deep down his father did care for him. They could have had a flashback before he fully freaked out to nail it home but overall it didn't bug me too much.
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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by dragon boss z » Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:39 pm

I don't have a problem with how Paragus got killed by Frieza. My biggest issues would probably be the noticeable CGI, especially during the SSB Goku vs Broly part where it was like CGI for a minute straight, and how Frieza basically didn't have any fighting scenes. He technically "fought" Broly for the longest but I don't remember him really throwing a single attack, he was basically just a punching bag for an hour. Don't get me wrong, I loved the scene, I just think 30 seconds of Golden Freeza actually fighting back would have made it better.

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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by dbzfan7 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:55 pm

I woulda liked Paragus to be treated less as a total ass, and more tragic kinda like before. I mean he uses a shock collar, but what else is he supposed to do? He can't stop Broly any other way. It's cruel, but the only way to control Broly before he loses it. He's wrong, but understandable.
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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by Dragono » Sat Jan 19, 2019 12:32 am

dbzfan7 wrote:I woulda liked Paragus to be treated less as a total ass, and more tragic kinda like before. I mean he uses a shock collar, but what else is he supposed to do? He can't stop Broly any other way. It's cruel, but the only way to control Broly before he loses it. He's wrong, but understandable.
Which in turn made Broly look more like the ass.

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Re: My biggest issue with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” [spoilers]

Post by wolflonnie » Sat Jan 19, 2019 5:22 am

dbzfan7 wrote:I woulda liked Paragus to be treated less as a total ass, and more tragic kinda like before. I mean he uses a shock collar, but what else is he supposed to do? He can't stop Broly any other way. It's cruel, but the only way to control Broly before he loses it. He's wrong, but understandable.
Agreed. Veeery black and white situation as it was presented, while it would've been better to give more reason to Paragus.

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