Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

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Majin Buu
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Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Majin Buu » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:14 pm

By this, I don't mean in a "you have to watch them to understand the story" kind of way since they are stand alone stories. I mean in terms of the overall experience of watching the anime. I've been re-watching the movies recently and I've been thinking that the movies are really half of the experience of watching the anime. Without the movies the anime as a whole feels a little bare. I would argue that if you watch the anime you really should be watching the movies as well for the complete experience.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by ABED » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:21 pm

Nah, I don't think the movies are good enough to warrant that sort of reaction.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Majin Buu » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:26 pm

I'm not really taking the quality of the films into account with this. I'm more referring to how ubiquitous they are when you take the overall franchise into account.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by ABED » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:34 pm

Majin Buu wrote:I'm not really taking the quality of the films into account with this. I'm more referring to how ubiquitous they are when you take the overall franchise into account.
Not sure what you're getting at. Sure, the films are everywhere, but how would that make it necessary to watch them?
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:39 pm

I wouldn't say so.

Should you watch them? Hell yeah, while most of the stories are pretty bare bones they are worth it for being shorter, and more tightly paced. The animation is also among the best we've seen in Dragon Ball.

Do you need to watch them to get the full Dragon Ball anime experience? Not necessarily. I consider the movies their own entity that can be watched as an added bonus but if you've only seen the series you've got a good basis for appreciating the series.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by 90sDBZ » Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:17 pm

I wouldn't say they're necessary, but they are icing on the cake. For instance if you're a fan of Goku the anime has long stretches where he's out of action, particularly the Android/Cell saga where he doesn't fight at all between 19 and Cell. The movies of that era give you your Goku fix by having him face off against the likes of Cooler, Androids 13-15, and Broly. Movie 6 was even the first time we got to see Goku and Vegeta team up. Basically they're fun because they throw continuity out the window and make for some cool what-if scenarios.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:45 pm

I feel like this is arguing if the filler is necessary no.

Not that the movies aren’t without merit bur you’re not really losing anything if you skip out on them

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:47 pm

Necessary, no.

But in my opinion, anyone who hasn't seen the three OG DB movies, the first and last Z movies, and the 10th anniversary one is missing out.

The rest mostly range from disposable but quite fun to outright crap, though I think if you're a big fan and have seen everything else, it's worth checking them all out.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by DHM211 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:44 pm

It's not necessary, although I love Z movies 1,5,8,9,12,13, and DB movie 4.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by GreatSaiyaJeff » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:08 pm

To the overall story? No but they have a nice charm to them. Some are better then others. World's Strongest, The first Broly Movie, Fusion reborn and Battle of Gods are probably my favorite of the bunch.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Ssjcell » Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:37 pm

I like the movies and I for one always found it fun to try to see where you could try to squeeze them in the timeline even though it's impossible for most of them

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by PFM18 » Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:15 am

The movies are way too bad for them to be considered crucial for anything. I only find myself even thinking about watching them if I am starved for DB content that I haven't seen fairly recently, (aka fresh in my mind) and I need something more to quench my thirst for Dragon Ball. I tried that with GT but I can't for the life of me get through the 17 arc/Shadow Dragons Arcs.

Even though the DB movies aren't necessarily well written and they rehash moments from the actual original DB series, I love those couple movies for some reason. I really can't rationalize why I enjoy watching them so much to be honest.
Robo4900 wrote: three OG DB movies, the first and last Z movies, and the 10th anniversary one is missing out.
I agree with that.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Jord » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:37 am

Most of them are not that good and poor pacing.
Actually, it's lot like DragonBall Super. You don't need to watch it and I would only watch it if you have seen the original DB-Z-GT trilogy and want more.

The difference is that the movies do have better animation than Super and there are some villains that have unique, cool designs such as Janemba.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by TobyS » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:50 am

If you like the xenoverse games I'd watch em, makes you enjoy the movie characters appearance in the game slightly more.

Otherwise I'd say dead zone is great. Cooler one is decent, (that piccolo fight is sick) and the rest are just very meh.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Majin Buu » Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:49 am

ABED wrote:Not sure what you're getting at. Sure, the films are everywhere, but how would that make it necessary to watch them?
For me, the movies (the movies from the original anime run specifically) at this point feel like they've transcended being mere filler into being part of the whole experience of watching the original anime (regardless of each movie's actual quality) due to how frequently they're referenced in merchandise and the fandom in general. So I'm wondering if you're missing out on a whole chuck of the general Dragon Ball Z anime experience by skipping the movies.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by ABED » Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:39 am

Nah. You could never watch them and your experience would still be complete. I haven't watched Super and that's an official continuation of the story. I don't think watching Super is necessary to be part of the discussion or have the full DB experience.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:51 am

For me the only essential watching, as far as the anime goes is DB and DBZ (or Kai). That is, after all, the anime adaptation of what Toriyama originally intended in his manga (obviously before George Lucasing it in recent years).

Everything else (the movies, Super, GT, etc) is fun supplemental material that's there if you want more Dragon Ball to enjoy, but if you don't currently have the time to watch them there's no need to.
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Zephyr » Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:27 am

I mean, if you're watching all of the TV anime, you should watch DBZ Movie 1, since the Garlic Jr. arc follows from it.

That said, if you want the "COMPLETE anime experience", I'd say, yeah, watch em all. A lot of Kikuchi's compositions were made specifically for the films, so watching the films in production order with the anime can give you a sense for how the music progresses. Theres also additional voice work you miss out on if you dont watch them.

But if we're talking the "ESSENTIAL Dragon Ball experience", I'd only recommend the manga, DBZ Movie 1, and the Bardock TV Special. Gives you Toriyama's complete story, with the pacing and art in tact, while still granting a solid dose of Kikuchi, Yanami, and Nozawa in some of Toei's strongest original story additions.

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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by Kunzait_83 » Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:25 pm

Zephyr wrote:But if we're talking the "ESSENTIAL Dragon Ball experience", I'd only recommend the manga, DBZ Movie 1, and the Bardock TV Special. Gives you Toriyama's complete story, with the pacing and art in tact, while still granting a solid dose of Kikuchi, Yanami, and Nozawa in some of Toei's strongest original story additions.
I'd throw in the Trunks TV special along with that lot, as its a marked improvement in many ways over the manga chapter its based on (since we're also going with "Toei's strongest story additions").
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Re: Is Watching the Movies Necessary?

Post by JohnnyCashKami » Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:58 pm

It's not required but they are kinda fun to watch and in ways, they fit each Dragon Ball Z arc so you could get more out of it by watching it with the movies as you go along viewing the anime series.

TOEI has remastered the DB and Z movies recently so they'll be out on Blu-ray in time and hopefully FUNimation will license it as they look absolutely gorgeous and detailed in proper high definition. Unlike the shitty attempt by FUNimation. lol

A downside for me on the whole TOEI HD movies is that they're in widescreen (yes, as intended bla bla) but the DB and Z movies have always felt to me like extended episodes rather than actual full-fledged films of their own, only DB M3, M4 and DBZ M12 and M13 felt like cinematic movies you'd love to watch on the cinema, the rest are more like 50min Z episodes.

Anyway, I love Z's Movies 1, 3, 12 and 13. Might rewatch the Broli Trilogy 'cause of the new Broli movie that's coming out. Heh, for a movie character he sure has a good chunk of flicks now. :P I'd not mind if Classic Broli appeared on the Super Broli movie and challenged Modern Broli for a battle. xD
Zephyr wrote:while still granting a solid dose of Kikuchi, Yanami, and Nozawa in some of Toei's strongest original story additions.
Well, not that solid if the audio is that muffled ass shit that sounds like it was recorded with a potato.

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