Were there any Dragon Ball releases on Betamax?

[NinjaGoku]

Haven't seen anywhere DB movies were released on Betamax or 8mm Video in Japan commercially. You really sure it exists?

Well, Kanzenshuu lists Betamax and 8mm release dates.

That's new to me, hopefully someone can unearth them!

[Puto]

Hmm... What do these 8mm releases look like, video quality wise? And in what aspect ratio are they in?

[clutchins]

Haven't seen anywhere DB movies were released on Betamax or 8mm Video in Japan commercially. You really sure it exists?

Well, Kanzenshuu lists Betamax and 8mm release dates.

I love how they have dates for 8 freaking mm, but no LD release dates.

[Robo4900]

I love how they have dates for 8 freaking mm, but no LD release dates.

The original three DB movies were never released on LD.

[clutchins]

I love how they have dates for 8 freaking mm, but no LD release dates.

The original three DB movies were never released on LD.

Meant LD dates for the movies in general, not those three specifically.

[Robo4900]

Meant LD dates for the movies in general, not those three specifically.

Those are on there:

VHS and LaserDisc (09 February 1990 – Original Print / 21 November 1996 – Re-issue)

[NinjaGoku]

Other than release dates seen on Kanzenshuu I still can't find any information on the Betamax and 8mm Film releases. Does anyone seen any images of these products?

DB01 - Betamax and 8mm Film (09 May 1987)
DB02 - Betamax and 8mm Film (11 December 1987)
DB03 - Betamax and 8mm Film (09 December 1988)
DBZ01- Betamax and 8mm Film (09 February 1990)
DBZ02- 8mm Film (14 September 1990)
DBZ03- 8mm Film (08 February 1991)
DBZ04- 8mm Film (08 November 1991)
DBZ05- 8mm Film (14 February 1992)
DBZ06- 8mm Film (09 October 1992)
(DBZ Film 7 and beyond is unknown)

[NinjaGoku]

If anyone is interested in Laserdiscs here's treasure: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o249077448

[dougo13]

Other than release dates seen on Kanzenshuu I still can't find any information on the Betamax and 8mm Film releases. Does anyone seen any images of these products?

DB01 - Betamax and 8mm Film (09 May 1987)
DB02 - Betamax and 8mm Film (11 December 1987)
DB03 - Betamax and 8mm Film (09 December 1988)
DBZ01- Betamax and 8mm Film (09 February 1990)
DBZ02- 8mm Film (14 September 1990)
DBZ03- 8mm Film (08 February 1991)
DBZ04- 8mm Film (08 November 1991)
DBZ05- 8mm Film (14 February 1992)
DBZ06- 8mm Film (09 October 1992)
(DBZ Film 7 and beyond is unknown)

I still feel these meant that they were |films\, not that the release was on film. From what I was reading, by the early 1990s, Sony had 1,500 to 1,700 films released on 8mm cassette. These were popular on airplanes using their video Walkman devices (portable players). I have seen cassettes of movies like The Godfather in that format, so it makes much more sense than it was an 8mm film release. 8mm film releases I have seen because I used to borrow stuff like that back in the early 1980s from our local library (you could also get 16mm prints through inter library loan as I recall). Those films were all silent though. But sound film equipment like an Elmo St-1200 was expensive. I could never afford one working for the minimum wage back in the day. Every projector I have ever seen at flea markets, yard sales, etc. in the past 20 years has been silent and can't fit a full movie reel. The Elmo was one of the few that could. I have never seen a film catalog from Japan. Does anyone have one? 16mm TV prints must have been pretty rare and expensive if you were a collector in Japan...

[ZodaEX]

I always thought Betamax died before DBZ was even a thing. Did it have a longer life in Japan like Laserdisc did?

If you or anyone else wants me to open them up and take a look at which movies in particular I have, I'll be happy to do so.

Forgot to mention, these are Chinese. I'm not sure if Dragon Ball VCD's were ever a thing in Japan.

Also probably important to mention: I only ever played these once, just to make sure they worked and it wasn't even a full watch through. I'd be willing to take a longer look to provide more info though.

Oh man, I'm kind of jealous right now.

Y'see, apparently those VCDs contain the isolated music and effects track.

Maybe that's where the Speedy Malaysian dub got their sound effects from. I remember someone here mentioning how the Speedy dub had oddly clear sound effects.

Well my family got Terminator 2 on Betamax sometime in 1993. When did Dragon Ball Z originally premiere? I believe DBZ started in the 1980s if I remember correctly.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I find it quite interesting that Betamax actually lingered on a little longer in Japan, considering here in the U.S. it was pretty much already dead as a competing format goes by around 1986 or shortly thereafter.

For as much as it tried to keep going and despite pre dating the other formats by a year or two, it couldn't really effectivly pull in the sales of VHS and to a lesser extent Laserdisc as well. LD certainly proved to be much more popular in Japan as a format than anywhere else in the world really.

[NinjaGoku]

Digging up this old thread againg (because it's a good thread). Here's one 8mm Video documented:

http://pekindbz.blog90.fc2.com/blog-entry-210.html





In the comments section someone mentions The Return of Cooler being viewed on 8mm in a flight service, as well as Mystical Adventure and The Dead Zone appearing on Yahoo Auctions in the past. So yes it seems that these DO exist, but

*drum roll* Here's an elusive Dragon Ball Film 1 betamax:

http://pekindbz.blog90.fc2.com/blog-entry-416.html







Now, the real question is, does VegettoEX own The Dead Zone on 8mm Video....

[VegettoEX]

I do not, but I accept donations!

[Robo4900]

So, the question is, the Kanzenshuu listings that say the movies were released on 8mm film... Is that all just a misunderstanding stemming from a statement in a magazine somewhere to the effect of "The movies were released on 8mm alongside the Betamax tapes", which someone assumed meant 8mm film?

Or were the movies also released on 8mm film, as well as tape?

And, were the 8mm tapes only released for the Z movies and 10th anniversary one? Or just the Z movies? Or just some of the Z movies? Or, as listed on Kanzenshuu, all 17 original movies?

Or, were the three DB movies on 8mm film, then the Z movies and 10th anniversary movies on 8mm tape? Just to pick the most confusing possible option.

[NinjaGoku]

So, the question is, the Kanzenshuu listings that say the movies were released on 8mm film... Is that all just a misunderstanding stemming from a statement in a magazine somewhere to the effect of "The movies were released on 8mm alongside the Betamax tapes", which someone assumed meant 8mm film?

Or were the movies also released on 8mm film, as well as tape?

And, were the 8mm tapes only released for the Z movies and 10th anniversary one? Or just the Z movies? Or just some of the Z movies? Or, as listed on Kanzenshuu, all 17 original movies?

Or, were the three DB movies on 8mm film, then the Z movies and 10th anniversary movies on 8mm tape? Just to pick the most confusing possible option.

There is evidence that 8mm exists from DBM3 Mystical Adventure (though there are no photos) to DBM14 Bio Broly.

For Betamax there is only evidence of DBM1, but I suspect there are more.

The main problem is that Betamax and 8mm were not popular formats, these releases were probably mainly rented instead of purchased. The VHS and Laserdisc copies are a lot easier to find in comparison. The only place these are likely to show up are Mercari classifieds and Yahoo Auctions Japan.