Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

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Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by P-Dot5XG » Tue Mar 03, 2020 1:45 pm

I mean not in any way of the background music, that was done beautifully.

I'm talking about the featured bands that where thrown in like Disturbed, Pantera, Nonpoint, Deftones, etc.

But, my main concern in this thread is Movie 8: Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan, and Movie 10: Broly, Second Coming.

Out of every DBZ film, those two have to have the most obscure bands I've ever heard of.

Bands like Tendril, Haji's Kitchen, Doosu, Slow Roosevelt, besides Pantera almost non of those bands have seen any stardom besides being local in Texas.

Tendril has 1 album.

Slow Roosevelt has 3 albums.

Haji has 2 albums. (3 if you count the Vince Mullens Demos for the Broly movie) (He was also working on Gravity Pool for the movie as well they only made 1 demo album)

The Pointy Shoe Factory has 1 EP (course they're still around they go by the name Pinkish Black now)

Doosu has 4 albums.


And, I.O.N (the band from Movie 10) has only 13 songs.

Why am I bringing this up, it's because I listened to all of this bands, and I just have to ask with the popularity of DBZ during that time, why didn't these bands ever receive more recognition then they what they originally got?

I'd like to discuss this, if You don't then that's perfectly fine.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Tue Mar 03, 2020 2:00 pm

I don't think they should have even put songs by random bands there in the first place, it's literally equivalent to the current (and improper) convention that many modern anime do where they take an unrelated song no matter how good (or bad) it is and then slap it on as an OP or ED. I simply prefer it if a song that's included was made for (and actually belongs to) the show/movie and isn't just something off the radio.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by P-Dot5XG » Wed Mar 04, 2020 12:25 pm

My only complaint is that some of the music just doesn't fit in certain scenes.

Especially scenes where in Japanese Score there is complete silence, and it just has the character's talking or fighting, or when it's thrown in where it doesn't belong.

Like you mean to tell me in Cooler's Revenge your gonna play Dust for Life over Gohan getting Senzu Beans?! Excuse me!! It doesn't fit!!!

Another thing is that the music (from whatever band that playing) would be louder then the dialogue.

Making it harder to understand what's being said.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Ringworm128 » Wed May 20, 2020 6:10 am

I've never really had a problem with the "real bands" scores since the DBZ movies always had less plot than the main series, and you were pretty much just watching 40-60 minutes of characters punching each other. Drowning Pool and Disturbed music works just fine for that.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Wed May 20, 2020 4:34 pm

Ringworm128 wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 6:10 am I've never really had a problem with the "real bands" scores since the DBZ movies always had less plot than the main series, and you were pretty much just watching 40-60 minutes of characters punching each other. Drowning Pool and Disturbed music works just fine for that.
Though it was the tracks made for the movies in the original that were then eventually used for the show.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Kermo » Fri May 22, 2020 8:05 am

P-Dot5XG wrote: Wed Mar 04, 2020 12:25 pm My only complaint is that some of the music just doesn't fit in certain scenes.
100% agree with you, it's like a complete dis balance...
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by TheGreatness25 » Mon May 25, 2020 7:53 pm

I really didn't like it. Forget the fact that those songs belong on a DBZ movie lines clumps of hair belong on chocolate cake; that's a given. But really, doing that dates the material. It's like when you watch a 90's movie and you hear that typical, cheesy 90's music. I just feel like a custom soundtrack preserved a series more than if you can point to music that's obviously from a particular point in time.

That, plus putting metal or whatever, just... sucks. It's so cheesy and comes off as very fan-ish. It felt like something that a 13-year-old would throw together for YouTube (or on a Flash site back in the day).

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by WittyUsername » Mon May 25, 2020 10:22 pm

In terms of the Broly movies, I would at least argue that the heavy metal music fits better than it does in Movies 4 and 5, given the nature of Broly as a character. Don’t get me wrong, the music shouldn’t have been there to begin with, but if FUNimation was really insistent on giving the heavy metal treatment to any of the DBZ movies, the first two Broly movies (more so the first) at least kind of make sense. Funnily enough, there was even some heavy metal sounding music in the the most recent movie (GO BROLY, GO GO!).

Anyway, I would also say that the fact that FUNimation picked some pretty obscure bands for the Broly movies does kind of work in their favor. Hearing bands like Disturbed, Drowning Pool and Deftones in a Dragon Ball movie just makes it seem too much like an AMV. It’s less distracting when they go with bands that no one has ever heard of.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Robo4900 » Tue May 26, 2020 3:23 pm

Probably those bands were chosen because they were cheap talent Funi could easily contact from their Texas HQ.
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Sat May 30, 2020 12:01 am

TheGreatness25 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:53 pm That, plus putting metal or whatever, just... sucks. It's so cheesy and comes off as very fan-ish. It felt like something that a 13-year-old would throw together for YouTube (or on a Flash site back in the day).
WittyUsername wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 10:22 pmHearing bands like Disturbed, Drowning Pool and Deftones in a Dragon Ball movie just makes it seem too much like an AMV.
Now that you guys mention it, what Funimation did then with the movies was pretty much the forerunner to AMV’s.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Planetnamek » Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:17 pm

TheGreatness25 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:53 pm I really didn't like it. Forget the fact that those songs belong on a DBZ movie lines clumps of hair belong on chocolate cake; that's a given. But really, doing that dates the material. It's like when you watch a 90's movie and you hear that typical, cheesy 90's music. I just feel like a custom soundtrack preserved a series more than if you can point to music that's obviously from a particular point in time.

That, plus putting metal or whatever, just... sucks. It's so cheesy and comes off as very fan-ish. It felt like something that a 13-year-old would throw together for YouTube (or on a Flash site back in the day).
Honestly I don't mind that, I recently watched Lord Slug and I liked the feeling of being taken back in time to when Nu Metal was popular. I loved all the bands in the soundtracks and I think they fit pretty well since DBZ films were pretty much always a thinly veiled excuse for people to beat the crap out of one another.

Yes Funimation did pretty much predict AMVs, if I had to guess I think they saw how popular it was for fans to make videos of DBZ featuring rock music overlaid over scenes from the show and they probably figured they might as well lean into that for the movies.
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Thanos » Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:48 pm

Putting that music in probably ranks for me the biggest cardinal sin FUNimation did with their dub of the series. It's like they wanted to see how far they could take their creative liberties. It's such a distortion and departure from what dubbing should be which is merely taking foreign content and translating it for a domestic audience's consumption. My absolutely loathing of that type of music you would hear on an early 2000's alt. rock radio station aside, it's like they had no regard for the source content whatsoever. Forget the fact that there was already a servicable soundtrack intact when the product was received, let's put early 2000's music on an early 1990's product because that makes sense! Yeah, I'm sure that's what Toriyama had in mind when he was creating his Wuxia-inspired gag manga in the 80's; fucking Disturbed. :roll:
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by MasenkoHA » Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:13 pm

I tried watching Lord Slug with the US sountrack and it was kind of a shit show. The songs are just there with no rhyme or reason.

Like the Digimon movie has its weird late 90s alternative/ska music obsession but at least the placement wasn’t so random.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Soppa Saia People » Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:26 pm

and also ska is considerably better then nu metal.
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by WittyUsername » Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:16 pm

Personally, I think putting any kind of background music where singing is involved is kind of tacky, even outside of anime dubs. That’s a major problem with movies like Suicide Squad. If I wanted to watch a music video, I’d go on YouTube and watch a music video.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Planetnamek » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:14 pm

Thanos wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:48 pm Putting that music in probably ranks for me the biggest cardinal sin FUNimation did with their dub of the series. It's like they wanted to see how far they could take their creative liberties. It's such a distortion and departure from what dubbing should be which is merely taking foreign content and translating it for a domestic audience's consumption. My absolutely loathing of that type of music you would hear on an early 2000's alt. rock radio station aside, it's like they had no regard for the source content whatsoever. Forget the fact that there was already a servicable soundtrack intact when the product was received, let's put early 2000's music on an early 1990's product because that makes sense! Yeah, I'm sure that's what Toriyama had in mind when he was creating his Wuxia-inspired gag manga in the 80's; fucking Disturbed. :roll:
I love that kind of Nu Metal/Alternative sound, so it was pure heaven for me. No it may not have been what Toriyama had in mind, but I thought they still fit pretty well. I think years of watching fans create their own music videos for DBZ convinced Funi that they might as well do it for them.
WittyUsername wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:16 pm Personally, I think putting any kind of background music where singing is involved is kind of tacky, even outside of anime dubs. That’s a major problem with movies like Suicide Squad. If I wanted to watch a music video, I’d go on YouTube and watch a music video.
I disagree heavily on that, there's a lot of films and TV shows that wouldn't have been half as effective without the placement of certain songs. There's lots of scenes in shows like Breaking Bad that would've had nowhere near as much impact if they didn't have a certain specific song playing.
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Thanos » Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:09 pm

Soppa Saia People wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:26 pm and also ska is considerably better then nu metal.
A lesser of two evils, to be sure.
Planetnamek wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:14 pm I love that kind of Nu Metal/Alternative sound, so it was pure heaven for me. No it may not have been what Toriyama had in mind, but I thought they still fit pretty well. I think years of watching fans create their own music videos for DBZ convinced Funi that they might as well do it for them.
I mean, if you're not interested in creative works being preserved to respect the intent of the people who... ya know, actually created the thing, there isn't much to talk about here. I'm sure if Toei wanted to slap a heavy guitar song over Coola's power-up scene, that would have featured in the original airing. But it wasn't, so why add it? Shunsuke Kikuchi already wrote a number of servicable tracks that supplemented the feature over a decade prior. That "nu metal/alternative sound" didn't exist for another decade, and is heavily steeped in early 00's tuffguy American culture. Do you not see how bizarre it is to pair that with a Japanese cartoon from the early 1990's? Some things you just don't do. This is one of them. But they did it.
Planetnamek wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:14 pm I disagree heavily on that, there's a lot of films and TV shows that wouldn't have been half as effective without the placement of certain songs. There's lots of scenes in shows like Breaking Bad that would've had nowhere near as much impact if they didn't have a certain specific song playing.
Right... but Breaking Bad wasn't dubbed a decade after the fact with anachronistic music from another country. You know those scenes were shot and directed to have those songs played over them, right? It would be like whatever country dubbed Breaking Bad, decided the creative vision wasn't good enough, and added music from their own country and current time and sold it that way. At that point, why not make your own show about drug dealing High School teachers?
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by Planetnamek » Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:17 pm

Thanos wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:09 pm
Soppa Saia People wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:26 pm and also ska is considerably better then nu metal.
A lesser of two evils, to be sure.
Planetnamek wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:14 pm I love that kind of Nu Metal/Alternative sound, so it was pure heaven for me. No it may not have been what Toriyama had in mind, but I thought they still fit pretty well. I think years of watching fans create their own music videos for DBZ convinced Funi that they might as well do it for them.
I mean, if you're not interested creative works being preserved to respect the intent of the people who... ya know, actually created the thing, there isn't much to talk about here. I'm sure if Toei wanted to slap a heavy guitar song over Coola's power-up scene, that would have featured in the original airing. But it wasn't, so why add it? Shunsuke Kikuchi already wrote a number of servicable tracks that supplemented the feature over a decade prior. That "nu metal/alternative sound" didn't exist for another decade, and is heavily steeped in early 00's tuffguy American culture. Do you not see how bizarre it is to pair that with a Japanese cartoon from the early 1990's? Some things you just don't do. This is one of them. But they did it.
Planetnamek wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:14 pm I disagree heavily on that, there's a lot of films and TV shows that wouldn't have been half as effective without the placement of certain songs. There's lots of scenes in shows like Breaking Bad that would've had nowhere near as much impact if they didn't have a certain specific song playing.
Right... but Breaking Bad wasn't dubbed twenty years after the fact with anachronistic music from another country. You know those scenes were shot and directed to have those songs played over them, right?
Yeah it's bizarre but for me it works and I wasn't comparing BB to DBZ at all, I was just responding to the guy who claimed he didn't like music with vocals in ANY film or TV series period as I thought that was a bit of an extreme line of thinking.

I disagree that this is one of those things you just don't do, I think it's fine for what it is.

Besides later movies did lean heavily into this type of music even in their original versions with songs like this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trT-QaYV4NM So looks like Toei took influence from the English dubs in some way which is rather interesting.
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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by nato25 » Sat Aug 15, 2020 10:56 pm

This was my peak youth discovering new DBZ content when I was watching these dubs with the licensed soundtracks. Man do I find it hard to seperate them, especially for History of Trunks. I do prefer dub as it was my first watching but I enjoy the original Japanese soundtrack too. But I can not watch the scene with Gohan face down in the rain with Japanese, I hate it! I think dub soundtrack just fits infinitely better there, but of course that's in context of the whole movie being way edgier because of the soundtrack.

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Re: Can we talk about the Funimation Movie Soundtracks?

Post by BlazingFiddlesticks » Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:38 pm

I need to give the dubs with the licensed music another listen, but I recall thinking they didn't fit with Dragon Balls bright and round aesthetic, even if some of the movies that used them were in very dim battlefields! I do like some of Mark Menza's tunes for the later movies, Gogeta's theme, the horn version of the FUNi DBZ theme and his Tapion theme come to mind.
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