The Mystery of "Dragon Ball Z: The Movie"

[SupaFumeiJin]

So recently, a friend of mine acquired a pretty rare item, it is a Filipino VCD set simply titled "Dragon Ball Z: The Movie" this is not to be confused with the Creative Products Corporation dub as this dub was made by Solar Entertainment and distributed by Warner Home Video, it is DBZ movies 10 and 11 combined together similar to what CPC did for movies 5 and 6. This was also released on VHS by Solar Home Entertainment with slightly different cover art.
Here are some images of case and the discs themselves:
[spoiler]


[/spoiler]
So, when looking at these images there's one major concern, there's no mention of Toei anywhere on the packaging and this is also the case with the VHS release, it can't just be a Philippines thing because the packaging to CPC's DBZ "Greatest Rivals" release does actually mention Toei. This has to be a legit dub as it played theatrically and was even advertised on TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfPulNM3Ek
So my question to the community is, what is the deal with this dub? Is it some elaborate bootleg production that Solar Entertainment somehow managed to get away with, or is it really a licensed production?
Hopefully at least someone on here will know what the deal is with this.

[Ajay]

You'll need to rehost those images since you can't publicly share URLs from Twitter DMs.

[SupaFumeiJin]

You'll need to rehost those images since you can't publicly share URLs from Twitter DMs.

Whoops, it's fixed now.

[sintzu]

I think it's a bootleg.

[Yuli Ban]

Eh? I'm completely confused here. Are you saying this is Broly: Second Coming and Bio-Broly stitched together? Or that another movie was such? Well, from that video you posted, I guess I should've figured it's the former, but it's just accelerating my confusion.
The back blurb is just a mess. If it is the weaker Broly movies combined, why even mention the events of the first episode of the series itself? Or show images from around that time? It makes me want to think that this is a bootleg that's bizarrely packaged onto a Dead Zone disc, which would definitely fit because movie 1 was indeed originally referred to as "Dragon Ball Z: The Movie".

As explained here.

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (ドラゴンボールゼット　オラの悟飯を返せッ!! Doragon Bōru Zetto: Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!, lit. "Dragon Ball Z: Return my Gohan!!"), also known as Dragon Ball Z: The Movie, is the fourth Dragon Ball movie and the first under the Dragon Ball Z banner.

Meh. I've seen stranger and more hilariously falsely marketed bootlegs.

But if it aired theatrically, that's an even stranger case. See, it would make sense for it to be a bootleg because that packaging art is more appropriate for Dead Zone, barring the two pictures on the right. It's the damn blurb that keeps messing me up.

When you say it aired theatrically, did it actually air in major chain venues or grindhouse theatres? It could just be some special local promo.

I also found it on IMDb with little written about it.
Yeah, I'm guessing this was an entirely local production sent out to local theatres.

[SupaFumeiJin]

Eh? I'm completely confused here. Are you saying this is Broly: Second Coming and Bio-Broly stitched together? Or that another movie was such?

Yes, this is Broly Second Coming and Bio-Broly combined together, hence why it's a 2 VCD set since both movies would be impossible to fit on just 1 VCD.

But if it aired theatrically, that's an even stranger case. See, it would make sense for it to be a bootleg because that packaging art is more appropriate for Dead Zone, barring the two pictures on the right. It's the damn blurb that keeps messing me up.

I think the main thing that makes me scratch my head is the fact that, at least the VCD release, wasn't distributed by some small no name company, it was Warner of all companies, I mean how often can you say that Warner Bros. distributed a potentially bootleg release of Dragon Ball Z?
Also I have seen some clips from this dub aside from the trailer I linked and it seems to me that Solar Entertainment was able to acquire the voiceless masters and it doesn't sound like any weird audio manipulation is going on in the background so if Toei never licensed to them, how were they able to acquire the proper masters? These two things are the main reason why I find this particular dub of DBZ to be so, interesting...

[MetaMoss]

Could it be that it's a bootleg that uses the Warner name/logos as a way to look legitimate?

[Robo4900]

As explained here.

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (ドラゴンボールゼット　オラの悟飯を返せッ!! Doragon Bōru Zetto: Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!, lit. "Dragon Ball Z: Return my Gohan!!"), also known as Dragon Ball Z: The Movie, is the fourth Dragon Ball movie and the first under the Dragon Ball Z banner.

Please never cite the Dragon Ball Wikia. Half the information is straight-up wrong, and most of the rest is OG Funi dub-orientated, and thus even accurately-reported information is often incorrect information.
For the record, that paragraph does get your point across, however Kanzenshuu's listing contains a better and more-accurate explanation of this situation...

When the movie premiered in July 1989, it was at that point officially titled “Dragon Ball Z”, and all official promotional items and materials prior to the movie’s premiere used this title as well. The sub-title “Return My Gohan!!” (オラの悟飯をかえせッ!!; Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!) never appeared in the movie itself and was not included as part of the movie’s title until Daizenshuu 6 was released in late-1995. The phrase “Return My Gohan!!” did appear on the back of the VHS and LaserDisc releases in 1990, but was not actually considered part of the movie’s name. Even now, the movie is almost always referred to officially as “Dragon Ball Z” in Japanese media and guides.

Sorry if this comes off at all rude; I'm merely trying to dissuede the misinformation that often spreads thanks to how bad the DB Wikia is. However, regardless, I do offer my apologies for any rudness here.

When you say it aired theatrically, did it actually air in major chain venues or grindhouse theatres? It could just be some special local promo.

I also found it on IMDb with little written about it.
Yeah, I'm guessing this was an entirely local production sent out to local theatres.

Given information available in this thread, I'd say this sounds like the most likely explanation.

I'd love to get some footage from those VCDs, though. Sounds like yet another obscure dub that hasn't made the rounds online yet.

[Danfun64]

I'd love to get some footage from those VCDs, though. Sounds like yet another obscure dub that hasn't made the rounds online yet.

Agreed. This needs to be released online due to its rarity...
If you do so, note that it might not be wise to post the link in any Kanzenshuu threads.

[Robo4900]

If you do so, note that it might not be wise to post the link in any Kanzenshuu threads.

I'm sure a clip or two would be okay.

[Danfun64]

I meant a link to the whole thing.

[DB_Fan1991]

Clips are fine, the whole movie is not.

[clutchins]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=31166&start=40#p1330264

oninjara posted this in your last thread. I'm not sure if you saw it since you didn't reply but he confirmed the existence of a VHS of "Dragon Ball Z: The Movie" by Solar Home Entertainment, complete with pictures of it and "The Greatest Rivals" by CPC.

[SupaFumeiJin]

I'm sure a clip or two would be okay.

I will be uploading a few clips when I get the opportunity to do so.

[SupaFumeiJin]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=31166&start=40#p1330264

oninjara posted this in your last thread. I'm not sure if you saw it since you didn't reply but he confirmed the existence of a VHS of "Dragon Ball Z: The Movie" by Solar Home Entertainment, complete with pictures of it and "The Greatest Rivals" by CPC.

I've seen those images, he posted them to another thread as well. I even pointed out the existence of the VHS version and the fact that it was distributed by Solar themselves and not Warner Home Video.

[SupaFumeiJin]

I have posted a clip from the VCD if anyone was curious as to what this particular dub sounded like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9fkJgcQ2Q

[Forte224]

I have posted a clip from the VCD if anyone was curious as to what this particular dub sounded like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9fkJgcQ2Q

I've heard worse. And they even pronounce "Saiyan" correctly!

[TheGreatness25]

It's honestly not that bad. The voice acting is not exactly the greatest, but yes, I have heard worse. "Beta, don yuu noe det yuu ahh alredii dea?" "I duu not wan tuu coombine!" Anyway, yeah, not bad. So many English dubs out there. I wasn't a fan of the pronunciation of Saiyan. It sounded like "Cyan." I think that ideally, a good pronunciation (for me) would be "Sai-yen."

[eledoremassis02]

Very cool! I synced the cooler movie dub to the blurays and it'd be cool to do that. I got to keep my eye out now on ebay

[Danfun64]

It's honestly not that bad. The voice acting is not exactly the greatest, but yes, I have heard worse. "Beta, don yuu noe det yuu ahh alredii dea?" "I duu not wan tuu coombine!"

But what about Speedy's dub of this movie (or at least, the half that this clip comes from)? "Who da hell are you?" "Ah am called, Cumming!"