If Dragonball Evolution was your introduction to franchise...

[PowerPhantom245]

Let's imagine if you have NEVER heard or seen Dragon Ball franchise in your entire life, prior to seeing the movie.
How would you have felt, if this was your introduction to the franchise?

I know this is an absurd scenario, since it's virtually impossible to grow up without knowing Dragon Ball, but it something I'm curious.

Here is my take.

If I were 5~10 years old, seeing this movie without knowing about franchise, I probably would have enjoyed better than how I would have been as an adult.
I probably would have been naïve kid who would have called it the greatest movie ever; this is coming from someone who LOVED "Howard the Duck" and "Mac and Me" when I watched it on VHS. lol

If I saw it as an adult, which I already was when movie came out in 2009, I would have been... neutral.
I would have probably liked it slightly more than have I known about the franchise.
As some one who grew up with the franchise, I didn't completely hate Dragonball Evolution like many people; sure it felt very weird and awkward, had tons of questionable decision with writing and plot, but it had some entertainment value and enjoyment, even if it was miniscule; at least it was trying to tell the story, by having beginning, middle, and end.
Had I not known about franchise and watched it as introduction to franchise, I probably would have been neutral (and bored), by thinking it was just generic action movie. I would have checked out the anime later and realize the negative reception that has gotten; I still would not hate the movie though.

[Zephyr]

I've been a Dragon Ball fan since 1998. Despite this, when I saw a trailer for Dragon Ball Evolution around 2008 or 2009 when it was being marketed, it genuinely did not register to me that the film was even related to the IP, and chalked the name up to coincidence. I had no interest in seeing it, and didn't give it any more thought after that, probably until after I joined the forums here a few years later and realized that it was in fact related to the IP. So, the fact that it didn't resemble Dragon Ball at all wasn't any sort of active deterrent; I would have been unlikely to watch it either way.

That said, I did eventually watch it. Maybe about 6 years ago, some friends and I put it on while having some drinks, hoping to laugh at how awful it was. But it was just boring! I actually fell asleep at least once during it. So, had this been my introduction to Dragon Ball, I probably wouldn't have explored any deeper into it. On the other hand, given how unlike the rest of the IP it looked to me, I don't think it would have tainted the manga or anime by association at all. So I may have still checked out the manga and/or anime, but probably not out of any curiosity related to the film.

[NeoZ Duwang]

Assuming that I would watch it today, it's very likely that I'd give a chance to the manga just to see what the original was all about. I always thought it was unfair to judge an entire franchise because of one adaptation it got, I mean, my first experience with Spiderman was TASM 2, and I DESPISE that movie, yet I still decided to look for more Spiderman stuff to see if I liked it.

But if I did watch it when the movie came out, when I was still a kid, then it's very hard for me to say... I mean, it's already very difficulty for me to imagine a world where I hadn't watched Dragon Ball already, I was exposed to a lot of anime and tokusatsu from an early age, maybe I could end up enjoying Evolution as just some random martial arts story at the time, it's possible that it could get me curious to search for the original one day, but that's assuming that I wouldn't just forget about the movie's existence

[TheGreatness25]

I honestly don't think that I would ever want to see anything else to do with Dragon Ball after Evolution. It's just such a bad, cheesy movie. Maybe I would be into it if I were 5 (like Power Rangers), but by 1996 or so, I was not feeling the cheese.

[tinlunlau]

I was a fan since the early 90s and upon first viewing of the teaser of DBE, I smelled a stinker was in the making.

So who's excited for Saint Seiya?

[MasenkoHA]

Separate it from the Dragon Ball IP, and Evolution is a pretty by the numbers low budget sci fi kung fu flick that felt a decade and half out of date. I doubt I would have paid it much mind, especially since it came out when I was 17.

[Koitsukai]

I don't know, out of context it isn't such a horrible movie, I mean it's not MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE. It's not a good one, it's not very engaging, characters are boring, but I probably wouldn't have thought the franchise it was based off was some sort of trainwreck.

I dislike it because it has nothing to do with DB, but in a vacuum maybe it could've entertained me enough to make me want to read more about the original series. I've watched movies of franchises/books I never ever cared/read about, and I've liked those movies even though they might not have been as well-received by their fandom.

I don't think this movie would've made me say "damn, this DBZ people have been talking so much about is pure shit, thank god I never watched it". Though, I'm certain I would not have left the theater saying "WOOOW I CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH THE ANIME, THIS WAS AWESOME".

[Hellspawn28]

The film itself has a cheesy direct to video vibe from the 90s to it. I might have like it as a so bad, it's good movie and maybe check out the series if I saw it before I saw anything else.