First off, I'm going to be keeping my thoughts here centered on only certain aspects of this - the dub, picture quality, some screenshots as we go along to show how it looks, etc. As such, I'm only watching the dub at the moment.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot1.jpg
Lord of the Rings meets Dragon Ball.
Man, I'd forgotten how much I like the beautiful animation of this movie's intro.
Oh, and it goes without saying at this point probably - this film is fullscreen. The movies actually were supposed to be in widescreen, right? As such, I'm a bit disappointed that it's still fullscreen here, but I suspect after the Z Season Sets fiasco, FUNi won't touch widescreen with this franchise again.
The first voice we hear is John Swasey's narrator - he sounds pretty good I think, though he's definitely no Armstrong. The Kai dub narrator sounds a lot closer to Brice too. Still, I'm pretty happy, since I was afraid Swasey would use his 'silly' old man voice, as heard in Chrono Crusade or Soul Eater. This voice he's using sounds about like his natural voice (I suspect), so it's not bad.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot2.jpg
Bongo is rather tall.
The next main two we really get to hear are Pansy's dad and Bongo. I dunno who Pansy's dad is, but it's too soon to say how good he's really doing, and I might not be able to say since he's not in much of this. Bongo though, doesn't sound quite as big as I thought he would. In fact, Brooks' voice doesn't really stand out much at all.
Pansy, played by Cherami Leigh, sounds adorable of course. Cute little girls seems to be Leigh's forte, since she did an incredible job in Ouran as Kirimi.
I don't have the subs on at the moment (I'm not even sure HOW to turn them on while watching with VLC player so I can get screencaps), but Bongo has a line about 'I love my work. It's important to find a job you enjoy.' or something. I seem to recall this line in the original release, so I'm not sure if it survived that, or if it's accurate.
I just heard another line I think I heard was in the old dub, the exchange between Gurumes and the robot.
'YOU CALL THIS FOOD!?'
'Not just me, everyone calls this food.'
Speaking of Gurumes, Inman's voice sounds good so far. He sounds monstrous, without any synthesizers or being so guttural that we can't understand him, thankfully.
Just got to hear Kate Oxley as Pasta, and I think it fits well enough. I was a bit worried about her playing such a serious character given her usual castings, but she sounds pretty darn good.
Okay, I lied, one story point question - if the Blood Rubies are why Gurumes is in the state he's in, WHY would Pasta and/or Bongo want them as payment anyway? So they can end up the same?
And along comes Colleen Clinkenbeard's Goku at last. I think her description on Facebook a while back was about right, her Goku sounds kind of like Gohan, if he had Luffy's attitude. So for those of you who preferred Nadolny, that's not good news. For those that prefer Colleen though, I think you should be pretty pleased. It sounds pretty good to me, especially now that I'm more used to her Gohan, but I'm always gonna miss Nadolny.
Rial's Bulma sounds about like her in Kai as well, though she's definitely making effort to make the character sound younger, which is nice.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot3.jpg
'You're human?'
'Mm-hmm.'
'Don't look it.'
'WANNA SEE A MONSTER, KEEP PUSHING!?'
I take it back, Colleen's Goku is definitely a slightly different voice than the Gohan in some lines.
Another thing that might be from the old dub.
Pasta: The fourth ball is ours.
Bongo: Gee, that was so easy that I'm almost disappointed.
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You don't mess with Bulma.
I forgot they kept the peeing thing in this movie, heh.
Goku: How come you're dripping? You didn't fall in the water.
Bulma: Breathe a word of this and I'll kill you!
During a scene right after that, I think I noticed some film damage, the kind that looks like a sunspot or something. It happens twice while Bulma and Goku are in the car. I'm not sure what this says about the copy of footage FUNi has or what, but is that something that's remedied on the Dragon Box footage of this film?
Hearing some more of Massey's Oolong, and for some reason while he's transformed into the big red oni, he sounds a LOT like John DiMaggio. Like...I swear I hear Bender, only more serious.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot5.jpg
Goku faces off with Bender's big brother.
Goku says that his grandfather taught him karate. I'm almost certain that term was used in the old dub too, and...that's not really accurate at all to what Goku uses, is it?
Swasey's definitely a great actor, though I never had a problem with Jackson, and this is definitely his time to shine, since it's not like we'll hear a lot more of his Oolong in Kai. And now that he's transformed back into normal Oolong, I kind of like it more than I did in Kai. I still wonder why most dubs of DB seem to think Oolong should sound like a chain-smoker though.
'This is where he is! You know! HIM!'
I think I remember that line from the old dub too. Am I over-analyzing this? I mean, it DOES fit the scene, and since I don't have the subs up, I really don't know how accurate or not the line is.
They kept in Oolong's panty-stealing origin this time around though, that's good news. And Brina's Puar is old news by this point, but I'll never pass up a chance to praise it, since it's not so high-pitched as to be painful like Antonelli's was.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot6.jpg
Goku: Why are you such of a coward all of a sudden?
Oolong: What do you mean all of a sudden? I take offense to that. I've been a coward my whole life!
Maybe it's just my ears playing a trick on me, but I think Sabat's trying a little too hard to make sure he keeps the 'surfer dude' out of his Yamcha voice. Let me explain though before anyone freaks out on me - he's trying too hard in that, I think the voice is getting a little too close to his Piccolo/Zoro voice on a few of the more serious lines. On the goofy lines, he sounds like he always did, but on those it's getting too much of a vibe from that voice. Actually, in the goofy parts he's sounding a bit off too...
I think I know what it is that's bothering me with Yamcha's voice now, the more I listen to it - it sounds like his natural voice, rather than the slightly higher pitch that he's always used for Yamcha. It's not quite...what I'm used to, nor is it what he's used in Kai really.
He just gasps a little bit so far, but I think...Turtle might be Sabat again instead of Cason. It's hard to tell, but it sounds more like what Sabat's did.
Another line that I think I remember from the old dub, but again, it could be accurate for all I know.
Yamcha: And he's the worst one of them all! Why, he'd steal the shell right off your back!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot7.jpg
Help, I'm a turtle and I can't get up!
That is definitely Sabat as Turtle. Did they forget that they recast that to Cason in Kai?
Major LOL Roshi lines.
'I have no use for material things. All I want in return...is a peek at your supple boobies.'
'Stop trying to ruin my play! What would you know about boobies, you plankton sniffer!'
They definitely did NOT play the 'hide the perviness as best we can' game that they did in DB's dub.
We finally have a dub term for 'pafu pafu' heh. 'Let's play a little game I call 'bouncy bouncy'!'
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot8.jpg
My money's on the old fart.
Another line that I suspect I've heard before, Roshi about Goku.
'The power of light dwells strongly within him, Pansy.'
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... nshot9.jpg
Yeah, this is a fair fight, size-wise...
With all the fights going on, there's not a whole lot else for me to say yet, though I definitely do like Oxley's Pasta now, but I'm still not much for Brooks' Bongo.
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Eww...when's the last time the king brushed his teeth?
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C'mon Goku, you can do it!
Goku: Shouldn't you have exploded or something!?
Another line that sounds vaguely familiar to me.
I'll never be able to see the scene of Bulma's hand with the radar while Gurumes thrashes around without hearing that old opening theme. >_<
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... shot12.jpg
At long last, Shenron appears!
Shenron: Speak your wish so that I may return to my lair.
Bwah? I don't really recall him saying that in the old dub, but that's the first time I've heard of the dragon referencing wherever it is he goes.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... shot13.jpg
Dude, put some clothes on, and give the apple back to Ryuk.
For anyone wondering, Inman is still the voice of Gurumes when he's normal too. Not that he's very normal looking to begin with.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... shot14.jpg
'So happy, togethhaaaa...'
And as the film draws to a close and everyone waves goodbye to Goku, let's do so with one final screenshot to make a nice 15 shots.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... shot15.jpg
Good-bye Goku!
Goku: Grandpa was right, this world is full of fun. I can't wait to see what's next! Haha!
Okay, long thought process is over. For those that saw all of this and went 'too long, didn't read', here's the skinny of my thoughts.
THE SKINNY
THE VIDEO QUALITY
I think it looks pretty damn good, save for a few sunspot looking things here and there, but I suspect that's present even on the Dragon Box, right? It seems to be something that naturally happens to footage as it gets old. So while it is a bit bothersome in those few instances, this is still a great looking piece of animation, greatly preserved on DVD format.
THE DUB
For the most part, I liked the dub pretty well. There's quite a few lines that I swear sound pretty familiar to me from the old dub, but before anyone freaks out, let someone who knows the sub of this film tell us how accurate those lines are or not. I don't mean to cause any worry when I noted those lines, I only did it to point them out so that someone with more knowledge than me can help us out there.
As for the casting itself -
Narrator (John Swasey) - Sounds pretty darn good, not really as deep as Brice or the new Kai guy though.
Goku (Colleen Clinkenbeard) - A lot like her Gohan, but more Luffy attitude, and a lot cuter than either voice.
Bulma (Monica Rial) - About what you'd hear in Kai, though younger and more mischievous.
Oolong (Brian Massey) - A lot better than what we've heard in Kai so far, and very John DiMaggio-like.
Pansy (Cherami Leigh) - Adorable in some scenes, annoying in others, just like the character.
Roshi (Mike McFarland) - Business as usual.
Turtle (Chris Sabat/Chris Cason) - Unsure of who does it actually since it's not listed, sounds like Sabat, but more subdued than it used to be.
Yamcha (Chris Sabat) - A bit out of practice from the sounds of it, not quite as high-pitched as it used to be or is in Kai. More like his normal voice.
Gurumes (Jeremy Inman) - Appropriately monstrous, but easy to understand.
Pasta (Kate Oxley) - Pretty good, sounds tough but not Launch/Android 18 level, refreshing role for this actress.
Puar (Brina Palencia) - Great, as always.
Bongo (Jonathan Brooks) - Not good, but not bad either. Just kind of...there.
Shenron (Chris Sabat) - Business as usual.
And that's that.
THE OPENING/ENDING
Same dubbed versions that we heard in the show.
And as one final screen-shot, for those worrying over the taken out kanji at the start and in the credits, one does make it through, on the very last piece of this film.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg14 ... ba/End.jpg
That's everything I can think of. If anyone has any other questions, screenshot requests, etc., ask away, and I'll see what I can do.
Oh, and as for sound clips, I'm going to
try to get some in just a second.
(right? haven't watch it.)
