DBZ Movie 4- unfairly hated?

[Kuwabara]

If floating around and doing nothing but shooting ki blasts is the "most action packed of the bunch," well... whatever floats your boat.

Are you kidding? My boyfriend and I had a blast re-watching Movie 7! Moments like Goku being vollied back and forth by Android 14 and 15, Goku throwing a damn iceberg at Android 13, Android 14 catching Trunks' sword between two of his fingers, Vegeta being introduced by splitting a huge iceberg clean in half, Goku deflecting a blast of energy from Android 13 with an energy ball of his own like a dodgeball then following it up by blasting Android 13 with it, Android 15's sunglasses breaking and hat bursting into flames from the sheer power of Vegeta's aura, Piccolo being introduced by having him blasting through and bursting out of the damn ground, Android 15 chuckling at Vegeta only to catch his own severed head and explode into pieces, Android 14 splitting in two and exploding mid-charge from being sliced by Trunks' sword (The fact that all Android 14 managed to do was make Trunks' forehead bleed makes this scene even cooler), Trunks charging Super Android 13 only to have Super Android 13 break his sword on his fore arm and basically blast Trunks' face off, Super Android 13 stomping on Piccolo's face, Super Android 13 futiley punching SSJ Goku as his fists slowly begin to crumble... There are just too many badass moments to count, I'm sure I'm forgetting at least a few more!

As for Movie 4, I've never really hated it myself and it has it's share of badass moments as well... But it's no masterpiece either like say, Movies 5, 9, or 13.

[Nex Carnifex]

The Bio-Broly one had that scene where people in the elevator get flooded by acid, that was kind of disturbing. Personally I didn't think any of the Dragon Ball Movies were any good.

[KiddoCabbusses]

Goku's "Fake Super Saiyan" is another reason cited for hating the movie.

I'm not sure what was worse - Seeing the "False Super Saiyan" after having already seen the real one, or seeing how in the movie it's merely used as a temporary deus ex machina to get Goku out of a pinch, only to have him seemingly stop using it for no real reason whatsoever. And then later on using a base Kaioken for the final Slug beatdown. Ugh, this movie felt like it had the least power-level-consistency of all. Admitably though, watching a movie for canon is like trying to fight a Super Saiyan - or rather, a false one.

I also thought the whole Super Namek thing sounded really hokey. In the JP version in particular, it gave no real explanation for why Slug was evil; it was almost as if we were just supposed to take it for granted that a Namek can be evil (or even that a large number of Namekians are evil), even though Piccolo Daimao was said to be a special case. There was also nothing that seemed particularly "Super" about his "Super Namek" form - especially not power-wise, as he was defeated with most the same moves Goku used to beat Dr. Wheelo and Tullece. It also felt like a dangling plot thread that Piccolo just never seemed to consider becoming a "Super Namek" himself to increase his power, although I guess merging did a lot more for him anyway.

(And, yeah, the whistling deus ex machina just felt cheap.)

[GS7X7]

When did Movie 4 premier (or at least finish being dubbed in Japan)?

Also, when did Goku first go Super Saiyan?

If Super Saiyan was also introduced then I'm not sure why they made up that fake one. (or "Super Saiyan .5" as it's nicknamed)

[coola]

Movie premiere: March 19, 1991
Goku first time go SSJ: April 1, 1991

I really love this movie, it got everything, great music, awesome fight scenes, and nice background:
- Piccolo reaction to Gohan whistle
- Chi-Chi get moment to shine
- Slug getting pummeled during Goku False Super Saiyan theme

[GS7X7]

Ah! So "Super Saiyan" in Movie 4 did originate first there!

One more thing.... did Toriyama say when he had planned on having Goku go SSJ? I can't swear to it but I think years ago he said he just did it in like a week-long time. (or maybe I'm confused with what he said about fusion)

[FNF]

I did love Disturbed - STUPIFY playing as the bgm for Goku's FSSJ.

Overall I didn't see too much wrong with it. Maybe it was the gloomy atmosphere or some nit-picking shit.

My favourite fight scenes in the movies were Piccolo vs Armoured Squadron in movie 5 and LSSJ Broly vs SSJ2 Gohan in movie 10.

[Michsi]

I liked the movie well enough. The final fight is so and so, but it's the movie that establishes that namekians can't stand human whistling and I think this became canon for the fandome. I agree that it could have had a little more of a back story though. I enjoyed the small Piccolo/Gohan moments.

But I never heard that the movie was actually hated. Doesn't seem to be a fan favorite, true, but I've never seen ppl hate it

[Herms]

The final fight is so and so, but it's the movie that establishes that namekians can't stand human whistling and I think this became canon for the fandome

That is one of the things Toriyama came up with for the movie, along with the idea of Goku's hair standing straight up when he became a "Super Saiyan" (Daizenshuu 7 mentions this).

[Sun-Wukong]

Personally, Movie 4 is one of my favorites. The way people talk about it, you would think all of the other movies are completely original and none of them are derivative of the series in the slightest.

[Codarik]

Yeah, it's also one of my favorites, the only reason not to like it is because of the similar plot to the King Piccolo arc. The movie had a great setting, fantastic music, and some of the best animation I've ever seen.

[GS7X7]

The final fight is so and so, but it's the movie that establishes that namekians can't stand human whistling and I think this became canon for the fandome

That is one of the things Toriyama came up with for the movie, along with the idea of Goku's hair standing straight up when he became a "Super Saiyan" (Daizenshuu 7 mentions this).

I wish Funimation or Viz would release the Daiz into English.

[Patient-mental]

FUNimation have no licensing for any of the "print" media, and I doubt VIZ Media have any reason to release the Daizenshuu because they would end up with a financial loss with them.

[GS7X7]

What I meant to say is that someone should scanslate the Daizenshuu!

[mikezilla2]

What I meant to say is that someone should scanslate the Daizenshuu!

I think someone already has in a word (huh?!), as I've read users mention on here that you can buy English translated fakes.

[GS7X7]

But is the quality any good? I still (unfondly) remember the Chinese pirated "SOARKING!" translation for Head Cha La. (back when Season 1-2 Japanese weren't available on DVD like they are now)

[Piccolo Daimao]

I can see why other people dislike DBZ Movie #4, but I never found it as bad as others claim. Yes, it was derivative, a cheap rip-off of the Piccolo Daimao arc, but it's not as if the majority of the other movies weren't derivative either. The DB movies aren't claiming to be some kind of Tarantino masterpiece of storytelling, since practically all of them just mirror certain arcs and events in the main series itself.

I thought it was good enough, and others have already voiced my opinion. Concerning the False Super Saiyan, I don't know why people would have some part in disliking the movie because they'd seen, in their opinion, a "fake", lesser version of Super Saiyan. This movie was released before the "actual" blond-haired Super Saiyan had debuted in the manga, so really, it was an early imagining of the Super Saiyan's appearance before Toriyama re-did it for the manga. I actually like this interpretation of the Super Saiyan - being pure, unbridled bloodlust and rage that accurately portrays the legend. Admittedly, it was a let-down that, despite being the title of the film, it actually means nothing to the overall film and plot due to being shown on screen for, like, five minutes.

Another thing that may lend itself to the dislike of the film is the fact that they used the Genki-Dama as the finale for the third time in a row, movie-wise. The whistling was an all right plot point, in my opinion, exposing an inherent weakness in the main villain's species that would otherwise be harmless. But I wish they'd chosen something more imaginative than a Genki-Dama (that didn't even have the unexpected twist of the one in Movie 3, with the villain literally destroying the Genki-Dama, the heroes and the audience being left in a state of hopelessness before the main hero tries again borrowing energy for the main villain's own weapon) that had been used as the main villain's defeat for the third time in a row.

[GS7X7]

Is it at all possible that we owe the origins of "Super Saiyan" to this movie? (how did Toriyama say he came about that idea?)

[Herms]

Is it at all possible that we owe the origins of "Super Saiyan" to this movie? (how did Toriyama say he came about that idea?)

No, Vegeta explained the idea of a "Super Saiyan" in the manga in July 1990 (and Freeza tossed out the term without explanation even earlier than that), while DBZ movie 4 didn't come out until March 1991.

[GS7X7]

Hmm... I wonder though, why introduce "fake Super Saiyan" in a non-canonical movie for a few minutes then introduce the "real Super Saiyan" shortly later and make it so larger than life? That's where I'm confused....

Maybe the movie just introduced it actually occurring to a Saiyan to make things more interesting/original.