Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 29 - DB movie 3

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Watched some of the dub again, and as mentioned above it isn't quite as unwatchable and laughably bad as Sleeping Princess had been (That was literally the very first thing FUNi did after moving dub production in house following the end of Z's run in syndication) but even still it's not very good. This and the former are both cases where i exclusively watch the films in Japanese. Seriously, Mystical Adventure's is at about Season 3/4 levels if not just somewhat better.

I'm with you there all the way. I swear if Funi ever re-dubs any classic DB material again, redubs of the movies would be high on my wish list

No question, DB movie 2 and 3's dubs are poorly aged artifacts of the early in house days as much as DBZ Season 3 and more than anything reflect the amatureness of the FUNi cast back during that initial period of a couple years when they first started on the series. These are the most in need of re dubbing along with the two Z specials, because those dubs aren't very good either as basically everything from that early era was.

[MasenkoHA]

It will never not be strange how overzealous Funi is about redubbing portions of Z for voice actor consistency but the Dragon Ball movie dubs vary in quality (good>hot dumpster fire garbage>garbage>meh) and have three different voice
Actresses for Goku and Bulma.

[ArmenianPepsi]

Watched some of the dub again, and as mentioned above it isn't quite as unwatchable and laughably bad as Sleeping Princess had been (That was literally the very first thing FUNi did after moving dub production in house following the end of Z's run in syndication) but even still it's not very good. This and the former are both cases where i exclusively watch the films in Japanese. Seriously, Mystical Adventure's is at about Season 3/4 levels if not just somewhat better.

I'm with you there all the way. I swear if Funi ever re-dubs any classic DB material again, redubs of the movies would be high on my wish list

No question, DB movie 2 and 3's dubs are poorly aged artifacts of the early in house days as much as DBZ Season 3 and more than anything reflect the amatureness of the FUNi cast back during that initial period of a couple years when they first started on the series. These are the most in need of re dubbing along with the two Z specials, because those dubs aren't very good either as basically everything from that early era was.

Oh yeah the Z specials are in the same boat. Kai really teased me with those Bardock flashbacks, giving us a small taste of what a redub of that episode could be like. Even if it's just a couple of minutes, it still shows off what Funi can do when they put forth the effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBb3TsrV4ps

[WittyUsername]

There probably isn’t much monetary gain in FUNimation producing completely new English dubs for movies they’ve already dubbed before. As badly butchered as the dub of the Bardock special is, if FUNimation didn’t produce a redub for it when it was screened for Fathom Events a couple of years ago, chances are that they aren’t going to do it anytime soon, especially when that special is no longer relevant.

As for the DB movies, they would have even less of a financial incentive to redub those.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

There probably isn’t much monetary gain in FUNimation producing completely new English dubs for movies they’ve already dubbed before. As badly butchered as the dub of the Bardock special is, if FUNimation didn’t produce a redub for it when it was screened for Fathom Events a couple of years ago, chances are that they aren’t going to do it anytime soon, especially when that special is no longer relevant.

As for the DB movies, they would have even less of a financial incentive to redub those.

It's quite unfortunate really, and i get they most likely won't produce new redubs for all of aforementioned soon if ever but still the old versions are a pretty clear reflection of where FUNi was at as a company back in the span of time from 1998-2000 when they were much smaller and didn't have nearly the presence in the anime industry especially when compared to the last decade. It doesn't change the fact that they are embarrassingly bad dubs which have aged poorly in pretty much every respect compared to almost everything which came after.

[WittyUsername]

There probably isn’t much monetary gain in FUNimation producing completely new English dubs for movies they’ve already dubbed before. As badly butchered as the dub of the Bardock special is, if FUNimation didn’t produce a redub for it when it was screened for Fathom Events a couple of years ago, chances are that they aren’t going to do it anytime soon, especially when that special is no longer relevant.

As for the DB movies, they would have even less of a financial incentive to redub those.

It's quite unfortunate really, and i get they most likely won't produce new redubs for all of aforementioned soon if ever but still the old versions are a pretty clear reflection of where FUNi was at as a company back in the span of time from 1998-2000 when they were much smaller and didn't have nearly the presence in the anime industry especially when compared to the last decade. It doesn't change the fact that they are embarrassingly bad dubs which have aged poorly in pretty much every respect compared to almost everything which came after.

In terms of the four dubs being discussed (DB Movies 2 and 3 and the Bardock and Trunks specials), I’d say that the Trunks special dub is about on the level of the dub of the Cell arc. It’s not exactly good, but it at least does maintain the same overall plot as the original, and if nothing else, the acting isn’t too bad for early FUNimation. Frankly, the big problem with that particular dub is its constant insistence on inserting dialogue into scenes that are silent in the original.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

There probably isn’t much monetary gain in FUNimation producing completely new English dubs for movies they’ve already dubbed before. As badly butchered as the dub of the Bardock special is, if FUNimation didn’t produce a redub for it when it was screened for Fathom Events a couple of years ago, chances are that they aren’t going to do it anytime soon, especially when that special is no longer relevant.

As for the DB movies, they would have even less of a financial incentive to redub those.

It's quite unfortunate really, and i get they most likely won't produce new redubs for all of aforementioned soon if ever but still the old versions are a pretty clear reflection of where FUNi was at as a company back in the span of time from 1998-2000 when they were much smaller and didn't have nearly the presence in the anime industry especially when compared to the last decade. It doesn't change the fact that they are embarrassingly bad dubs which have aged poorly in pretty much every respect compared to almost everything which came after.

In terms of the four dubs being discussed (DB Movies 2 and 3 and the Bardock and Trunks specials), I’d say that the Trunks special dub is about on the level of the dub of the Cell arc. It’s not exactly good, but it at least does maintain the same overall plot as the original, and if nothing else, the acting isn’t too bad for early FUNimation. Frankly, the big problem with that particular dub is its constant insistence on inserting dialogue into scenes that are silent in the original.

True, now that i think about it that dub isn't quite as awful as the other three in terms of their earliest in house work on the series even if it isn't all that great. Of course, ultimately i still just watch it in original Japanese much more often but at the very least it's not straight up unlistenable badness the way Sleeping Princess's dub is.

[ArmenianPepsi]

Frankly, the big problem with that particular dub is its constant insistence on inserting dialogue into scenes that are silent in the original.

This man speaks the truth. Were they under the thought process back then that if there wasn't constant noise people watching would immediately get bored and tune out?

[WittyUsername]

Frankly, the big problem with that particular dub is its constant insistence on inserting dialogue into scenes that are silent in the original.

This man speaks the truth. Were they under the thought process back then that if there wasn't constant noise people watching would immediately get bored and tune out?

I guess. It’s the same rationale that companies like 4Kids and Saban seemed to have.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Movie 3 - Mystical Adventure

A fun movie that retreads several beats from the series, but with a new story around Chaoitzu's empire to keep it fresh and interesting.

While this movie if watched as a standalone wouldn't be as satisfying, it works well as a way of rewatching parts of the series when you know what to expect. Roshi telling Goku and Kuririn he has taught them everything he knows wasn't as interesting for a short movie by itself in the case of this movie it worked for adding some importance to the tournament and the promise of new fighters for them to learn from.

There are plenty of good action seqences in this movie from General Blue and his men wrecking havoc in the city, Bulma and gang encountering a series of air fighters while hovering over a Dragon Ball, and of course on the tournament grounds. General Blue could have been given more to do, and was arguably defeated by Tao Pai Pai too easily, but there were other things to like such as Kuririn being given time to shine against the army officers attacking our heroes on the tournament grounds.

The humour is mostly on point. Roshi creeping on girls is as tiresome as it gets after a while in the series, but it was more tolerable when Bulma smacks him with a hammer, and when the waitress on the plain smacks pie in his face.

There are also many great character moments, including Bulma showing her smarts turning her plane into a submarine, Goku impressing everyone at the restaurant with how much he can eat, Tien comforting Chaoitzu after he has a nightmare and Oolong and Puar's transformations being used to get Bulma and Lunch into the tournament grounds. Unsurprisingly Yamcha is as unfaithful as always being more interested in other girls than the Dragon Balls when Bulma is trying to locate them. It makes him one of the less likeable characters in this movie as he isn't used for other gag purposes to make up for it.

Chaoitzu is both endearing and sympathetic in this movie. As stated previously Tien offers him a sense of protection and loyalty, but other scenes like him being terrified by Tao Pai Pai's ruthlessness as he flings Bora toward a spike and murdering him make him out to be a more empathetic individual.

Goku gets plenty of good fighting time in this movie. The usage of Seargant Metallic gives Goku a chance to show his loyalty to Kuririn by avenging him as well as Oopa who was being squeezed towards the end of the movie. Goku's fight with Tao was also entertaining despite borrowing a lot of beats from their fight in the series. Goku landing on Karin's tower and being chased there by Tao was a neat deviation and fresh take.

The lack of a Shenron summoning was surprising but an appreciated break from tradition, and adds some mystery to Goku's decision to try summon him in a new way by calling them from within the ocean.

In sum, not an amazing movie but a solid and enjoyable feature for what it is, and a good way of casually rewatching parts of the Red Ribbon Army arc.

And with that I will finally move on to the current week