Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, also known by its Japanese title Dragon Ball Z: Son Goku the Super Saiyan (Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ (スーパー)サイヤ人だ孫悟空, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū), is a 1991 Japanese animated science fiction martial arts film and the fourth Dragon Ball Z feature movie. It was originally released in Japan on March 9 between episodes 81 and 82 at the Toei Anime Fair as part of a double feature with the first Magical Tarurūto-kun movie.

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
Japanese box art
JapaneseドラゴンボールZ (スーパー)サイヤ人だ孫悟空
HepburnDoragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū
Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
Produced byChiaki Imada
Rikizō Kayano
Written byTakao Koyama
Screenplay byTakao Koyama
Based onDragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
StarringSee below
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
CinematographyMasaru Sakanishi
Motoi Takahashi
Edited byShin'ichi Fukumitsu
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • March 9, 1991 (1991-03-09) (Japan)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥2.21 billion ($16.4 million)

Plot

Gohan visits with Piccolo and shows him a new tune he has learned to whistle. Due to his advanced Namekian hearing, this causes Piccolo pain so he angrily orders Gohan to stop when they both sense an approaching threat incoming from outer space. Bulma and her father discover that a meteor harboring lifeforms is heading toward the Earth and will destroy the planet upon impact. Amidst mass panic, Goku and Krillin rush to intercept the meteor and hope to push it away by blasting it with Kamehameha waves but they are both rendered unconscious by the force of the meteor but it seemingly explodes in orbit. A spaceship then lands in one of Earth's cities.

An army of humanoid alien soldiers exit the ship and declare the Earth under the rule of their leader, Lord Slug. The soldiers attack a group of earthlings but Gohan arrives to defend them. Lord Slug observes that Gohan has a magical Dragon Ball sewn onto his hat which he loses during the scuffle. After his henchmen render Gohan unconscious and reveal the plan to convert the planet into a biological spaceship, Slug appears and uses telepathy to read Bulma's mind and learns about her radar used for tracking the Dragon Balls. Slug's men successfully gather the Dragon Balls and summon the eternal dragon Shenron who grants Slug his wish for eternal youth. Slug's forces begin transforming the Earth which begins to cause life to perish across the planet. Goku and Krillin are revived by Yajirobe who gives them each a healing Senzu bean. Gohan meanwhile resumes his assault against Slug's army and is rescued by Piccolo. Piccolo kills the henchman Wings and Gohan is overwhelmed by Medamatcha leading to Piccolo being injured when he jumps in front of an energy blast intended to kill Gohan. Goku and Krillin arrive and Goku easily kills Medamatcha and Angila. Slug appears and is attacked by Krillin who is quickly dispatched. Goku fights Slug but is overwhelmed and in a moment of rage, is seemingly able to access a portion of the Super Saiyan form.

Goku pummels Slug and during the battle it is revealed by King Kai that he is a Super Namekian, a bloodline of violent warriors obsessed with power who were banished from their home world. Slug assumes his giant form and begins to crush Goku between his massive hands. Piccolo intervenes to rescue Goku and before he is also crushed, tears off his own ears and calls out for Gohan to start whistling. The whistling deafens and weakens Slug, allowing Piccolo to transfer his remaining energy to Goku who powers up and manages to fly straight through Slug's abdomen and incapacitates him. Goku then ascends into the sky and begins preparing a Spirit Bomb in order to destroy the pods transforming the planet, but Slug manages to pursue him. Goku launches the Spirit Bomb at Slug which sends him hurtling into his own machines, killing him and saving the planet. Yajirobe heals everyone with Senzu beans as they celebrate their victory.

Cast

Character Japanese voice English voice
(Funimation, 2001) (AB Groupe, c.2003)[1]
GokuMasako NozawaSeán SchemmelDavid Gasman
GohanStephanie NadolnyJodi Forrest
PiccoloToshio FurukawaChristopher SabatPaul Bandey as Big Green
SlugKenji Utsumi (old)
Yusaku Yara (young)
Brice ArmstrongEd Marcus
KrillinMayumi TanakaSonny StraitSharon Mann as Clearin
BulmaHiromi TsuruTiffany VollmerSharon Mann as Blooma
Chi-ChiNaoko WatanabeCynthia CranzSharon Mann
King KaiJōji YanamiSeán SchemmelPaul Bandey
OolongNaoki TatsutaBradford JacksonDavid Gasman
Master RoshiKōhei MiyauchiMike McFarlandEd Marcus
YajirobeMayumi Tanaka
Dr. BriefsJōji YanamiChris ForbisPaul Bandey
ShenronKenji UtsumiChris SabatEd Marcus
Angira (アンギラ)Keiichi NanbaJohn BurgmeierPaul Bandey
Dorodabo (ドロダボ)Daisuke GōriChris RagerDavid Gasman
Medamatcha (メダマッチャ, Medamaccha)Yukitoshi HoriKent WilliamsDoug Rand
Zeeun (ゼエウン, Zeeun)Kōji TotaniBrad JacksonPaul Bandey
Gyoshu (ギョーシュ, Gyōshu)Shigeru ChibaSonny StraitDoug Rand
Kakuja (カクージャ, Kakūja)Shōzō IizukaChris Sabat
NarratorJōji YanamiKyle HebertEd Marcus

A third English version produced and released exclusively in Malaysia by Speedy Video, features an unknown voice cast.

Music

English dub soundtrack

The following songs were present in Funimation's in-house English adaptation of Lord Slug.[2]

Bruce Faulconer produced an alternate opening theme for this version (which would be replaced in the 2008 remastered version with another original track composed by Mark Menza) and the remaining pieces of background music were composed by Faulconer and Evan Jones. The Double Feature release contains an alternate audio track containing the English dub with original Japanese background music by Shunsuke Kikuchi and original Japanese opening theme of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" by Hironobu Kageyama.

Reception

Box office

At the Japanese box office, the film sold 3.6 million tickets[3] and grossed ¥2.21 billion [4] ($16.4 million ).[5]

Releases

It was released on DVD and VHS in North America on August 7, 2001, over 10 years after its initial release. It was later digitally remastered and released in Double Feature set with The Tree of Might for Blu-ray and DVD on September 16, 2008, in feature full HD 16:9 aspect ratio 1080p format. The film was re-released to DVD on November 1, 2011 in remastered-widescreen set containing the first five Dragon Ball Z movies.[6]

Other English dubs were also made by French company AB Groupe. This company done for European markets which was released under the misspelt title Super Saiya Son Goku, and another one for a Malaysian VCD release by Speedy Video which had the title Super Saiya People, Goku. While the Malaysian dub's cast remains unknown, the AB Groupe dub was revealed to have been recorded by English-speaking actors based in France who have also done voices for animated television series such as Code Lyoko and Chris Colorado.[1]

References

  1. Behind the Voice Actors
  2. Imada, Chiaki (Producer), & Hashimoto, Mitsuo (Director). (2001 Aug 7). Lord Slug [Motion picture]. Japan: FUNimation.
  3. "予約特典・ドラゴンボール最強への道・劇場版ご近所物語A5サイズ前売特典冊子". Dragon Ball: The Path to Power brochure (in Japanese). Toei Animation. 1996.
  4. Komatsu, Mikikazu (January 29, 2019). "Japan Box Office: Dragon Ball Super: Broly Becomes Top-Grossing Film in The Franchise". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  5. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 1991. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. Dragon Ball Z: Movie Pack Collection One, Funimation Prod, 2011-11-01, retrieved 2016-07-04
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