Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989) User Reviews

It was OK

[nightdawndaylandofthedea · 6/10 · 4 August 2006]

Some of the Dragon Ball Z movies were great but confusing. The movies are only mentioned once in the series, otherwise, they never happened in the show. This is one that happened. Garlic Jr. The second worse villain in DBZ history next to Android 17. The movie was pretty good but with a different villain and not this stupid Dead Zone thing, it might of been a pretty good retelling of Gohan's first burst of power. Honestly I'm not a big fan of the early films because I don't like the voices and the villains don't reflect with anything from the TV series. One, two, and three all have their own, new but sad villains. Meanwhile the rest have some villain that have something to do with the show like Frieza's brother Cooler.

Very Good and Entertaining

[hybrid_theory_bd · 7/10 · 15 December 2006]

The very first DBZ movie, although I like The Worlds Strongest better than this one, This movie still holds up pretty close to The Worlds Strongest, It has great fight scenes and smooth animation. The story of this one is pretty good, The movie is very funny as well, such as Gohan peeing on Krillins head! and Gohans drunken dream! and this scene is not weird, and the animators were not on drugs, You people are on drugs. Think about it Gohan is clearly drunk or high whatever and that is why he is seeing all this weird stuff. And yes the sound effects are great. The reason I think "The World Strongest" is the better movie it would have to be because there are more longer fight scenes in "The Worlds Strongest"

It delivers the goods

[ericstevenson · 7/10 · 17 September 2016]

This is the first movie with the "Dragonball Z" title on it. There were in fact some before this, but they had the original "Dragonball" series names on it. It's weird how this is actually shorter than some of the specials! I still consider it a feature length movie. If so, it might be the shortest one I've ever seen. It makes no sense with the show, even though it should with the filler of the Garlic Jr. saga. There's no reason why Krillin would be surprised Goku has a son in the first episode or why everyone is surprised when Gohan unleashes his power on Radditz as those things happened here.

With all that being said, I still enjoyed it, but wouldn't quite recommend it. The scenes where Gohan gets drunk is some of the funniest stuff the series has ever done! I love the idea of taking Emperor Pilaf's voice and giving it to a serious villain. I don't know if I ever realized that Ox King is Gohan's grandfather before. There's so many characters it's hard to keep up with how they're related! The animation is good too. ***

The battle for our planet begins again.

[Op_Prime · 27 January 2002]

Hands down, Dead Zone is superior to Tree of Might and World's Strongest. The translation from Japanese to English is not too bad, way better than other anime series on today. Like the other Dragon Ball Z movies, the story is fast paced and exiting. The fight scenes are awesome and, as always, the best above all else. This is a must see, especially if you have already seen The Garlic Jr. Saga on the television series.

Amazing yet simply short for a DBZ Movie.

[emasterslake · 7/10 · 4 January 2008]

Takes place before the Saiyans landed on Earth. Kami's nemesis's son: Garlic Jr. has made his first move in seeking revenge. Due to his father loosing the title of Earth's Guardian to Kami. Junior sends out his minions to collect the Dragon Balls so that way he can wish to be immortal. Gohan was kidnapped during the Dragon Ball hunt, because he was wearing one on his head. Gohan's dad, Goku must rescue his son as well as defeat the "Immortal hungry" Junior.

For only being the first Dragon Ball Z movie. It lives up to being an enjoyable flick. Contains the same opening as the long running TV series. While the the whole thing felt like a two parter episode than a movie. Of course anything shorter than an hour always seems that way. It was the same with the first 3 Dragon Ball Movies. Ignoring that, this feature film is worth watching. I imagine the Kami/Piccolo fans to enjoy this because the play a part in it.

Available to own on DVD as well as the other 12 full length features.

Overall not bad..

[stanton1 · 6/10 · 28 January 2011]

A pretty good prequel to the Dragon Ball Z Series overall.

The major downfall of this film is the scripts for the voice actors. Everything they say seems rushed to make sure it fills in with the mouth movements of the characters. The voices are also fairly emotionless, "Just another day on the job" kinda deal.

The fighting sequences are what you can expect from Dragon Ball, fast paced and entertaining, but ultimately end anti-climactic and rather quickly. The ending of this fight also doesn't fit very well with the show's timline, the example I can think of off the top of my head being the fact that Gohan's burst of power that pushes Garlic Jr. into the Dead Zone is never mentioned during the Vegeta Saga of the show where none of the shows characters appear to know how strong Gohan really is.

The film does have some good points though, the main one being that it is entertaining enough to watch for 40 minutes or so without getting bored.

first film the Z series

[erminahotmail · 6/10 · 24 January 2024]

So this is the first film this time on the Dragon Ball Z series So after having reviewed the previous films which were all from the first series A now we're touching on those from the second series So a question I've wanted to ask for a long time because these old Dragon Ball films only last 45 minutesit's something that I've never gone out to understand Japanese slaves or foods so in this film it's set before the series started in fact this is one of the few films where it can be connected to the series since the others always have the continuity problem So c 'he's a bad guy that yescalls Garlic Jr who is mad at Kami because some time ago in Villapicionato his father that he was a candidate to be God but however he wasn't built and therefore he made him crumble and so Garlic Jr wants revenge and he took the dragon balls but one thing I have never managed tounderstand one thing Gohan there was one of the balls in the hat and the bad guys take Gohan to get the ball but they couldn't take only the hat that's why Goku has to stop the bad guy So what do I think about this movie Well this isn't one of the most either good Dragon Ball movies but notit's not even ugly anymore So I quite liked the story, the characters and also the animation but the things I didn't like at all and the moment when Gohan throws a tantrum and above all when he eats that apple which makes him drunk this part is It was completely useless. And thenthey are not even good followers of Garlic Jr I just found them annoying and then the character of Garlic Jr is one of those villains who is neither hot nor cold it means that a villain that I don't like very much I don't even hate him and then This movie is was the only one who appears Kami since the catshe doesn't appear at all and then the character who was completely useless is krillin really he doesn't really do useless in this movie The only thing he does is to exchange the blows that Goku had to receive and then the ending when Garlic Jr gets his own hole closed black which I really don't havewords has one thing Garlic Jr was really the only villain in the films who had a saga in the series That is the one that is set shortly after the freezer So that Saga was very much hated by everyone but for me it didn't completely disgust me L 'I quite appreciated actually the sacred oneI find it better than the film to conclude with a rating of 6.

Some Plot Holes, But Still Good When in the Zone

[JayWolfgramm · 6/10 · 8 March 2023]

"Dead Zone" is the first Dragon Ball Z movie and it follows Goku as he tries to rescue his son from Garlic Jr. And his demon henchmen. This movie is some classic DBZ fun. It has some well animated and more martial arts focused fight scenes. We have the final appearance of the power pole as a weapon. Piccolo and Goku aren't yet allies but must find common ground to defeat the bigger threat. The villain's plot is straight forward and effective. Goku's motivation to fight back is likewise easily understandable.

Sadly, I can't think of this movie without being distracted by its several game breaking plot holes. Why would the henchmen try to kill Piccolo before making a wish on the Dragon balls? Why does Kami think that Goku killed Piccolo? Why would the henchmen steal Gohan if all they wanted was the Dragon Ball? And even bringing in the eponymous Dead Zone makes little sense.

But, call it nostalgia, this was the first DBZ movie I saw, but I do enjoy the film. I give it credit for being the first under the "Z" series. It may not be the best script, but it does do a lot with excellent delivery. Not the series best, but everyone has to start somewhere.

a good introduction to the series

[Sam_Gray · 9/10 · 16 February 2000]

More a long episode than anything else, Dead Zone is actually the beginning of the Dragonball Z series. Fans of the series who find themselves confused by the plot would do well to watch this (and the next view episodes) if they can find it. It establishes the fact that Goku and Piccolo, two of the show's most important characters, were once enemies, a fact that greatly affects later plot elements but is only occasionally referenced once the series gets underway. Of course, like the rest of the series, Dead Zone is light on substance and heavy on fight sequences, but that's what makes the show fun to watch, anyway. 9/10

The 1st dragon Ball z movie and not a bad one to start off with.

[anywaychannel · 7/10 · 9 July 2023]

The 1st Dragon Ball Z movie and not a bad one to start off with.

Dragon Ball Z Dead Zone centers around the villain Garlic junior, a villainous monster who plans to get revenge on Kami the guardian of the earth by gathering up the dragon balls and wishing for immortality.

Through this process his minions not only defeat Piccolo the second strongest fighter in the world and also kidnap Gohan who is the son of Goku.

Goku the earth's protector must now team up with piccolo to get his son back and stop Garlic Junior.

Now something you have to understand about the Dragon Ball Z movies is that they are non canon meaning they don't line up with the main show (which is Dragon Ball Z) very well.

As such they are pointless but still entertaining and usually contain great villains and action.

All of this applies toward this movie as not only is it entertaining and has great fight choreography in the action scenes but it also in a rare occurrence actually tries to take place in the main timeline as it pretty much hints it takes place between the original Dragon Ball series and Dragon ball Z.

It still doesn't succeed in that though. Mostly because at the start of the show Dragon Ball Z characters like Krillen, Master Roshi and Bulma meet Gohan (Goku's son) for the 1st time while in this movie (which is supposed to take place before the show) they meet him or at least are aware of him here.

Still it was nice that they at least tried.

As for the movie itself like I said it is still entertaining as is the main villain Garlic Jr but besides the cool fight scenes there's not much to it.

Mostly because a lot of these movies are really short, being between 40 to 60 minutes meaning they have to have really simple plots which pretty much end just as they get started.

Still they are fun to pick up and watch as is Dead Zone.

It's DBZ.

[dieusani · 4/10 · 18 March 2002]

That's all I can really say about this film. It's DBZ...like Tree of Might and The World's Strongest, it really...doesn't fit into the timeline for the show at all, though it is supposedly placed just before the beginning of the TV series. The action is pretty nice in general. The plot has a nice enough base, with a good background establishing why these guys hate each other and all. Pretty good in general, there... The problem is...there's a lot of really weird stuff. I mean, really weird stuff. Like The World's Strongest, there's a really, really odd song in this one that could only have been created in a drug induced haze...disturbing is the fact that Gohan, while singing, is pretty much drugged out himself. Creepy. The villains are odd and rather comical...moreso than the usual DBZ type--this seems more like it was made as a Dragon Ball movie rather than a Dragon Ball Z movie. In general, its entertaining enough, but...just...strange.

The best DBZ movie

[DOGMANDADDY · 9/10 · 12 March 2001]

First let me say that compared to the other Dragonball Z movies, Dead Zone is the only one which can possibly fit in with the timeline set by the episodes. It takes place before the series, and thus runs no risk of contradicting anything. Although the translations of Japanese animation into English is usually poor, I found the character of Goku to be, as always, the perfect combination of super hero and down to earth dad. Gohan's hidden power, which even Goku is unaware of at this time, is amazing, and he is definitely his father's son in the way that it comes out when his friends and loved ones are suffering. A must see for DBZ fans.

Review for Dead Zone

[goku_stalker · 5/10 · 27 May 2005]

This movie didn't do so well with me. It had it's moments. Such as the weapon fighting between Goku, Nicky and Ginger but the plot was all to familiar ie: Vegeta. Points of the movie seemed odd also. Such as Kami saying Piccolo had been killed by Goku, yet Kami showed barley any signs of dying himself. Also being so mentally connected he would never make the mistake of thinking Piccolo was dead when by all means he wasn't. Also Garlic Jr. informing his crew that he intended to keep Gohan as a disciple seemed lamely put, as he showed no signs of even bothering to entertain the boy. There was barley any background to the movie, it was just start to finish.

I did like Goku's new persona though, rather cocky. It was a nice change. As for original characters I didn't find anything interesting (except that Nicky and Ginger pulled swords from their limbs!) They were all stupid and with very annoying voices. Give the bad guys voices that suit for once! Also why would three strong warriors (Sancho, Nicky and Ginger)follow the leadership of Garlic Jr, he wasn't smart, strong, or even witty! It just seemed to me that the characters in this film (all characters) were running around like headless chickens. Yet it was the 1st dbz film so obviously this was a training ground for all the rest.

Kamehameha!

[abstruse-2 · 9 September 2000]

Though not the first Dragonball movie despite what many people thing (there were movies based on the original TV series that tells of Goku's adventures with Bulma when he was still a child), this movie is a pretty neat romp for Goku and his friends, as long as you don't think TOO hard about it...because then you'd notice there's no way it could fit into the continuity of the TV series (since Goku has mastered obviously been to King Kai's already and mastered the techniques he taught him there, but is not yet a Super-Saiyan). But if you ignore this, it's a well-animated but badly dubbed fight. Any real fan of Dragonball Z should check this out as soon as possible.

Pretty cool and fast paced.

[Aaron1375 · 10/10 · 14 January 2002]

Fast paced is the best way to describe this DBZ movie. Piccolo is apparently killed and Gohan gets kidnapped so Goku goes to the lair of Garlic jr an evil person with ambitions to rule the world, and who has already been granted immortality from the dragon. Battles ensue as Krillin joins the battle to help Goku rescue his son and the thought to be dead Piccolo also appears, but not to help, he just owes the henchmen a little pay back. All in all a pretty cool installment of DBZ.

Goku's first film

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 July 2015]

This is the first Dragon Ball movie and it is probably also the shortest at only 41 minutes. The main antagonist in this film from over 25 years ago is Garlic Jr., the son of another antagonist that got killed by Goku before this film in the series I assume. I am not familiar with the series, so I cannot comment any further in detail about that reference, but I can say that I was fairly underwhelmed by this movie here. Then again I may be a bit biased because anime was never a preferred choice of mine and I actually prefer very old cartoons or animation Pixar style. So yeah, with that in mind "Dead Zone" didn't do too much for me really. It's still not an entirely bad film by any means, but I felt the story was just stretched for way too long given that they already fight the antagonist halfway into the movie and it's pretty generic too. As always, it looks like they have no chance and then in the end they manage to win anyway. Oh yeah, the mission here is to get Goku's son back who was abducted by the vengeful other son I mentioned earlier. To make this somewhat funny they included scenes of where Goku's son is a nuisance to his kidnapper. Still, it wasn't exactly comedy gold I have to say. All in all, I cannot recommend this.

One of the only things I like about DBZ

[tequila101 · 9/10 · 1 August 2011]

DBZ: The Dead Zone film is one of the very rare things I ever like and still like about DBZ, it's original, it has an original story, the action is overall intense and fun to watch, the voice acting (the original voices) are good and the music (once again the original soundtrack) is excellent to listen too. So let's get deeper into the review.

This is my own opinion, i respect yours. First off, I grew up with this crap in my childhood and yes i loved it. Going back and watching most of it now, I dislike half of it. I only love this. I do not mind the Sayin and Namik sagas as they are fun to watch and they have goo plot lines. The other DBZ films are medicorish and that's where i love this one most because the story was new, the characters were new and everything. When we got the Android/Cell and Buu Sagas and even DBGT, it felt like a replay, where everything was just been played like a broken record all over again. I also loved the Garli Jr. Saga.

Now back to the film....

I think the characters are very original and they are developed quickly. The story doesn't waste time into presenting into what it want to presents and show and the action mentioned above is freakin awesome. I also love Garlic Jr. Great character. The visual effects for a 1989 animation was good. If you love combat films this definitely one for the books in my collection. I own the original version in English and I got an Italian version when I was little :P.

As far as DBZ stuff goes (episodes and films) avoid most of it, but this should have Ur attention straight away :D.

8.5/10

Pretty damn cool!

[MARVELMANIAC69 · 27 July 2004]

I watched this feature length anime less than two hours ago and I must say I was impressed. I like "Dragonball Z" the series but I never really get round to watching it much (unlike my younger brother who is a huge fan), I found with this film even if you are not a fan of the show you may enjoy this, as its easy to follow.

I must say I expected this movie to ponder on but I was wrong as it was only on for 45 minutes so it is very short and sweet and I thought that this was a spot on running time for this film.

This film I think is suitable for people of all ages as children enjoy watching the show and older people also really enjoy to see the great action sequences.

Adams Rating - 8/10

Don't waste your time

[Daviddavecavemave · 2/10 · 20 July 2022]

A non-canon prequel to DBZ. Taking place not long after Dragon Ball ended, Gohan is kidnapped by Garlic Jr for the dragon ball on his hat but soon after decides to keep him alive as an apprentice after noticing his high power level. His abduction leads to Goku teaming with Krillin, Kami (who had defeated Garlic for the role of Earth's guardian, and Piccolo teaming up to take on Garlic Jr and his henchmen.

Having united the dragon balls and wished for immortality, Garlic Jr becomes an unbeatable foe who opens the titular dead zone up in hopes of killing off the heroes. Gohan taps into his powers, knocks Garlic Jr into the dead zone and all is right in the world.

Minus the opening and closing credits, The run time is under 40 minutes (I'd say closer to 34-35 minutes total) and it is quite a forgettable movie. There is virtually no story aside from the brief encounters with a couple characters and the Kami/Garlic backstory. The majority of the run time is dedicated to the fight scenes. And despite its short length, You can't help but feel like there is an overwhelmingly large amount of filler in this. It was to the point where I thought they could have made this one-off 25 minute episode and just moved on, This did not have to be a movie at all.

My advice is to skip it. Not only, as I mentioned before, is it not canon but it also simply is not good.

Not So Good, But Short and Charming

[IntakeCinema · 4/10 · 5 September 2022]

As with all of the DBZ movies, you have to forget what you know of the main series. If you try to figure out when this takes place (roughly after the end of Dragon Ball and before the beginning of DBZ) you are gonna be scratching your head at all of the inconsistencies (e.g. Krillin doesn't know Goku has a kid when he visits Roshi's island in episode 1 of DBZ, but he clearly meets Gohan in this movie before that episode supposedly takes place). Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Anyways, Piccolo is "killed" right off the bat by Garlic Jrs' henchmen because he knows that if he kills Piccolo it will kill Kame as well leaving Kame's lookout and throne free for the taking. However, Mr. Garlic's big plan is to gather the dragonballs and wish for immortality. He is clearly an idiot because if he had successfully killed off Piccolo and Kame this would have destroyed the dragonballs before he even had a chance to make his wish. This movie has plot holes and nonsense all throughout it and that shouldn't surprise anyone who has seen a DBZ movie before.

Just some other notable highlights; Gohan eats a fermented/alcohols filled apple (or similar-looking fruit) and gets drunk off his gourd causing him to hallucinate and have a full-on song and dance sequence (which the singing is oddly cut out in the English version, just another reason to prefer the original Japanese). Gohan takes a pee on Krillin's head and Krillin just seems to accept his fate of being proverbially peed on this entire series. Garlic Junior is a short boy but in a flashback, when Kame is having his exposition dump because nobody else is explaining what's going on, his father is seen to be a normal height. In one of the fights, a tip of Goku's hair is sliced off by one of the henchmen's hands but in the very next frame, his hair has magically grown back (why have this happen if you aren't even going to attempt to have any continuation?).

All-in-all this movie has messy storytelling and animation that falls desperately short of film quality. Gratefully, at 41 minutes long this movie moves pretty quickly. I love DBZ and the movies are always nostalgic to rewatch, but man are they bad.

Beautiful animation, often dragging plot

[AnthonyRS1983 · 2 July 2002]

This is the first movie of the Dragon Ball Z TV series released during the series' Japanese TV run. In the debut DBZ movie, it re-tells how Gohan discovered his hidden powers. The movie's premise is about the adult Goku rescuing his four-year old son Gohan, whom has been kidnapped by a demon, who lives on the Makyo Star, named Garlic Jr., in order to obtain the four-star Dragon Ball worn on the boy's head. Garlic Jr. uses the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality. Soon enough, Kami (God) descends to Earth and reveals to Goku that Garlic Jr.'s father was a bitter rival, competing for the Kami throne, whom was sealed up by the preceding Kami after Garlic Sr. and his army of demons attempted to take the throne by force. Kami also reveals that Garlic Jr.'s plans are to seek revenge for his father's exile. Goku, Kami, and Krillin team up with Goku's old enemy, Piccolo, to stop Garlic Jr. from sucking the Earth into his own personally-created black hole known as the "Dead Zone". This movie, mirroring the action-fighting tone of the Dragon Ball Z TV series, is more serious that the trilogy of Dragon Ball movies, which focused on light-hearted comedy. The high points of the movie are the animation and the movie's hilarious inserted musical sequence "Tenka Ichi Gohan". The low points of the movie is that it drags a little from time to time, despite the short 45 minute length of this movie.

GRADE: 2.5 out of 5