Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (1993 TV Movie) User Reviews

The future that never was.

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 15 June 2008]

Trunks has lived his whole life in fear and chaos as 2 Androids have been killing off the world's population and destroying all major cities. After witnessing so many innocent lives, he must find a way to bring back everything that was lost and irreplaceable.

This is the full story on what Trunk's life was like during the Armegeda of the androids. As it was very little said during the Trunks/Android/Cell Sagas. You see a lot of brief cameos of your favorite characters as well as Gohan who plays a part in this TV special.

Since this takes place in an alternate future, all that you'll see in this TV special won't affect the current time line. Well those who have seen the all the android episodes would know what I mean.

So those who really wanted to know what alternate future of the DBZ world is like can be able to see this on DVD.

A man of solitude, left to defend what he loved

[double-edge · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

Future Trunks, my favorite character in the history of the DBZ series is definitely one of the coolest guys i know. So to me, I highly lingered for 'History of Trunks' to come out. When I watched it, to me it seemed a little to fast, they didn't give enough time to soak in emotional and sudden events, don't get me wrong this movie had it's memorable moments, the fights, the emotions, and the history of a man in a crushed world of solitude. It just seemed a bit rushed. I really liked the fact how Gohan and Trunks are the only heroes left to save what's left of the world, I'm not sure, but it makes them look really cool. And Gohan shows a lot of strength in his leadership, his fights, and his choice of words, he even looks cooler than what he looks like in the DBZ series at his age. Overall, this movie was great, but not awesome. Any Trunks fans out there? watch this movie!

great anime (not much of a spoiler in what I will say)

[shadowwind82-1 · 9/10 · 23 February 2003]

This movie is very good . It gives details that the show only showed part of . The only reason I did not give this a 10 is because though they should have had master Roshey ( I might have spelled that wrong ) in more.

The best DBZ movie/tv movie....

[Dark Genius · 22 November 2001]

The "History of Trunks," was the greatest DBZ movie that i have seen. It had more drama than the normal movie, and that was what made it so great.

Basically it reveals the future in which everyone except Gohan and Trunks have been killed by the Androids, and the two Z-fighters train hard to win the future...

"What was Future Trunks' timeline like?"

[Robin-72 · 10/10 · 24 August 1999]

This made for TV movie is a classic. The animation is top notch. Better than the series even. It tells what happens to the Z warriors in the future, and why Trunks had to go back in time to save Gokou.

A short summary would be: In the 'alternate' future the androids have killed everyone but Gohan and Trunks(and Master Roshi and Bulma, though they don't play a big role in the movie). Gohan trains Trunks, but Trunks cannot turn Super Saiyan. Gohan doesn't let Trunks fight the androids because he's not a Super Saiyan. Not until Gohans death does Trunks finally turn Super Saiyan.

There are some very emotional scenes, and some great fighting scenes as well. I recommend that if you see a fansub copy to pick it up. It's well worth it. KamehameHAA!

Bravo!

[Karuteru · 10/10 · 31 December 2002]

This is a great television special for Dragonball Z (especially for Trunks fans). It goes like this: Two devilish creations of Dr. Gero, (Artificial Humans #'s 18 and 19) begin to cause destruction about the globe. All of the Z senshi step fourth to kill them, but Gohan is the only one who survives. 13 years later, Trunks, the son of Vegeta and Bulma, has had enough, and asks Gohan to train him. I don't want to spoil it, so go get the DVD to find out what happens! I give it 10 stars out of ten!

A whole different Dragon Ball experience.

[Zombie-Kermit · 10/10 · 22 November 2009]

As far as entries in the Dragon Ball universe go, this one is kind of unique. Taking place in the alternate future of Trunks, a world torn apart by the merciless Artificial Humans, where almost all the warriors are gone, along with the Dragon Balls, and nearly all hope. Only two warriors remain, Gohan, now a grown man, continuing the legacy of his father, and Trunks, the teenage son of Vegeta and Bulma, who is training in hopes of becoming a Super Saiya-jin.

What makes this movie truly unique in terms of the Dragon Ball franchise, is that death has a lot more meaning here. The majority of the time in the series, when a character dies, it's kind of hard to get emotional about it, because you know as long as the Dragon Balls are around, they will likely be all right in the end. This fantastic TV special shows us what would happen without them. There is also no Goku, save for a small scene of him dying from a heart virus at the start.

With a run time of only about 50 minutes, there is not a whole lot of time to go into too much depth, but it definitely tells you the story that it intends in that time, fitting a fair amount of story into it. We get several of most intense fight scenes of the whole series, which probably owes to the short length, since they wasted no time on time filling power up scenes, as the main series often did.

As usual the voice acting (Japanese) is of a high quality, with Nozawa's voice give adult Gohan a newfound maturity, and Takeshi Kusao plays Trunks well. As far as villains go, Artificial Humans #17 and #18 are brilliantly malicious and evil, treating humans as mere toys for their enjoyment. Being a TV Special, the animation is pretty much at the same standard set by the series, not bad in any sense, but far from groundbreaking.

In the end, the special definitely has a lot to offer, and fans of the series should definitely love it. There is plenty of intensity and emotion, and many memorable scenes. The special portrays Gohan in a new light, very different from his usual timid nature, which has seemed to annoy some fans. Despite being a TV special, it remains one of my favourite parts of the series, which is rare for material that hasn't come from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. I'd call this one Toei Animation's greatest achievements in the Dragon Ball franchise.

DBZ at its Finest

[gigan-92 · 10/10 · 16 January 2011]

This is one of my all time favorite DBZ pieces. It lets fans view the world we only get glimpses of throughout the Android and Cell sagas. Trunks' apocalyptic world represents one of the best merely for its depth alone. Many of the DBZ movies lack what this movie delivers: villains with character. The Androids here are portrayed as sadistic murderers, making for much more threatening and gripping antagonists. You can enjoy it in either Japanese or English dun audio, either way the experience is a good one. We see the brutality of this world brought down full force on Trunks, voiced by good old Eric Vale. Dameon Clarke voices (future) Gohan, who is superb. You'll find yourself very involved throughout and particularly heart broken as the losses climb.

The art direction is amazing and the action is pretty awesome as well. You have to watch the episode "Free the Future" to see the complete resolution of this epic fight. Don't miss this one.

It was all right, I just did not care for the focus.

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 5 February 2009]

To be honest I never really had the urge to watch this particular Dragonball Z movie. I knew how the story went and had no real urge to see it played out with some exceptions. Still I am watching the seasons of Dragonball Z now and at the android saga and my girlfriends cable went out and she had this so I decided to finally see it. Suffice to say it was okay. I really wanted to see the other characters demise as Tien, Kuririn, Piccolo, and Vegeta's defeat at the hands of the androids only got very brief scenes. Instead most of it is just watching the androids kill and terrorize which was somewhat interesting as you could tell they were more cold blooded than the androids that came to be after Trunks visited the past, you could also tell they were weaker as adult Gohan and Trunks could fight both of them for a bit, while the ones in the series tore through their stronger foes at first with ease. The story focused a lot on Trunks and Gohan and their scenes just were a bit much to watch. Also, you basically knew how the fights would end and how the story would end so there were no real surprises. As I figured before I ever watched it, there was nothing really there to see. What Trunks told the guys in the past covered it well enough to me.

With out a doubt my favorite Dragonballz movie.

[Deftone315 · 10/10 · 14 November 2005]

This may be one of the T.V specials, but it is definitely one of the better Dragonballz movies. They really catch the emotion of Trunk's and how he feels about the androids terroizing the earth. The movie is basically that Trunks and gohan are the only surviving z-fighters from the androids(Since Goku died) and they are trying to defeat the androids to save the future. Also the battle sequences are put together really well. Such as the battle with the androids after Gohan loses his left arm and he is kicking the androids a** with his anger. Also the soundtrack is really good. There is pretty much a little of everything, Rock, techno, hip-hop,and acoustic. It may sound weird to have hip-hop or techno in the movie, but the music actually fits very well.This is the first DBZ movie I got and the best one I have got. I recommend this movie 100% and I give it four stars.Make this DBZ movie one of your first.

ABSOLUTELY AMZING ! BEST DBZ MOVIE NO DOUBT

[rajjindal-72925 · 10/10 · 3 August 2022]

WOW WHAT A MOVIE. I have seen other dbz movie but this feels unique and special. The fighting scenes are amazing and when gohan dies i feel very sad. But thanks to trunks who later kills these androids and save earth. This is must watch movie. You will love this !

Trunks' complicated life

[erminahotmail · 7/10 · 31 January 2024]

So this is a film released on television that is a film that is set in the future Trunks So the beginning talks about Goku dying but at the same time as Androids 17 and 18 who are destroying everything and have even killed all the Z warriors for now they are the only survivorsTrunks and Gohan So what do I think of this beautiful film but it is not one of the best of the Dragon Ball films it is even inferior to Bardock's film so why this film I consider it a useless film but it served to tell the story of trunks Yes but but this was already told in theseries hundreds of times and then one thing that I really liked is Gohan. So for me he is not an important character for me but in this film for me he is the best version of Gohan because he is always reduced to a speck especially in the Majin saga but boo is covered in this filmvery good and even very beautiful its design So these two try any way to stop the androids which is why Gohan dies which is why it really pisses Trunks off to become a Super Saiyan but even in this way he couldn't beat them for this reasondecided to use the time machine then This film is quite good but not very good to conclude with a rating of 7.

fine but unnecessary

[FeastMode · 5/10 · 25 March 2020]

It was okay. but it didn't feel like a full story with a beginning, middle and end. it felt like the prologue to something else. i get that it technically was, but it still should have had more of it's own story (about 2 viewings, 3/25/2020)

Great DBZ special

[Emphinix · 13 August 2003]

This movie is really cool I rented it about 3 days ago and I couldn't blink and it was so good. And so I learned more about Trunks before he could go to the past to give the antidote to Goku, and see how he defeated Frieza and King Cold.

The music intro is pretty cool because they say Dragon Ball Z with a deep voice. Well I was eating any goodies when I was watching this movie eating burgers and drinking some soda, and the saddest thing about this movie is when one of the main characters die while trying to defeat the Androids 17 and 18.

This movie is the best for Trunks fans, and for those who would like to know more about the history of Trunks before he went to the past to give the antidote to Goku to prevent his death by a virus.

Great DBZ special I give this one a 10/10

Greatest Dragon Ball Movie in History

[JayWolfgramm · 8/10 · 24 March 2023]

Unlike the Dragon Ball movies, which don't fit in the continuity, the specials fit comfortably into Dragon Ball cannon. This story takes place in the alternative future timeline that "Future Trunks" comes from. This leads to some compelling story aspects. In this timeline there are no dragon balls, thus making all the stakes a lot higher and all the consequences instantly more dire.

The tone of this special is decidedly darker than the series. The special begins with Goku and most of the Z- Fighters dying. The androids then spend most of their time going on a killing rampage, destroying cities, causing havoc and doing whatever they want.

The problem with most of the DBZ movies are their bland villains being pale imitations of their series counterpart. The villains in this one are fun, charismatic and at times scary. It is a simple concept done to a high degree. What if teenagers got a crazy amount of power, and no sense of responsibility? They would go to amusement parks, fly around cities, and kill anyone that got in their way.

The fights in this are more bloody, visceral and brutal than most of Dragon Ball. There is some great character work for Trunks and Gohan. And the special does a good job of giving a sense of fear and hopelessness for our protagonists.

History of Trunks will go down in history as one of Dragon Balls very best.

A deep and very special DBZ movie

[pedrosaviopm · 10/10 · 28 January 2016]

You know that a DragonBall movie is special when you watch it and you immediately make associations with the anime series itself, and such a thing happens only twice, the first time is Bardock, and the second, is this one. Here we know what happened on the future of the most amazing and deep DB character, the son of Bulma and Vegeta, Trunks. He is trained by Gohan who already has turned in a Super Saiyan. The story begins with Goku dying because of a terrible heart virus. A few months later the androids brothers #17 and #18 kill all Z fighters, except for Gohan and Trunks (i won't say Master Roshi is a Z fighter, he survived, even though they didn't show if he fought the androids, probably has not). The history shows why Trunks has such a different personality compared to the other saiyans. The future has molded his personality, all the suffering, friends dying made him a furious and efficient fighter, and he rarely shows pride on the DragonBall series. Great movie, and a must see for any DBZ fan.

A great OVA to explain Future Trunks

[DishMovies · 8/10 · 14 March 2022]

The ova while nothing crazy but helped explain who future trunks was. I enjoyed seeing how characters like Gohan and Bulma would have reacted in this situation. The ova helps create future trunks into a well though-out and likable character. I enjoyed the animation while it was nothing spectacular, for a 1993 episode it still holds up quite well. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys dragon ball or even if you have only seen some. This definitely a good Ova that explains everything 40 minutes. Also Future Gohan is the coolest mf there is. 7.5/10.

My introduction to Dragon Ball

[Rectangular_businessman · 7/10 · 21 May 2022]

This was actually the first piece of Dragon Ball media I ever watched in my life: Even before the first series started airing in my country, some video stores already had some Dragon Ball Z movies. My parents rented this for me, probably believing it was a stand-alone film: So when I watched it, I obviously didn't understand anything of what was shown here, since I had zero familiarity with the story or the characters, though I liked a lot the art style and the action scenes back then.

Some years later, when I finally had the chance to rewatch the Future Trunks movie, I was surprised of how bleak it was in comparison with the main Dragon Ball series even at its darkest moments, almost with no humor and with the heroes figthing a hopeless battle against two sadistic, totally unstopabble villains. And both heroes ultimately lose the battle, with one of them dying . Definatey not your typical Dragon Ball Z adventure.

Fortunately, the end of the Cell saga gave Future Trunks the happy ending he deserved...Which was completely undone by the dreadful Goku arc from that Dragon Ball Super series. Such a dirty shame.

Dragon Ball z: The History of Trunks

[Ernestas_Tyminas · 5/10 · 5 August 2013]

The Story line seems a bit Stupid. Why does gohan not just find the dragon balls and bring back the other fighters. another thing, Where does trunks get the sword from. In the original timeline he gets it after they all defeat an alien and Tapion gives it to him, But in this one everyone dies before even Cell so how would he get the sword which came at the end of dragon ball z? the plot is kid of dumb too, not like the original dragon ball. Gohan has one one arm? lol that was funny, just get some more magic beans they didn't say anything about them being destroyed, and in the original dragon ball even though goku died he still came back to help why cant he come back now? and he died from a flu? really the greatest warrior in the galaxy and he dies from the flu? wow. i thought it was kinda stupid. anyways i don't know why people think this one is so good they clearly haven't watched all the dragon ball moves and TV series.

U.S. release: Dragonball Z: The History of Trunks

[Robert S. · 13 November 2000]

Well, I have to say that I was impressed by FUNimation's translation of the Trunks Special. The VAs performed quite well, and the script was fairly decent.

The dubbed special features a variety of musical acts, although the most disappointing music, by far, was the title sequence by Andy Baylor. The obnoxious techno track did not match the opening animation at all, and actually had me longing for "Rock the Dragon".

I would recommend waiting for the bilingual DVD to come out, so that you may enjoy the special in its "true" form, but if you can't wait, then the VHS version of "The History of Trunks" should keep you happy for now.