Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, also known by its Japanese title Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Son Goku (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 film. 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 film.

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
Japanese box art
Japanese name
KanaドラゴンボールZ (スーパー)サイヤ人だ孫悟空
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnDoragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū
Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
Written byTakao Koyama
Screenplay byTakao Koyama
Based onDragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
StarringSee below
CinematographyMasaru Sakanishi
Motoi Takahashi
Edited byShin'ichi Fukumitsu
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
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 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 civilians but Gohan arrives to defend them. From the ship, 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; in a moment of rage, Goku is seemingly able to access a portion of the Super Saiyan form.

Goku pummels Slug and breaks his arm. Before Goku's eyes, Slug rips his arm off and regrows it, and removes his helmet, revealing that he is actually a Namekian. Through telepathy, King Kai warns Goku that Slug is a Super Namekian, a bloodline of violent warriors obsessed with power who were banished from their home world. Slug assumes a 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 English
Funimation (2001) Chinkel Post-Production/AB Groupe (c.2001)[1]
Goku Masako NozawaSeán SchemmelDavid Gasman
Gohan Stephanie NadolnyJodi Forrest
Piccolo Toshio Furukawa Christopher Sabat Big Green
Paul Bandey
Krillin Mayumi Tanaka Sonny Strait Clearin
Sharon Mann
Slug (スラッグ, Suraggu) Kenji Utsumi (old)
Yusaku Yara (young)
Brice Armstrong Slag
Ed Marcus
Commander Zeeun (ゼエウン, Zeeun) Kōji Totani Bradford Jackson Paul Bandey
Angira (アンギラ) Keiichi Nanba Angila
John Burgmeier
Dorodabo (ドロダボ) Daisuke Gōri Wings David Gasman
Chris Rager
Medamatcha (メダマッチャ, Medamaccha) Yukitoshi Hori Kent WilliamsDoug Rand
Gyoshu (ギョーシュ, Gyōshu) Shigeru Chiba Sonny Strait
Kakuja (カクージャ, Kakūja) Shōzō Iizuka Christopher Sabat
Foot Soldiers Shinobu Satouchi
Hikaru Midorikawa
Michio Nakao
Kyle Hebert
Brian Thomas
Bradford Jackson
Mike McFarland
Chuck Huber
Monika Antonelli
David Gasman
Ed Marcus
Paul Bandey
Doug Rand
Bulma Hiromi Tsuru Tiffany Vollmer Bloomer
Sharon Mann
Shenron Kenji Utsumi Shenron Sacred Dragon
Christopher SabatEd Marcus
Dr. Brief Jōji Yanami Dr. Briefs Paul Bandey
Chris Forbis
Chi-Chi Naoko WatanabeCynthia CranzSharon Mann
Kaiō Jōji Yanami King Kai Paul Bandey
Seán Schemmel
Oolong Naoki Tatsuta Bradford JacksonDavid Gasman
Yajirobe Mayumi Tanaka Mike McFarland Ed Marcus
Kame-Sennin Kōhei Miyauchi Master Roshi
Mike McFarland
Narrator Jōji Yanami Kyle Hebert

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, an opening theme of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La", and an ending theme of "There's a Genki-Dama in Bad Things!!".

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 VHS in North America on August 7, 2001, and on DVD on September 4, 2001. It was later released in Double Feature set along with The Tree of Might (1990) for Blu-ray and DVD on September 16, 2008, both feature full 1080p format in HD remastered 16:9 aspect ratio and an enhanced 5.1 surround mix. The film was re-released to DVD in remastered thinpak collection on November 1, 2011, containing the first 5 Dragon Ball Z films.[6]

Reception

Other companies

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

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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