Being the second Dragon Ball movie I have ever seen before watching the show it self (I watched Super Android 13 before this), I watched this movie on DragonBallOnline and I thought I'd get the good old terrible Japanese dub with Goku sounding like a younger version of Kale from Dragon Ball Super. But, boy-oh-boy was I WRONG!
First off, the story. This movie takes place between after the Trunks Saga and before the Androids Saga, and it offers a unique approach to it's characters from both sides of the force of good and evil.
On the good side we have Goku, who after defeating Frieza on Namek, is taking his time off from training for the Android threat to camp with Gohan, Krillin, Oolong, and Icarus (the latter making his final movie appearance). On the bad side, we have my favorite Dragon Ball Z villain to ever grace the TV screen: Cooler.
While Goku and co. are camping, Cooler finds out from his Armored Squadron that Goku has destroyed Frieza on Planet Namek (They probably found this out during the Trunks Saga). Cooler therefore has two motives: to kill Goku, and to see the power he used to kill Frieza.
Eventually, both sides converge, and havoc ensues: Goku is burned by Cooler's Death Beam and slowly gets burned to death on the inside, Cooler's battle with Goku, the transformation sequences, everything! It makes for one of the best stories in Dragon Ball Z history.
Second off, the voice acting. Andrew Chandler voiced Cooler spot on, and even when Cooler was killed in the sun, Andrew Chandler was amazing. I also like how Sean Schemmel voiced Goku in this movie. It was like you could feel his pain when Goku was slowly dying. (Then again, Senzu Bean ex Machina.)
And finally (you know I had to save the best for last), the music! Featuring The Game by Disturbed during Base Goku vs. Base Cooler (Frieza's Final Form is Cooler's Base Form for some reason. XD), Change by Deftones during SSJ Goku vs. Final Form Cooler (just this song alone is why I ranked this movie so high!), and many others I could mention, this movie is still my favorite Dragon Ball Z movie to this day! Sure, the final battle was short, but it was at least memorable.
However, there's one more thing. Even though I think this movie is the best Dragon Ball Z film of all time (I mean, I rated it 10 stars), it kind of loses some points for me because of Cooler's Armored Squadron. Sure, they were better than the Ginyu Force (although Jeice was a beast), but they were all killed like Piccolo just like how all of the Ginyu Force was killed by Vegeta on Namek. Goku pretty much killed Salza during his power up before his fight with Cooler, so I don't know how the heck Salza survived just to be killed by Piccolo.
Nevertheless, this is my most favorite Dragon Ball Z film, Cooler still remains my #1 favorite Dragon Ball villain (make him canon, Akira Toriyama, you created him!) and I go back to this time and time again. If you want to watch all of the Dragon Ball Z movies in any order, start with this one and watch it in the Funimation dub. You WON'T be disappointed... and THAT'S a promise.
First off, the story. This movie takes place between after the Trunks Saga and before the Androids Saga, and it offers a unique approach to it's characters from both sides of the force of good and evil.
On the good side we have Goku, who after defeating Frieza on Namek, is taking his time off from training for the Android threat to camp with Gohan, Krillin, Oolong, and Icarus (the latter making his final movie appearance). On the bad side, we have my favorite Dragon Ball Z villain to ever grace the TV screen: Cooler.
While Goku and co. are camping, Cooler finds out from his Armored Squadron that Goku has destroyed Frieza on Planet Namek (They probably found this out during the Trunks Saga). Cooler therefore has two motives: to kill Goku, and to see the power he used to kill Frieza.
Eventually, both sides converge, and havoc ensues: Goku is burned by Cooler's Death Beam and slowly gets burned to death on the inside, Cooler's battle with Goku, the transformation sequences, everything! It makes for one of the best stories in Dragon Ball Z history.
Second off, the voice acting. Andrew Chandler voiced Cooler spot on, and even when Cooler was killed in the sun, Andrew Chandler was amazing. I also like how Sean Schemmel voiced Goku in this movie. It was like you could feel his pain when Goku was slowly dying. (Then again, Senzu Bean ex Machina.)
And finally (you know I had to save the best for last), the music! Featuring The Game by Disturbed during Base Goku vs. Base Cooler (Frieza's Final Form is Cooler's Base Form for some reason. XD), Change by Deftones during SSJ Goku vs. Final Form Cooler (just this song alone is why I ranked this movie so high!), and many others I could mention, this movie is still my favorite Dragon Ball Z movie to this day! Sure, the final battle was short, but it was at least memorable.
However, there's one more thing. Even though I think this movie is the best Dragon Ball Z film of all time (I mean, I rated it 10 stars), it kind of loses some points for me because of Cooler's Armored Squadron. Sure, they were better than the Ginyu Force (although Jeice was a beast), but they were all killed like Piccolo just like how all of the Ginyu Force was killed by Vegeta on Namek. Goku pretty much killed Salza during his power up before his fight with Cooler, so I don't know how the heck Salza survived just to be killed by Piccolo.
Nevertheless, this is my most favorite Dragon Ball Z film, Cooler still remains my #1 favorite Dragon Ball villain (make him canon, Akira Toriyama, you created him!) and I go back to this time and time again. If you want to watch all of the Dragon Ball Z movies in any order, start with this one and watch it in the Funimation dub. You WON'T be disappointed... and THAT'S a promise.