Xin qi long zhu (1991)

Directors:

Joe Chan
Leung Chung

Writer:

Akira Toriyama (character)

Release Date:

1991 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Fantasy | Action

Plot:

This live-action version of the popular Japanese animated series Dragon Ball. A villainous king known...

Plot Keywords:

Manga | Remake | Based On Comic

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Charles Chen Zi-Qiang	...	Son Goku (Monkey Boy)
Jeannie Tse	...	Bulma (Y-Tou)
Tung-Chuen Cheng	...	Yamcha
San Pan	...	Oolong
Zhong Yu Huang	...	Turtle Hermit Muten Roshi
Kam Tao	...	Son Gohan
Yi-Juan Li	...	Pansy (Jen Jen)
Ruan-Feng Su	...	Gourmeth (Horn King)
Long-Sheng Jiang	...	Vongo (Zebrata)
Eveline Oranje	...	Pasta (Maria)

Also Known As:

Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (International: English title)
Dragon Ball: Ultimate Edition (International: English title) (DVD title)
Dragonball: Ultimate Edition (International: English title) (DVD title)
New Dragon Ball: The Legend of Shenlong (Taiwan) (informal English alternative title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) (VHS/DVD rating) | Australia:PG

Company:

Filmswell International Ltd.

Trivia:

Y-Tou changes clothes at the start of almost every scene.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During one of the final shots, Lord Horn loses his power over the huge group of people. Everyone is supposed to fall, but there is a whole group of people still standing, looking quite confused.

Quotes:

Bulma: Hey, did you buy your license?

Movie Connections:

Version of "Dragon Ball Z: Doragon bôru zetto" (1989)

Just a few points to add

Mr. Brento wonders if this movie was produced by the same who produced the Dragonball Z TV series. Of course not.

This is a Hong Kong real action movie based on the first episodes of the Japanese original cartoon (which was also based on a comic book series). And I really don't know if it was produced under the license of the Dragonball creators...

However, the story of the monkey-boy with special powers is an ancient tale known all over Asia (in Japan, the name of the boy in the tale is Songoku; in China, it is Sunwukong; in Korea it is Sonogong; etc) and the story in Dragonball has much to do with that tale.

By the way, as I said, this movie is based on the first episodes of the Dragonball series (which was followed by Dragonball Z, although I think the US version had a different airing order). And all the scenes related to sexuality were also contained in the original cartoon series (without so much overacting and so much insistence on it!), but because of your comments I may suppose they were completely removed in the American dubbing.

Anyway, I agree with you about the overacting in the film and about how poor this adaptation of the original cartoon is. But maybe because of that nobody can forget it after watching it...