Dragon Ball Z Movie 05: Tobikkiri no Saikyou tai Saikyou

So, Dragonball Z has always been something that everyone has loved whether you're an anime fan or not. But, do the movies hold up as well as the TV Show did? I recently watched Dragonball Z-Cooler's Revenge, and thought why not write a review on it. Basically the movie is short and simplistic (which kind of disappointed me a lot). Story- (7/10) As I said before, the story is simplistic. To tell the truth, there are not even 10 characters in this movie. And the main character, which we all know is Goku, is hurt half the movie. So, yeah, that was kind of disappointing. Art- (7/10)Dragonball Z art is nothing really special (but today the art is really good). This movie was made back in the early 90s, so the art doesn't hold up as well. But, if you are a true Dragonball Z fan, you'll enjoy this movie. Sound- (8/10) The sound for this movie was very good. I'm still wondering why they use heavy rock for the U.S. version of this movie. To me, it sounds better than the Japanese 2.0 mono. But if you don't like the 2.0 mono, there is also a Japanese 5.1 stereo and also English 5.1 stereo. (I know these are the tracks on the DVD's, not sure about the Blu-Ray's though) Character- (8/10) It's Dragonball Z. C'mon. They're all the same characters we know and love. But there is one character that did an amazing job. And that is Cooler. Andrew Chandler (who is Cooler), does an amazing job playing this role. I'm surprised he isn't in more anime, or voice over casts for that matter. Dude did an amazing job. Enjoyment- (8/10) Truth be told, being a Dragonball Z fan, I love anything from the franchise. But, if I have to look at this from a serious perspective, it's not all that great. Overall- (7/10) Bottomline, this movie is good. Not great, but just good. If you like Dragonball Z, go watch this movie. Even buy it on DVD. It's like 4 bucks for the original release. Even if you don't like DBZ, this is a good movie to watch.

Dragonball Z is truly an amazing anime series. It survived for an unreal amount of time recycling the same stories over and over. It can never be accused of innovation, which brings us to the fifth movie in the copy and paste line up, Cooler's Revenge. This is not a movie that I could recommend to someone new to the franchise at all. This is definitely either for fans or those who are familiar with the main story. Before coming into this series, it would be a great idea to see the series up until the Frieza Saga for some type of clue; but thecrazy thing is, this story doesn't exactly fall into continuity. I've noticed fans mention that this story could have taken place between the Trunks Saga and the Androids Saga, however, I don't exactly buy into that. The plot follows Goku's son Gohan, as he attempts to save Goku's life by recovering the Senszu beans. Goku was viciously injured by one of Cooler's attacks, and is now kept hidden by Krillin from Cooler's forces whom are demolishing the forest in their search for all of them. The production values deserves some credit. Visually, it's pretty good with some very nice backgrounds; the waterfalls look nice, and the night time setting has some gorgeous moments. There's also some decent moments here and there with the action, which consist of a decent amount of hand to hand and high energy attacks. However, it's Funimation's soundtrack that really stands out in the style department. The BGM consists of high tempo rock songs by Drowning Pool, Deftones, Breaking Point, and a few others. The music simply rocks covering up the bigger weaknesses. Dragonball Z is something that is mainly action-driven, but I kind of found the action to be sort of lacking a little. The best scenes took place during the middle portion when Piccolo was battling Cooler's men. After that, the final battle scene just took a dive. The plot really isn't well paced, and it spins its wheels at times. In addition, you're not going to get much character development, and the villains are all cookie cutter to the extreme with no depth whatsoever. I would probably have enjoyed this more if the ending had not felt like one big jip. It felt way too gimmicky and terribly tacked on, which is something that becomes a trend in the later movies. Cooler's Revenge actually goes by quicker than its run time states. This is mainly due to the sound track which seriously rules, and makes this movie extremely easy to get through. I do not recommend this to anyone besides diehard DBZ fans though. To my experience, they're the only ones who truly love it. Highs: Soundtrack and production values Lows: Weak first and final acts, stock bad guys

This is one of my top ten dragonball z movies. this one was great, it had a great plot and cooler is definitely one of my favorite dragon ball z villians of all time, even though he is not officially a canon character. I just remember how excited I was as a kid finding out that frieza had an older brother, which made me very excited about the movie when it came on cartoon network. I am still to this day very impressed with the movies english soundtrack and great fight scenes. This was definitely the best of the first five movies.

Like many Dragon Ball Films, Dragon Ball Z Movie 5 Cooler's Revenge is hard to put into the main story timeline and should be seen as an alternative story where Goku beat Frieza and safely came back with everyone to earth. The movie is about Frieza's older brother who came to earth to restore the honour of the family by killing Goku. It's a very action packed story with the secondary cast being very active and nobody feels like they exist just because like Goten in the Boo Saga. Despite the short length, the movie really takes full advantage of each second to give usenough time to get to know the characters and their personality. Cooler's henchmen are the equivalent of the Ginyu Force and have some very entertaining interactions with each other and the main cast. They have unique manners and techniques from each others which is why they are more memorable compared your average Dragon Ball henchmen. They show individuality unlike other's that are either reactive or do things as ordered. The final confrontation against Cooler is set up well too since Goku lost the first encounter and needed to recover until about half of the movie runtime. Cooler is one of the most interesting antagonist and with his personality being superior to Frieza. While Frieza's selling point was his sheer existence nobody can defy, not even gods, Cooler has the family integrity in mind. In the past, he noticed Frieza letting a Saiyan escape refusing to take care of it himself and predicting that this mistake will be Frieza's downfall. He is known to analyse the situation showing he is more than just powerful. He noticed that Goku was able to survive his first confrontation and acknowledges the Saiyan's strength being capable to kill his brother. Cooler also shows assisting his henchmen on various occasion instead of letting them do something and die because they were too weak. And Cooler is one of few characters you can argue deserved the power he has because he is related to Frieza while Frieza was just an overpowered villain pulled out Toriyama's ass without any build up. Something Toriyama and Toei are known for normally. Cooler's defeat was also one of the best defeats in the franchise to the point it was replicated many times but non worked as well as in this movie. The poetic irony that he acknowledges a fatal mistake he made as his final moment and not having the right to criticize Frieza for his mistakes. It is the first DBZ movie that features the real Super Saiyan and probably has the best use of it. As it appears as a mystical form that appears in times of despair. Not feeling like just another power up that increases your power by 50 times or something. It became a state that overcomes any hardship presented to it. Unlike what it honestly doing right now. Criticism that no longer hold ups. This is something I want to mention. And it is about transforming villains. Frieza's first to third form are means to restrict his powers and destructive capabilities. So 4th form Frieza and final form is Frieza's true form. While Cooler was always in his "true form" that should be his final form, but he has a transformation that exist to increase his power. Back in the day it seemed like the writers had no idea how Frieza's forms work and brought confusion to the fanbase. But with the awful Revival of F movie this criticism no longer hold up since Frieza can now also transform like a Super Saiyan to get stronger instead of restraining himself. Actual criticism. That is the strength of Cooler compared to Frieza. It may be a dub error but many are confused who truly is stronger between Cooler and Frieza, even King Cold. As Dragon Ball Multiverse would show if you read that by any chance (not recommended tho). So many believed Cooler to be stronger in the past, while now everyone believes Frieza was always stronger (excluding the awful Revival of F movie). There is also a question regarding believability regarding Cooler's henchmens power since they seemed stronger than First Form Frieza. But that can be argued around with Cooler perhaps training them. If you haven't seen this movie and believe you are a big Dragon Ball fan, you should check it out. You won't be disappointed.

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