GamerNode: Columns - Dragonball Evolution Blu-Ray Review

Dragonball Evolution Blu-Ray Review

The Movie

Like many, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z served to not only entertain me as a child, but also introduce me to the world of anime and martial arts. Goku, Piccolo, Roshi, and the rest of the crew were on the TV in our living room at least two days a week, and my friends and I would engorge ourselves on any and all things DB -- from official toys to unofficial translated ROMs of GameBoy and NES games that had little to do with the actual shows we had watched.

So when Dragonball Evolution was announced as a live action movie, and when the casting began to be revealed, to say I was worried would be an understatement. I had seen so many other classic shows and series ruined by modern movie remakes... But DBZ!? "Wait until it comes out," everyone would say. "Maybe it will be decent!"

Well, in a way, they were right.

If you watch the film expecting a remake of DBZ, or even a retelling of that story, you're going to be horribly disappointed. For some of you, that's going to result in lengthy posts on IMDB about how this differs from the original cartoon. If you watch this and pretend it's a standalone thing not connected to the shows, though, it's actually pretty campy fun. Fantastic? By no means. Entertaining? Absolutely.

Yes, the story is full of plotholes and the acting makes SyFy movies look like big-budget Oscar nominees. But, like GI Joe and many, many other movies before it, Dragonball Evolution is not a movie to watch when you want something to think about; it's the movie you put on in the background while you do things, or watch with a large group of friends.

As a film, Dragonball Evolution is awful. The pacing is odd, it's riddled with cliches, and it's pretty obvious that the director didn't quite understand what some of the finished special effects shots were going to look like judging by some of the angles. But as entertaining, Dragonball Evolution isn't bad. Watch it with a big group of friends, make fun of it as you notice the godawful elements, and enjoy the moments of fast-paced action and cheesy special effects.

If you're a lover of classic cinema, ignore this movie. But if you're a lover of "so bad they're awesome" films like Plan 9, Manos, and The Room, then Dragonball Evolution is definitely one to check out.

The Disc

Audio and Video

Like the movie itself, the visuals in Dragonball Evolution are a very mixed bag. On one hand, the AVC MPEG-4 encode (1080p, 2.40:1 OAR) looks great when it comes details like clothing, sand, pepples, broken glass, and other small, intricate items. Skin colors also look great -- starting out. About halfway through, it seems like the hue of skin will shift slightly from time to time. It's a subtle shift, but if look closely or jump a few chapters ahead after the first two, you'll probably notice it.

Blacks are also fairly bright, which gives the entire film a warmer, brighter looking appearance, even in its darkest moments. The green screen special effects shots also vary wildly, with some looking fantastic, and near demo quality -- and others looking like they're from a Shaw Bros. film.

Overall, however, the video in Dragonball Evolution is well above average, proving that at least part of the movie was well made.

The audio, however, steals the show. (Not hard to do when it's really only competing against the video...). Evolution sports a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, and it sounds great from beginning to end.

Bass is just booming enough to make you feel it, but not so much that action scenes drown out the speech. (Although, that may have been a good idea...) Music is strong, and the surround sound placement makes perfect sense for the action on-screen.

In terms of the A/V, Dragonball Evolution is a great release. It's just too bad that the movie they gave the technical team to work with happened to be this one...

Extras

As expected, the extras here are bare minimum, and not really creative at all. There are the required deleted scenes, blooper reel, and behind-the-scenes look at the making of Evolution. The lengthiest extra is a 25 minute interview with star Justin Chatwin (Goku), talking about his career, playing Goku, and everything you'd expect someone promoting a movie to talk about.

There's only one real Blu-ray exclusive, and that's an extra called "Goku's Quest," which you need to unlock by pushing a button on your remote each time a dragonball shows up in the film. It's annoying to watch the movie holding a remote, and the pay-off isn't worth it at all. The Blu-ray also comes with a digital copy of the movie, in case you want to play a prank on your film school friend by loading this onto his Macbook while he's busy sipping tea at a coffee shop.

Verdict

As a remake of Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball Evolution falls flat in every regard. As a "film," Dragonball Evolution falls flat in every regard. But as mindless entertainment, and a movie that any fan of MST3K would enjoy, it's perfect. Watch it with a big group of friends, have some drinks, and make fun of it. And if you do watch it, the Blu-ray version is the one to go with, as the video and audio are far superior to the DVD. Hell, it's so good that it almost makes the movie look better simply by association.

Movie Score: 1.5 / 5
Disc Score: 4.5 / 5
Overall Score: 2.5 / 5

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