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Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming Blu-ray offers decent video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
No synopsis for Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming.
For more about Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming and the Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming Blu-ray release, see Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming Blu-ray Review published by Dustin Somner on February 28, 2009 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.
Dragon Ball Z: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan / Broly Second Coming Blu-ray Review
The first two films in the Broly trilogy blast their way onto Blu-ray in this 2007 release.
Yet again, I find myself sitting down to watch another Dragon Ball Z double feature. Though I can't say I was jumping at the chance to watch more Dragon Ball Z (I just reviewed Bojack Unbound and Super Android 13 last week), there are plenty of worse ways to spend an evening. Most anime enthusiasts either love or despise the world of these spikey-haired combatants, but I fall into the minority that feels somewhat ambivalent toward it. The characters are likeable and the action is sufficiently over the top, yet I can never get beyond the lack of a decent plot, and find both the films and the television show to be overly repetitive. If you can get past the shortcomings, there is still a certain charm to Dragon Ball Z, but you have to be willing to leave your brain at the door.
"Like father, like sons"
The first film on the disc is Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan. Originally released to Japanese theaters in 1993, and running just over 70 minutes in length (this is the uncut version), the film tells the tale of Broly, a Super Saiyan with immense power. Broly's father Paragas is fearful of his son's power, and places a mind control device on Broly to prevent him from harming himself or others. He then approaches Vegeta about fighting the "Legendary Super Saiyan" in exchange for naming a planet after him. Never one to pass up glory, Vegeta follows Paragas in search of the mysterious Super Saiyan, accompanied by Trunks, Krillin and Gohan. Having also heard of the reckless exploits of this Super Saiyan, Goku tracks the warrior to Paragas' home planet and encounters Broly. As we soon learn, Broly has a grudge against Goku from back when they were born (they were both born on the same day). Soon Paragas loses control over his son's mind, and Broly goes on a murderous rampage. It will take the cooperative effort of the Dragon Ball Z team to beat Broly, and end his reign of terror.
The second film on the disc is Broly: Second Coming. Released one year after the first Broly film, Second Coming is also presented in an uncut format and runs just over 50 minutes in length. The film is set after Goku's death, and initially focuses on Goten (Goku's son), a young Trunks, and Videl (Mr. Satan's daughter). These three are out one day in search of the 7 dragon balls, when they happen upon a village that has been tormented by a dragon of some sort. Vowing to rescue the village, the three heroes set a trap and easily defeat the monster. The following morning, a recently thawed Broly (he was frozen in a lake following his initial defeat by Goku) descends upon the village and attacks Videl, Trunks and Goten. During the course of Broly's onslaught, Goten and Trunks discover the 7th dragon ball, and Gohan (Goten's brother) comes to protect his brother and friends. Will Goten and Trunks be able to summon the great dragon to defeat Broly, or will Broly destroy the sons of Goku?
I'm a little surprised with the popularity of Broly, and the creation of two sequels based on the character. Although he isn't a disappointing villain, I found the backstory pretty weak. The idea that Goku crying as a baby somehow created this everlasting hatred in Broly just seemed comical and ridiculous. The drawn out fight sequences in Dragon Ball Z would be so much more exciting if the plot were based on more compelling backstories to explain the actions of the villains. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't have such high expectations from films that are 90% fighting. One other problem worth mentioning is the length of the first film. 70 minutes is a long time to sit through a feature that is nearly devoid of plotlines (especially considering the typical length of most other Dragon Ball Z titles average around 45-50 minutes). When you catch yourself checking the progress of the runtime counter several times during a film, you know something is wrong.
The second film has much better pacing, with a story that is basically split in two. The first half centers on the village encounter, and the attack on the dragon, while the second half focuses on the fight with Broly. If I had one problem with the film it would be the brutal violence against Videl, Goten, and Trunks. It is one thing to watch grown men (or aliens) fighting, and something entirely different to watch an extended sequence where two kids and a young woman are repeatedly pummelled. I understand this is outrageous animated action, and not meant to be taken seriously, but I felt the lack of an adult protector through the majority of the Broly fight was in poor taste.
As mentioned in my prior review, the quality of the animation is far from stellar, but is still leaps and bounds above what you would see in a typical "Dragon Ball Z" television episode. Static animation is mostly absent, and motion is displayed using actual backgrounds rather than the color backgrounds used in early animation to imply fast movement. Character movement is handled nicely, with every kick and punch appearing natural despite the pumped up speed (one of the high points of the television series as well).
Dragon Ball Z blasts onto Blu-ray with a 1080P transfer utilizing the AVC codec. Given the quality of the source material, I think this is the best we are going to get short of an extensive restoration. Grain is apparent throughout both features, but I never found it distracting. Colors are somewhat muted, and banding was completely absent (there really aren't many color transitions that could result in banding). Black levels were reasonably deep, contrast was merely decent, and I never noticed any line wavering or stair-stepping. One source flaw that has been apparent in every Dragon Ball Z title I've reviewed thus far, is the presence of occasional burn marks in the right corner of the screen. Given the restoration work that Funimation boasts in the enclosed booklet, I'm surprised they didn't take the time to clean up those major flaws. Ultimately, fans of the films will be pleased with the increased resolution of this presentation, but all others should be aware that the source material is not ideal for making the transition to 1080P.
There are three audio tracks included for each film. The primary track is a DTS-HD HR (high resolution) 5.1 English track, that includes the re-edited music track along with the dub. The second track is presented in DTS 2.0 English, and includes the same English dub and music track. The final track is the original Japanese language (and music) track, presented in DTS 2.0. I typically enjoy listening to the native language track on releases such as these, but in this case, I can safely say I prefer the English 5.1 version. The high resolution audio mix was sufficiently robust, with nice channel separation, and decent (though not exceptional) use of your subwoofer. Energy blasts and other sound effects demonstrated dynamic movement across the soundfield, which helped draw me in during the many fight scenes. Although the track has a nice balance of dialogue, rock music, and sound effects, it still sounded a little dated, with a level of brightness that would not be present in most modern film mixes. This is likely apparent in the source, and is only worth mentioning because it does play a part in my audio score.
I didn't sample the other two mixes as extensively as the high resolution surround mix, but I did listen long enough to arrive at a couple conclusions. The 2-channel DTS English mix is louder than the 5.1 mix, but offers almost zero separation in the sound field. The 2-channel DTS Japanese mix is campy, and reminded me of watching an old Saturday morning cartoon (such as "Mighty Mouse"). Watching the film with this track will likely lead you to think this was made back in the early 80's rather than mid-90's. I'm glad the original native track was included, but it doesn't sound very good in comparison to either English track.
There is one English subtitle track that can be paired with the Japanese language audio track. In an odd move, the subtitles are thick and blocky, as opposed to the finer subtitles on more recent Dragon Ball Z releases. They are still easy to read, but simply look a little odd compared to what we are used to.
There are two extras on this disc (both in 1080P with 2 channel audio). The first is a brief (3 minute) advertisement for the restoration process, and doesn't offer much information. The second feature is also a brief (2 minute) advertisement, focusing on the 2007 release of the Dragon Ball Z television show in DVD box sets.
At most, I'd recommend this release as a rental. Die-hard Dragon Ball Z fans will probably want to wait for the upcoming Funimation release of all three Broly films (adding the Bio-Broly film to the two films included on this disc). If your not a fan of Dragon Ball Z, you probably won't be able to truly appreciate the restoration of these films, and you run the risk of falling into the camp of people that despise Dragon Ball Z. Bottom line, if your looking for a constant barrage of animated action, with zero substance, then look no further and go rent this disc.
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