| Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug | |||||
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 Japanese box art | |||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kana | ドラゴンボールZ超サイヤ人だ孫悟空 | ||||
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| Directed by | Mitsuo Hashimoto | ||||
| Written by | Takao Koyama | ||||
| Screenplay by | Takao Koyama | ||||
| Based on | Dragon Ball byAkira Toriyama | ||||
| Starring | Seebelow | ||||
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Shin'ichi Fukumitsu | ||||
| Music by | Shunsuke Kikuchi | ||||
Production company | |||||
| Distributed by | Toei Company | ||||
Release date |
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Running time | 52 minutes | ||||
| Country | Japan | ||||
| Language | Japanese | ||||
| Box office | ¥2.21 billion ($16.4 million) | ||||
Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug[a] is a 1991 Japaneseanimatedscience fictionmartial arts film and the fourthDragon Ball Z feature film. It was originally released inJapan on March 9 between episodes 81 and 82 at the Toei Anime Fair as part of a double feature with the firstMagical Taruruto-kun film. It was preceded byDragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might and followed byDragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge.
Gohan visitsPiccolo and shows him a new tune he has learned towhistle. Due to his advanced Namekian hearing, this causes Piccolo pain; he angrily orders Gohan to stop when they both sense an approaching threat from outer space.Bulma and her father discover that ameteor harboring lifeforms is heading toward the Earth and will destroy the planet upon impact. Amidst mass panic,Goku andKrillin rush to intercept the meteor and hope to push it away by blasting it withki, but they are both rendered unconscious by the force of the meteor, and it seemingly explodes in orbit. A spaceship then lands in one of Earth's cities.
An army ofhumanoid alien soldiers exits the ship and declares the Earth under the rule of their leader, Lord Slug. The soldiers attack a group of civilians, but Gohan arrives to defend them. Lord Slug observes that Gohan has amagical Dragon Ball sewn onto his hat, which he loses during the scuffle. After hishenchmen render Gohan unconscious and reveal the plan toconvert the planet into a biological spaceship, Slug appears and usestelepathy to read Bulma's mind; he learns about her radar used for tracking the Dragon Balls. Slug's men successfully gather the Dragon Balls and summon the eternal dragonShenron, who grants Slugeternal youth. Meanwhile, life on Earth begins to perish.
Goku and Krillin are revived byYajirobe. Gohan, meanwhile, resumes his assault against Slug's army; he is nearly killed but is rescued by Piccolo. Piccolo kills the henchman Wings, while Gohan is overwhelmed by Medamatcha. Piccolo is injured when he jumps before a ki blast intended to kill Gohan. Goku and Krillin arrive, and Goku quickly kills Medamatcha and Angila. Slug appears and is attacked by Krillin, who is quickly defeated. Goku fights Slug but is overwhelmed; in a moment of rage, Goku seemingly turns into a Super Saiyan.
During the battle, Slug reveals his Namekian heritage. Through telepathy,King Kai warns Goku that Slug is a "Super Namekian", a bloodline of violent warriors obsessed with power. Slug assumes a giant form and crushes Goku between his massive hands. Piccolo intervenes to rescue Goku, and before he is crushed, he tears off his ears and calls out for Gohan to start whistling. The whistling deafens and weakens Slug, allowing Piccolo to transfer his remaining ki to Goku, who powers up and manages to fly straight through Slug's abdomen and incapacitates him. Goku ascends into the sky and prepares a Spirit Bomb. Goku launches the ki bomb at Slug, which sends him hurtling into his machines, killing him and saving the planet.
The following songs appeared in Funimation's in-house English adaptation ofLord Slug.[2]
Bruce Faulconer produced an alternate opening theme for this version (which would be replaced in the 2008 remastered version with another original track composed by Mark Menza) and the remaining pieces of background music were composed by Faulconer and Evan Jones. The Double Feature release contains an alternate audio track containing the English dub with original Japanese background music byShunsuke Kikuchi, an opening theme of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La", and an ending theme of "There's a Genki-Dama in Bad Things!!".
At the Japanese box office, the film sold3.6 million tickets[3] and grossed¥2.21 billion[4] ($16.4 million).[5]
It was released onVHS in North America on August 7, 2001, and onDVD on September 4, 2001. It was later released in Double Feature set along withThe Tree of Might (1990) forBlu-ray and DVD on September 16, 2008, both feature full1080p format inHDremastered16:9 aspect ratio and an enhanced5.1 surround mix. The film was re-released to DVD in remastered thinpak collection on November 1, 2011, containing the first 5Dragon Ball Z films.[6]
A third English version produced and released exclusively in Malaysia by Speedy Video, features an unknown voice cast.
Other English dubs were also made by French companyAB Groupe. This company done for European markets which was released under the titleSuper Saiya Son Goku, and another one for aMalaysianVCD release by Speedy Video which had the titleSuper Saiya People, Goku. While the Malaysian dub's cast remains unknown, the AB Groupe dub was revealed to have been recorded by English-speaking actors based in France who have also done voices for animated television series such asCode Lyoko andChris Colorado.[1]
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