Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy (1997) Review:

When it comes to the original Dragon Ball trilogy of series, Dragon Ball is considered the original and legendary initiation that started the whole franchise. Dragon Ball Z is where a lot of youngsters were introduced to the show even though that wasn’t the beginning. However, it is also where many who started with the initial show saw the characters grow into new roles while stakes were raised quite significantly. Then came along Dragon Ball GT which many consider to be the black sheep or outsider of the three sets of shows. Like usual, this is normally the case for many trilogy franchises. The last normally just isn’t as good or the worst of the three. And while many of the film entries that popped up in between the TV episodes weren’t that great either except for a few, there was only this special which took place in this particular setting.

Taking place after the second season of GT where the story follows Goku Jr. (Stephanie Nadolny) the son of Pan (Elise Baughman). Hoping to make him strong like her grandfather Goku (Sean Schemmel), Pan puts her son through many rigorous trainings with no real progress. That is until Pan falls ill and Goku Jr. sets out to find his great grandfather’s four-star Dragon Ball. While on his travels he meets Puck (Adrian Cook) who helps him out. The original screenplay was written by Takao Koyama who had penned many other specials prior to this from okay to not so good. Adapting the screenplay for American audiences went to Neil Bligh who worked on roughly the same set of entries Koyama worked on. The one thing however is that Osamu Kasai as director had only worked on the shows but never a film entry.

What makes this story different from all the others is that the structure goes back to the basics of Dragon Ball which is what hooked so many people in to begin with. Dragon Ball was originally never about power levels and transformations. It was all about the sense of adventure as well as martial arts. While the latter is more of what this story involves and not so much martial arts, it really does bring the viewer back to the show’s roots. Where the search of something mystical was the priority and seeing that journey to the end was the payoff. The only thing that feels a bit jarring is the sudden change in character roster. Going from a show with multiple characters to a film focusing on all of three individuals can feel like the story is missing something.

And while this worked for the start of Dragon Ball, it makes sense being that Goku at the start of his adventure literally had no one. Goku Jr. apparently has the same thing…which sort of comes full circle but again feels empty. Other than Pan, Puck is not that much of an interesting character. And Pan which fans found a liking to in other ways isn’t featured for too long. The acting is good nonetheless. Stephanie Nadolny is back as playing a young warrior. And although she has played kid Goku, kid/teen Gohan and now Goku Jr., she is able to make Goku Jr. sound like his own person. Elise Baughman returning as Pan is also good to hear. She always had a way with her character and having her return is significant. Adrian Cook as Puck is also good but again the character is forgettable.

This is also Cook’s only role in the entire list of the Dragon Ball franchise anything. The animation to this feature is decent although not as polished as a lot of the entries that came before it. Instead it feels more like an extended episode to the end of GT’s season two. Still it looks good and has the classic anime look. Thankfully, no cinematography is credited here. As for music, to some viewers’ surprise – the musical score is once again composed by someone native to the anime. That composer is Akihito Tokunaga, the same person for composing music to The Path to Power (1996) and the GT show. This is all much better than having some random rock music or some over synthesized replacement score taking the spot of the music that actually belongs to the feature.

Even though the story has very little characters this time and one of the main supporting characters isn’t that interesting, the narrative structurally is much more appealing. Harkening back to the first season of Dragon Ball, this special focuses on what made with show interesting at the start. The animation and music only compliment it further.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Tarzan (1999) Review:

The concept of Tarzan has been one of those interesting cases where a story returns every so often for a retelling. This story despite not being the biggest franchise in history still racks up close to one hundred film entries dating all the way back to 1918 and most recently from 2017. However, the best or most widely remembered adaptation of the novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs goes to Disney at the end of the 20^th century. There's just something about how the film was marketed and produced that really struck something memorable about it with audiences. And again, when it comes to adaptations, there’s only so many ways one can tell a story over and over again without becoming overdone or repetitive, so there was much to consider how to make this particular piece standout from the rest.

The story is about two different families that merge, where a colony of gorillas led by Kerchak (Lance Henriksen) and Kala (Glenn Close) lose their newborn to the big cat Sabor. Meanwhile a stranded human baby is recovered by Kala later on and named Tarzan (Tony Goldwyn). Growing up isn’t easy for Tarzan as he isn’t like any of the other gorillas despite him behaving and carrying himself as one. That is until he crosses paths with explorers Jane (Minnie Driver) and her father Professor Porter (Nigel Hawthorne), headed by Clayton (Brian Blessed). This only intrigues Tarzan more but also splits him between who he really is vs where he belongs. The screenplay was penned by Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White all who worked on Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

The directors to this feature were Chris Buck and Kevin Lima who were fairly new at the time in these roles. Lima had his first work in A Goofy Movie (1995). Later on these two would helm other projects like Enchanted (2007) and Frozen (2013). What makes this story so entertaining to watch are a number of factors. For one, the voice acting is top notch from all thespians. Audiences will be immediately drawn into Kala and Kerchak’s dilemma of adopting Tarzan. Both Close and Henriksen really bring on the emotion to their situation. Henriksen has a fantastic gruff voice for Kerchak while close is tender enough for Kala. Henriksen is known for many live-action roles but this proves he’s great as a voice actor too. Close has worked many times with Disney before, so this would be very familiar for her.

Tony Goldwyn who got his debut in Friday the 13^th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) also proves he can do voice acting even though this seems to be his only credit for that sort of role. Sharing that chemistry is Minnie Driver as Jane. Driver brings the right amount of class and comedy to the role and makes her quite likeable when she’s on screen with Tarzan. Brian Blessed as Clayton clearly displays the kind of character he will be from the start but either way, it’s how Blessed speaks that makes it fun to watch. There’s also voice roles from Wayne Knight as Tantor the elephant and Rosie O’Donnell as Terk both of which who add supporting comedy. The story itself about belonging and being open to sharing one’s being with others not like the themselves is important too.

There really isn’t much that’s wrong with the story other than minor nonsensical points that no regular audience member would think about. Like, Tantor leaving his family behind or how Tarzan knows how to speak ape and English. The visuals are beautiful to look at though. The animation is a mix between 2D and blended computer generated backgrounds that make Tarzan’s world feel much more immersive than other Disney films. Finally, the music is most likely the strongest point here. Composing the musical score was Mark Mancina who composed a fair amount of instrumental music and has recurring themes as well. But what drives it home are the songs written by Phil Collins. Songs like “Two Worlds” or “You’ll Be in My Heart” can be real tear jerkers. It’s a great blend of songs and score that doesn’t sound dated even today.

Other than super tiny details that wouldn’t mean anything to an average viewer, this film is very entertaining thanks to its film cast, captivating animation, strong story and emotional music. 

Points Earned --> 8:10

Dragon Ball: Path to Power (1996) Review:

Once Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball Z franchise came to an end, so did the usual features that came out regularly as well. Starting in 1986, the two shows were a long running staple in Japanese culture by that point and quite popular to boot. However, seeing that it ended around the ten year anniversary mark in 1996, it seemed appropriate that maybe one more feature should get made. The difference here is, unlike the other features before it which many have gone back and forth about how they fit into the shows continuity, this feature would actually harken back to the days of the original Dragonball features. To honor that decades long run, this feature decides to completely start from the beginning. That means literally starting from scratch. And this completely makes sense. 

Since it is a feature film and not a TV episode, the plot is condensed. The orphan Goku (Stephanie Nadolny) is discovered by Bulma (Tiffany Vollmer) where he comes to understand the power behind the ever so sought Dragonballs. There they set off to find the others while coming across other well known characters like Yamcha (Chris Sabat), Oolong (Bradford Jackson), Master Roshi and Android #8 (Mike McFarland) to end up colliding with the infamous Red Ribbon Army who are also looking to collect all seven Dragonballs. Serving as a retelling, the plot points or highlights cover various parts of the show from season one to season five. The screenplay was written this time by Aya Matsui who had worked on episodes of Dragonball Z. Directing this feature goes to Shigeyasu Yamauchi who had also directed the last few Dragonball Z films.

For story reasons, the screenplay serves its purpose by evenly covering and omitting sections of the episodes but not keeping things familiar. There are certain things maybe that didn’t need to be included like maybe having Oolong involved or maybe including Krillin but these are very minor issues. It’s obvious this presentation is mainly to give its audience nostalgia and not go through every single little thing that happened for all those seasons.  There are sometimes where things feel a little rushed in terms of pacing but again this is what happens when a story that’s many seasons long is condensed into an hour long feature. This was the same for all the original Dragonball feature films. That doesn’t take away the quality of the overall product though.

The voice acting as usual is spot on here. Featuring all the original US dub voices that made the anime a classic in the states, there’s no one who sounds out of place here. Nadolny returns as kid Goku and performs with zero flaws. The same goes for Tiffany Volmer as Bulma, Mike McFarland for Master Roshi and Chris Sabat for Yamcha. There’s also voice appearances from Sonny Strait, Chris Rager and Kyle Hebert. Even Brice Armstrong as the original narrator to the show returns. The action is also very entertaining as well, and perhaps more than the previous Dragonball Z films. Mainly because it goes back to the concept of adventure and martial arts. Not so much who has the higher power level and transforms. Watching Goku use his power pole or Nimbus cloud is more fun than Super Saiyans always being used. 

Visually, cinematography is credited here for Masaru Sakanishi who also did the same for
Dragonball Z: Lord Slug (1991), but again, for what? To what purpose does cinematography serve for a 2D cell animated movie if there’s no dimension or layering to it? Other than that though the animation looks great and as a pseudo reboot it makes sense to change the color palette like having Bulma’s hair or Goku’s gear being a different color. Lastly, the musical score was surprisingly composed by Akihito Tokunaga. The surprise is not so much that Shunsuke Kikuchi wasn’t used here to compose but not using Nathan Johnson or any other outdated way of adding music to the film. At least here, Tokunaga’s score sounds very close in style to Kikuchi’s and it is a welcome sound.

Cinematography and very tiny details are what people might notice about this feature. Other than that, this is the best Dragonball film out of the four. Voice acting, animation and even the musical score is fun.

Points Earned --> 6:10