Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
Japanese box art
Japanese name
Kana	ドラゴンボールZ 超(スーパー)サイヤ人だ孫悟空
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū
Directed by	Mitsuo Hashimoto
Written by	Takao Koyama
Screenplay by	Takao Koyama
Based on	Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama
Starring	See below
Cinematography	Masaru Sakanishi Motoi Takahashi
Edited by	Shin'ichi Fukumitsu
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Production company	Toei Animation
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release date	March 9, 1991 (1991-03-09) (Japan)
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 Japanese animated science fiction martial arts film and the fourth Dragon Ball Z feature film. It was originally released in Japan on March 9 between episodes 81 and 82 at the Toei Anime Fair as part of a double feature with the first Magical Taruruto-kun film. It was preceded by Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might and followed by Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge.

Plot

Gohan visits Piccolo and shows him a new tune he has learned to whistle. Due to his advanced Namekian hearing, this causes Piccolo pain; he angrily orders Gohan to stop when they both sense an approaching threat incoming from outer space. Bulma and her father discover that a meteor harboring lifeforms is heading toward the Earth and will destroy the planet upon impact. Amidst mass panic, Goku and Krillin rush to intercept the meteor and hope to push it away by blasting it with Kamehameha waves, 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 of humanoid alien soldiers exit the ship and declare the Earth under the rule of their leader, Lord Slug. The soldiers attack a group of civilians but Gohan arrives to defend them. From the ship, Lord Slug observes that Gohan has a magical Dragon Ball sewn onto his hat which he loses during the scuffle. After his henchmen render Gohan unconscious and reveal the plan to convert the planet into a biological spaceship, Slug appears and uses telepathy 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 dragon Shenron who grants Slug eternal youth. Meanwhile, life on Earth begins to perish.

Goku and Krillin are revived by Yajirobe. 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 in front of an energy 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 dispatched. Goku fights Slug but is overwhelmed; in a moment of rage, Goku is seemingly able to access a portion of the Super Saiyan form.

Goku battles Slug and during the fight, 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 begins to crush Goku between his massive hands. Piccolo intervenes to rescue Goku and before he is also crushed, tears off his own ears and calls out for Gohan to start whistling. The whistling deafens and weakens Slug, allowing Piccolo to transfer his remaining energy to Goku who powers up and manages to fly straight through Slug's abdomen and incapacitates him. Goku then ascends into the sky and begins preparing a Spirit Bomb. Goku launches the energy bomb at Slug which sends him hurtling into his own machines, killing him and saving the planet.

Cast

Character name	Voice actor
	Japanese	English
		Funimation (2001)	Chinkel Post-Production/AB Groupe (c. 2001)[1]
Goku	Masako Nozawa	Sean Schemmel	David Gasman
Gohan		Stephanie Nadolny	Jodi Forrest
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Christopher Sabat	Big Green
			Paul Bandey
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka	Sonny Strait	Clearin
			Sharon Mann
Slug (スラッグ, Suraggu)	Kenji Utsumi (old) Yusaku Yara (young)	Brice Armstrong	Slag
			Ed Marcus
Commander Zeeun (ゼエウン, Zeeun)	Kōji Totani	Brad Jackson	Paul Bandey
Angira (アンギラ)	Keiichi Nanba	Angila
		John Burgmeier
Dorodabo (ドロダボ)	Daisuke Gōri	Wings	David Gasman
		Chris Rager
Medamatcha (メダマッチャ, Medamaccha)	Yukitoshi Hori	Kent Williams	Doug Rand
Gyoshu (ギョーシュ, Gyōshu)	Shigeru Chiba	Sonny Strait
Kakuja (カクージャ, Kakūja)	Shōzō Iizuka	Christopher Sabat
Footsoldiers	Shinobu Satouchi Hikaru Midorikawa Michio Nakao^[ja]	Kyle Hebert Brian Thomas Brad Jackson Mike McFarland Chuck Huber Monika Antonelli	David Gasman Ed Marcus Paul Bandey Doug Rand
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Tiffany Vollmer	Bloomer
			Sharon Mann
Shenlong	Kenji Utsumi	Shenron	Sacred Dragon
		Christopher Sabat	Ed Marcus
Dr. Brief	Jōji Yanami	Dr. Briefs	Paul Bandey
		Chris Forbis
Chi-Chi	Naoko Watanabe	Cynthia Cranz	Sharon Mann
Kaiō	Jōji Yanami	King Kai	Paul Bandey
		Sean Schemmel
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta	Brad Jackson	David Gasman
Yajirobe	Mayumi Tanaka	Mike McFarland	Ed Marcus
Kame-Sennin	Kōhei Miyauchi	Master Roshi
		Mike McFarland
Narrator	Jōji Yanami	Kyle Hebert

Music

• OP (Opening Theme):
  • "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
    • Lyrics by Yukinojō Mori
    • Music by Chiho Kiyooka ^[ja]
    • Arranged by Kenji Yamamoto
    • Performed by Hironobu Kageyama
• IN (Insert Song):
  • Kuchibue no Kimochi (口笛の気持ち, "The Feeling of Whistling")
    • Lyrics by Dai Satō
    • Music by Chiho Kiyooka ^[ja]
    • Arranged by Kenji Yamamoto
    • Performed by Hajime Ueshiba
• ED (Ending Theme):
  • "Ya" na Koto ni wa Genki-Dama!! (「ヤ」なことには　元気玉!!, "There's a Genki-Dama in Bad Things!!")
    • Lyrics by Dai Satō
    • Music by Takeshi Ike ^[ja]
    • Arranged by Kenji Yamamoto
    • Performed by Hironobu Kageyama with Shines

English dub soundtrack

The following songs were present in Funimation's in-house English adaptation of Lord Slug.^[2]

• Finger Eleven - "First Time"
• Dust for Life - "Dragonfly"
• Dust for Life - "Step Into the Light"
• American Pearl - "Free Your Mind"
• Deftones - "Elite"
• Boy Hits Car - "I'm a Cloud"
• Finger Eleven - "Drag You Down"
• Dust for Life - "Seed"
• American Pearl - "Automatic"
• Disturbed - "Fear"
• Boy Hits Car - "The Rebirth"
• Disturbed - "Stupify"
• Breaking Point - "Coming of Age"

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 by Shunsuke Kikuchi, an opening theme of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La", and an ending theme of "There's a Genki-Dama in Bad Things!!".

Box office

At the Japanese box office, the film sold 3.6 million tickets^[3] and grossed ¥2.21 billion^[4] ($16.4 million).^[5]

Releases

It was released on VHS in North America on August 7, 2001, and on DVD on September 4, 2001. It was later released in Double Feature set along with The Tree of Might (1990) for Blu-ray and DVD on September 16, 2008, both feature full 1080p format in HD remastered 16:9 aspect ratio and an enhanced 5.1 surround mix. The film was re-released to DVD in remastered thinpak collection on November 1, 2011, containing the first 5 Dragon Ball Z films.^[6]

Reception

Other companies

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 company AB Groupe. This company done for European markets which was released under the misspelt title Super Saiya Son Goku, and another one for a Malaysian VCD release by Speedy Video which had the title Super 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 as Code Lyoko and Chris Colorado.^[1]

Notes

1. Also known by its Japanese title Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Son Goku (Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ 超(スーパー)サイヤ人だ孫悟空, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū)

References

1. "Behind the Voice Actors". Archived from the original on 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
2. Imada, Chiaki (Producer), & Hashimoto, Mitsuo (Director). (2001 Aug 7). Lord Slug [Motion picture]. Japan: FUNimation.
3. "予約特典・ドラゴンボール最強への道・劇場版ご近所物語A5サイズ前売特典冊子". Dragon Ball: The Path to Power brochure (in Japanese). Toei Animation. 1996. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
4. Komatsu, Mikikazu (January 29, 2019). "Japan Box Office: Dragon Ball Super: Broly Becomes Top-Grossing Film in The Franchise". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
5. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 1991. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
6. Dragon Ball Z: Movie Pack Collection One, Funimation Prod, 2011-11-01, archived from the original on 2015-12-31, retrieved 2016-07-04

External links

• Official anime website of Toei Animation
• MyFavoriteGames - Movie Summary Archived 2014-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug at IMDb
• Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia