Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone
Japanese box art
Directed by	Daisuke Nishio
Produced by	Kōzō Morishita
Written by	Story: Akira Toriyama Screenplay: Takao Koyama
Starring	Masako Nozawa Akira Kamiya Hiromi Tsuru Mayumi Tanaka Daisuke Gori Mayumi Sho Kohei Myauchi Toshio Furukawa Takeshi Aono Kenji Utsumi Joji Yanami
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Editing by	Shinichi Fukumitsu
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release date(s)	Japan: July 15, 1989 (1989-07-15) United States: December 9, 1997
Running time	41:00
Language	Japanese, English
Preceded by	Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure
Followed by	Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, released theatrically in Japan simply as Dragon Ball Z, and retitled Dragon Ball Z: Return my Gohan!! (ドラゴンボールZ オラの悟飯をかえせッ!!, Doragon Bōru Zetto Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!^?) for its Japanese VHS and Laserdisc release, is the fourth feature movie in the Dragon Ball franchise and the first one under the Dragon Ball Z moniker. It was originally released in Japan on July 15, 1989 between episodes 11 and 12.

It was translated in North America by Funimation Productions; Bridge Entertainment's title is The Pursuit of Garlic. In its television airings in North America, it was retitled Dead Zone Vortex. In North America, it was first released on VHS and DVD on December 9, 1997, dubbed by the original Ocean Studios voice cast, and then re-released on DVD on November 14, 2006, dubbed by the Funimation voice cast; as part of a movie box set titled "First Strike", also containing The World's Strongest and The Tree of Might. It was also released, along with The World's Strongest, on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 27, 2008, the same release date as the remastered Season Five boxset.

[edit] Plot

The movie begins with Piccolo being attacked and supposedly killed by a group of shadowed fighters. The movie then cuts to Chi-Chi along with her father, Ox King, and Gohan being attacked by an unknown group of warriors. Goku is out fishing during the attack and after sensing danger, he returns only to find his son has been kidnapped. The group responsible for the attack are Garlic Jr.'s henchmen, and it is later revealed that they were not so much holding Gohan ransom for any reason, but because they were after the four-star Dragon Ball that was attached to his hat. After retrieving the remaining Dragon Balls, Garlic Jr. summons Shenron and he immediately wishes for immortality. Shenron, never having to grant this type of demand before, grants Garlic Jr. his wish. A furious Goku arrives to try and take back his son, but soon discovers Garlic Jr.'s new power. Kami makes an appearance (which surprises Garlic Jr., who thought that his henchmen had killed Piccolo) and meets up with Goku, and describes a brief history of Garlic Jr. and his father Garlic. Goku then proceeds to try to find Gohan when he is attacked by the villain's gang, whilst Kami faces Garlic Jr.

After brief fighting, Krillin and Piccolo arrive to help. Piccolo gets revenge for being attacked earlier by defeating Garlic Jr.'s henchman Sansho, while Goku manages to defeat the other two henchmen Ginger and Nicky. Meanwhile, Kami is getting brutally outmatched by Garlic Jr., until Goku and Piccolo rescue him. And with Garlic Jr.'s newly obtained immortality and a new muscular second form, it seems not even Earth's warriors can take him down. But when Goku & Piccolo work together, two-against-one prevails, and Garlic Jr. is outclassed. Angry at his defeat, Garlic Jr. unleashes his ultimate attack, and bursting with anger, he opens up a portal known as the "Dead Zone" (hence the name of the film). Intending to suck his enemies into the void, Garlic Jr. becomes frustrated with Goku's ability to avoid the Dead Zone, and he decides to handle Goku himself, and later force him into the Dead Zone. Things looking extremely difficult for Earth's hero, Goku's son, Gohan, becomes enraged witnessing his father and friends in danger and releases his latent energy, blasting Garlic Jr. into his own vortex to be trapped for an eternity. Remarkably, in the end of it all, Gohan doesn't remember a thing of what happened, instead believing that his father defeated Garlic Jr., and with amazement, Goku figures his son is no ordinary boy, but one with a great hidden potential. At the end of the movie, Piccolo is seen from above, looking down on Goku and his friends and vows that one day, he will defeat Goku.

[edit] Continuity Issues

The film appears to take place sometime before the beginning of Dragon Ball Z. Because of this, a filler arc between the Frieza and Cell sagas was created in which Garlic Jr. returns. However, both the film and the filler arc have some continuity errors.

In the film, Goku's friends seem to know about his son Gohan. If this is suposed to be before the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, then they wouldn't have been so shocked when Goku first presents his son to them in the series, yet they are. Also, in the Garlic Jr. Saga, Gohan's pet dragon Icarus is featured, but he was introduced in The Tree of Might, another non-canonical film.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Music

• OP (Opening Theme)
  1. "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" (Chara Hetchara) (OP animation 1)
     • Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyoka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
       • Song Lyrics

• IN (Insertion Song)
  1. 天下一ゴハン (Tenkaichi Gohan, World's Greatest Gohan^?)
     • Lyrics: Sakiko Iwamuro, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Masako Nozawa (Son Gohan)
       • Song Lyrics

• ED (Ending Theme)
  1. でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー! (Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā!, Come Out, Incredible ZENKAI Power!^?)
     • Lyrics: Toshihisa Arakawa, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Manna
       • Song Lyrics

• 1. • Additional orchestral music composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi

[edit] External links

• Dead Zone at the Internet Movie Database