Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, originally released theatrically in Japan simply as Dragon Ball Z and 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 film 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 at the "Toei Manga Matsuri" film festival along with the 1989 film version of Himitsu no Akko-chan, the first Akuma-kun movie, and the film version of Kidou Keiji Jiban.
Dead Zone was licensed in North America by Funimation Entertainment and sub-licensed to Geneon Universal Entertainment. Geneon's dub used the same voice cast as the TV series did at the time, and was dubbed by Ocean Productions. For its television airings, it was retitled Dead Zone Vortex. AB Groupe, a French company that holds the license to the Dragon Ball franchise in most of Europe, licensed and dubbed the movie, which they re-titled In Pursuit of Garlic. This dub featured an entirely different voice cast and dialogue that did not fit the mouth flaps. "In Pursuit of Garlic" aired on TV in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, and was sold on DVD in the Netherlands by Bridge Entertainment Group. In North America, Geneon's dub was released on VHS and DVD on December 9, 1997. Once their sub-license expired, Funimation re-released the film on DVD on November 14, 2006, with a completely new dub done by Funimation's new 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 later remastered and released in a Double Feature set with The World's Strongest on Blu-ray and DVD on May 27, 2008. The film will be released to DVD again on November 1, 2011 in a remastered box set containing the first five Dragon Ball Z movies.
Despite some timeline issues, Dead Zone acts as a prelude to the series, and is the only movie to get a complete follow up during Dragon Ball Z, with the Garlic Jr. saga. After the credits on the Pioneer DVD release, the original episodes 1 and 9 are shown in Japanese with English subtitles, as they were 2 episodes the Ocean Group never dubbed in full.
Read more about Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone: Plot, Cast, Music, FUNimation Dub Score
Famous quotes containing the word dead:
“From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.”
—A.C. (Algernon Charles)