Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins

1991
4.3| 1h26m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 30 November 1991 Released
Producted By: Filmswell International Ltd.
Country: Taiwan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

An unauthorized live-action adaptation of the Dragon Ball manga, it follows a band of misfit adventurers trying to stop King Horn and his goal to collect all seven Dragon Balls, and his wish of ultimate power.

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Director

Chen Chun-Liang

Production Companies

Filmswell International Ltd.

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Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins Videos and Images
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew
Jeannie Hsieh as Seetou/Bulma
Chen Chi-Chiang as Monkey Boy/Son Goku

Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins Audience Reviews

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !
Console best movie i've ever seen.
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
nemesis47-1 Just an hour ago I finished watching this my friend. As a fans of Dragonball we think that this movie is so bad that is good. We will say one thing : without a six pack beers there is now way you can survive through this movie. This movie should be watched with a many Dragonball fans to laugh their ass off. The best character in the movie is the lord Horn, his makeup, his laugh, and behavior creates the unforgettable experience. What we liked in this movie, was the fact that the island of Turtle Man was the same as in cartoon version. We believe that the only character similar to the one in the cartoon is the Turtle Man. He is also a sex maniac and kind of idiot too.
lordzedd-2 THE PLOT:When beautiful Bulma searches for the mystical Dragon `BALLS'. She meets young Goku, who was chasing after the goons who kidnapped his Grandfather Gohan for his 4 star Dragonball. Joining forces Goku, Bulma, Yomcha and Oolong vow to collect the remaining Dragonballs and rescue Gohan from the forces of the evil King Horn.THE OPINION:This has got to be the WORST dubbing in the history of foreign films. Like they changed easily pronounced named like Goku and Bulma. Plus they changed the name of the Dragonballs to Dragonpearls. What the hell was that for? Did the American movie company the American people are that stupid to think of live Dragon Testicles? Aside from the bad dubbing, the original makers blew it big time on several key points. Like Goku's Grandfather Gohan was dead when he meets Bulma. Plus he was called `MONKEY BOY' because he had a tail. Plus for 1989 the creature effects could have been allot better, even for a Chinese film. I GIVE IT (4 STARS) ****ON THE POSITIVE SIDE (+HITS)+FLYING (The overall combat scenes were very good)+ENERGY WEAPONS (They didn't forget the Kamahamaha wave)+LOOK (The Dragonballs looked just like the cartoon)ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE (-MISSES)-BAD DUB (The VO was just awful, Monkey Boy instead of Goku, and the Turtle Hermit instead of Master Rôshi)-PLOT HOLES (Goku's Granpa Gohan was dead)-NO TAIL (What happened to Goku's tail? It's not like a tail is a hard effect. They did it in the Wizard Of Oz)and finally two words:-DRAGON BALLS (When did Dragonball become a bad word? It's in the freakin' title for crying out loud)
winstonsmith_84 When you first sit down to watch this movie, keep in mind that you are about to see something you've probably never seen before. Keep in mind that this is a movie where they obviously spent INSANE amounts of cash on explosions and not enough on acting or anything else for that matter. The crazy thing I noticed is that every character is completely over-portrayed, and it seems (most of the time anyhow) that the film had been 'sped-up' to make the characters move faster! (I wonder if the Hong Kong version was dubbed too?) I understand the cartoon had this, but it doesn't work for live-action. It just looks odd... as if the camera crew decided to act because they couldn't afford real actors.The English version is horribly dubbed, and the character's words do not match the mouths at all. I would have preffered subtitles, but since this is a kids movie, and since some kids cannot read well, I'll let it go. But there is something extremely odd about this movie. It's supposedly a kids movie, but there's a lot of material about SEX, RAPE, and STRIPPING which isn't exactly for young Western audiences. (In the Orient, they have different laws and sexuality in children's movies is much more accepted). But parents be warned! There is a scene where two characters talk about rape, multiple scenes where people say 'sex maniac' and a scene where this insanely young japanese girl does a sexy dance for one of the 'sex maniacs' and shows him her breasts! Who was this movie made for anyway?Oh, and the special effects are laughable. You can tell the spaceship-like things that bomb the village are cardboard cutouts (or animation, I wasn't sure) that look unconvincing, even to a kid. The makers of this movie left out a lot of cool things from the cartoon, simply because they couldn't budget the kind of money they'd need. I didn't like how the names of all the characters were changed... it made me wonder if this movie was made by the same people as Dragon Ball Z.I don't really recommed this movie to anyone. Kids, adults, or Dragon Ball Z fans. It's just a poor representation of the cartoon, and obviously, one will be able to tell that this movie was rushed and no care whatsoever was put into it. I won't even get into the camerawork... just wait until the end credits at the still picture that sits there for 2 minutes... most of the shots are not framed correctly AT ALL and the movie just seems made by amateurs. Grainy film quality too.Just all around horrible!!!!
CommandrKetchup First of all leave your brain at the door for this low budget adaption of the original DragonBall animated series. The film is obviously a homage and isnt meant to be taken seriously. For those who would call the overacting (if you can call this acting) and insane gestures ludicrous, I remind you that these people are portraying cartoon characters and frequently (especially in the original DB cartoon) Japanese animation goes overboard with insane, silly nonsense. The story is basically pretty faithful, we have different heroes banding together to regain the Dragonballs and summon the Eternal Dragon. We meet various incarnations of Goku, Master Roshi (who is really quite faithful to his animated counterpart), Bulma, Yaumchau, and Oolong. The names are changed but this was probably because of copyrights. If youre a diehard DB fan and would like to see a live action effort then by all means here you go. I was surprised at the number of sexual innuendos and use of profanity tho. Of course Japanese cartoons are filled with such things as the standard is different. Not for young kids but the 12 and up set will be in hog heaven.Ron Nanney