Dragon Ball: A Lenda de Shenlong

This the first movie released during the Japanese TV run of Dragon Ball. Basically, this movie is a re-telling of how the main characters (Goku, Bulma, Oolong, Yamcha, Puar, and Master Roshi) of Dragon Ball meet. In the movie, however, as they meet, they help a farmer's daughter named Penny save her village from its wicked king, Gurumes, who's seeking the Dragon Balls to wish for lots of food to eat to satisfy his hunger. The movie re-creates some rather hilarious sequences from the Pilaf Saga episodes of Dragon Ball, giving it a generally family-friendly atmosphere. In the U.S., this movie, re-titled "Curse Of The Blood Rubies", was released on syndicated TV as a 2-part series pilot, but the editing and dubbing was done well enough that much of the movie mirrors its original Japanese counterpart.

GRADE: 4 out of 5 stars

An alternate storyline of the origins in the Dragonball series. The plot and characters are the same. The story is the only thing made different for this movie. Bulma, a girl searching for the seven dragon balls has come across Goku who owns one of them. After they got acquainted with each other, they decided to set off on a journey to search for the other dragon balls.

On the way there are plenty of new friends who have their own reasons for searching the dragon balls. And soon enter a kingdom which is facing it's own depression. Lead by a Gourmeth who has been cursed by the Blood Rubies which changed his personality. Gourmeth is also trying to collect all 7 dragon balls for his own reason. Will Goku save the Kingdom and cure Gourmeth's curse? The introduction and flow of this movie is very different compared to the TV series. And features several characters you won't see anywhere else. Despite it being only being less than an hour, and containing some similar moments from the earlier part of the TV series. Curse of the Blood Rubies is good for Dragonball's first movie.

Even One Piece has a lot of alternate movies made of the series.

I only saw the edited version of this movie. And yet to see the uncut version of it, which is the only uncut Dragonball movie to not have an Uncut DVD. And might be seeing one sometime.

Dragon Ball Curse of the blood rubies is a movie that re tells/re imagines the 1st season of Dragon Ball.

Literally all they did was replace the villian from the show with another villian (Who is far more forgettable), add a few more characters, and crush the entire plot of the 1st season into 50 minutes. That's it.

Maybe it's not so bad if you didn't watch the 1st season or the show for that matter but if you did this movie just pales in comparison.

For starters the movie never takes a break. The characters are always running from one scene to the next. There's never a moment where you can take in the scenery or get to know the characters at all. Somethings always happening and it never stops, making the whole movie feel rushed.

There's a couple of cool action scenes here and there which can be cool but that's about it.

Another problem is the dub.

Now this is just a me problem and it probably doesn't effect the Japanese version but in the dub (which was made in 2010) they recasted pretty much all the characters with new voices which are different from the regular show.

This was jarring at 1st and while I did get used to them, simply put there just not as good as the old voice actors from the original dub, and they already add on to making this movie look more like a water down version of the show.

The script for the movie is pretty bleh as well. It's not nearly as funny as the show or clever. The whole movie just feels underwhelming and forgettable. Not terrible though. Just average.

I would honestly just recommend people would watch the show or the 4th movie Path to Power which is another retelling of the 1st season but much better.

It's been a really long time since the first time I watched this movie. I was still on school, back in the mid 90s.

This alternate re-telling of the Dragon Ball first episodes kept the original spirit of the story, and seems more appropriate for younger audiences.

It is a classic I have on my old VHS collection, that I'm looking forward to replace with DVD-Blu Ray release. A must have for every Dragon Ball fan.

There's even a live action remake of this movie, made in Taiwan! Don't miss that one!

I thought this movie served as an excellent introduction to the series, and because it's a semi original plotline, those who have seen the series will enjoy another outing with Son Goku.

The animation is good, and (while I prefer the japanese) the english dubbing isn't half bad. The story line is simple, involving basically the dragonball gang looking for the something while a giant army does the same, resulting in a multitude of exciting (and never repetitive) fights. Lots of humor, lot's of action, and excellent characters, what more could you possibly ask for?

I definately give this movie an A+!