Doragon bôru: Saikyô e no michi

So, look, I'll be honest: I don't know a dang thing about 'Dragon Ball.' Nothing meaningful, anyway: sights unseen, I can name exactly two characters (I know Goku and Vegeta), I'm aware of two meme-ready tropes ("super-saiyan" and "power level yada yada"), and I think at some point years ago (nearly twenty of them) I might have seen one or two episodes. But I'll watch just about anything, and I think all this puts me in a prime position to watch this 1996 feature with fresh eyes and judge it on its own merits. The violence in the opening scene raises a skeptical eyebrow, and the astoundingly sexist lines to follow before four minutes elapsed make for an inauspicious start, but there was still room for this to grow. Incredibly, however, the sexism continues to be a very consistent strain, alongside strangely simplistic, childish writing, and some animation that fits neatly alongside that juvenility. We can make an allowance to some degree that this may have been made for a younger audience in the first place, but that only gets us so far at best, and at worst raises more questions since the most boorish and toxic facets are decidedly inappropriate for young viewers (and just exhausting and inappropriate generally). Speaking as someone who sat for 'The path to power' with no real background on the franchise, this does not make a good first impression.

Granted, this is nothing if not a saga of science fiction and fantasy, ready-made for action and adventure. It only wants to entertain. Not knowing anything else of substance about 'Dragon Ball,' neither the manga nor the subsequent anime, I still recognize great, flavorful ideas in the characters, scene writing, story, and general concepts for storytelling of this ilk. And, hey, there's a lot to like in this one picture. Tokunaga Akihito's music is sometimes a little gauche, whether in and of itself or in how it is used, but mostly it's a delightful complement. I can't fault the cast for their spirited voice acting. The action sequences tend to be really fun. And above all, the artists of Toei Animation turned in terrific work. The series tends toward the more cartoonish side of anime, yes, but even so we're treated to lovely backgrounds and environments of every stripe, and fetching, creative designs for characters, creatures, and other active elements. The visuals are bright and colorful, making this easy on the eyes, and there's some nice consideration at times for lighting and shading in addition to overall detail. On a side note, it's not lost on me that filmmaker Hosoda Mamoru got his start working for Toei as an animator, and in that capacity, this is a fine credit. The movie is quite well made, and the production values hold up.

So it's unfortunate that those good ideas in the writing, Matsui Aya's adaptation of Toriyama Akira's manga and accordingly reimagining a plot already seen in the anime, is treated so poorly. I, a newcomer, easily discern that the full scope of the narrative has been pointedly abridged to fit into a concise runtime, and that truncation chops it up into a form that is less than satisfying. That's on top of unsophisticated dialogue, scene writing, characterizations, and plot development that were clearly penned with the false, condescending notion that kids wouldn't be smart enough to grasp the material if it were fleshed out into something judicious and meaningful with nuance and depth. And for as dubious a first impression as this makes with regards to how Bulma is written, and how she's treated at large in the screenplay as the sole female character, it actually gets worse. The character Oolong is basically a half-step away from being a sexual predator as he gazes lasciviously at Bulma. Worse, wherever the responsibility lies between source material, adaptation, and direction, I lost track of how many times we catch a flash of Bulma's panties (I wish I were kidding). And still worse, about halfway through we're treated to a scene - played for laughs - that goes a step further. Also: that said scene comes at the halfway point rather accentuates the fact that for how questionably this is written and sequenced, it frankly feels longer than a mere 80 minutes.

Then there's the bad writing, storyboarding, and editing that poorly establishes various minutiae, and which moreover inserts extraordinary leaps in the plot development - as in, "wait, how did we get here?" And did I mention that the writing of the chief villain is kind of ableist? Or how one character spontaneously changes sides? To be blunt, all told the title loses its appeal rather quickly. I don't think this is altogether rotten, yet the value that it boasts can be had elsewhere without also suffering through the most objectionable qualities and those aspects most deserving of criticism. Some of the animation and action are downright brilliant, a real feast for the eyes, but it's not as if there aren't other example of Japanese animation in the world. 'The path to power' isn't abjectly terrible, but it some ways it rather tries to be, and elsewhere the necessary care was simply not applied to make this the quality film that it could have been. I suppose I'm glad for those who find it more enjoyable than I do, but for my part, with this effectively being my introduction to 'Dragon Ball,' I'm given pause about dipping my toes any further into the franchise. And maybe even that's being too kind.

Let's get this out of the way. We have the original anime telling the story of Bulma meeting Goku. Then we had the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" that tells us the story of how Bulma met Goku. Then 10 years later, we had this movie "Path to Power". What is the point of rehashing the same story yet again? Well, perhaps I am being too harsh. Admittedly I am not a fan of the GT style animation that this movie goes with. That is more due to my bias against GT opposed to the animation style itself.

The movie condenses the opening Pilaf saga and combines it with the Red Ribbon Army saga. It cuts out Pilaf, Chi Chi and Mercenary Tao in attempt to pace it out to a solid 80-minute runtime. Once again setting this timeline apart, as if to say what if the Red Ribbon Army would have gone after the Dragon Balls a year earlier.

This DB movie has the gift of hindsight, in that they made this movie after the whole run of DBZ movies and show had completed its run. Watching it, there is a distinct DBZ feel that perinates through different parts. Goku screams to power up like in DBZ, despite that not being a major part of the original DragonBall. They don't use this hindsight to add in Dr. Gero to the timeline, but that's a nerdy nitpick.

I don't think they get the characterization of Goku right in this. I am aware that Goku was a happy go lucky kid in the original Dragon Ball. But in this one, he laughs almost constantly, it gets really annoying.

It is a shame that they didn't pick up where they left off in the previous DB movie timeline. They recap the events of the Pilaf Saga twice but never recap the King Piccolo Saga. Once again, just a nerdy nitpick moment.

There isn't anything retold here that I do not prefer in either the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" of more importantly, the series proper. If you think this movie is fine away to abridge those original Dragon Ball Arcs you are mistaken. I still recommend watching the original instead of this truncated version. There are no shortcuts on the path to power.

The only reason I give it an 8 is basically because the animation is very well drawn, the best in the series. Other than that its the same old thing we have all already seen just with minor things changed just like the other 3 Dragonball films 1, 2, and 3.

I have to say that the series is better all around for a better experience, but the animation beats the original series for this film because it is newer and its a movie special.

The film actually feels pretty awkward, things happen too quickly and it definitely doesn't feel like it has anything to hold it up, I got bored half way through it again even though the animation was incredible it just got dull by that time. I think they would of bee better off doing an entire new story that goes off to the side just like how they did with the Dragonball Z movies.

Story 3/5 Music 5/5 Animation 5/5

Yet another alternate retelling of the Original Dragon Ball series. Only this time it's longer than the first 3.

The story retells how Goku and Bulma first met for their search of the Dragon Balls. Also an alternate retelling on how they met Yamcha, Blur, Oolong, Master Roshi, & Turtle. Along the journey they will encounter representatives of the Red Ribbon Army who are also looking for the Dragon Balls.

The cool thing about this movie is it's the 10th Anniversary of the original TV series. The animation is newer and comparable to the GT series. Most of the characters look different including Commander Red, General Blue, & General Silver.

It's twice as long as the previous 3, so it has more variety and more elements to watch. Those who are long time or new coming fans of Dragon Ball will agree that this one's the best movie of the original TV series.

Let me just start by saying out of all 20 films, this one is the best. However, I do have a few gripes as well. One thing I loved, was it's animation. It's honestly some of the greatest animation, losing only to super broly. I also LOVED the art style, which ended up looking like the manga. I mean, everything about the visuals in this film were gorgeous. Another thing that I liked, was the soundtrack. It's basically a remastered dragon ball gt soundtrack by Akihito Tokunaga (My favorite composer after Kikuchi). This movie feels extremely alive, in many aspects. As for the things I DIDN'T like. The biggest drawback with this movie, is it's breakneck pacing. It moves around pretty quickly. Another gripe I have, is the ending. I'm not going to spoil it, just don't get your hopes up. It's not terrible, it just, ends too quickly. We'll that's my review, this is by far the most unique dragon ball movie I've EVE watched. Besides my few gripes, this movie is a spectacular retelling of dragon ball's original story.