Gohan visits Piccolo and shows him a new tune he has learned to whistle. Due to his advanced Namekian hearing, this causes Piccolo pain; he angrily orders Gohan to stop when they both sense an approaching threat incoming from outer space. Bulma and her father discover that a meteor harboring lifeforms is heading toward the Earth and will destroy the planet upon impact. Amidst mass panic, Goku and Krillin rush to intercept the meteor and hope to push it away by blasting it with Kamehameha waves, but they are both rendered unconscious by the force of the meteor and it seemingly explodes in orbit. A spaceship then lands in one of Earth's cities.
An army of humanoid alien soldiers exit the ship and declare the Earth under the rule of their leader, Lord Slug. The soldiers attack a group of civilians but Gohan arrives to defend them. From the ship, Lord Slug observes that Gohan has a magical Dragon Ball sewn onto his hat which he loses during the scuffle. After his henchmen render Gohan unconscious and reveal the plan to convert the planet into a biological spaceship, Slug appears and uses telepathy to read Bulma's mind; he learns about her radar used for tracking the Dragon Balls. Slug's men successfully gather the Dragon Balls and summon the eternal dragon Shenron who grants Slug eternal youth. Meanwhile, life on Earth begins to perish.
Goku and Krillin are revived by Yajirobe. Gohan meanwhile resumes his assault against Slug's army; he is nearly killed but is rescued by Piccolo. Piccolo kills the henchman Wings while Gohan is overwhelmed by Medamatcha; Piccolo is injured when he jumps in front of an energy blast intended to kill Gohan. Goku and Krillin arrive, and Goku quickly kills Medamatcha and Angila. Slug appears and is attacked by Krillin who is quickly dispatched. Goku fights Slug but is overwhelmed; in a moment of rage, Goku is seemingly able to access a portion of the Super Saiyan form.
Goku battles Slug and during the fight, Slug reveals his Namekian heritage. Through telepathy, King Kai warns Goku that Slug is a "Super Namekian", a bloodline of violent warriors obsessed with power. Slug assumes a giant form and begins to crush Goku between his massive hands. Piccolo intervenes to rescue Goku and before he is also crushed, tears off his own ears and calls out for Gohan to start whistling. The whistling deafens and weakens Slug, allowing Piccolo to transfer his remaining energy to Goku who powers up and manages to fly straight through Slug's abdomen and incapacitates him. Goku then ascends into the sky and begins preparing a Spirit Bomb. Goku launches the energy bomb at Slug which sends him hurtling into his own machines, killing him and saving the planet.
Bruce Faulconer produced an alternate opening theme for this version (which would be replaced in the 2008 remastered version with another original track composed by Mark Menza) and the remaining pieces of background music were composed by Faulconer and Evan Jones. The Double Feature release contains an alternate audio track containing the English dub with original Japanese background music by Shunsuke Kikuchi, an opening theme of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La", and an ending theme of "There's a Genki-Dama in Bad Things!!".
Box office
At the Japanese box office, the film sold 3.6 million tickets[3] and grossed ¥2.21 billion[4] ($16.4 million).[5]
Releases
It was released on VHS in North America on August 7, 2001, and on DVD on September 4, 2001. It was later released in Double Feature set along with The Tree of Might (1990) for Blu-ray and DVD on September 16, 2008, both feature full 1080p format in HDremastered16:9 aspect ratio and an enhanced 5.1 surround mix. The film was re-released to DVD in remastered thinpak collection on November 1, 2011, containing the first 5 Dragon Ball Z films.[6]
Reception
Other companies
A third English version produced and released exclusively in Malaysia by Speedy Video, features an unknown voice cast.
Other English dubs were also made by French company AB Groupe. This company done for European markets which was released under the misspelt title Super Saiya Son Goku, and another one for a MalaysianVCD release by Speedy Video which had the title Super Saiya People, Goku. While the Malaysian dub's cast remains unknown, the AB Groupe dub was revealed to have been recorded by English-speaking actors based in France who have also done voices for animated television series such as Code Lyoko and Chris Colorado.[1]
Notes
^Also known by its Japanese title Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Son Goku (Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ 超サイヤ人だ孫悟空, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiyajin da Son Gokū)
