Dragonball: Evolution

[RocShemp]

I picked up the BD of Dragonball Evolution on Friday. The video has not a single trace of DNR or any ringing on the image. I didn't realize just how grainy that movie really is. Looked great and I wish more studios produced BDs like this one in terms of video. The audio was very good (bassier than I remember) but not really a knockout. It's a rather front heavy mix (the the surrounds do get used they're mixed rather low for the most part) and most of the dialogue sounds like live audio that was cleaned up in post.

The extras were okay.

The deleted scenes were all in 1080p and presented with a 5.1 448kbps Dolby Digital mix. The deleted footage received the same stellar video treatment as the film proper but keep in mind that it has not been processed via digital intermediate and thus features none of the color correction and/or enhancement of the film proper. Also, the audio, though very good, is clearly a temp mix. To be honest, most of the footage could have stayed in the movie and would have enhanced it. The Fullums scene plays far better than the hastily cut final version and the extended scene with Sifu Norris helps give greater weight to Roshi and made his relationship with Norris seem richer. It's not a lot but it sure helps. The scene with Goku lifting a car was okay but didn't play as well as I was hoping it would. Mai's death is the same exact death as is in the film proper. All that happened was that some pipe-like stabbing weapon was digitally erased in the finished version and a CGI gun placed in Yamcha's hand. To be honest, I think the only reason the stabbing was changed was because the pipe thing bounched around like rubber when Mai fell to the ground. The snack bar bit was actually funny and could have easily been left in as it was a 5 second shot at most. There was also a 10 second extension to Goku, Roshu, and Bulma as they traveled. Gohan explaining Ki was very brief and need not have been cut. The extended first meeting of Goku and Bulma has a funny gag regarding Bulma's original name for her DBE Locator and Goku making fun of her name. Again, there was no reason for it to have been cut and shuffled around.

The Gag Reel is such in name only. There's only a few scattered funny bits. It's really just a random collection of behind the scenes footage. In it you see a bit more of Goku versus Piccolo (don't get excited as most of it you've seen before) but what's really interesting is footage of the original Oozaru. Yes, we've seen him before but there was fight footage with him, including wire work where they had him leaping through the air. Oozaru also appeared with a blue gi and the orange gi. The Mafuba dance is nowhere to be seen and does not appear anywhere in the BD.

The Making Of A Scene and Life After Film School mini-docs are perplexingly presented in windowboxed standard def. Why they weren't at least anamorphic is beyond me.

The Goku's Quest Game is rather lazy. You watch the movie and press the red button on your BD remote whenever a player generated Dragon Ball appears onscreen while you watch the movie. After you click on all seven, skip to the end of the movie and you're offered a reward. It's a 2:36 clip about the props in the film. It's interesting but far too brief. During the tail end you'll see the different Dragon Balls that were made until coming to the finished design. If you feel inclined to play the game, play the movie at 10x speed. The Dragon Balls will still appear and you'll finish the game in little over 8 minutes.

The Worked Up music video is terrible. I don't recall if I even made it up to a minute. Supposedly the song is in the movie but I don't recall it one bit. Why they didn't include the music video for Rise is a mystery.

The less said of Goku's Workout, the better. It doesn't even feature footage of Stuart Chatwin preparing for the role or anything worth watching.

There's no extended fight footage in sight (other than the brief glimpses in the so-called gag reel and in Life After Film School). There's no footage of the "Fist Cams".



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