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The beloved Dragon Ball series has given fans a plethora of films to enjoy over the years, with many becoming cherished classics within the fan community. However, not every cinematic venture of the franchise has hit the mark, as seen with Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, which is often regarded as one of the least popular entries.
The film’s lackluster narrative and its perplexing take on the Super Saiyan transformation have drawn substantial criticism from fans. Despite these shortcomings, it’s important to recognize the movie’s significant contribution to the franchise’s legacy: the introduction of hard rock soundtracks in its English adaptations.
On August 7, 2001, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug made its debut on home video in North America, becoming the first film in the series to feature Funimation’s voice cast. This release marked a pivotal moment, aligning with the era when Dragon Ball Z was becoming a cultural phenomenon, largely due to its exposure on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block. This strategic timing contributed to a succession of successful releases for Funimation, cementing the film’s place in the franchise’s history, despite its mixed reception.
Lord Slug Introduced Injected Rock Music Into DBZ’s English Films
Released on August 7, 2001, for home video in North America, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug was the first DBZ film to be dubbed by Funimation’s voice-acting cast, marking the beginning of what proved to be a string of highly successful releases for the company. This movie came at a critical moment, as Dragon Ball Z was rapidly growing into a mainstream phenomenon thanks to its popularity on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block.
With Bruce Faulconer’s rock-heavy score playing a major role in DBZ‘s rise to prominence as part of its run on Cartoon Network, American fans expected more of the same when Funimation started to dub the franchise’s feature films. However, Funimation didn’t just lean into this rock-heavy theme; it licensed a full soundtrack featuring some of the best rock bands of the 2000s.
From Deftones to Disturbed, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug‘s middling plot was backed by six separate bands, giving it legitimate crossover appeal with rock fans in the United States. Even if the film wasn’t much to write home about, Lord Slug‘s soundtrack lent itself perfectly to DBZ‘s action-heavy story and over-the-top English dub.
For many Western fans, the approach to Lord Slug‘s soundtrack became synonymous with not only Dragon Ball films but also the entire franchise. This was reflected in the franchise’s Western marketing strategy during the early 2000s, which quickly started to leverage the aforementioned bands in its advertisements.
Despite Its Shortcomings, Lord Slug Is an Important Part of Dragon Ball History
Considering the significant role that home video played in DBZ‘s rise to success in the United States, Funimation’s decision to license over a dozen hard rock songs for Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug proved to be a surprisingly important part of the franchise’s history. It established a brand-new tone for Goku’s cinematic adventures, and over two decades later, the film still sounds like an early-2000s time capsule.
Although films like Cooler’s Revenge and Broly often get credit for popularizing rock soundtracks in Dragon Ball Z‘s English dub, their success was largely predicated on Goku’s battle against the Super Namekian, Lord Slug. After all, Pioneer and Saban had both released prior versions of the Dragon Ball films for Western audiences, none of which garnered the same foothold with fans that Funimation did.
Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug will never be regarded as one of the best movies in the franchise — in fact, it’s up there as one of the worst feature films in the DBZ catalog. However, the film set the stage for a series of video releases that would change the landscape of anime in America, and for that reason, it will always be a major part of anime history.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- Latest Film
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Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
- First Episode Air Date
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April 26, 1989
