Dragonball Z Movie 8: Valiant Fight! Violent Fight! Super Exciting Fight!

Summary:
A powerful force, that of a saiya-jin, has just destroyed the South Galaxy, and North Kaio, fears that our galaxy will be the next to go.

Spring has begun, and while the others go off and have fun, taking in a traditional view of the cherry blossoms, Goku is held in Chi Chi's grasp. She drags him along to a parent interview, which will test their worth, and be a deciding factor whether Gohan is accepted to the school. Goku is, as expected uncomfortable. Chi Chi insists he be proper, having him wear a business suit, and lie about his hobbies (he wants to say fighting tough opponents, but she tells him to say reading and sports!).

While the two are partaking in their little lying contest, their friends are enjoying the peaceful serenity of the blossoms. Kuririn is screeching out some karaoke, which is driving Vegeta a tad bit insane, when a large circular spaceship descends from above. It belongs to Paragas, yet another Saiaya-jin left after the destruction of planet Vegeta, along with his own army. Paragas persuades Vegeta, as the last of the saiya-jin royalty, to come with him to his new planet Vegeta, and help rebuild the fallen saiya-jin Empire. Vegeta decides against it, but Paragas speaks up about the Legendary Super Saiya-jin. He tells Vegeta that he is the only one who has the power to defeat such a warrior... one who has already destroyed the South Galaxy... To this Vegeta agrees, and boards the ship, along with Roshi, Trunks, Oolong, Gohan, and Kuririn.

Somewhere between all of this, Kaio has contacted Goku telepathically. He tells him of the Saiya-jin power he felt in the South Galaxy, and that he'll be in the North Galaxy soon. Goku then teleports to Kaio's small planet, attempts to detect the ki of the warrior, teleports that the suspected location, only to find him gone. An incredible ki is still present, though. This

The others have since arrived at the new Planet Vegeta. Upon reaching a group of people celebrating Vegeta's return, Paragas introduces him to his son, Brolly, a slim, tall, and quiet young man. A soldier informs Vegeta that the legendary Saiya-jin showed up on planet Tonosama. This surprises Vegeta, and he quickly enlists Brolly to help him take care of him. Trunks asks his father to first gather more information on this dangerous situation, but Vegeta refuses, and makes his way to the site.

Trunks, Gohan, and Kuririn follow along, and Kuririn begins to doubt the existence of such a warrior. Trunks agrees, but he reassures that his father believes it fully. They discover that the planet is mostly in ruin, with little or no life left on its surface. Gohan can't quite understand why Paragas would want to rebuild the Saiya-jin race on such an inadequate planet. Suddenly, Kuririn sees a giant dome shaped light of some kind over the horizon. The group finds that it's actually energy being pumped from the core of the planet and sent to the palace, so it can support life. This task is being performed by a race of aliens, taken from their own home after the Saiya-jin destroyed their own home. They're being treated as slaves, malnourished and overworked, and they see the Saiya-jin as the demons of the universe. A soldier jumps down and sees the small child who had divulged this information to our heroes, and begins to hit him with a whip for slacking off. Gohan acts quickly and busts the soldier in the face, smashing right through his helmet he whistles for help, which comes and encircles Gohan. Kuririn just kind of laughs and tells the squadron not to be messing with them, because of their strength. The goons quickly back off. Kuririn's ego gets bigger, and he starts punching and kicking at the air, just as Goku materializes in front of his fist. He catches a hard right the jaw, which knocks him down. Kuririn asks him what he's doing here, and he tells them that he was simply following the ki of the legendary Saiya-jin. Kuririn tells Goku about the whole Vegeta thing, and suddenly Paragas appears, welcoming 'Kakaroto' to the planet. He knows that he is Bardock's son, and asks him to stay awhile and have a meal. Goku comes to the conclusion that the ki he felt was certainly not that of Paragas's, and has his dinner. The aliens are having a meal of their own, along with Trunks, Kuririn, and Gohan. They ask if it was Paragas that attacked their planet, but are met with a resounding 'no'. Trunks sensed very little power from Brolly, so he decides that the legendary Saiya-jin must be far off somewhere... Paragas is in an observatory, high above his city, strangely asking that a comet known as Kumorie come destroy his planet. Vegeta and Brolly return unsuccessfully from their trip, and are met by Goku who is hanging around the castle. Vegeta tell Goku not to interfere with his plans to kill the legendary super Saiya-jin and walks off. Brolly then stares at Goku with bitter rage, clenching his fist, and creating a huge aura of energy around the two. Paragas sees this and attempts to calm Brolly using some strange contraption on his hand. Roshi and Oolong round the corner, and ask Paragas to prepare a ship for their departure, as they've seen enough of the planet. Brolly then calms down, and his aura fades.

Later that night, Paragas is having his hand device checked by a scientist. He says it isn't broken, and perhaps Brolly is just becoming too much for it to control. Paragas walks out of the lab, and worries that Goku is the cause of him being unable to control Brolly with his instrument. He has flashbacks dating back to when Brolly was an adolescent, a super Saiya-jin who was quickly destroying a city with ki blasts. He talks about how Brolly is a true breed of Saiya-jin. He was born with incredible power and as he grew up, it became so violent and threatening that it scared him. He had a scientist to create tool that would work in conjunction with a remote device to control Brolly's power. It consisted of a golden headband, and a matching gauntlet remote, which in turn gave him the power to rule the universe with Brolly under his command. He figures that if the tool is still working, then it means that his meeting with Goku made him unable to be harnessed. Paragas then remembers that Goku and Brolly were born on the same day...

Cut to the hospital, where baby Brolly and Goku are lying in their cribs. Goku is bawling his eyes out. Two doctors are discussing how incredible it is that Brolly was born with a fighting power of 10,000, while Bardock's son, Kakaroto was only born with a meager level of 2. Kakarot's crying was making Brolly cry as well, so one of the doctors suggests that though his combat level is low, his fighting spirit is incredibly high.

Paragas looks in on Brolly sitting in a chair, filled with rage and shaking like a madman. Paragas damns Goku, and realizes that if he can't control Brolly, the universe will be destroyed. Brolly raises his energy and screams out "Kakaroto!!!"

All of our heroes are in bed, asleep, when Brolly bursts in and tears up the place, looking to kill Goku. He gets him outside, and over a lake, just as Paragas hears the commotion and grabs his wrist remote. Goku finds it interesting that Brolly can hide his power like the Z fighters. Brolly rushes at Goku and gets kicked in the face, leaving a trail of blood running from his mouth. Brolly licks it up, and smiles (ew!). Goku's attacks are beginning to have no effect on him, and eventually Brolly begins to power up further, beefing up his muscles, and leading Goku to sense the same ki he had felt earlier. Paragas arrives, and attempts to calm him down Brolly. It works, and the father and son duo fly home. Goku has found the identity of the legendary super Saiya-jin. We then see a brief shot of the dreaded comet coming closer to the planet...

Morning. Vegeta and Brolly are making their way to the spaceship, much to the dismay of Paragas. He wants to keep Vegeta on the planet until the comet hits. Brolly begins to go insane again, as he hears Goku's voice coming from within the spaceship. He tells Vegeta that he doesn't need to go anywhere to find the legendary super Saiya-jin, since he's with them now. Goku instructs Paragas to confess to Vegeta about Brolly's status as the legendary super Saiya-jin. Paragas denies this fact, and asks Vegeta to return to the palace. Trunks then shows up, loudly declaring that Paragas is lying about everything. He informs them of the alien race he has enslaved to make the planet what it has become. While they ascend the hill towards the fighters, one of the alien children sees Brolly and announces him as the one who attacked their home planet. Vegeta is outraged at this trickery, and Paragas finally confesses. His true location to rebuild the Saiya-jin Empire was on Earth where resources are abundant, but he feared Vegeta would be in his way. That's why he designed a mock kingdom on a planet, with a comet fixed impact. By luring Vegeta there, and escaping the planet just before collision, Paragas would have no competition in the universe, and would be free to rule it with Brolly.

Brolly's anger consumes him, so he goes SSJ and walks slowly towards Goku. Vegeta immediately transforms as well, and tries to defeat Brolly with absolutely no success. Brolly's rage envelops him to such an extent that he is finally able to transform into a true super Saiya-jin and his golden headband shatters. His insane mind is now free. Vegeta is completely astonished at this occurrence, and he is reduced to a statuesque state of frightful awe. Gohan jumps in and tries to help his dad in the fight, but is quickly injured by simply coming into contact with the legendary warrior. As Trunks swoops in to help, Vegeta admits to himself that there will be no escape from this monster... Brolly will kill them all.

Paragas begins to speak indirectly to Vegeta. He regrets that his plan has failed him. He recollects on his hate for Vegeta's father, who saw Brolly's great power for what it actually was... a great threat. He wanted the baby killed off, and when Paragas Tried to persuade him against it, he was killed and thrown off into the dumps along with his son, who had been stabbed to death. But... they didn't die. Just as Freeza sent his death ball to destroy the original planet Vegeta, Brolly's latent power sprung to life and resurrected the both of them, and transported them into space, in a strange ball of energy. Since then, Paragas only lived for revenge, if not on King Vegeta, then on his son.

So begins the fight. One by one, all of the fighters, sans Vegeta raise their levels to that of super Saiya-jin. Still, they're not having much luck. Brolly's size doesn't decrease his speed in the slightest, and his brute strength is overwhelming. Kuririn, Oolong, Roshi, and the alien slaves show up, and are attempting to escape the doomed planet. Brolly notices the aliens, and reminds them of the times they looked up at their home planet and wondered when they could return. He fires a blast at the aliens, but it ricochets off of the ground, and flies backwards. He wasn't aiming for them at all! It soars higher and higher, then collides with their planet, completely obliterating it. The monster simply laughs at this event, and the slaves are forced to move along off of the battlefield with Kuririn and the others.

The battle rages. It's devastatingly one-sided. Trunks keeps getting rammed violently in to walls and such, Gohan gets knocked out and hung on a rod, and Goku generally can't do much damage do the big lug. Though he does get off a great line. After pummeling Goku with ki blasts, only to have Goku to walk out still standing, Brolly asks "don't you ever give up?" To which Goku responds, "Heh, I never learned how."

Brolly discovers that his ki is growing in strength. He's having real trouble controlling his own actions anymore, and what was left of his mind seems to be deteriorating quickly. He uncontrollably sends a flurry of ki blasts in all directions destroying much of the planet. He finally regains control of himself and senses something from Gohan. He throws a ball of energy at him, which is deflected by the one and only, Piccolo! Brolly decides that he's just another bug waiting to be squashed. Piccolo calls him a monster and tells him to do his best, but Brolly doesn't like to refer to himself as a monster, "monster? No, I'm the devil."

Piccolo gives each of the fallen heroes a senzu, and explains to Goku that the reason he knew their location was because he heard Kaio and Goku conversing earlier. He came as fast as he could on a spaceship. He also admits that he has never felt a ki as strong as Brolly's before. Meanwhile, Paragas is surveying the ever-approaching comet, while Kuririn, Oolong, and Roshi have departed. Piccolo grabs Vegeta, and tries to get him to help them fight, but Vegeta is scared of Brolly's power. Piccolo is ashamed that a prince could be so cowardly, so he drops him to the ground, and flies back to the battlefield. Lying in the rubble, Vegeta asks himself the reason they continue to fight, though they know they can't win. He finally renounces his fear, and joins his allies on the field, despite the fact that it probably won't change things.

Paragas is making his way to his space pod. Only a few hours remain until the comet will make contact. He decides that since he no longer has control over Brolly, he will just let him die along with the planet. But just before Paragas can launch off, Brolly shows up and asks him where he's going. He sees that his father has only been using him for all these years, so he takes the ship, crushes it with his father still inside, and throws it into the comet. Though this may seem harsh, Paragas mentions that it is the cursed destiny of the Saiya-jin for the son to kill the father. It would seem that Brolly has won. Everyone is out of the game, and he's free to move on. But Goku is one that will never say die. He walks confidently towards Brolly, his body mangled, his power spent, but his spirit still intact. Piccolo utters that everyone give Goku what power they still have left. Vegeta is the only one to refuse. Goku still doesn't have what it takes to kill the monster. Brolly begins to stomp repeatedly on Goku's chest, resulting in massive damage. All the while the comet is getting closer and closer. Goku is still taking punishment; he just can't do it without Vegeta's energy. Brolly is getting incredibly pissed off at Goku, and how he just won't give up, though his pain is intense. Finally, Vegeta abandons his status, and begins to give him his power. Just as Brolly is about to deliver the final blow, Goku catches his fist, and lets off a supercharge of energy, that bewilders Brolly, and makes him back off a bit. One by one, each of the warriors tap out of their energy, and leave it all up to Goku. The comet is within the atmosphere of the planet, and the ground is beginning to break apart, both warriors charge at each other, at the same speed. Brolly gets above Goku, and is ready to slam Goku from above, just as Goku uppercuts him blisteringly hard into the gut, twisting his fist as he goes. Brolly flashes back to when they were babies in the hospital, and Goku's crying was making him cry as well, then it was all over. Goku's punch hit him so hard that it burst right through his stomach, and made him explode in a fiery array of light. Goku fell back and shouted "WE BEAT HIM!" just as the planet was disintegrated by the comet.

So what happened to the good guys? Goku teleported all his friends and the slaves to the ship being flown by Kuririn, Roshi, and Oolong. Goku gives the camera a peace sign, and teleports home with Gohan. There they meet a disgruntled Chi Chi who complains to Goku that they've been gone so long that Spring Break is over. To this Goku replies, "My hobbies are reading and sports!" Chi Chi falls over, and Goku and Gohan rush to check on her. The universe is safe once again.

My Thoughts:
What a movie. This is one of my favorites, by far. The animation is excellent, Brolly's character has yet to become stale, and the musical score is well done. Unlike several of the DBZ movies, this one has a really strong plot, with quite a bit of thought put into it. Brolly's past is orchestrated with style, and there is more than one struggle presented to the viewer. You see, the majority of Dragonball Z's movies play out more or less as a simple fight between good and evil, but this one also conveys the story of a father's loss of everything. He loses his residence, his faith, his control, and eventually his life at the hands of his own son, and we realize that this is just how it's supposed to happen. Vegeta's insecurity is interesting to behold, if you know the character well enough. He's reduced to something very much unlike himself, something unlike himself. He's typically a confident and strong warrior, but when it came to something that he was unsure of, he just couldn't handle it. This is perhaps used as a tactic to reassure us that Goku has a high level of spirit energy, and that's why he's eventually going to have what it takes to beat Brolly. It makes it all the more rewarding to eventually see Vegeta overcome his fears and take on Brolly. I really suggest that you check out this movie if you've yet to do so. You won't be disappointed

So here's my score:
10 out of 10

Reviewed by: Trunks3DX