Most of the original DBZ movies are just retreads of the events of the series with some slight differences. "Dead Zone" is a lot like Raditz, where they kidnap Gohan, Piccolo and Goku team up to fight and Gohan's untapped potential makes itself manifest. Lord Slug is just doing what King Piccolo did, and Cooler is just Frieza again. 'World's Strongest" takes a different approach. Yes, I am aware that a lot of the final fight takes beats from Goku vs. Vegeta, but the villains and plot are different enough that I am willing to overlook it. Besides, if you are going to steal, might as well steal from your best fight.
The movie has the makings for what the series would later use in the android saga, Dr. Wheelo being the prototype for Dr. Gero. The movie also brings in some original Dragon Ball continuity back in, where Wheelo believes Master Roshi to be the world's strongest because of his win in the World Martial Arts Tournament. This not only ties into the series cannon, but it gives Roshi some much needed time to shine.
The villain's plan to take the world's most brilliant mind and put it in the world's strongest body is a unique, simple and instantly understandable goal. The creepy scientific ice lair location is a great location and helps give the whole thing a spooky feeling.
The downside is that they do spend too much time explaining the villain's straight forward plan. The whole bit with Oolong and Gohan feels out of place, Gohan's dream sequence with Piccolo is strange. And the wish made on the dragon is one of the series' dumbest wishes.
Outside of those problems, this is one of my all-time favorites. This was one of the original three that Toonami played back in the day, and of those three this one stands out as the best. It remains to this day one of the series strongest.
The movie has the makings for what the series would later use in the android saga, Dr. Wheelo being the prototype for Dr. Gero. The movie also brings in some original Dragon Ball continuity back in, where Wheelo believes Master Roshi to be the world's strongest because of his win in the World Martial Arts Tournament. This not only ties into the series cannon, but it gives Roshi some much needed time to shine.
The villain's plan to take the world's most brilliant mind and put it in the world's strongest body is a unique, simple and instantly understandable goal. The creepy scientific ice lair location is a great location and helps give the whole thing a spooky feeling.
The downside is that they do spend too much time explaining the villain's straight forward plan. The whole bit with Oolong and Gohan feels out of place, Gohan's dream sequence with Piccolo is strange. And the wish made on the dragon is one of the series' dumbest wishes.
Outside of those problems, this is one of my all-time favorites. This was one of the original three that Toonami played back in the day, and of those three this one stands out as the best. It remains to this day one of the series strongest.