Double Dragon

The Dead Zone (Ora no Gohan wo Kaese!! "Return My Gohan!!" 1989) and The World's Strongest (Kono yo de Ichiban Tsuyoi Yatsu: "This World's Strongest Guy," 1990) were the first two Dragon Ball Z features; eleven more would follow over the next several years. In both features, unsavory characters try to use the power of the Dragon Balls to obtain revenge and rule the Earth. After Shenglong grants him eternal life, Garlic, Jr., seeks to destroy Kami and avenge his father in The Dead Zone. When it becomes apparent he can't withstand the combined power of Kami and the Z-Fighters, Garlic creates a "Dead Zone," a sort of black hole that threatens to engulf everyone and everything. Gohan defeats him, turning the gift of eternal life into a terrible curse. Goku wisely decides not to tell Chichi about Gohan's newly discovered powers. In The World's Strongest, the Z-fighters are pitted against a resurrected mad scientist (rendered variously as Dr. Willow, Wheelo, or Uilo) and his hench-creatures. Goku asks the Earth's inhabitants to lend him the energy needed to destroy the evil genius. Both films feel like TV specials: Dead Zone is only 40 minutes long, World's Strongest, an hour. The viewer can choose English dialogue with US or Japanese music in stereo or the original Japanese tracks in mono. (Rated TV PG: violence, brief nudity, minor toilet humor) --Charles Solomon