The film starts centuries in the past. Kami, an alien being of unknown origin, is chosen by The Northern Kai to be the guardian of Earth. For this to be, Kami must shed all evil from his form. Kami separates himself into two individual beings, the latter, evil being becoming known as Piccolo. To prevent his evil self from wreaking havoc on Earth, Kami imprisons Piccolo and buries him deep below the ground.
This story is narrated by Gohan, who we next see sitting at a campfire with his excited young grandson, Goku. “Is the story true, Grandpa?” “Some believe it is just legend, Goku,” Gohan goes on, “but to many it is history.” Gohan goes on to tell Goku about seven mystical orbs that Kami had created, known as the Dragon Balls. Goku continues to be fascinated, as any child would be by such legends. Gohan finishes his story, looking up to see a full moon peeking out behind the night clouds. He tells Goku to go back into the house and wash up. We see as he runs off that Goku has a tail like a monkey. After Goku leaves, Gohan reaches into his jacket and pulls out an amber-colored orb with four crimson stars on it. He admires it and returns it to his pocket, chasing after his grandson back into the house.
Many years go by…
We next see a crew, all dressed in matching uniforms, hiking through the desert. They soon arrive at their apparent destination, a small temple amongst an oasis of trees. Entering the temple, one of the crew steps out front, removing a protective mask. Putting a phone to his ear, he communicates with his superior. We get a glimpse of a man’s face as he sits in an office with his own phone pressed to his face. He looks very excited as the other man speaks to him through the line.
“We’ve found the temple, Commander. It should be little time before we’ve found the dragon ball.” The crew advances through the temple cautiously. Eventually, they enter a large room where a dragon ball sits blatantly in the center atop a pedestal. One eager man of the group rushes into the room, only to be burned alive as he activates a trap. The leader of the group steps forward cautiously, ordering the others to stand back. Watching where he steps, the man comes closer and closer to the dragon ball. He’s so close that he can see the crimson star in the center.
Though, with one false step he falls through the floor down into a deep hole. Getting back to his feet, the man takes in his surroundings. Seeing a chest stuck into the sand across from him, he crosses to observe it more closely. Digging it out of the sand as best he can, the man begins to open the chest slowly. There is some confusion as he lifts the chest’s treasure out to look at it: it is an old rice cooker. Carelessly, the man throws the cooker against one of the rock walls. Shattering on impact, a brilliant light is released from the cooker. The man is blinded and when his vision returns a naked, alien creature stands before him. The man is confused.
The alien speaks: “Where is Kami?” “Who?” the man asks. The alien rushes at the man, grabbing his throat. “Kami! The Guardian of Earth! Where is he?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m only here for the dragon ball.” The alien looks up into the light from the room above. A wicked grin comes over his face. After snapping the man’s neck, he flies up into the room above. Deflecting a wave of gunfire from the rest of the group, the alien blasts them all with an incredible energy which he fires from his mouth. After all are dead, he gently lands at the pedestal and retrieves the one-star dragon ball. “Kami,” he growls, flying through the roof of the temple and off into the sky.
We return to the life of Goku, who is now a young man. Goku has led a sheltered life, Gohan wanting to hide his grandson from the world for his tail. More of Goku’s relationship with Grandpa Gohan will be showcased, but it is best to get to the pivotal points. One night, Goku and Gohan’s home is attacked by a gang of men dressed similarly to those that were seen at the temple. Goku does a good job of fighting them off, but he is not able to stop them before they kill Gohan and leave with what they came for: the four-star dragon ball. Running outside into the night (something he has been forbidden to do under normal circumstances) to pursue the attackers, Goku catches sight of the full moon. The gang of attackers looks back in confusion as Goku stands paralyzed, staring at the moon. Suddenly, Goku begins to transform, his body growing and becoming covered in hair. The attackers run as Goku becomes a giant ape. As this monster, Goku annihilates the attackers. All fades to black as Goku continues to rampage…
Waking up the next morning with no recollection of his transformation, Goku finds himself lying naked on the ground with the four-star dragon ball lying next to his head. Weakly, Goku reaches for the dragon ball. Just as he is about to grasp it, a foot stomps down upon it and stops him. Following the foot up to the face, Goku finds that a young woman is standing over him. “Nice tail,” she growls, “I didn’t know Red Ribbon was working in genetics now, too.” The young lady grabs Goku’s tail and drags him upward, the whole time he screams in pain. Covering himself sheepishly, Goku explains that he is ignorant of the situation and that he has nothing to do with Red Ribbon. Staring at him for a moment, the lady realizes he is telling the truth.
“I’m Bulma,” she announces. “So what’s with the tail then?” Goku picks up the dragon ball and explains how he’s had it since birth as he walks with Bulma back to his house. Bulma takes in the devastation, explaining her reason for being there. Bulma’s father is the owner of Capsule Corporation, a business that specializes in inventing revolutionary technologies. The Red Ribbon Corporation is a rival business that uses criminal means to stay ahead of the game. Apparently, they had stolen one of Capsule’s newest prototypes and Bulma traced it back to Goku’s home. The device is meant to track high energy readings. She soon finds the stolen device on one of the dead Red Ribbon men.
“What happened to these guys?” Goku has no idea, but he suddenly becomes aware of the amber orb he holds in his hand. “They were after this,” he explains, holding up the dragon ball. Goku explains the dragon ball legend to Bulma, knowing that whatever Red Ribbon wants with the dragon balls can be no good. “Well, we’ll just have to find them first, won’t we?” Bulma suggests. Activating the device, a blip appears on a map on the screen. The camera zooms in on the map and the image dissolves into the actual location: an arena.
Goku and Bulma arrive at the arena as the World Tournament is being held. With a variety of signals being put out by other devices, Bulma has a hard time getting a specific read on the location of the dragon ball. Thus, the pair split up to find the dragon ball. As Goku is walking around the concessions, he notices a gang of young men harassing a girl. Intervening, Goku beats the harassers mercilessly and drives them off. Introducing himself, he finds that the girl’s name is Chi-Chi. They talk for a while, but her father comes by and takes her elsewhere. Watching them the whole time is an old man, who seems impressed by Goku’s fighting skill, but pays particular attention to Chi-Chi’s behind as she walks away.
Elsewhere, Bulma is still tracking the dragon ball. Somehow, the tracker leads her to a handsome man with a cocky grin. “I’m sorry, there must be some sort of mistake,” Bulma says, turning to walk away. “Don’t run off, kitten,” the man says, “my name’s Yamcha.” “Kitten?” Before the two can get much more intimate, a short, bald man walks up and works his way in between them. “I’m Krillin,” the bald guy announces. “You’ll have to forgive Yamcha. He spends too much time with our master.” Bulma looks down at the tracker with confusion as a second blip has shown up with Krillin’s arrival. “This going to sound silly,” Bulma says cautiously, “but you wouldn’t both happen to have dragon balls would you?” “Dragon what?” Krillin asks, seeming a bit on edge with the question. “Sure thing, babe” Yamcha announces, grabbing his crotch, “I got the biggest pair draggin’ right here.” “I think you need to talk to Master Roshi,” Krillin says to Bulma, getting serious.
We next watch as the old man from before sneakily follows Goku. Goku eventually realizes that he is being followed and turns to look at the old man. The old man introduces himself as Roshi. Goku seems happy at this. “My grandfather, Gohan, studied under a Master Roshi years ago,” Goku announces. “I am him,” Roshi proclaims. “Gohan was one of my best students. I see he taught you well, but did not teach you everything.” The two are soon united with Bulma, Yamcha, and Krillin. Roshi declares they should all go someplace more private.
After entering the private locker room for Roshi’s Turtle Dojo, which includes Krillin and Yamcha, the master opens a locker and retrieves a small box. “This dragon ball was given to me by my grandfather. As I have no children or grandchildren of my own, and your own grandfather was unable to pass onto you his own, I would like to give you this dragon ball for safekeeping. I know you will not it slip into the hands of Red Ribbon.” “Master,” Krillin speaks up, “that box is empty.” Roshi looks inside, amazingly confused.
Cutting back out to the crowd of the World Tournament, a pair of pointed, pink ears can be seen poking in and out as a small figure rushes through the people. A dragon ball is also seen bobbing up and down. Eventually, though unseen, the figure goes through a door marked “Crane Dojo.” Waiting inside is Master Shen of the Crane Dojo (Roshi’s rival) along with students Tien and Chiaotzu. “Well done, Oolong,” Shen says as he takes the dragon ball from a set of small, pink hands, “Roshi’s confidence should be shaken without his most prized possession.” The camera pans down on Oolong, who is a short, anthropomorphic pig. “You couldn’t have given me an easier target,” Oolong arrogantly announces.
Outside the arena, the alien from the temple watches with a cold stare. It is obvious that the presence of Roshi and Goku’s dragon balls have drawn him here. The alien flies in toward the arena. Back in the Crane locker room, Roshi has burst in with his party to reclaim his property. Just as a brawl is about to begin, both Roshi and Shen halt the violence, sensing something. In this instant, the locker room is torn apart. When the chaos ends, the alien is standing amongst the rubble. “Your dragon balls,” the alien growls, “give them to me!” Shen, arrogant as he is, sees himself as a superior to the alien. “You dare order the Master of the Crane Dojo!” The alien swiftly takes the dragon ball from Shen’s hand and lays waste to him with a single blast. Goku makes a brave move and tries for a sneak attack, but he is knocked away. The alien approaches him while he is down and rips the four-star dragon ball from Goku’s handbag. Everyone stands in awe as the alien flies away once again. “Piccolo…” Roshi mutters under his breath.
The decision is made at this point that all will work together to retrieve the four remaining dragon balls. Oolong is reluctant, but realizes what he could do with the dragon balls’ power. Tien and Chiaotzu wish to avenge their master. Roshi suggests Goku stay behind and train with him while the others search for the remaining dragon balls. Goku agrees to this, knowing he will be of little help currently. So, it goes that Goku trains as his friends try to protect the dragon balls from Piccolo and Red Ribbon.
On down the line, Piccolo and our heroes both attack the Red Ribbon headquarters at the same time, them having learned that the leader of Red Ribbon, Commander Kenji Red, is already in possession of two dragon balls. The short statured Red’s luck runs out as our heroes manage to get away with both dragon balls. This leaves two. While training with Roshi, Goku is introduced to the overweight samurai Yajirobe. Also, Goku once again transforms into the monstrous ape. This time, however, Roshi is able to act. Taking the sword away from Yajirobe, Roshi cuts off Goku’s tail. Immediately, Goku turns back into his normal self and passes out.
I’ll save the trouble and just say that the others are able to get to the next dragon ball before Piccolo. This just leaves the final dragon ball that is hidden amongst the mountains. It is at the top of a mountain that the final battle must be fought. Piccolo announces his plans of using the dragon balls to remerge with Kami and take Earth as his own. Even with their combined strength, the heroes are no match for Piccolo. Goku is able to sense their pain from far away. Even though he has not yet mastered the Kamehameha, Roshi’s powerful blast move, Goku decides that he must go help his friends.
Bravely he challenges Piccolo alone. Goku appears to be defeated, thus Piccolo walks calmly away to retrieve the last dragon ball. However, Goku weakly gets to his feet and executes a powerful Kamehameha. This nearly kills Piccolo. Leaving him down and wounded, Goku takes the last dragon ball for himself. The heroes leave the mountain as Piccolo lies near death. Back at Roshi’s home, the dragon balls are split amongst those present each meant to be its protector. Goku is given back his grandfather’s dragon ball and he returns home with it. Before moving on, we sees Piccolo vomit out what appears to be an egg just before he dies.
A year goes by and Goku is competing in the World Tournament as a representative of the Turtle Dojo. Chi-Chi is now his girlfriend and Krillin appears nearly of his kin. Goku is called up in the first round of the tournament and he is surprised to find that a younger Piccolo is his opponent. “I don’t care about Kami anymore,” Piccolo growls, “I just want to kill you.” Goku and Piccolo charge at each other. This time it’s the real deal. Both of them have improved immensely. Piccolo is at a prime in this younger state and Goku has mastered Roshi’s training. As the fight ends, Goku has a chance to finish Piccolo off permanently, but he retreats. “I’d like to see you try again,” Goku says with some arrogance as he walks away, leaving Piccolo down in the center of the ring. Roll credits.
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Cast:
Goku- Emile Hirsch
Master Roshi- Jackie Chan
Bulma- Allison Mack
Krillin- Shaobo Qin
Yamcha- Taylor Kitsch
Tien- Johnny Nguyen
Chiaotzu- Jin Bin Park
Master Shen- Ken Watanabe
Kami/Piccolo- Djimon Hounsou
Chi-Chi- Kyla Pratt
Commander Red- Danny Devito
Grandpa Gohan- Robin Shou
Yajirobe- Jorge Garcia
Oolong (Voice) - Seth Rogen
Ox-King- Michael Clarke Duncan
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Teasing Dragon Ball: Saiyan Prince
This film will take place years after the story from the first and follow the Saiyan Saga. Due to passing time, some characters have been re-cast.
Goku- Henry Cavill
Cavill is only two years older than Hirsche, but he looks more matured and seems like he could be someone's father. His appearance is similar enough to that of Hirsche to make the audience belive it's the same character. This isn't a re-casting because of a dislike of Hirsche, it's because Goku is at a different stage in his life during this sequel. He needs to be bigger and look older.
Gohan- Jaden Smith
I'm sure many of you were wondering why I cast Chi-Chi and Ox-King as African American. Well, this is the reason. I couldn't think of any other young actor that has as much potential as Smith and he'd be perfect for Gohan despite his ethnicity.
Vegeta- David Krumholtz
Nappa- Nathan Jones
Raditz- Jason David Frank
Chi-Chi- Zoe Saldana