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Dragon Ball: The Path to Power

Play trailer Poster for Dragon Ball: The Path to Power 2003 1h 20m Action Fantasy Anime Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 0 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
An adventurous young girl embarks on the voyage of a lifetime after joining forces with a mysterious young boy on a daring mission.
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Dragon Ball: The Path to Power

Audience Reviews

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Jay W Let's get this out of the way. We have the original anime telling the story of Bulma meeting Goku. Then we had the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" that tells us the story of how Bulma met Goku. Then 10 years later, we had this movie "Path to Power". What is the point of rehashing the same story yet again? Well, perhaps I am being too harsh. Admittedly I am not a fan of the GT style animation that this movie goes with. That is more due to my bias against GT opposed to the animation style itself. The movie condenses the opening Pilaf saga and combines it with the Red Ribbon Army saga. It cuts out Pilaf, Chi Chi and Mercenary Tao in attempt to pace it out to a solid 80-minute runtime. Once again setting this timeline apart, as if to say what if the Red Ribbon Army would have gone after the Dragon Balls a year earlier. This DB movie has the gift of hindsight, in that they made this movie after the whole run of DBZ movies and show had completed its run. Watching it, there is a distinct DBZ feel that perinates through different parts. Goku screams to power up like in DBZ, despite that not being a major part of the original DragonBall. They don't use this hindsight to add in Dr. Gero to the timeline, but that's a nerdy nitpick. I don't think they get the characterization of Goku right in this. I am aware that Goku was a happy go lucky kid in the original Dragon Ball. But in this one, he laughs almost constantly, it gets really annoying. It is a shame that they didn't pick up where they left off in the previous DB movie timeline. They recap the events of the Pilaf Saga twice but never recap the King Piccolo Saga. Once again, just a nerdy nitpick moment. There isn't anything retold here that I do not prefer in either the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" of more importantly, the series proper. If you think this movie is fine away to abridge those original Dragon Ball Arcs you are mistaken. I still recommend watching the original instead of this truncated version. There are no shortcuts on the path to power. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review Audience Member I loved that movie. Say what you will about GT this movie has "made me cry" potential. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member it a good short version of the early series it really nice (but no Krillin ð???) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Yet another alternate retelling of the Original Dragon Ball series. Only this time it's longer than the first 3.The story retells how Goku and Bulma first met for their search of the Dragon Balls. Also an alternate retelling on how they met Yamcha, Blur, Oolong, Master Roshi, & Turtle. Along the journey they will encounter representatives of the Red Ribbon Army who are also looking for the Dragon Balls.The cool thing about this movie is it's the 10th Anniversary of the original TV series. The animation is newer and comparable to the GT series. Most of the characters look different including Commander Red, General Blue, & General Silver.It's twice as long as the previous 3, so it has more variety and more elements to watch. Those who are long time or new coming fans of Dragon Ball will agree that this one's the best movie of the original TV series. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Released as the anime's 10th anniversary pleasant, nostalgically-aged treat and returning to where it started after GT's end, this reboot/remake of some areas of the original series shows faithfulness with improved developments while showing a nice structure of the storyline that done a nice summarization (probably what "The Last Airbender" tried to attempt). It however retains the silliness from the original series with some extra amount despite having a heart only on Goku's perspective, but it also retains the dramatic effects from GT - as well the artistic designs and colorful shading - and few from Z in emotions and actions. (B) (Full review coming soon) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member I dislike this one a bit not coz of the animation (well, a bit for that I did must admit but somehow like how Bulma had her hair violet as her son in a future will) but dislike it coz it was repeating the same thing from the 1st film of Dragon Ball with a new style...they should have not reboot this...it was already done...if you want to skip it, do it...watch the anime instead or read the manga. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dragon Ball: The Path to Power

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis An adventurous young girl embarks on the voyage of a lifetime after joining forces with a mysterious young boy on a daring mission.
Director
Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Screenwriter
Aya Matsui
Genre
Action, Fantasy, Anime
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 16, 2018
Runtime
1h 20m
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