The Old School Otaku Lounge

I ended up going to the Dragon Ball Z: Broly screening earlier tonight. It was very cool seeing a DBZ film on the big screen, despite not being too fond of the later DBZ films. It was the dubbed "remastered" version, meaning they used the Japanese music instead of the American music from the original DVD release. A shame (for me) as I much preferred the American music in the DBZ films. Still worth checking out though.

Surprisingly, there wasn't much fanfare for the film. When I went to see Batman: The Killing Joke (which was also a Fathom Events showing), they had a few interviews with the cast and production team both before and after the film. With DBZ, they just showed some commercials before the movie (including an older Japanese DBZ TV commercial, which was neat) and at the end there was brief footage of some convention where they unveiled a new line of Dragon Ball skateboards. Oh, and upon buying my ticket, I received a DBZ Broly trading card.

My local theater has been doing numerous Fathom Events, but none that have attracted much attention. Only 9 people, including myself, attended the DBZ screening tonight. I'm not sure how much longer they'll be doing anime-related showings here. I highly doubt the Sailor Moon musical and Mazinger Z screenings brought in many people to my theater. I'm sure in a larger city, the turnout would have been much, much higher. The local theater seems to choose the films with the lowest guaranteed attendance rates, for example they chose not to screen Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Shin Godzilla, or even the upcoming Cowboy Bebop re-release (all of which would have likely seen increased ticket sales). Worst example is they're not even showing Transformers: The Movie on September 27th, which was the most requested Fathom Event on their Facebook page...

Yea, I caught the Broly movie last night with a buddy of mine. It's the first time for me to see it, and I really enjoyed it. There was a bit of a conundrum, since at the same time the Regal theater was showing Smoky and the Bandit, and I was more hard pressed to see that film over a DBZ movie with other nerds. Smokey and the Bandit is another film that i've caught on TV numerous times over the years but i've never fully sat down and watched the whole thing. Maybe I should have saw Burt Reynolds on the big screen for the first time, but the Broly movie didn't disappoint me so I didn't feel the need to ditch it halfway

I will give it that the pan shots didn't have pan and scan issues like I saw in Castle of Cagliostro on the big screen, where the movie looked like it was jumping frames when showing a scenic background. I felt that it flowed pretty well with the opening scenes of Chi Chi and Goku trying to get Gohan into that nice school or whatever.

DKop wrote: ↑Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:07 am It's the first time for me to see it, and I really enjoyed it.

It's not without its flaws but this movie is one of my personal favorites.

DKop wrote: I felt that it flowed pretty well with the opening scenes of Chi Chi and Goku trying to get Gohan into that nice school or whatever.

Stuff like that - and some of those scenes that become full episodes - catch some flak amongst a lot of DBZ fans but I've always loved them. Nice refreshing gag comedy to kinda cleanse the pallet.

Char Aznable wrote:Personally, I favor the dubbed versions. I remember having to get subbed copies of the later DBZ movies back in the day, and could never get into the Japanese voices, particularly Goku's. As was mentioned in an earlier post, when these shows air on American TV for so long, one version becomes so cemented in the minds of audiences, it's difficult to not "hear" the characters speak in those familiar voices.

I totally get this, even if I don't agree with it as a matter of preference. Same, but opposite.

Char Aznable wrote:My local theater has been doing numerous Fathom Events, but none that have attracted much attention.

My excuse is that I often find out about Fathom and other anime screenings too late. I saw that Perfect Blue was screening at the cinema closest to my house as I was driving past it on my way home from judo. Wonder if we should start a thread here to help raise awareness or something like that. Hopefully you've still got another option close by if your local cinema stops doing Fathom.