Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia, the ''Dragon Ball'' wiki
Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, released in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Tobikkiri no Saikyō Tai Saikyō (ドラゴンボールZ とびっきりの最強対最強, Doragon Bōru Z: Tobikkiri no Saikyō tai Saikyō; Literally meaning "The Best of Strongest Versus Strongest mighty Dragon Ball Z") was originally released in Japan on July 20, 1991 between "Approaching Destruction" and "Gohan Returns". It was dubbed by FUNimation in 2002 and released on VHS and DVD on January 22. The film was re-released with its sequel, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler, in November 2008 alongside the remastered Season 7 of the anime series.
Contents
Synopsis
Backstory
Freeza's older brother, Coola, is introduced. The film begins with a flashback to when Freeza destroyed Planet Vegeta and Coola's Spaceship picked up Son Goku's Attack Pod escaping the system. Coola called off the order to have it destroyed and let it go as he believed it to be no threat to him. More then twenty-five years later, Coola unexpectedly discovered that his brother had been killed by a Saiyan, something he disregarded at first as he believed that no Saiyan could generate enough power to kill Freeza. Coola showed no compassion for his fallen brother, but was angered that someone in his family had been slain by a Saiyan and though that Freeza had dishonored the family name by doing so. Soon after, Coola and the Coola Armored Corps went to Planet Earth with the plan to kill the Saiyan who had damaged his family's honor. Upon arrival, his forces ambushed Son Goku and his friends on a camping trip, and after battling Sauzer, Neiz, and Doore, Goku was wounded by an energy blast launched by Coola that was meant to kill Gohan. Goku had enough strength left to counter with an energy blast at Coola, which he effortlessly parried, to which Coola then realized that he was most likely going to survive and tried to finish him off with a Death Flash, but he escaped underwater.
After Kuririn sets up shelter in a small cave with Goku, Gohan flies off to obtain Senzu from Karin at his tower. After obtaining the Senzu, he was ambushed by the squadron. When hee was about to be mercilessly beaten, Piccolo Junior arrived on the scene and saved him from the beat-down. Piccolo proceeded to battle the warriors and effortlessly killed Doore with a homing energy blast. He continued to fight against Neiz and Sauzer, but was trapped for a moment in the Neiz Bind Wave which allowed Sauzer time to chase down the fleeing Gohan. Piccolo proved far too powerful for the attack to work on him and he backfires it on Neiz, which killed the warrior. Piccolo then ambushed Sauzer in a forest, but Coola arrives and blasts Piccolo through the chest. He then orders Sauzer to track down Gohan as a near-dead Piccolo falls to the ground below. Gohan arrives at the cave with the Senzu Beans a short time later, but Sauzer arrives and destroys the bag just as he is about to give them to Krillin. An outraged Krillin attacks Sauzer but proves no match for the elite warrior, and as Krillin is smashed down, Gohan comes to his aid, but not before giving Goku the extra bean Yajirobe had thrown to him. As Gohan charges at Sauzer and proceeds to be thrashed around, Goku is healed with the spare bean. Goku walks out of the cave much to the surprise of Sauzer, who was just heading over to finish the wounded fighter off. Coola arrives moments later and during a conversation, Sauzer attacks Goku to absolutely no affect. Goku powers up and Sauzer is sent hurdling into a rock face. Goku then charges at Coola, and the titanic battle begins.
Goku vs. Coola
After several minutes of a somewhat even fight, Coola tells of his history with his younger brother Freeza, and how he always hated his "spoiled brat" of a brother, and that he was planning on killing him himself one day. As the conversation continues, Coola reveals that Freeza always had the edge in strength until Coola found a transformation beyond his brothers. The tyrant then reveals his final transformation, and proceeds to pummel Goku easily. Even with uses of the Kaio-ken and the Kamehameha, Goku proved no match for the transformed power of Coola and found himself completely outclassed. As Coola threatened to destroy the planet, however, Goku, after witnessing a small bird die from its wounds, let out a scream so powerful that it cracked solid stone and transformed into a Supa Saiyan. Coola found himself, like Freeza had been, grossly outclassed, but summoned a trump card in the form of a large scale orange sun-like energy ball (the same attack Freeza used to blow up Planet Vegeta and the one he used to attempt to kill Future Trunks Brief) to destroy Goku and Earth. After a stint of struggling, Goku eventually manages to send it back with a Kamehameha wave, sending Coola hurdling into the sun. As Coola curses Goku, he realizes that Goku is the Saiyan he let escape over two and a half decades ago, and that he could have prevented this fate by killing the Saiyan child when he had the opportunity. Coola then disintegrates and seemingly dies in the Sun.
Goku, drained after his battle, is found by Krillin and Gohan. They are searching for the injured Piccolo when Sauzer reappears, and attempts to attack them. However, before he can attack, he is run through and killed by a Special Beam Cannon from a distance. Gohan looks around for Piccolo to no avail, and the movie ends with Piccolo staring at the sun and drinking some water, his wounds fully healed due to his Regeneration ability.
Characters
- Bardock
- Coola
- Doore
- Freeza
- Haiya Dragon
- Karin
- Kuririn
- Neiz
- Piccolo Junior
- Oolong
- Sauzer
- Son Chichi
- Son Gohan
- Son Goku
- Yajirobe
Major battles
- Coola Armored Corps vs. Son Goku
- Coola Armored Corps vs. Son Gohan
- Coola Armored Corps vs. Piccolo
- Sauzer vs. Kuririn and Son Gohan
- Son Goku vs. Coola
- Son Goku vs. Coola (Final Form)
- Son Goku (Super Saiyan) vs. Coola (Final Form)
Continuity
Cooler's Revenge is one of the few Dragon Ball Z movies that can be placed in the series timeline without serious problems. The events of the movie could be placed between episodes "Z Warriors Prepare" and "Goku's Ordeal" of the Trunks Saga, while the Z Fighters were training for the arrival of the androids. In the book Daizenshuu 7, the movie events are placed chronologically in this period, around years 764-767 Age. A debriefing prior to the "Strongest vs. Strongest" stage of the Special Saga in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 asserts that Cooler's Revenge takes place following "[Goku's return] to Earth after crushing Frieza", somewhat confirming this.
However, there are several minor facts that disturb the continuity of the mainstream series. To begin with, in spite of Future Trunks killing both King Cold and the revitalized Mecha Freeza only hours prior to Goku's return to Earth, Coola seems intent only seeking vengeance for the shame thrust upon his family by Freeza's display of inferiority on Namek, as though he were completely unaware of not only his father's recent death, but also of the second (and actual) death of his brother, as well. However, it is entirely possible that news of these recent events never reached him, since Trunks, along with killing Freeza and King Cold, blew up their spaceship and killed all of Freeza's men. Another inconsistency stems from the fact that Gohan has a tail in the film, despite not having one during the time in the series when Cooler's Revenge is purported to take place. This is not unheard of in the mainstream series, however, as Gohan's tail regrows twice within just twenty-one episodes of the first time his tail is removed by Piccolo in "Gohan Goes Bananas". (In the edited Ocean Group dub, there is a 7-episode difference between "Gohan's Metamorphosis" and "The End of Snake Way"). In addition, Goku was shown to easily transform into a Super Saiyan upon his return to Earth, but needed to enter a "rage" to transform against Coola. Then again this could have also been done just for dramatic purposes, as in the movie Bojack Unbound Gohan should have been able to transform into a Super Saiyan 2 with no problem, yet it was not until the end that he finally did it.
Releases
The movie was originally released on both VHS and Laserdisc in Japan. They were in a 16:9 format, cropped from it's original 4:3 format. It was then released later in Japan as part of the well-known Dragon Box sets, remastered from it's original film masters and in a 16:9 anamorphic widescreen format. There was much controversy from fans over the decision to crop the movies from it's original 4:3 format. The controversy died down when Toei announced that the films were originally animated for widescreen viewing. The boxed set was released (containing all four Dragon Ball and all thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies) with great critical and audience reception.
In the United States, it was released in January 22, 2002 by FUNimation, in VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. It was released in a 4:3 format.[1]. The fast-food chain Burger King featured Dragon Ball Z toys in it's "kids" and "big-kids" meals, in which figurines of Goku, Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, and Coola where bundled for a limited time. [2] The movie was later re-released on October 15, 2002, bundled with Lord Slug and The Return of Cooler. [3]
FUNimation re-released this film in November 11, 2008, alongside the sixth movie, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler, digitally remastered and in a 16:9 format, as a "Double Feature" DVD and Blu-ray.[4]
Voice cast
Music
Japanese dub
- Opening theme (OP)
- "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
- Ending theme (ED)
- "Tobikkiri no Saikyō tai Saikyō"
- Lyrics: Masaru Satō, Music: Chiho Kiyo'oka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama and Ammy
- "Tobikkiri no Saikyō tai Saikyō"
FUNimation dub
- Drowning Pool – "Reminded"
- Dust for Life – "Poison"
- American Pearl – "Seven Years"
- Breaking Point – "Under"
- Finger Eleven – "Stay and Drown"
- Breaking Point – "Falling Down"
- Drowning Pool – "Mute"
- Drowning Pool – "Told You So"
- American Pearl – "Revelation"
- Breaking Point – "Phoenix"
- Disturbed – "The Game"
- Deftones – "Change"
Trivia
- By title, Cooler's Revenge is sometimes mistaken for The Return of Cooler as the theme of the latter film deals with a true plot for revenge by Coola. The "revenge" referred to in the title of Cooler's Revenge is an allusion to Coola's non-personal vendetta with Goku for his shame over the defeat of his brother, Freeza.
- Cooler's Revenge establishes that Coola is the reason why Goku's Attack Ball makes its safe travel to Planet Earth after identifying that Goku is harmless to his brother's operation (that, as well as the fact that he is upset at his brother for making a mistake like that).
- Icarus, who first appeared in Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug and the Garlic Jr. Saga is seen multiple times in the film.
- This is the first Dragon Ball Z film in which Goku transforms into his traditional Super Saiyan form.
- Goku was able to easily transform into a Super Saiyan when Future Trunks showed up in the Trunks Saga, however, he had to become enraged to turn Super Saiyan when fighting Coola. Of course, this was done so the fight with Coola would last longer, as Goku was stronger than Coola in Super Saiyan form, but it is a plot hole, though this could be because of the alternate timeline theory.
- All three of Coola's henchmen are killed by Piccolo. Coincidentally, all members of the Ginyu Special Corps (except Ginyu), who the Coola Armored Corps is based on, are killed by Vegeta.
- This is the first Dragon Ball Z film in which the Dragon Balls are not a part of the plot.
- For reasons unknown Gohan has a tail in this film. It is however possible for it to have grown back and to be removed again between when [Freeza came to Earth and the arrival of the Androids.
- When Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan, a Robin that died as a result of Coola tearing the planet apart is revived and flies away. This would imply that the Super Saiyan has a degree of healing abilities.
- This is the final appearance of Haiya Dragon.
- This is the first time Goku defeats a film villain using an attack other than the Genki Dama.
References
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Z-Feature-Uncut/dp/B00005M2C4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1245608457&sr=8-2
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpdsqUjFUX0&feature=channel_page
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Movies-Coolers-Revenge/dp/B00006SFK6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1245608457&sr=8-7
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Coolers-Revenge-Steelbook/dp/B001F2U6YM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1247880467&sr=8-2
_(380_%C3%97_551).jpg)
