Certain questions have always plagued mankind. Can absolute morals exist in the absence of a God or some form of karmic retribution, or does morality become relative and all is permitted because nothing is innately wrong? If highly religious countries always have lower suicide rates than atheist countries due to the fear of eternal damnation, should religion be promoted to stabilize society even if we know many of the stories aren't true? Finally, what IS the worst fucking DBZ movie?!
"plot" 2/10
The story of Lord Slug is that there is a super powerful Namekian that comes to Earth in order to gather the dragon balls and wish for eternal youth. Keep in mind that he has an interstellar ship and MUST be aware of the Namekian dragon balls, that grant 3 wishes instead of 1 and are less well defended, because the toughest Namek is Nail with a power level of only around 40K. Lord Slug decides to defy ALL logic and come to Earth, so that this movie can totally rip off the King Piccolo story arc from Dragon Ball. Goku and friends must sense this powerful being coming, but decide to do nothing and just allow his minions to gather the dragonballs and grant a wish. If he had wished for immortality, the gang would be screwed because Lord Slug isn't going to open the "Dead Zone" and off himself. Fortunately, Lord Slug is so stupid that he merely wishes for youth without adding that extra bit about not being able to die. How is he defeated? The first step in his downfall involves Gohan whistling. In this movie, Namekians are really weakened by whistling for...some reason. Keep in mind that this has ZERO precedence in the series, and apart from this movie is never used again! Goku then changes into a form that isn't a Super Saiyan, because Toriyama hadn't created the Super Saiyan design yet. Instead he becomes a glowing red form that fans now simply call "Champion of Christmas" after the TFS joke. Goku then finally defeats him with....wait for it....the spirit bomb! Seriously, Fuck this movie!
Art and Sound: 6/10
The fight scenes aren't nearly as good as some of the other DBZ movies, but they aren't absolutely terrible. The animation is generally decent for 1991 DBZ standards and the soundtrack (I'm talking about the Japanese one) is mostly just the same soundtrack from the series without any notable great track additions, unlike say the 7th or 8th movies. Basically the art and sound is fine, but it didn't feel like they were really going all out either. It felt like a quickly made, lazy cash grab because that is exactly what it was.
Overall: 3/10
Does it have some of that trademark DBZ yelling and action? Yes it does. Does it have a few moments that were amusing? I would argue that it does. Is it a good movie? HELL NO! This movie is always a strong contender for the worst DBZ movie along with #6 (Mecha-Cooler) and #11 (Bio-Broly). All 3 are honestly horrible fucking movies that only rabid DBZ fans (like me) could even remotely enjoy, and even that is a stretch. My opinion on which of the 3 is the worst fluctuates, but most of the time I would respond that Lord Slug is in fact the worst of the whole bunch. This is obviously not counting the time traveling Bardock special, because that was a TV special and NOT a movie. Bottom line: don't watch this movie unless you are a HUGE DBZ fan and simply have to complete all the movies, just to say that you did!
