NEW SEVEN DRAGON BALL (新七龍珠)
aka DRAGON BALL: THE MAGIC BEGINS
dir. Chen Chun-liang, 1991
Taiwan. 90 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.
SATURDAY, MAY 10 - 10 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 16 - MIDNIGHT
SUNDAY, MAY 25 - 5 PM
A group of aliens led by the villainous Lord Horn (Philip So) scour the Earth for seven precious orbs known as the “Dragon Pearls” which, once gathered, can summon a wish-granting dragon that can bestow the dark Lord with unlimited power. After inheriting one of the pearls from his grandfather, it falls on the young Monkey Boy (Chen Chi-chiang) and his gang of magical misfits to collect the remaining pearls before they fall into Lord Horn’s clutches, in what is definitely not an unauthorized adaptation of a certain hyper popular manga.
For fans of the DB franchise hoping to see live action takes on its iconic characters, go look somewhere else… Because like most Chinese-language adaptations of Japanese manga, this one bears little resemblance to its source material (though ironically brings it closer to the series’ original inspiration of Journey to the West). In lieu of Krillin, Piccolo, and Vegeta, we get new fan favorites like, uh, Piggy, Seetou, and Turtle Man. It’s an action-packed, deeply silly, chronically horny (at least for a children’s movie) affair that, by all accounts, is still leagues better than the other live action DB movie out there.