'Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks/ Bardock: The Father of Goku' -

[Attebery]

Kenneth's review of 'Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks/ Bardock: The Father of Goku' is up. He's still not a fan, but was sort of pulled into one of this Blu-ray's installments. This release has a spotty video transfer, flawed audio, and no special features. For fans only.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1519...y_bardock.html

[Space_Butler]

A very fair review, I think. Glad to know about the video quality.

[ben1080p]

hmm. interesting review. Glad you finally enjoyed one

? for Ken. Did the disc come with any ads for future DBZ titles. I know that Dead Zone Double Feature showed this double feature before officially announced.
Id love to see Cooler and Fusion Reborn!

[godofchaos]

There are a few issues with this review. (Some are based on lack of knowledge of the franchise, which you know, happens, if I sound mean about it...oh well, I'm a fan, I'm more bothered by some of the TECHNICAL mistakes in the review, that almost suggest the reviewer wasn't paying any actual attention).

1- Nowhere on the disc, packaging, or insert does it say 35mm (and in fact one of the behind the scenes on the first DVD season set specifically shows that it ISN'T 35mm). Funimation has masters FROM Japan, not the original masters (Despite their own claims), which were cropped for this release, since both features on the disk were 4x3 TV specials.

2- Any bit of minor research would tell you The History of Trunks is not an Elseworlds-style story, but a prequel to a story arc in the series where Trunks shows up to try and change the history of what happens (the special was meant to flesh out Trunks early life and origin, and what exactly had happened in the future he had talked about during the series).

I have no issue with a non fan doing the review, but at least do the research if you are gonna make comments, and comment on the way it ends (considering the arc involving Trunks is a VERY large part of the series).

3- Quoting the review "a dubbed English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track with U.S. music, a dubbed TrueHD 5.1 track with Japanese music, and an original Japanese-language mono mix"

That's just wrong... There is a TrueHD 5.1 track with dubbed voices and Japanese music, a normal 2.0 Dolby track with dubbed voices and U.S. music, and a Japanese mono track. (the packaging says what it does in the review, but it still isn't right, and suggests the reviewer never actually CHECKED).

The menu makes it clear what is what as far as the audio is concerned.

[BreakAtmo]

Amen, godofchaos. This review could have been good, if Kenneth had not COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY MISSED THE POINT of The History of Trunks. Trunks was originally introduced in the series when he arrived in the main timeline, from the future, to warn the Z-Warriors of the coming Androids so that they would be able to train to defeat them - The History of Trunks is a special that fleshes out Trunks' background and the events leading up to his journey in the series, not a standalone story that will work for new viewers.

[godofchaos]

Originally Posted by BreakAtmo

Amen, godofchaos. This review could have been good, if Kenneth had not COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY MISSED THE POINT of The History of Trunks. Trunks was originally introduced in the series when he arrived in the main timeline, from the future, to warn the Z-Warriors of the coming Androids so that they would be able to train to defeat them - The History of Trunks is a special that fleshes out Trunks' background and the events leading up to his journey in the series, not a standalone story that will work for new viewers.

In general it CAN work as a series introduction (not a good one), but saying the ending is a copout especially when

Spoiler:

we find out that Trunks going back in time won't change HIS future, just the future for everyone else, and that even when all is said and done and everyone saved he returns back to the same 'gone to hell' future he was from, even if it IS with the power to stop the Androids, no reset button is pressed, no copout involved.

.

I don't necessary blame Kenneth for many of the DBZ related errors, the box itself says it's a 'future that never happened' (which goes back to Funi seemingly being deceptive by idiocy/misunderstanding, rather than any attempt at out and out deception since

Spoiler:

the future seen in the Trunks special DOES still happen, just not to the characters as seen since Trunks goes back to help them, the show always made it quite clear it all still happened in a parallel timeline and that Trunks was never able to save anyone who had died in his own timeline, just stop it from happening in the 'tv shows' timeline

Spoiler tags probably weren't necessary, decided to do it for the few people who honestly don't know and don't want to be spoiled on events in the tv show.


I'm more annoyed by the technical issues that he could have checked just by going into the setup menu (obviously without looking stuff up on the net there was no way for him to know they were cropped), but with the audio issues, and the seeming 'invention' that it was remastered from 35mm.

[Ken Brown]

Ah, my usual thorough double-checking has failed me! My deepest apologies for the technical errors. The big culprit in this case is that I watched the disc nearly a week ago and just now got around to doing the write-up using my notes... the length of time and my reliance on my notes alone obviously led to specification mistakes. Lesson learned.

Also, please don't take my explanation as a justification. It's not an excuse, I just thought you would feel better knowing I didn't get lazy with the review of the disc, just with the resultant text.

I'm off to change the tech errors now (as well as adjust the wording on some of the DBZ-plot misunderstandings). Hopefully that will ensure my review doesn't mislead anyone new to the series.

Thanks to everyone who dug through the text for bringing it all to my attention. Be sure to let me know if you notice anything else, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant!

[godofchaos]

We only complain because we love.

Maybe not the non remastering, or the cropping.

Or the lack of extras.

Or the lack of a lossless audio for the ORIGINAL audio.

Or the fact they claim these are movies.

but um... there was a point somewhere in there.


But minus some issues, keep up the good reviews.

[Ken Brown]

The errors have been fixed and I reworded a lot of my 'History of Trunks' review. Again, please don't hesitate to point out anything else you find -- I'll jump on it ASAP.

Thanks as always for posting, keeping us on our toes, and being so civil when voicing your concerns!

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by godofchaos

Or the fact they claim these are movies.

I meant to ask one of you about this -- I noticed sources are split as to whether these entries are "movies," "films," or "specials." FUNimation isn't any help either. I can't get an e-mail through to them, much less get a screener.

Could someone post an explanation as to what these entries officially are?

[RandellG]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

The errors have been fixed and I reworded a lot of my 'History of Trunks' review. Again, please don't hesitate to point out anything else you find -- I'll jump on it ASAP.

Thanks as always for posting, keeping us on our toes, and being so civil when voicing your concerns!

Sadly that part doesn't always happen

[RandellG]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

I meant to ask one of you about this -- I noticed sources are split as to whether these entries are "movies," "films," or "specials." Could someone post as to what they officially are?

Just call it a "Movie/Film/Special" that way you can't be wrong

[godofchaos]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

The errors have been fixed and I reworded a lot of my 'History of Trunks' review. Again, please don't hesitate to point out anything else you find -- I'll jump on it ASAP.

Only other thing is these are cropped.

These were TV specials from 1990 (Bardock) and 1993 (Trunks), that were animated in, intended to be seen in, and shown in 4x3. Prior to this year EVERY showing and release of these specials were 4x3. They were cropped because Funimation's master has significant film damage on the top and bottom, and (like you suggest/state in the review) doesn't wanna pay for the show to be properly remastered, so simply sliced the top and bottom off and went 'look, WIDESCREEN... better' (despite the fact was already properly frame by frame remastered for a Japanese release a few years ago, and licensing companies in other countries have made use of these recent masters).

I try and be civil and levelheaded when it comes to voicing complaints, a fan screaming their head off doesn't get anywhere.


edit- and yes Ken, your review is right, they DON'T have masters in the best possible quality, their masters are 2nd or 3rd gen copies

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by godofchaos

These were TV specials from 1990 (Bardock) and 1993 (Trunks), that were animated in, intended to be seen in, and shown in 4x3. Prior to this year EVERY showing and release of these specials were 4x3. They were cropped because Funimation's master has significant film damage on the top and bottom, and (like you suggest/state in the review) doesn't wanna pay for the show to be properly remastered, so simply sliced the top and bottom off and went 'look, WIDESCREEN... better' (despite the fact was already properly frame by frame remastered for a Japanese release a few years ago, and licensing companies in other countries have made use of these recent masters).

I added a blurb about this in the video section...

Originally Posted by godofchaos

I try and be civil and levelheaded when it comes to voicing complaints, a fan screaming their head off doesn't get anywhere.

It's definitely appreciated. I hate... HATE... making mistakes in my reviews, so I'm genuinely thankful when someone points out anything I get wrong.

Originally Posted by godofchaos

and yes Ken, your review is right, they DON'T have masters in the best possible quality, their masters are 2nd or 3rd gen copies

Ugh. I'll be sure to mention that the next time I review DBZ material. By the time they start releasing the series, I might just know what I'm talking about!

[BreakAtmo]

One thing that must be noted about the widescreen presentation is that while it's true that the 16x9 has been acheived partially by removing material from the top and bottom, extra material from the left and right of the original film print that was never seen in the 4x3 versions is also there. It also means extra detail in certain parts of the film, plus I do appreciate the look on a 16x9 TV. When I watched the Broly Double Feature, there were only a small few occasions where the cropping was obvious (much of the time you only lose background and other meaningless stuff), and the overall widescreen presentation and extra detail, I felt, made up for it. That said, I think that the option of showing the 4x3 versions, or perhaps even the full original print (which, sadly, includes rounded edges and is not full widescreen but would show every last scrap of detail) would have been much appreciated.

Some comparisons regarding what I said about extra picture can be illustrated with both this comparison:

4x3 Screenshot

vs.
16x9 Screenshot


This clearly shows both the picture that has been lost from the top and bottom, and the picture that has been gained on the left and right.

Next:

Original Film Print:

vs.
16x9 Screenshot:


This shows how they have turned the neither-4x3-or-16x9 prints into actual 16x9, and the rounded edges that would be shown if the full prints were shown as a viewing option.