Goku is a kid, Master Roshi has a turtle and Yamcha has Puar... now this one really LOOKS like Dragon Ball!
Dragon Ball: Fight For Victory, Son Goku! (Deuraegonbol: Ssawora Son Ogong, Igyeora Son Ogong note ) is a unofficial Korean Live Action movie strongly based on the Dragon Ball franchise.
It was released on 1990 by (normally) animation studio Dai Won; and for those who have seen it, it's full of Narm Charm and B-movies charm.
In comparison with the other two Dragon Ball films, the American Dragonball Evolution and the Taiwanese Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins, this movie is by far the most faithful to Akira Toriyama's story, and the one that received the highest ratings in the Internet Movie Database (5.0, against 3.1 of DBE and 3.8 of DBTMB).
This movie provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Oolong, not only does his robot form actually boast working weaponry but he also learns the Kamehameha and uses it to defeat Pilaf alongside Goku.
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Yamcha is a much more competent fighter too, single-handedly defeating Shu with just ONE hit. - The Pilaf gang themselves are depicted as more of a threat. Pilaf can shoot lightning like Darth Sidious, Shu is a cyborg and Mai gains the ability to shape-shift into a Centipede monster.
- Even Umigame the Turtle gets an upgrade, joining the final battle against Pilaf and laying a beatdown on him!
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Nappa from Dragon Ball Z appears.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: When Oolong steals Pilaf's wish on the Dragon Balls, the film doesn't show the Dragon Balls turning to stone and scattering across the world as they're supposed to do once a wish is made, raising the question of why Pilaf doesn't just try again.
- Anime Hair: Just look at the picture!
- Composite Character: The character wearing the Saiyan armor looks like Nappa but has Raditz's role.
- Dirty Old Man: Downplayed with Roshi, who only ever asks for a kiss from Bulma.
- Dub Name Change:
- Characters are generally referred to with the same names seen in the Korean localization of Dragon Ball proper, including Son Goku being referred to as "Son Ogong," the Korean name of his namesake, Sun Wukong from Journey to the West (similar to how Goku's Japanese name comes from the Japanese name for Sun Wukong).
- "Kame House" is renamed "Turtle House" in this movie. Granted, it could be just an overly literal translation.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: The Dragon Radar's a customized Game & Watch and Puar's a simple plush toy of the character.
- People in Rubber Suits: Since there was no way to make a pterodactyl or a bear, they had to use guys in a pterodactyl armor and a bear in armor respectively. This is also true for all the other characters. Which is awesome, since they resemble a lot of the characters from the Manga.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: It's a movie about Dragon Ball, so a lot of things were left out. Other times, things are changed due to budget restrictions e.g. the Pterodactyl is adapted as a human with Pterodactyl features.
- Shout-Out: In Bulma's capsule house, the very first episode of Dragon Ball is seen on TV.
- Smoking Is Cool: Puar is seen smoking in the film even though he never does so in the manga.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Most of the villains are killed through very minor occurrences and yet they explode.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Puar is present for the first half of the movie but disappears for the second half. Granted, Yamcha could've left him behind in his desert base while he went on his dangerous mission but that's something implied rather than outright addressed.
