Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone is a 1989 Japanese animated action fantasy film set before the events of the Dragon Ball Z television series. Garlic Jr., the son of a demon who once lost the contest to become Guardian of Earth, returns with his followers to take revenge on Kami and claim the position for himself. To gain immortality, he and his henchmen gather the seven Dragon Balls, and in the course of their search they kidnap Goku's young son Gohan along with the four-star ball he wears on his hat. Goku, joined by Piccolo, Krillin and Kami, sets out to rescue the boy and stop Garlic Jr. from opening a gateway to a void known as the Dead Zone. The story draws on the earlier rivalry between Garlic's father and Kami, and it introduces Garlic Jr. as a villain who is later continued in the series.

The film was directed by Daisuke Nishio, the fourth of the fourteen films he directed in chronological order, following Crying Freeman 1: Portrait of a Killer in 1988 and preceding Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest in 1990. Takao Koyama wrote the screenplay, and the voice cast includes Masako Nozawa as both Goku and Gohan, Toshio Furukawa as Piccolo, Hiromi Tsuru as Bulma, Mayumi Tanaka as Krillin, Daisuke Gori as Gyu-mao and Mayumi Shou as Chichi. It is a short theatrical feature of 41 minutes, produced by Toei Animation and Toei Company, and it took about 9 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from 739 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.8 out of 10 from 634 votes.