is a 2018 Japanese animated martial arts fantasy adventure film. It is the twentieth animated feature film in the Dragon Ball franchise, the first to carry the Dragon Ball Super branding, and is the third film in the franchise to be personally supervised by series creator Akira Toriyama. The film serves as a canonical reimagining of the Broly character from the films Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993), Broly – Second Coming (1994), and Bio-Broly (1994) into the main Dragon Ball continuity. Set after the events of the Universe Survival Saga, the plot follows Goku and Vegeta as they encounter the powerful Saiyan named Broly. The film chronicles the history of the Saiyans and the background story of these three Saiyans with different destinies connected to the turbulent period of their race.
The film was released in Japan on December 14, 2018, by Toei and 20th Century Fox Japan. It was well received by critics, especially for its animation, fight sequences, and art style, and was a box office success, grossing over $124 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing Dragon Ball film ever. It also became the highest-grossing anime film of 2018 and, at the time, the third highest-grossing anime film in the United States and Canada and the twelfth highest-grossing anime film of all time. It was the final Dragon Ball film co-distributed by 20th Century Fox, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney on March 20, 2019.
A sequel, titled Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, was released in June 2022.
Plot
In Age 732, after being informed by the galactic warlord King Cold that his race will now serve his son Frieza, King Vegeta finds a commoner infant named Broly within a nursery only the elite are accepted in. Learning Broly's power level greatly exceeds that of his infant son Vegeta, whom he believes would liberate their people and conquer the universe, King Vegeta exiles Broly to the distant planetoid Vampa in hopes the infant would die before becoming a potential threat to the Saiyans. Broly's father Paragus attempted to rescue his son, only for the ship he stole to get damaged beyond repair on entry to Vampa. Stuck on Vampa, he raises his son to exact revenge on King Vegeta.
Five years later, a low-class Saiyan warrior named Bardock grows concerned about Frieza's reasons for calling the Saiyans to Planet Vegeta and confides his suspicions in his wife Gine while realizing Frieza's intentions to exterminate their race out of fear of the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God legends. He and his wife Gine send their infant son, Kakarot, to Earth some time before Frieza commences the genocide of the Saiyan race. Besides Broly, Paragus, and Kakarot, the other survivors of Saiyans include Kakarot's older brother Raditz, Vegeta and his comrade Nappa, and Vegeta's brother Tarble.
Forty-three years later in age 780, and a few months after the Tournament of Power, Kakarot, now named Son Goku, trains with Vegeta around a desert island before Bulma is informed by her son Trunks that the Dragon Radar and six of the seven magical Dragon Balls in her possession were stolen by low-class Frieza Force soldiers. Bulma leaves her daughter Bulla with Beerus while accompanying Goku, Vegeta, and Whis travel to an arctic region to find the seventh Dragon Ball before Frieza can retrieve it. Meanwhile, Broly and Paragus are rescued from Vampa by Cheelai and Lemo, two low-class Frieza Force soldiers on a recruitment mission. The two are brought to Frieza and are enlisted to defeat Goku and Vegeta. Cheelai steals the remote Paragus uses to keep Broly submissive and breaks it before the two groups cross paths on Earth.
With his increasing power and adaptive fighting abilities, Broly is able to seemingly beat the Saiyan Prince in his Base, Super Saiyan, and Super Saiyan God forms. Goku challenges Broly in his Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue forms and manages to gain the advantage despite Broly gaining more strength while Paragus fears the worst upon learning he lost the means to snap Broly out from his Wrathful form. However, remembering the circumstances that allowed Goku to first acquire his Super Saiyan form, Frieza covertly kills Paragus to awaken Broly's latent Super Saiyan powers. The fully mindless Broly overwhelms both Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan Blue forms before being directed to attack Frieza while Goku uses his instantaneous movement technique to get him and Vegeta to Piccolo. The two proceed to teach Vegeta the Fusion Dance technique as he and Goku eventually did, after two failed attempts resulting in the return of the fat and skinny Veku, succeed in forming a man with golden vest trim, an aqua sash, and jet-black hair. The man introduces himself to an impatient Piccolo as Gogeta, then he, upon hearing Piccolo's command to "get up there and defeat him" earlier, arrives to the battlefield as Broly attacks Whis after defeating Golden Frieza. Golden Frieza, Whis and Bulma watch Gogeta dominate the fight in his Super Saiyan form before an infuriated Broly reaches his rage-breaking point and powers up even further into his Super Saiyan Full Power form, countering by assuming Super Saiyan Blue form with their violent clash breaking through multiple dimensions before arriving back on Earth.
Gogeta defeats Broly using Meteor Explosion and nearly kills him with the "Ultimate" Kamehameha but Cheelai and Lemo, who had formed a friendship with Broly, summon the eternal dragon Shenron with the Dragon Balls and use their wish to transport Broly safely back to Vampa. The two then escape with Gogeta preventing their ship from being destroyed by Frieza, who decides to spare them as they can make Broly a more stable asset to his military force. Some time after, Goku arrives on Vampa to provide Cheelai and Lemo with supplies while expressing his intent to spar with Broly and help teach him to control his power. Formally introducing himself before leaving, Goku tells Broly to call him by his birth name, Kakarot.
Voice cast Character nameJapaneseEnglishGokuMasako NozawaSean SchemmelColleen Clinkenbeard (young)VegetaRyō HorikawaChristopher SabatFreezaRyūsei NakaoChristopher AyresBrolyBin ShimadaYukiko Morishita (young)Vic MignognaBrina Palencia (young)Paragus Katsuhisa HōkiDameon ClarkeNana MizukiErica LindbeckTomokazu SugitaBruce CareyBulmaAya HisakawaMonica RialWhisMasakazu MoritaIan SinclairPiccoloToshio FurukawaChristopher SabatBeerusKōichi YamaderaJason DouglasMasami KikuchiSonny FranksKimiko SaitōVeronica TaylorBardockMasako NozawaSonny StraitTakuya KirimotoAnthony BowlingKing VegetaBanjō GingaChristopher SabatNaoko WatanabeEmily NevesYōhei AzakamiAustin TindleKing ColdRyūzaburō ŌtomoJason DouglasHisao EgawaDaman MillsTakashi Matsuyama Ray HurdRaditzShigeru ChibaJustin CookNappaTetsu InadaPhil ParsonsMasaya TakatsukaMarcus D. StimacAtsuki TaniSonny FranksYukiko MorishitaTerri DotyMajordomoShin AomoriBarry YandellZarbonHiroaki MiuraChristopher SabatTrunksTakeshi KusaoAlexis TiptonGotenMasako NozawaKara EdwardsBullaAya HisakawaBryn ApprillEmperor PilafShigeru ChibaChuck HuberMaiEiko YamadaColleen ClinkenbeardShuTessho GendaChris CasonGogetaMasako NozawaRyō HorikawaSean SchemmelChristopher SabatShenronRyūzaburō ŌtomoChristopher SabatBrina Palencia
Production Development
The film is produced by Toei Animation. It was originally announced under the tentative title of Dragon Ball Super - The Movie on December 17, 2017, during Jump Festa with the general theme being "The Strongest Warrior Race in the Universe, The Saiyans". A poster was released on March 13, 2018, eleven days before the airing of the final episode of Dragon Ball Super, featuring an entirely new traditional animation design by Toei animator Naohiro Shintani, as opposed to veteran Dragon Ball character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro. One week later, the first trailer for the film was released publicly through Toei Animation featuring the all–new character designs and an enigmatic new villain. Akira Toriyama wrote the story, screenplay and designed the characters, Tatsuya Nagamine is film director, Naohiro Shintani is animation director, Kazuo Ogura is serving as art director, Rumiko Nagai as color designer, Naotake Oota is in charge of special effects, and Kai Makino is the CG director. The film includes elements of the 2014 "Dragon Ball −(Minus): The Departure of the Fated Child" story written by Toriyama.
On July 9, 2018, the film's title was revealed to be Dragon Ball Super: Broly, revealing the unknown villain to be the titular character Broly who first appeared in the 1993 film Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan. Toriyama stated the character and his origin is reworked, but with his classic image in mind. With this film portrayal, the character would become part of the Dragon Ball Super official continuity. Other new characters introduced in the film are Goku's mother Gine, Kikono, Berryblue, Cheelai, and Lemo serving in Frieza's army, and the Saiyan Beets.
Music The film score was composed by Norihito Sumitomo. The original soundtrack, containing 34 tracks, was released on December 12, 2018, by Avex Trax. In August 2018, was reported a rumor that the Dragon Ball Z iconic theme song "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" would be also featured in a new arrangement. In October 2018, it was announced that Daichi Miura would perform the film's theme song "", which was released as a single on December 19 by Sonic Groove. Three versions of the single "Blizzard" were released (CD+DVD Edition, Single CD Edition and CD "Dragon Ball Super: Broly" Cover Edition). In its first week of release the CD single sold 22,826 copies. In his sixth week in the Charts, "Blizzard" reached number two on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and achieved the number one on the Billboard Hot Animation.
Marketing Promotion On July 19, 2018, theatrical trailers for both the subtitled and dubbed versions were released online after being shown at San Diego Comic-Con. On October 5, 2018, the second trailer for both the subtitled and dubbed versions were released online after being shown at New York Comic Con during the Dragon Ball Super: Broly panel at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The third trailer was released on November 7, 2018, but only subtitled, while dubbed version on December 20. The fourth which was a music trailer featuring the theme song "Blizzard" was released on November 24, 2018. The fifth and final trailer was released on November 29, 2018, with a dubbed version, also of the theme song, on December 4, 2018. Each trailer covered a different aspect of the film; the first introduced Broly and his fights against Vegeta, Goku and Frieza, the second their origin stories, the third more scenes from the fights, the fourth recapped previous scenes, and fifth which was the shortest introduced Gogeta's battle against Broly.
Beginning July 20, the first 50,000 pre-order ticket holders in Japan received a char of Goku or Vegeta. A promotional one-hour television special aired on Fuji TV in Japan on December 2, 2018, entitled "Just before the Dragon Ball Super debut! TV version climax recap".
Merchandise