The animation here is legitimately better than what the series could pull off week to week in 1989. The fight with Goku moves like it's not fighting to stay on model, fighting to get somewhere. Gohan gets kidnapped and actually matters, not as a plot device but as the thing that makes Goku move. The Dead Zone itself is a visual idea the franchise hadn't done before, a space where physics breaks and there's nowhere to run. This is what DBZ movies should be: better versions of what the show does, not replacements for it.

An old grudge resurfaces when the son of Kami-sama's former rival sets out for revenge over Kami-sama becoming Earth's Guardian. His band of mysterious fighters overpowers Piccolo at a remote cliff, then raids Mount Paozu for Gohan's Dragon Ball, beating Chi-Chi and Gyumao and carrying the boy away. Sensing trouble, Goku returns home, learns what happened from Chi-Chi, and borrows the Dragon Radar from Kame House to track down the Dragon Balls, the attackers and Gohan. Using the Dragon Balls, the villain makes himself immortal, setting up a final confrontation with Goku. The film is a science fiction action adventure built around Goku's effort to rescue Gohan.