Each film is included on a separate disc. At first, this may seem impressive, but when you realize that most of films aren't even an hour long (the first three run for about 50 minutes, while the fourth has a runtime of 80 minutes), it feels like a waste. This really could have been condensed down to a two-disc set. This is especially true when you realize that the disc for Curse of the Blood Rubies only has trailers on it, and the remaining three discs contain absolutely no special features at all. Also, it should be noted that the disc for Curse of the Blood Rubies that's included in this set is exactly the same as the version that was released individually.One of the things that FUNimation plays up with this set is the fact that the films have been remastered. However, when I watched all of the discs on this set, I noticed that the video looked rather grainy, and that the audio sounded rather muffled. If this is how it looks in a remastered version, I would hate to see how it would look and sound if it wasn't remastered.
As for the films themselves, Curse of the Blood Rubies is a retelling of the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball, Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle is a retelling of how Goku and Kuririn become Master Roshi's students, Mystical Adventure is a retelling of the second Tenkaichi Tournament, and The Path to Power is a retelling of the first two seasons of Dragon Ball. The first three films were produced and released concurrently with the original Dragon Ball series, while the fourth was produced in 1996 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Dragon Ball franchise. The first three films have to be seen as an "alternate timeline" story for the original Dragon Ball anime series, while the fourth film needs to be seen as an "alternate timeline" story for both the anime series and the first three Dragon Ball films.
Personally, I can only truly recommend this box set for the die-hard Dragon Ball fans that must own everything on DVD, and want to purchase this set as an easy way to acquire all four Dragon Ball films for their collection. However, I would only recommend it if you can find it for $20 or less; anything more than $20 is too much for what you get in this set.
I wrote this review after giving a copy of the Dragon Ball 4-Movie DVD Box Set as a gift to my husband.
