Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might is the third Dragon Ball Z movie. As Bulma, Krillin, Oolong, and Gohan are camping something falls from space. The object crashes into the forest causing a massive fire. Gohan and Krillin rush to save the animals from the fire. Gohan befriends a small dragon he names Icarus. Despite putting out the flames the forest is ruined. They decide to restore the forest using the Dragon Balls. The crashed object turns out to be a probe. It scans the environment, sending the information to an unknown group of aliens.
They determine that Earth would be perfect for the Tree of Might, a plant that sucks all the nutrients out of the planet. Meanwhile, Icarus arrives at Goku’s, Chi-Chi’s, and Gohan’s house. Chi-Chi won’t allow Gohan to keep him in the house. Goku takes Gohan and Icarus to a cave where the later can stay. The aliens plant the seed and the tree grows. Elsewhere, the Z-Fighters gather at Goku’s house. King Kai contacts Goku informing him of the dangers of Tree of Might. Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu head out to destroy the tree.
The Z-Fighters verses the Turles Crusher Corps
I mentioned in my review of Dragon Ball Z: The Worlds Strongest that I missed when the fighters other than Goku were involved in the fighting. Tree of Might is one of the few movies that feature some of the other fighters. The battle between the groups ensued. They pair off, with Tien and Chiaotzu facing the twins Rasin and Lakasei, Krillin takes on Amond and Yamcha fights Cacao. Unfortunately, the Z-fighters can’t handle their opponents. Both Yamcha and Krillin use their trademark techniques, Spirit Ball and Destructo Disk. They both lose. Chiaotzu is overwhelmed by one of the twins and is rescued by Gohan. He easily defeats Lakasei, getting the attention of Turles.
Goku’s look alike
Turles looks like a darker-skinned Goku. He gives Gohan a choice to join his crew. Piccolo interferes but is easily defeated by Turles. He then uses an artificial moon to turn Gohan into a Great Ape. Gohan goes on a rampage. Icarus manages to calm Gohan down. However, Turles attacks Icarus turning Gohan against him. Goku takes the opportunity to cut Gohan’s tail off. Able to focus now, Goku promises to defeat Turles. First, he must defeat the Turles Crusher Corps. Using the Kaio-Ken, he defeats all five easily. Meanwhile, Turles quickly dominates Piccolo who has been completely useless in this movie. Finally, Goku and Turles only have each other to fight. Turles takes fruit from the Tree of Might increasing his power and beating Goku into submission.
Desperate, Goku gathers energy for the Spirit Bomb. However, the Tree of Might had absorbed too much of Earth’s energy rendering the Spirit Bomb less effective. Goku then takes the energy from the tree itself. With a complete Spirit Bomb, Goku can defeat Turles and destroys the Tree.
Overall this movie is just okay. The most interesting thing about it is the appearance of Turles. Why does he look like Goku? They look alike because “they are low-class and because the low-class don’t have many distinct physical looks.” Many had speculated that he was Goku’s older brother. I just think that they liked Goku’s look and it’s easier than creating a new design. Turles is that he’s more reasonable than the typical DBZ villain. He gloats less and shows more strategy during the fights. Once again the Z-fighters are completely useless. At this point, they should just stay home and let Goku fight by himself. Even Piccolo was pathetic. Look I get that Goku is the main character and needs to defeat the main villain, but does he need to beat the minions too?