Dragon Ball is a franchise that’s over three decades old. Despite this fact, it still releases new movies, manga content, toys, and so on. With the new Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film awaited to be released in the US in August, I won’t be speaking about that movie here. Dragon Ball has over 20 movies, and I’ll gladly present you with a list of what I think are the best films, along with a short description of each of them.
I’m a huge fan of the franchise, as I’ve been watching Dragon Ball since I was a child. Goku and the gang never seem to back off from a challenge, so here’s my list:
9. Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995)
This was one terrifying movie where the energy waves of the Z warriors seemed useless against one gigantic and powerful monster. Even Goku had a lot to struggle with, while Vegeta had one of his few moments when he wanted to clean some of his sins of the past by helping out unknown people.
8. Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (2015)
The action in this movie is set after the events from Battle of Gods, and both Goku and Vegeta achieve godly powers this time to take down Frieza once again. The former intergalactic tyrant has been brought back from the dead by his henchmen, and in the good old Dragon Ball style, he’s also stronger than ever! Furthermore, Frieza comes to Earth along with an entire army to conquer the planet. This movie not only marked the chance for Vegeta to have his revenge against Frieza but also for Goku to finish what he had to do on Namek long ago when he fought the former tyrant. The rest of the Z warriors are also giving their help in fighting Frieza’s army, with even the old Master Roshi jumping in the fights. Will the good prevail once again?
7. Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (1991)
When King Piccolo first confronted kid Goku many years ago, the Namekian had a tremendous power that made him easily able to defeat anyone. It was clear that Piccolo belonged to an elite race, and that’s where Lord Slug comes from as well. This latter fighter is even stronger, and he also came to terrorize the Earth. But unfortunately for him, Goku won’t go down without going all out in a fight ’til the end!
6. Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)
This is the first movie that didn’t carry the “Z” moniker, and it sets the story after the events from the Tournament of Power arc from the Dragon Ball Super anime. Broly, a Saiyan getting out of control who’s not necessarily evil, comes after Vegeta on Earth to revenge for a bad thing done by his father, the king of all Saiyans. Broly has an absurd power level that he can even increase as he fights, while Frieza will also play a very dirty role in this movie by making the Saiyan become an even bigger threat for Goku and Vegeta.
While some people might complain about the power scaling in this movie or Broly’s absurd motivation until one point, I think we can all agree that the animation has been fabulous most of the time.
5. Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13 (1992)
Remember back in the Dragon Ball Z anime when Dr. Gero created diabolical androids capable of enormous powers? If your answer is “yes,” you’ll surely like what Super Android 13 has to offer. A new android was created to give Goku and the gang a hard time, and he’s arguably even stronger than Cell.
4. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)
Beerus, the God of Destruction, is coming to Earth to destroy it and looking for the Super Saiyan God to put his enormous powers to the test. Even Frieza feared Beerus. Despite such a purpose, Beerus is not a malevolent deity, as he only destroys planets to maintain some sort of balance in the Universe. Battle of Gods is the movie where Goku achieved the power of a god, one that makes the Super Saiyan transformation look like nothing.
3. Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993)
This is the movie where Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan, makes Goku and his other Super Saiyan friends look like nothing. Broly often gets out of control, manifesting enough power to pose a threat to entire planets. He must be stopped ASAP, but nobody seems to be strong enough, not even Goku.
2. Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995)
Gogeta is born in this movie, the merge between Goku and Vegeta. He’ll have to face Janemba, the embodiment of all evil and perhaps the strongest villain ever at that time. Even the deceased villains are resurrected in Fusion Reborn, and one of them is the mighty Frieza himself.
1. Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (1992)
Cooler, the brother of Frieza, is once again back in business with improved strength. This time, Cooler has become a cyborg after being defeated in the first round by Goku on Earth. For this movie, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and other Z warriors travel to New Namek, where they’ll find an old “friend.” Cooler won’t be alone, however, as he has been distributed in numerous clones. There’s also an entire army of mechanical monsters helping out Meta Cooler, the improved version of Frieza’s brother. Will Cooler get his revenge on the defeat of his brother Frieza, or will Goku and Vegeta prevail?
There’s no such thing as a Dragon Ball movie that I didn’t like in my list. There are just some movies I liked watching less than others.