Dragon Ball may well be the pivotal series in opening the West up to anime in the 1990s. Even if you’ve never seen a page of the manga or an episode of one of the series, odds are you’ve seen Goku’s spiky hair, caught a reference to Super Saiyan transformations, or heard some otherwise inexplicably passionate reference to the number 9000. But let’s say you’re one of those people who haven’t read or watched Dragon Ball. You may feel too intimidated to start. There are hundreds of manga volumes and even more episodes of four different TV shows to plow through. If only there were a way to get a taste of what the characters and the action are like without overloading on too much story.
That’s where the Dragon Ball movies come in. Released alongside the two initial anime series, the original run of films existed outside the continuity of Akira Toriyama’s story, presenting Son Goku and friends in standalone tales that rarely ran over an hour. Each movie broadly reflected the state of things in the series at the time without the baggage of the ongoing narrative. Since Dragon Ball’s revival through 2013’s Battle of Gods, the films have tied directly into Toriyama’s story, but can still be seen and comprehended on their own.
Here are our rankings for the theatrically released animated Dragon Ball films:
Editor’s Note: This piece was last updated on August 21 to add Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
21. Super Android 13! (1992)
In fiction, it’s often a greater sin to be boring than bad. There are no great technical flaws about Super Android 13!, but this is about as generic as a Dragon Ball movie can get. There’s very little here to give newcomers a sense of what Goku and his friends are like as a cast, the action is uninspired, gags and plot points are recycled from earlier movies, and the villains are forgettable. Even as a snapshot of what was going on in the series at the time, Super Android 13! falls short; it’s meant to represent the Android/Cell arc, a storyline that owes much of its charm to the twists and turns in its narrative, and this movie has none of that. If you’re going to give any Dragon Ball film a pass, make it this one.
20. Resurrection "F" (2015)
Like many a Dragon Ball fan, I consider Freeza the series’ greatest villain. But one of the reasons he’s great is that his story has a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. There was no good reason to bring him back to life, and if he had to come back, setting him on a revenge quest was an uninspired option. It’s still astonishing, however, just how devoid of tension this movie is. A torturously long build-up results in a fight that no one seems to take very seriously except for Freeza. I started feeling sorry for him towards the end thanks to how inconsequential his return proved to be. But if you like Super Saiyan Blue, here’s where it debuted. And Resurrection "F" was later adapted into the second storyline of Dragon Ball Super to…some improvement.
19. The Return of Cooler (1992)
Most of the Z-era Dragon Ball films didn’t just stand apart from the series, but from one another as well. The Return of Cooler was one of the few direct sequels, following up on Cooler’s Revenge the previous year. It combines elements of the Freeza and early Android arcs for a sci-fi heavy battle on New Namek as a freshly metallicized Cooler attempts planetary absorption. On paper, that’s more interesting than another revenge mission. In the final execution, some lackluster animation and bare-bones storytelling drain away most of the potential oomph of the premise. There isn’t much of a reason for this to be a sequel, either; the villain could have been anybody. On the other hand, The Return of Cooler is the first time fans got to see Goku and Vegeta team up as Super Saiyans to win the day, and at this point in the series, that was still an unsteady and exciting alliance.
18. Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle (1987)
The first three Dragon Ball films offer an alternative timeline. Each retells Goku’s first encounter with at least one of his close friends, and the major events coinciding with those encounters. In the case of Sleeping Princess and Devil’s Castle, we’re given a new version of how Goku meets Krillin and how the two of them come to study under Master Roshi. The task he sets them – to rescue the titular princess from the titular castle – has some fun twists to it, and the boys get a decent amount of space to banter, bicker, and gradually become friends. The film has some nice Gothic flourishes in its production design too. But the pieces never quite gel into a pleasing whole; the pacing is off and the subplots with the supporting cast are more of a distraction than a complement to the main action.
17. Bio-Broly (1994)
Many a fan has declared this, the eleventh Z-era Dragon Ball film and third of the original Broly trilogy, the worst of the bunch. Bio-Broly reduces the Legendary Super Saiyan to a pile of cloned sludge, and it stars those impertinent pipsqueaks Goten and Trunks – two cardinal sins for a lot of viewers. I don’t care much for how Broly’s handled myself, though it’s more an issue that his entrance derails what would otherwise be a delightful romp with characters Toriyama sidelined in the series. Besides Goten and Trunks getting to cut loose and be kids, the first half of this film sees Android 18 shaking down glory hog Mr. Satan for the prize money he owes her (long story; these movies may exist outside continuity, but they often selectively choose bits to leap off from). Even Krillin gets a meaty role. The fights go on for too long and the villain is weak, but Bio-Broly is more fun than it gets credit for.
16. Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)
So far as reinventions go, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is a mixed bag. Taking a heretofore exclusively movie villain notorious for being an oversized force of raw malevolence and making him a sympathetic victim of nature and nurture pays off. Broly’s friendships with outcasts from Freeza’s army make for a genuinely sweet bit of character work, and the altered relationship with his father offers the promise of some pathos. That never quite pays off; this is one of those Dragon Ball films where, once the fighting starts, the plot and character dynamics get shoved firmly to the side. And Broly is the movie that supplanted one of the best stories from animated Dragon Ball (the Bardock TV special) with one of the worst pieces of Toriyama’s work (Dragon Ball Minus), to no good purpose.
15. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
On the one hand, having Piccolo carry a movie (and this is his movie, despite initial advertising suggesting otherwise) is an unexpected delight. Gohan’s benign neglect of family for academia is a new facet of his character. And every second Pan is on screen is adorable. On the other hand, the experiment with CGI did not result in a better-looking Dragon Ball. Goku and Vegeta’s training does nothing but kill time. And so much of the plot and character material here is recycled from either Super or classic Dragon Ball, devoid of the context that made the original stuff so impactful. The twin crutches of transformations and easy fixes that hurt Super so much hold this film back too. If you want to see Gohan come into his own, obtain a new level, and fight Cell, you’re still better off watching the Cell arc.
14. Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986)
The one that started it all – well, sort of. The manga and anime were well underway when Curse of the Blood Rubies hit theaters in 1986, but this was the first Dragon Ball film, and it retold the very beginning of Goku’s journeys in the dragon world. His first encounters with his friends, and their first hunt for the dragon balls, were combined with elements of the Red Ribbon Army arc that was airing at the time of the film’s release. As an alternate take on the gang coming together, the film works fine, and the newly created characters have plenty of charm and a compelling story. Unfortunately, these two storylines are more in competition for screen time than they are supporting pillars of a cohesive whole. As a way to see how Goku got his start as an adventurer and hero, Curse of the Blood Rubies isn’t a bad choice – but there are better (see Number 3).
13. Bojack Unbound (1993)
Before Super Hero, Bojack Unbound was the one film in the series to feature Gohan as its lead. Indeed, it was made at a time when Toriyama planned to have Gohan permanently take over from his father. Gohan being my favorite character, that immediately wins this film a few points. Fantastic animation, a fun first half with some unique character combinations, and gorgeous music don’t hurt either. Bojack Unbound is also one of the only Z-era movies that could possibly fit into continuity, for those crazy enough to attempt such an enterprise. The biggest weakness of this film is its titular villain, dull even by Dragon Ball movie standards. And when half the film is devoted to fighting such a bore, that does hold its potential back a bit.
12. Broly – Second Coming (1994)
Broly – Second Coming is very similar to its successor in structure: a front half focused on Goten and Trunks teaming up with older characters for shenanigans, a back half focused on fighting Broly. He’s at least himself here, albeit reduced to screaming “Kakarot” again and again. Just like with Bio-Broly, his arrival marks a nosedive in quality, fun, and adventure giving way to a fight that goes on for too long, isn’t very creative, and ends in an unsatisfying way. But the action is a little more engaging here, and the charm of the initial material buys a lot of good will. The trio of Goten, Trunks, and Videl has wonderful chemistry, and their hunt for the Dragon Balls is a fresh approach to the foundational quest of the series.
11. Lord Slug (1991)
In Japan, Lord Slug is titled Super Saiyan Son Goku. It was released when both the manga and the Dragon Ball Z anime had been building up to that transformation, and this movie was released just ten days before the form debuted in the manga. It should be no surprise to learn that the Super Saiyan design for the film didn’t match Toriyama’s. The moment itself is so brief that it could be cut with little consequence. Lord Slug is a more appropriate title. As a villain, he’s more than a little derivative of the Demon King Piccolo, but there have been worse efforts at recycling story and character beats in these movies. And the action here is varied and unusually brutal.
10. Battle of Gods (2013)
Let’s get the heresy out of the way: I don’t like Whis or Beerus. They’re annoying, shoehorning them into past events makes the dragon world smaller, and they often sap what little sense of tension there is in Dragon Ball Super away. That’s more to do with how they were utilized in the series, however. In their debut film, Beerus does bring some hilarious behavior out of Vegeta and makes a compelling opponent for Goku. Battle of Gods also brought back comic villain Emperor Pilaf, introduced the Super Saiyan God concept to Dragon Ball, and launched the series revival that goes on to this day. However unevenly these pieces worked out in the end, in this film, they’re fun and fresh.
9. Wrath of the Dragon (1995)
The last of the Z-era films, Wrath of the Dragon is the story of Tapion, sword-and-ocarina-wielding warrior cursed to carry half of a monster inside him and haunted by the death of his little brother. Oh, and the dragon team are here too. This could easily have been an original story, but Gohan, Videl, Bulma, and especially Trunks work very well as supporting characters to Tapion. The pathos in his arc resonates, the humor in the film lands, and the monster Hirudegarn is one intimidating kaiju. It’s only a pity that Goku steals the win at the end.
8. World’s Strongest (1990)
World’s Strongest deserves points for originality among the Z-era films. Except for some creature designs and a few action beats, very little is borrowed from the series continuity. It has an unorthodox wintry setting, its action is a pleasant blend of martial arts prowess and the ki-based battles that came to dominate the series, and if Goku and his friends don’t have much of an arc here, their personalities are well showcased. But this is one more movie held back by a less-than-charismatic villain, though Dr. Willow at least has a colorful henchman to do the heavy lifting until the last few minutes.
7. Tree of Might (1990)
It’s a little sad that Tree of Might is the only time that Goku and the original dragon team work together to combat a threat. Said threat is a band of space pirates led by Turles, an evil doppelganger for Goku. Not much is ultimately made of the connection, but as a way to mirror Goku’s confrontation with his alien heritage from the Saiyan arc in the series, Turles does rather well. His evil scheme is unique, and his henchmen let the rest of the dragon team get in some action. The movie even has a cute subplot between Gohan and a baby dragon to boot – and, even better, it has some effect on the main story!
6. Dead Zone (1989)
Besides Bojack Unbound, Dead Zone (not to be confused with David Cronenberg's Stephen King adaptation) is the only movie of the original run of Dragon Ball films with a prayer of fitting into continuity. It was fit into the Dragon Ball Z anime to facilitate a rather infamous filler arc. On its own, though, Dead Zone is a fine last hurrah for the fantasy-heavy atmosphere of early Dragon Ball before the action and science fiction injected by the Saiyans took precedence. There’s haunting background design, expanded lore on the nature of godhood in the dragon world, and a fine villain who succumbs to a classic case of hubristic irony. Plus, Gohan gets high on magic apples!
5. Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993)
Where Broly? Here Broly. The big guy was never a deep character in his original incarnation. All the meat of the story belongs to his father Paragus. Through him, we get a look into Saiyan society that I largely prefer over the Super: Broly take. Here, the backstory has an impact on characters besides Paragus and Broly in the present, chiefly Vegeta. Broly’s childhood connection to Goku looks silly on paper but illustrates a compelling point about a strong spirit matching a genetic lottery winner. The final battle goes on for too long (par for the course in these films), but the plot and lore are too much fun for this not to make the top five.
4. Mystical Adventure (1988)
The last of the original Dragon Ball film trilogy retells Goku and Krillin’s first tournament experience. It also completely reinvents Tenshinhan and Chaotzu. Dragon Ball’s debt to Journey to the West has never been so visibly apparent as in Mystical Adventure, set in the Chinese-inspired kingdom of which this Chaotzu is emperor and Tien his (ultimately) faithful bodyguard. That’s nothing like Toriyama’s Tien and Chaotzu, but frankly, they’re more interesting here than they ultimately became in the series. The plot is solid, the animation is lovely, the character work is genuinely sweet, and Mystical Adventure condenses elements of three different arcs of the series far more successfully than its predecessors.
3. The Path to Power (1996)
For Dragon Ball’s tenth anniversary, Toei Animation retold Goku’s first adventure again with The Path to Power. Like Curse of the Blood Rubies, it mashed up his first quest for the dragon balls with his encounter with the Red Ribbon Army (this time explicitly depicted instead of inspiring original villains). And Path to Power is a far more successful effort to present its hero’s early days. Without original characters to compete with, Goku is the undisputed lead of the film, and his joy, naïveté, and especially his friendship with Android 8 are a delight to see here. Characters like Bulma more accurately reflect Toriyama’s comic. And Path to Power includes some of the best animation in the entire series. Next to starting with the original comic, it’s a fine way to get introduced to Dragon Ball.
2. Cooler’s Revenge (1991)
On paper, Cooler’s Revenge seems only a slight step up from Resurrection "F". Instead of Freeza seeking revenge, it’s his big brother – so original! But in execution, this film gets much more out of an easy premise. Cooler comes off as a serious threat, for one thing. Goku spends a lot of the film out of commission, giving Gohan and Piccolo a fair amount to do. And this is another movie that gets mileage out of flashbacks to the destruction of the Saiyans, and out of villainous hubris – Freeza’s and Cooler’s. The Z-era films often slip into formula, but Cooler’s Revenge is the best execution of that standard playbook.