Rank EVERY Dragon Ball Animated Theatrical Film

[Marlowe89]

I've posted my list in another thread not long ago, but I'll repost here:

Essential Dragon Ball

1. Broly (9.5/10)
2. Battle of Gods (9/10)
3. The Path to Power (8/10)
4. Resurrection 'F' (7.5/10)
5. Fusion Reborn (7/10)

The best of the best. Broly hits all the high notes for me. The Path to Power is also a great film; I love how it combines some of Goku's first adventures into a self-contained, surprisingly focused story with multiple character threads that effectively weave back into its central premise (i.e. "the wish"). Despite its shortcomings, Resurrection 'F' is an entertaining action-comedy piece that brilliantly plays on the psychology and character flaws of Goku, Vegeta and Freeza while adding all sorts of fun, uniquely Toriyama-flavored interactions throughout. I'm oversimplifying a bit: I enjoy my top five for a myriad of reasons. None are without issue, but I find they encapsulate the spirit of Dragon Ball the most.

The Classics

6. Wrath of the Dragon (7/10)
7. Dead Zone (7/10)
8. Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (6.5/10)
9. Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (6.5/10)
10. The Tree of Might (6/10)

To be clear, these are largely an acquired taste. I don't think any of them are all that great as stand-alones - and despite its ambitious storytelling, even Wrath of the Dragon suffers from its share of problems - but they were easily among some of the best movies available before the franchise's revival. They're still enthralling romps for the initiated, and all have their own unique charm and atmosphere. Definitely worth checking out if you're a diehard, although I should note that they're often about as un-Toriyama as you can get.

Good Ideas, Subpar Execution

11. The World's Strongest (5.5/10)
12. Cooler's Revenge (5/10)
13. Mystical Adventure (5/10)
14. Bojack Unbound (4.5/10)
15. Curse of the Blood Rubies (4/10)

Skippable. Mystical Adventure is a bloated mess and crams far too much superfluous nonsense in a relatively short runtime (Arale's role is shoehorned, a lot of scenes feel like filler, the ending is rushed and disjointed) so it lacks focus and doesn't flow coherently at all. Bojack Unbound has some cool setpieces but hardly attempts to tell a story with them; there's so much useless fanservice that doesn't connect with the main dilemma, especially the tournament fights at the start, and Satan's excessive gag cutaways overstay their welcome very quickly. These movies honestly don't have much going for them, although their strong points do make them worth revisiting on occasion.

Downright Bad

16. The Return of Cooler (3/10)
17. Super Android 13 (2/10)
18. Lord Slug (1.5/10)
19. Broly - Second Coming (1.5/10)
20. Bio-Broly (1/10)

The worst of the worst. Look, the less I have to say about these, the better. The Return of Cooler does utilize the dynamic between Goku and Vegeta in interesting ways, but falters just about everywhere else. The others only get worse from there. I wouldn't quite give any of them a 0/10 - even the near-universally panned Broly sequels have a thing or two to enjoy - but the bottom five are unquestionably the most painful to get through. Proceed with caution.

One thing I'll add is that there's always something fun about revisiting these movies, even the really bad ones. They never manage to change my opinions on them or anything like that; they're just a short, enjoyable romp through the franchise's filmic history that collectively provides some perspective on what works for Dragon Ball and what doesn't.

[Big Boss]

My views mirror Kunzait's on the previous page, I think he pretty much nailed everything.

DBZ Movie 1 will always be top pick for me.

[Apslup]

1. DBS: Broly
2. Battle of Gods
3. Dead Zone
4. Fusion Reborn
5. The World's Strongest
6. Resurrection F
7. Wrath of the Dragon
8. Cooler's Revenge
9. Tree of Might
10. Super Android 13 Bojack Unbound
11. Super Android 13
12: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13: Lord Slug
14: Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan
15: Return of Cooler
16: Broly: Second Coming
17: Curse of the Blood Rubies
18: Mystical Adventure
19: Bio Broly

[superfan2024]

My views mirror Kunzait's on the previous page, I think he pretty much nailed everything.

DBZ Movie 1 will always be top pick for me.

I love DBZ Movie 1, but in my honest opinion, I just can't see it being better than all of the others. Majority of the basis of the film just comes off from the Raditz fight, and with a few other elements regarding Kami and Garlic, it's just.... eh. The cinematography, the soundtrack, and the fighting choreography are amazing, but other than those, the movie doesn't particularly "wow me" in the creative department, because like I said before, it just stands out to me specifically as a bigger version of the Raditz fight.

[superfan2024]

1. DBS: Broly
2. Battle of Gods
3. Dead Zone
4. Fusion Reborn
5. The World's Strongest
6. Resurrection F
7. Wrath of the Dragon
8. Cooler's Revenge
9. Tree of Might
10. Super Android 13 Bojack Unbound
11. Super Android 13
12: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13: Lord Slug
14: Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan
15: Return of Cooler
16: Broly: Second Coming
17: Curse of the Blood Rubies
18: Mystical Adventure
19: Bio Broly

You might wanna fix that.

[MasenkoHA]

My views mirror Kunzait's on the previous page, I think he pretty much nailed everything.

DBZ Movie 1 will always be top pick for me.

I love DBZ Movie 1, but in my honest opinion, I just can't see it being better than all of the others. Majority of the basis of the film just comes off from the Raditz fight, and with a few other elements regarding Kami and Garlic, it's just.... eh. The cinematography, the soundtrack, and the fighting choreography are amazing, but other than those, the movie doesn't particularly "wow me" in the creative department, because like I said before, it just stands out to me specifically as a bigger version of the Raditz fight.

Of course there are similar plot beats to the Raditz arc. But I wouldn’t call it a 1:1. It’s hardly as derivative as the Coola movies are to Freeza stuff or Super Android 13 is to the Android/Cell stuff or Fusion Reborn is to the Super Buu portion of the Buu saga. Or most egregiously Lord Slug to the Piccolo Daimou saga

Garlic Jr has next to nothing in common with Raditz other than a penchant for kidnapping Gohan and getting owned by Gohan. Goku’s origins aren’t addressed.

[superfan2024]

My views mirror Kunzait's on the previous page, I think he pretty much nailed everything.

DBZ Movie 1 will always be top pick for me.

I love DBZ Movie 1, but in my honest opinion, I just can't see it being better than all of the others. Majority of the basis of the film just comes off from the Raditz fight, and with a few other elements regarding Kami and Garlic, it's just.... eh. The cinematography, the soundtrack, and the fighting choreography are amazing, but other than those, the movie doesn't particularly "wow me" in the creative department, because like I said before, it just stands out to me specifically as a bigger version of the Raditz fight.

Of course there are similar plot beats to the Raditz arc. But I wouldn’t call it a 1:1. It’s hardly as derivative as the Coola movies are to Freeza stuff or Super Android 13 is to the Android/Cell stuff or Fusion Reborn is to the Super Buu portion of the Buu saga. Or most egregiously Lord Slug to the Piccolo Daimou saga

Garlic Jr has next to nothing in common with Raditz other than a penchant for kidnapping Gohan and getting owned by Gohan. Goku’s origins aren’t addressed.

I agree, but the formula behind the Raditz fight and Dead Zone are very similar. There's literally a scene of Goku and Piccolo discussing about their weighted clothing before they fight together, which was nearly identical to the same conversation in the Raditz fight. I'm pretty sure given that the first 3 Dragon Ball movies were parallels of the arcs that were ongoing in the anime/manga at the time, Toei was still experimenting with the same process in both Dead Zone and The World's Strongest, where each of the movies retain similar substances and dialogues to their respective fights and arcs, with The World's Strongest basing off of the Vegeta battle. Instances from The World's Strongest that come off the top of my head are:

- The Baiomen who are nearly identical to the Saibaimen
- Goku's Kioken Kamehameha against Wheelo where he starts off as a Kaioken x3 before powering up to a Kaioken x4. This parallels to Goku's Kaioken Kamehameha against Vegeta where he also starts off as a Kaioken x3 before powering up to a Kaioken x4.
- Goku and Krillin's dialogue after the beam-struggle which parallels to Goku and Yajirobe's dialogue from the manga/anime.

Spoiler:

[SheonGT]

1. Dead Zone
2. Broly (Movie
3. DBS: Broly
4. Cooler’s Revenge
5. Battle of Gods
6. The World’s Strongest
7. Fusion Reborn
8. Wrath of the Dragon
9. Resurrection F
10. Tree of Might
11. Return of Cooler
12. Android 13
13. Lord Slug
14. Broly Second Coming
15. Bio Broly

[Yalos]

I haven't seen any of the original series movies... so I'll just rank the Z and Super ones

1. Broly
2. Wrath of Dragon
3. Battle of Gods
4. Fusion Reborn
5. Bojack Unbound
6. Dead Zone
7. Cooler's Revenge
8. Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan
9. Revival of F
10. Return of Cooler
11. Super Android 13
12. Tree of Might
13. World's Strongest
14. Lord Slug
15. Bio Broly
16. Broly 2

[Apslup]

1. DBS: Broly
2. Battle of Gods
3. Dead Zone
4. Fusion Reborn
5. The World's Strongest
6. Resurrection F
7. Wrath of the Dragon
8. Cooler's Revenge
9. Tree of Might
10. Bojack Unbound
11. Super Android 13
12: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13: Lord Slug
14: Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan
15: Return of Cooler
16: Broly: Second Coming
17: Curse of the Blood Rubies
18: Mystical Adventure
19: Bio Broly

[Chilly]

For DBZ (not including the specials), my list is:

1. Broly (movie eight)
2. Cooler's Revenge
3. Wrath of the Dragon
4. Battle of Gods
5. Lord Slug (blasphemy, I know)
6. DB Super: Broly
7. World's Strongest
8. Bojack Unbound
9. Dead Zone
10. Return of Cooler
11. Fusion Reborn
12. Tree of Might
13. Super Android 13
14. Revival of F (lost its luster after multiple viewings, as much as I like Freeza)
15. Broly: Second Coming
16. Bio Broly

This was a little harder than I thought it would be.

[Dbzfan94]

In my opinion, Super Broly should be at the top of every list.

Meanwhile, it is objectively true that Broly 2nd Coming should be at the bottom of every list.

Stop. There’s no objective fact on how much you like or dislike a movie. I’m not the biggest fan of Second Coming either but it’s “not objectively true.”

[jjgp1112]

In my opinion, Super Broly should be at the top of every list.

Meanwhile, it is objectively true that Broly 2nd Coming should be at the bottom of every list.

Stop. There’s no objective fact on how much you like or dislike a movie. I’m not the biggest fan of Second Coming either but it’s “not objectively true.”

I'm pretty sure he was being facetious

Anyway my list:

1) Battle of Gods
2) Fusion Reborn
3) Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan
4) DBS Broly
5) Dead Zone
6) World's Strongest
7) Bojack Unbound
8) Cooler's Revenge (HOLY FUCKING SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN PLAN ON THIS)
9) Wrath of the Dragon
10) Return of Cooler
11) Super Android 13 (Dub)
12) Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13) Path to Power
14) Mystical Adventure
15) Curse of the Blood Rubies
16) Resurrection F
17) Tree of Might
18) Lord Slug
18) Broly Second Coming
20) Super Android 13 (sub)
21) Bio-Broly

[Cursed Lemon]

I'm pretty sure he was being facetious

Definitely facetious.

...

... ...

...Half facetious.

[jjgp1112]

Dammit who went and fixed the bug of the 8 ranking turning into ?!

"You ruined it, dammit!"

[MasenkoHA]

1. Return my Gohan
2. Super Brocolli
3. The rest

[superfan2024]

In my opinion, Super Broly should be at the top of every list.

Meanwhile, it is objectively true that Broly 2nd Coming should be at the bottom of every list.

Stop. There’s no objective fact on how much you like or dislike a movie. I’m not the biggest fan of Second Coming either but it’s “not objectively true.”

I'm pretty sure he was being facetious

Anyway my list:

1) Battle of Gods
2) Fusion Reborn
3) Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan
4) DBS Broly
5) Dead Zone
6) World's Strongest
7) Bojack Unbound
Cooler's Revenge (HOLY FUCKING SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN PLAN ON THIS)
9) Wrath of the Dragon
10) Return of Cooler
11) Super Android 13 (Dub)
12) Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13) Path to Power
14) Mystical Adventure
15) Curse of the Blood Rubies
16) Resurrection F
17) Tree of Might
18) Lord Slug
18) Broly Second Coming
20) Super Android 13 (sub)
21) Bio-Broly

Return of Cooler got that high?