The Dragon Ball franchise covers a vast array of media including the original manga, the four anime series, more video games than perhaps any other anime and, of course, a long list of movies and specials released across various outlets. The films and specials of Dragon Ball are, for lack of a better term, a bit of a mixed bag; some of them are rich stories with great villains, high stakes and creative plots, while others are poorly-written disasters and/or unwanted sequels. While that might be a bit of an extreme, black-and-white approach to the films and specials of Dragon Ball, it still stands that some are better than others, which is why we decided to rank every single one of them.
Now, as it is with these kinds of lists, our list is subjective, so let us know how your own shakes out! Also, this ranking will include all films, released theatrically or on Television, as well as the TV specials and shorts that have been released over the years, excluding the Shonen Jump crossover as well as This is the Ultimate Battle in all the Universes! Son Goku vs Jiren!!, which was a combination of two Super episodes with a few differences. With that out of the way, enjoy our ranking of all the Dragon Ball specials and films!
26 HONORABLE MENTION: UPCOMING DRAGON BALL SUPER FILM
Before we get into the actual rankings, we thought it'd be nice to throw in an honorable mention. The as-yet untitled Dragon Ball Super movie, which released a teaser a while back and sports some fantastic animation — something that was somewhat absent int the Super series — has us very excited for the film's release.
We don't know much about the plot of the film, and other than the main trailer, only a few character illustrations have been revealed. However, the film's animation style seems to be leaning towards the style of DBZ, circa the Frieza Saga, which immediately gets our interest solidly piqued!
25 BIO-BROLY
Now then, starting from the bottom, we have Bio-Broly, which is easily considered one of the worst Dragon Ball Z movies of all time. A sequel to the first Broly film was bad on its own, but it was at least passable enough to be enjoyable. Bio-Broly, on the other hand, was a mess.
The plot of the film is convoluted, the design of Bio-Broly is atrocious, and the choice to have Goten, Trunks and Android 18 act as the stars was one of the movie's strangest choices. We definitely don't recommend this one other than for the hardcore completionists out there.
24 A HERO'S LEGACY
It might be bold to rank a Dragon Ball GT film above a DBZ film, but A Hero's Legacy does have some merit to it, despite being attached to a hated series. Don't get us wrong, the film is still pretty bad, both in its execution and in the way it tied into GT, but there are still a few cool ideas in it.
Seeing the future of the Dragon Ball world is pretty interesting, and seeing Goku meet his descendent was a treat as well, which earns the film some points, but we still rank it well below most other movies.
23 BROLY — SECOND COMING
Like we said, the sequels to the first Broly film were somewhat underwhelming, and though Second Coming is far better than Bio-Broly, it's still not the best Dragon Ball Z film. There are some cool parts where Gohan shows up, but the movie spends a bit too much time with Videl, Goten and Trunks before getting to the action.
Though Videl has some awesome moments standing up to Broly, the film is, overall, low-stakes nonsense, the only real redeeming moment being the family Kamehameha. That said, the film also has some high-quality animation that earns it some points.
22 LORD SLUG
Lord Slug has a lot of cool things going for it — using a Namekian as a villain, Slug's design, the final fight — but overall, it is one of the franchise's most disliked films. We ranked this one based both on its overall reception and the writing of the film itself, neither of which lit the world on fire.
As we mentioned, the final fight is pretty awesome, but it also loses points for giving us the "false Super Saiyan" form, a strange choice that brings our ranking of the film down quite a bit, just one of the reasons for its low ranking.
21 THE WORLD'S STRONGEST
Some fans might not even remember this Dragon Ball Z movie, and, well, that sort of tells you all you need to know about it. Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest was somewhat fondly received, but ultimately unremarkable due to a rather lackluster villain.
The idea that the villain, Dr. Wheelo, wants the strongest fighter's body, i.e. Goku's sweet Saiyan bod, to be resurrected into is an interesting motivation, but that's about where the film's merits end, which is why it doesn't make the top 20.
20 CURSE OF THE BLOOD RUBIES
Overall, Dragon Ball is not as popular as Dragon Ball Z. Take this as you will, but it means the films based on the original series are not as well-remembered or well-received as films based on DBZ. Obviously, it's not a hard and fast rule, but it definitely applies to Curse of the Blood Rubies.
The film loses a ton of points for being a re-telling of the Emperor Pilaf saga of Dragon Ball, but with Pilaf himself being replaced with a villain known as King Gurumes, the unoriginality and reuse of animation making the film rather forgettable.
19 SLEEPING PRINCESS IN THE DEVIL'S CASTLE
Similar to Curse of the Blood Rubies, Sleeping Princess in the Devil's Castle is just as forgettable of a Dragon Ball movie. Though the plot is coherent and better-written than the likes of the lower-ranking films on this list, Sleeping Princess just isn't one of the franchise's best.
Not only did it re-use animation from Dragon Ball, but the movie also had a typical anime film plot where nothing really has any major stakes so that it can fit into the series' larger narrative without any consequences, which leaves the film bland as a result.
18 MYSTICAL ADVENTURE
The third Dragon Ball movie is as strange as it is noteworthy. Though not all that popular, or even that well known, Mystical Adventure is exactly that, a mystical adventure that manages to have some fun with the characters, which includes a guest appearance by Arale of Dr. Slump.
That said, the film also takes place in a weird, alternate timeline that, for those who saw the film during its original release, must have been confusing. And though we know the deal now, Mystical Adventure still lacks the same impact of some of the franchise's better films.
17 DEAD ZONE
Dead Zone was the very first Dragon Ball Z released, and it was actually pretty great, eventually serving as the basis for a filler arc in DBZ, the only movie to result in such an occurrence. While the film is not the best in the series, it had a ton of action and featured some cool villains.
Dead Zone followed Garlic Jr. in his plan to gain immortality using the Dragon Balls, and though it is exciting at times, overall the film falls a bit flat in terms of excitement.
16 THE TREE OF MIGHT
The Tree of Might is a bit of a divisive film, on the one hand, it's got some interesting elements, like Turles' origin as a space pirate Saiyan and the way the titular Tree of Might works, but most agree that all of the plot's buildup was wasted on an an anti-climactic ending.
The film has some cool ideas for sure, but it also had some equally strange ones, like the fact that all lower-class Saiyans look the same, which explains why Turles looks just like Goku. Overall, this was one of the franchise's better films, but not its best.
15 EPISODE OF BARDOCK
Episode of Bardock is one of the stranger entries in the Dragon Ball franchise. It was an OVA that was released as a promotional special of sorts and takes place after the events of Bardock — the Father of Goku... sort of.
The movie follows Bardock as he is transported to the past where he faces Frieza's ancestor, Chilled, going Super Saiyan to defeat him. It is a bit of a confusing OVA, but an interesting, exciting and entertaining one nonetheless. The color design of the special loses some points, but Episode of Bardock still makes our top 15.
14 PLAN TO ERADICATE THE SAIYANS/SUPER SAIYANS
This is another weird entry in the Dragon Ball franchise since it is technically two entries: the original Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans and the remake featured in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, which was re-animated and retitled as Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, neither versions ever being dubbed in English.
The special was about a Tuffle coming back for revenge against the Saiyans that destroyed his people, a concept that helped to expand the lore of the series and provided an interesting villain, even if the special or its remake weren't well-executed in the end.
13 SUPER ANDROID 13!
While it might not be everyone's favorite Dragon Ball film, Super Android 13! deserves some love for dipping into the well of cool and interesting lore elements that the Red Ribbon Androids provide. So, where DBZ didn't tell us what happened to the Androids that came before 16-20, this film featured them as the main villains.
Of course, the execution of it all wasn't the greatest, but Super Android 13! still had some great action, lots of excitement from the start and, for those who like it, some great slice-of-life moments of our favorite superhuman warriors at a mall.
12 THE RETURN OF COOLER
As it was with Broly — Second Coming, The Return of Cooler was one of those Dragon Ball films sequels that no one really asked for. However, unlike Second Coming, The Return of Cooler actually managed to be pretty exciting, featuring fight scenes that, while poorly animated, still have a lot of impact.
Overall, The Return of Cooler could have been a lot worse, but what we got was better sequel than expected. An exciting Dragon Ball film that might not be in anyone's top 10, but not too bad either.
11 BOJACK UNBOUND
When Gohan defeated Cell, he was on the path to becoming the main character of the series, and though this didn't work out in the end, the film Bojack Unbound rode with this concept to some pretty great results.
Though, once again, this might not be everyone's favorite Dragon Ball film, Bojack Unbound manages to peak through as one of the franchise's best movies with some great writing and awesome fight scenes, as well as a killer space-pirate antagonist with a cool design. Overall, this is a fun, exciting entry in the franchise that is sometimes overlooked.
10 YO! SON GOKU AND HIS FRIENDS RETURN!!
Another strange, but surprisingly good special was Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, which was one of the few specials/movies considered to be canon, though even that is questionable. The OVA was the first Dragon Ball animation made in nearly a decade, but has yet to be dubbed in English.
Taking place two years after Buu's defeat, the plot has somewhat low stakes, but is still a whole lot of fun, introducing Vegeta's brother as an interesting addition to the franchise, though he's yet to appear again. This OVA was also incredibly well-animated, which itself is enough to earn its ranking.
9 THE PATH TO POWER
Commemorating the series' tenth anniversary, The Path to Power was a retelling of the first few story arcs of Dragon Ball, and despite being essentially a remake, the film is actually pretty good.
Everything is streamlined, the animation is updated and superior in a lot of ways, and the Red Ribbon Army takes center stage instead of Emperor Pilaf. Though The Path To Power loses points for excluding Krillin from the story arcs it adapted, it is still a great film and a pretty decent way to dive into the original Dragon Ball.
8 WRATH OF THE DRAGON
Okay, we're gonna be honest, part of the reason we ranked this one so high might be because we love Dragon Ball characters with mohawks. We're kidding, of course, since Wrath of the Dragon actually features a pretty solid story; one that is tragic, interesting and compelling.
Wrath of the Dragon featured an elaborate, but not convoluted backstory that was as creative as it was unique, the fantasy elements making the whole film feel like an exciting fairy tale within the world of Dragon Ball.
7 FUSION REBORN
The only kind of fusion we got to see between Goku and Vegeta in the main franchise canon was with the potara earrings, but the film Fusion Reborn gave us Goku and Vegeta's fusion dance fusion, Gogeta, which itself is enough to give the film a high ranking.
That said, the rest of the film is pretty great as well, it had one of the most interesting (if not strangest) villains of the franchise in Jenemba, and featured some awesome, creative fight scenes, earning it a spot in the top 10.