For almost as long as Dragon Ball has had an anime adaptation, it has had a movie continuity. The original Dragon Ball actually featured films which told alternate takes of the series’ many story arcs. By the time the first anime was wrapping up, however, said alternate universe hadn’t even reached the Piccolo Daimao arc. In turn, the first DBZ movie did its own thing.
Which set an important precedent for the Dragon Ball film continuity. For better or worse, Dragon Ball Z’s movies would often lift details from what was happening in the anime. While this could result in films feeling derivative, it also led to some of the best fights in the franchise.
10 Best: Goku & Piccolo Versus Garlic Jr (Movie 1)
Nestled in a period of Dragon Ball history where the Z-era was just starting and not yet in full swing, Dragon Ball Z’s first movie, Dead Zone, has an incredibly unique atmosphere. It has the drama of the early Saiyan arc mixed with the mythology of the late Piccolo Daimao/23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arcs.
Seeing Goku and Piccolo team up to fight Garlic Junior hits all the same notes as their fight against Raditz, but this sees them putting up a real fight against their opponent. The choreography is slick, quick, and backed by some incredible music by Shunsuke Kikuchi.
9 Worst: Goku Versus Slug (Movie 4)
Movie 4 is a sudden and harsh drop in quality after the first three Dragon Ball Z films. Those movies captured the charm at the center of the franchise and brought it front and center. To varying success, of course, but they’re still three of the best DBZ movies. Lord Slug is an ugly disaster that retreads the Piccolo Daimao arc for no justifiable reason.
The movie is just a worse version of said arc across the board, but the final fight between “Super Saiyan” Goku and Slug really just puts into perspective how bad this movie is. Toei already tried creating their own version of Super Saiyan before Toriyama got the chance to do so in the manga. It’s just a mess.
8 Best: Goku Versus Dr. Uiro’s Bio-Warriors (Movie 2)
Movie 2 is one of the most interesting Dragon Ball Z movies through concept alone. Dr. Uiro is looking for the strongest man in the world, so naturally he sets his sights on… Master Roshi. From there, Goku heads to the arctic to save his master, with Gohan and Krillin following right along.
While Goku’s fight with a mind controlled Piccolo is arguably the film’s signature fight, Uiro’s henchmen offer Goku a much better battle. The animation and choreography here are incredible, with Goku dodging attacks and fighting back with pure elegance. Movie 2 is worth watching for this sequence alone. It’s a series highlight.
7 Worst: Goten & Trunks Versus Bio-Broly (Movie 11)
Movie 11 isn’t the worst of the Dragon Ball Z movies, featuring some pretty decent animation and a refreshing focus on characters the franchise never focuses on, but Goten and Trunks’ big fight with Bio-Broly is a complete and utter mess. There’s no real arc to the fight, the stakes don’t feel earned, and Bio-Broly is a nothing villain.
His lime body makes the choreography quite ugly, and Goten & Trunks approach the fight with a slapstick quality that would feel appropriate for Gotenks but just comes off awkward from them. In spite of solid animation, this battle is a massive bore.
6 Best: Goku Versus Tullece’s Henchmen (Movie 3)
The first three Dragon Ball Z movies deserve all the praise in the world for actually trying to have fun with the franchise while expanding on its lore in unique ways. Movie 3 brought another Saiyan into the picture, Tullece (who also served as a Goku doppelganger,) but it also brought all the Earthlings into the main cast for once.
Goku ends up taking out all the henchmen himself despite the fact that all the Earthlings are present, but this isn’t a bad thing, if only because of the outstanding animation and fight choreography. This is one of Goku’s best flexes in the series, and perfect encapsulation of Son Goku in complete control.
5 Worst: Goku Versus Super 13 (Movie 7)
Movie 17, Super Android 13, is the film side of the franchise at its absolute worst. Formulaic, derivative, poorly animated with poor choreography, it’s hard to find much to enjoy in movie 7 other than the novelty of three Super Saiyans working together to defeat Dr. Gero’s ugliest Artificial Humans.
The final battle between Goku and Super Android 13 is an incredibly underwhelming conclusion. Besides 13 punching Goku in the groin, there’s little of note here. Goku finishes him off with a Genki Dama (his movie trademark,) and the fighting leaves much to be desired. Worse yet, while movie 6 also had poor animation, it at least featured dynamic choreography and cinematography to pick up the slack. Movie 7 is content in its mediocrity.
4 Best: Goku Versus Janemba (Movie 12)
It’s a shame Toei decided to dedicate three whole movies to Broly, because their non-Broly Buu arc films are actually insanely good. Movie 12, Fusion Reborn, stands out as one of the best Dragon Ball Z movies, featuring an engaging story with some actual heart, charming character interactions, and some excellent animation.
Super Saiyan 3 Goku’s fight against Janemba near the end of the film is arguably Fusion Reborn’s highlight. Fans like to point to Gogeta, but this battle is filled with incredible choreography that’s only made better by the movie’s top notch animation. Goku and Janemba going at it makes for a better final fight than the actual final fight. Speaking of...
3 Worst: Gogeta Versus Janemba (Movie 12)
Gogeta appearing at the end of movie 12 is one of the most hyped up moments in the franchise, but hopefully now that Gogeta has an actual fight in the Broly movies, fans will recognize just how lame of a finale Gogeta is in Fusion Reborn. After an entire film of Goku and Vegeta working together to fight off Janemba, fusion ends up saving the day.
Worse yet, Gogeta doesn’t even really fight. Goku and Vegeta do the fusion dance, Gogeta shows up, flings an attack at Janemba, kills him, and that’s it. It’s certainly a well animated and directed sequence, but it’s a painfully underwhelming conclusion to what is otherwise one of the better films in the series.
2 Best: Future Trunks Versus 17 & 18 (Trunks TV Special)
Although the Trunks TV Special is, well, a TV special, it’s still more or less paced and structured like a typical Dragon Ball Z movie. It’s also leagues better than just about every other piece of animated Dragon Ball media, so it’s worth discussing for that alone. Incredibly emotional and beautifully directed, the Trunks TV Special caps off with an excellent fight between a younger Trunks and the Androids.
Following in the shadow of Gohan’s fight against them, Trunks’ fight is far slower and more methodical. The Androids play with Trunks, slowly hunting him down. Even as a Super Saiyan, all Trunks can do is throw punches that leave no impact. It’s a tense, sad fight filled with strong imagery, great direction, and some of Toei’s best original fight choreography.
1 Worst: Goku Versus Frieza (Resurrection F)
Resurrection F’s greatest sin is generally behind a pretty decent film for its first half. While it’s nothing stellar, seeing the supporting cast take the spotlight while Goku and Vegeta are off world is a nice change of pace. Not just that, the big group battle between the supporting cast and Frieza’s army raises expectations for the fights against Frieza.
Expectations that are immediately dashed and beaten into the ground. Goku’s fight with Frieza is far and away the single worst fight in any of the Dragon Ball Z movies, and one of the worst in the franchise. Poorly animated with hideous CGI and horrible choreography, what should have been two enemies reliving their greatest fight is instead a travesty in motion.