Dragon Ball Z Movie 01: Dead Zone

AKA: Dragon Ball Z: Return My Gohan!! / ドラゴンボールZ オラの悟飯をかえせッ!! / Dragon Ball Z der Film: Die Todeszone des Garlic Jr. / Dragon Ball Z Película 1: Devolvedme a mi Gohan / Dragon Ball Z le Film: À la Poursuite de Garlic
Format: Movie (41 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Original Publication: N/A (unknown)

The first Dragon Ball Z movie, Toonami would attempt to pull a fast one on westerners by splitting the feature into parts and airing them as normal TV episodes.

No, it’s not the Stephen King/David Cronenberg/Dragon Ball Z crossover you were hoping for—it’s just another DBZ movie. I guess it says good things about this movie that when I saw it on Toonami as a kid, I believed it to be a part of the series. Of course, it didn’t help that they actually did air it as if it was just another arc. “The Garlic Jr. Saga”, my ass. Regardless, the character designs fit right in, and it was time for Gohan to really shine, which the series had been hinting at. Nothing really felt out of place. None of the best DBZ material here, but it’s a welcome addition.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 02: The World’s Strongest

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 02: Kono Yo de Ichiban Tsuyoi Yatsu / ドラゴンボールZ この世で一番強いヤツ / Dragon Ball Z Film 2: Der Stärkste auf Erden / Dragon Ball Z Película 2: El más Fuerte del Mundo / Dragon Ball Z Film 2: Le Robot des Glaces
Format: Movie (60 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Original Publication: October 19, 2024 (10:23 PM)

A brief recollection of my experiences with the second Dragon Ball Z movie. Things seem bleak when one of the best parts of a Dragon Ball Z story involves Master Roshi.

While I was importing my write-ups for the other Dragon Ball Z movies and specials, I realized this was the only one that had nothing written for it. That negligence comes across as kind of ironic when I remember that this is probably the first of the movies I ever saw. From what I recall, Dead Zone was aired as if it were part of the normal series, and I might not even have been watching it at the time. As for whether or not I first saw The World’s Strongest via Toonami syndication or a rental VHS, I believe it’s the latter.

It’s been an age and a half, so I can’t go into much detail. Credit where credit is due: the premise is pretty cool. Master Roshi is baited by a disembodied mad scientist so that he may replace Roshi’s brain with his own in order to possess a new body — that of the strongest human on Earth. It’s easy to forget, especially in DBZ, that Master Roshi is supposed to be a legend and one of the strongest humans. Seeing that acknowledged and being able to watch him fight outside of the original Dragon Ball series is a treat, even if he gets pushed aside almost immediately. Better than his usual antics of just sexually assaulting people. As a side note, this is one of the only classic DBZ movies to have its title be a fairly accurate translation of the Japanese title. Weird.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 03: The Tree of Might

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 03: Chikyuu Marugoto Choukessen / Dragon Ball Z: The Decisive Battle for the Entire Earth / ドラゴンボールZ 地球まるごと超決戦 / Dragon Ball Z Film 3: Die Entscheidungsschlacht / Dragon Ball Z Película 3: Super Batalla Decisiva por la Tierra / Dragon Ball Z Film 3: Le Combat Fratricide
Format: Movie (61 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Original Publication: October 16, 2024 (12:00 AM EST)

An evil Goku and apples that make you stronger from eating them is enough to please any kid watching this Dragon Ball Z feature.

I always really liked this one, ever since I first saw it on Toonami back when dinosaurs walked the earth. I have to hand it to the localizers here, The Tree of Might is an incredibly sick name. Every word is one syllable and other than “the” starts or ends with a hard consonant. It’s so evocative, sounding hard and monolithic like the subject of the movie. Hats off.

I still think Turles is pretty cool. I’m not quite sure why he looks identical to Goku, and I didn’t spend too much time looking into if an explanation was provided. In all likelihood, the writers just thought an “evil Goku” was a fun villain idea and ran with it. I believe I call reading that some non-canon translations portray him as his brother, but that’s not actually the case.

Interestingly, there’s a series of Shueisha-licensed books in Japan known as Film Animation Comics which arrange screenshots of animated movies along with accompanying speech bubbles into a manga format (remember Tokyopop’s “Cinemanga” line?) The book for Tree of Might allegedly claims that low-class Saiyans have similar facial structures. But that’s an inadequate explanation, since Turles’s identical hair is what makes him stand out because everyone in DBZ has the same facial structure. Adding to that, the original cast had Goku’s actor, Masako Nozawa, also voice Turles. This was obviously a deliberate attempt to reinforce the connection, and it’s disappointing that the English dub didn’t do the same.

Bonus points for utilizing all the Z Fighters effectively in this one, something even the series itself is bad about doing. I find the Tree of Might itself to be oddly satisfying, the idea of turning powering up into an eating competition. It’s like a cheat code. DBZ is really good about having simple ideas that appeal to the simple minds of children. I actually do mean that as a compliment. Anyway, this one’s worth a watch for the fans. Although part of me really wishes I had a legitimate reason to call it “The Tree of Shite.”

Dragon Ball Z Movie 04: Lord Slug

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 04: Super Saiyajin da Son Gokuu / Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya People Goku / ドラゴンボールZ 超サイヤ人だ孫悟空 / Dragon Ball Z Película 4: Son Goku el Super Saiyan / Dragon Ball Z Film 4: La Menace de Namec
Format: Movie
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z
Original Publication: September 1, 2014 (8:40 PM EST)

Lord Slug adds some lore for the Namekians, but its not enough to save one of the dullest and most inconsequential DBZ movies. Usually, you at least get a cool villain design.

If you grew up in my generation, Dragon Ball Z was probably one of the first anime you’ve seen, and if that’s true, it was likely the gateway that brought you all the way to a site like MyAnimeList in the first place. You might also remember how its popularity kick-started the advent of books and magazines in the US that covered anime and manga. Pojo books would regularly print big Dragon Ball Z guides that would cover everything from the series, action figures, video games, and of course, the movies. This was a big deal for us DBZ fans because many of the things they covered were import only and it was the only chance we had to learn about them.

My favorite DBZ Pojo book had a complete guide to all the movies, including ratings for each. When YouTube came around, I finally had the chance to see a bunch of the DBZ movies I wanted to, and I started with the ones the magazine rated highly. The few that escaped my grasp were the ones put on the bottom. Lord Slug was one of those.

They were right.

Dragon Ball Z is such a simple series that its faults are nearly always identical to its strengths. Here, we have punching bag minions, fights that are often a repeated exchange of heavy blows rather than martial arts skill, bland new character design that no fans will find cool looking, and a silly concept and execution that goes against established DBZ lore.

Our feature presentation opens up with Gohan (still an unlikable twerp at this point) bringing his irrelevant dragon partner Icarus to Piccolo to show them their new dance. Gohan whistles while he and his dragon friend shake their asses in front of the screen for about two minutes with the occasional shot of Piccolo looking annoyed. I wish I was exaggerating.

In Lord Slug, the titular, aged Namekian and his crew are trying to ram their planet into Earth; an action that we’re shown will destroy them both. Once Goku and Krillin blow up the planet, a spaceship conveniently flies off and lands on Earth where the ne’er-do-wells reveal that they want to use a device to terra-freeze Earth so they can inhabit it.

Now, far be it from me to judge their strategy, but isn’t crashing your planet into and destroying the planet you want to inhabit a little counter-productive? And if you’re retaliating for Goku and Krillin destroying your planet, then why did you attempt to crash it into Earth in the first place, where it would’ve been destroyed regardless? Lastly, why can a Namekian only survive in cold? This has never been brought up before, and I can buy that his minions of a different species can only survive in cold, but then they don’t seem like optimal soldiers for an overlord to recruit. Lastly, this cold is clearly weakening and/or killing every Earthling, so why didn’t Goku or anyone simply just go destroy the terra-freezing device to kill Slug (?) and all his minions instantly? Goddamn.

Well, anyway, things get cold pretty fast and the characters decide to accept this go home and just chill for a bit before Gohan wants to try again and attempts to battle the evil forces. Piccolo joins, some shit happens, shit looks pretty fucked until Goku arrives which takes way too long, then he totally whoops everyone, then the big bad totally whoops him, and then he suddenly decides to stop wasting time and go Super Saiyan and whoops the bad guy.

Pretty standard fare, albeit boring action by DBZ standards. Things don’t get wacky until after this, however, when Slug reveals a stronger form. Goku’s response to this is to go back into his normal form to get his ass kicked again. Maybe he’s just out of power, right? Didn’t he say that he was right before he first turned into a Super Saiyan? Yeah, he did. So that’s no excuse.

Now we learn for the first time that Namekians have acute hearing, so Piccolo rips his ears off and tells Gohan to whistle, debilitating Slug for enough time for Piccolo to transfer his power to Goku. Goku then uses his Kaio-ken (again, weaker than his Super Saiyan form) to easily defeat Slug in one blow. Fantastic.

So, is there anything interesting about the Lord Slug movie? Just a bit, and that’s Slug himself being a Namekian. We haven’t had a Namekian antagonist in the main series since the original Dragon Ball, and back then it didn’t really count since they weren’t known as Namekians. This was a good choice for an antagonist, although Slug’s appearance is very generic with only his size and outfit being distinguishable.

I also commend them having Slug fight like a Namekian for two brief moments, one being when he regenerates an arm and the other being when he’s able to stretch his—well, arms. So, at the very least, they paid some attention to series lore there, and we’re given a very small tale about planet Namek’s backstory that isn’t very interesting, but it’s something. I also gotta note that it’s unfortunate that the dub yet again replaces the original music with post-grunge crap because the dub cast beats the hell out of the sub’s any day.

If you’re a Dragon Ball Z fan, this isn’t unwatchable by any means, but it’s pretty forgettable. A particular shame, considering that it was preceded by some of the overall better DBZ movies.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 05: Cooler’s Revenge

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 05: Tobikkiri no Saikyou tai Saikyou / ドラゴンボールZ とびっきりの最強対最強 / Dragon Ball Z Film 5: Rache für Freezer / Dragon Ball Z Película 5: El más Poderoso contra el más Poderoso / Dragon Ball Z Film 5: La revanche de Cooler
Format: Movie (46 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: January 1, 2023 (12:00 AM EST)

Goku punches another cool-looking alien in the face until he shoots a laser at and kills it. This alien looks especially cool, though!

Final form Cooler is one of my favorite villains and character designs from DBZ, but other than the joy of seeing him in action, this one isn’t very exciting. The twilight setting is an unusual and odd choice that makes this movie feel even more lethargic than it already is. This is just average all-around. A decent concept with Frieza’s legacy coming back, and two (technically three) new, good character designs with Cooler’s two forms and his henchman, Salza. The fights are completely standard, and the sudden finish is especially disappointing.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 06: The Return of Cooler

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 06: Gekitotsu!! 100-oku Power no Senshi-tachi / ドラゴンボールZ 激突!!100億パワーの戦士たち / Dragon Ball Z Film 6: Coolers Rückkehr / Dragon Ball Z Película 6: ¡Choque! Los Guerreros de 10.000 millones de Poder / Dragon Ball Z Film 6: Cent Mille Guerriers de Métal
Format: Movie (45 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996) / Dragon Ball Z Movie 5: Cooler’s Revenge (1991)
Originally Published: October 18, 2024 (9:00 am EST)

Cooler returns for his reckoning of revenge in this really repetitive reel.

One of the dullest Dragon Ball Z movies, which is kind of impressive in a way. There’s nothing of note about this—just a lot of fist fighting between familiar characters. Meh. Cooler doesn’t even go into his much cooler (heh) final form here! What’s the point? I wanted to make a joke out of calling the “Big Gete Star” the “Big Ghetto Star,” but I still just can’t give a shit. Horrible movie title, if nothing else. In a title, “Return” and “Revenge” usually imply the same thing, so it creates confusion between this movie and its predecessor.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 07: Super Android 13!

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 07: Kyokugen Battle!! Sandai Super Saiyajin / ドラゴンボールZ 極限バトル!!三大超サイヤ人 / Dragon Ball Z Film 7: Angriff der Cyborgs / Dragon Ball Z Película 7: ¡Batalla al Límite! Los 3 Grandes Super Saiyans / Dragon Ball Z Film 7: L’offensive des Cyborgs
Format: Movie (45 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: January 1, 2023 (12:00 am EST)

In this Dragon Ball Z feature, the gang fights against an Australian man with the ability to transform into a big, blue Vegeta.

Well, I like the idea in theory. It did always bother me that Toriyama skipped around when it came to Android numbers, and this fills those out a bit. That said, most of the ones here barely get to do anything before they’re combined into Super 13, who I can’t help but see as a big, blue Vegeta. #13’s basic form is downright bizarre, coming across as an Aussie stereotype (literally, in the dub.) The glacial setting is unusual, but it’s desolate and dull. This may not be embarrassing in the way some DBZ movies are, but it feels passionless. I’d say skip it.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 08: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 08: Moetsukiro!! Nessen, Ressen, Chougekisen / ドラゴンボールZ 燃えつきろ!!熱戦・烈戦・超激戦 / Dragon Ball Z Film 8: Der legendäre Super-Saiyajin / Dragon Ball Z Película 8: ¡Arde! Una Ardiente, Intensa y Super Feroz Batalla / Dragon Ball Z Film 8: Broly le Super Guerrie
Format: Movie
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: N/A
Originally Published: January 14, 2015 (12:00 am EST)

Somehow, the Dragon Ball Z movie that promises its most intimidating antagonist yet is an unbelievably slow, dull, and lifeless watch.

I remember renting this on VHS as a kid and not finishing it because I thought it was too boring. And that’s quite damning, since kids are the only ones who can tolerate Dragon Ball Z to begin with. All these years later and I’m now a completionist, so I had to grin and bear a movie I knew wouldn’t be any better than when I first tried it. I was right.

70 minutes makes this one of the longest Dragon Ball Z movies, and it sure as hell feels like it. These guys have their craft down perfectly now, being able to drag every scene out as long as possible. Seconds add up to minutes as characters go forever without saying anything, doing anything, and as slow scrolling shots of the background make up the other in-betweens. I guarantee you I could cut at least 20 minutes from this movie, show it to people who have or haven’t seen it before, and neither would be any the wiser. Why are Krillen, Oolong, and Master Roshi even in this? They should be the first to go. Also, why were they in the actual series? Whatever.

It’s nice that we get some new Saiyan characters, since they’re always the only humanoid antagonists that actually matter. It’s a shame the origin story is the laziest, most contrived thing ever. Broly is a cool character that’s good for the videogames, so this movie at least has some worth in that regard. The fight itself is incredibly boring in the way all bad DBZ fights are.

The heroes get their asses kicked repeatedly, some miracle occurs, and then everything totally flips around. It’s not fun to watch because there’s never anyone fighting on an equal level. You’re just waiting for it to be over and switch to the other side. There’s a lot of comedy inserted in really bad places too, and Goku makes a lot of dumb, childish faces as he’s punched repeatedly which is ridiculous. Vegeta, like usual, makes everything way harder for the heroes by being an idiot, but otherwise he’s totally out of character and a complete pussy.

I seriously can’t believe they got 70 minutes out of this script. That takes some kind of talent. One of the worst DBZ movies. If baby Broly really wanted some sleep, he should’ve just watched this.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 09: Bojack Unbound

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 09: Ginga Girigiri!! Bucchigiri no Sugoi Yatsu / ドラゴンボールZ 銀河ギリギリ!!ぶっちぎりの凄い奴 / Dragon Ball Z Film 9: Super-Saiyajin Son Gohan / Dragon Ball Z Película 9: ¡La Vía Láctea al Límite! Un Tipo Super Increíble / Dragon Ball Z Film 9: Les Mercenaires de L’space
Format: Movie (50 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: October 17, 2024 (4:08 pm EST)

Mathematically, this Dragon Ball Z feature has a greater-than-average number of combinations of people punching each other. So it’s one of the better ones.

Definitely one of the better Dragon Ball Z movies. We get a couple of short fights between the main characters in a friendly opening tournament, and fights between the heroes in DBZ are always highly coveted. The villain designs are decent, more notably for their unique sense of fashion among the usual character designs. Though I was disappointed how Bojack’s minions didn’t get much screentime. It’s nice that Zangya provided us with another female fighter that the franchise desperately needed, even if it’s just reference material for video game player character rosters.

Still, while one of the most entertaining DBZ movies, nothing of consequence happens after the bad guys are defeated and everything goes back to normal. Like basically every DBZ movie, this is just for hardcore fans.

Shout out for the original Japanese title, which I’ve seen some absolutely absurd translations of. Wikipedia has it as Dragon Ball Z: The Last Minute of the Galaxy!! A Super Incredible Guy. When I was a kid, I had a couple of those Pojo Dragon Ball Z guides. I recall one of them translating this title as Super Awesome Guy in the Galaxy, which is fucking incredible. I’m going to steal that for something of my own someday. Less certain is my memory of another translation being something along the lines of Awesome Guy! A Super Incredible Impossibly Awesome Guy! which is a different brand of amazing.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 10: Broly – Second Coming

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 10: Kiken na Futari! Super Senshi wa Nemurenai / ドラゴンボールZ 危険なふたり!超戦士はねむれない / Dragon Ball Z Film 10: Brolys Rückkehr / Dragon Ball Z Película 10: ¡El Dúo Peligroso! Los Super Guerreros Nunca Duermen / Dragon Ball Z Film 10: Rivaux Dangereux
Format: Movie (50 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: April 13, 2015 (11:55 pm EST)

The one where Trunks pisses on Broly. I wish I was kidding.

I’m getting tired of writing all these DBZ movie reviews as they’re more or less the same thing (because so is the series), but would you believe there’s only two left now? I know I can’t. Let’s just make this quick.

Broly crash lands to Earth in a spaceship he inexplicably obtained after inexplicably surviving the events of the first movie. Videl, Goten, and Trunks are searching for the Dragon Balls for no reason other than to fulfill their greedy desires, and as Trunks points out, with the Dragon Radar it’s so easy to do that it was always pretty stupid they didn’t do that more often. Maybe they realized the Earth and anything they wished for would be destroyed again in another month so it wasn’t really worth it.

The featured padding for this movie revolves around a mountain village sacrificing one of their own each year to a dinosaur. The group encounters a little girl about to be sacrificed as a shaman chants some bizarre fake language over it, which is so bloody irritating and goes on for so bloody long that somewhere out there some geeky agency must use a clip of it on repeat as a torture device. This minor shaman character is the worst part of the movie, and that’s actually saying a lot. You see, though the dinosaur is easily dispatched Goten’s incessant whining rightfully angers Broly into attempting to murder everyone.

The first Broly movie was already one of the weaker Dragon Ball Z movies, but its saving grace was that it introduced a cool enough original character. The Second Coming has no problem abandoning that immediately as a 20 minute long slapstick fest between him and the boys commences, climaxing when Trunks pisses all over Broly’s face. This actually happens. A character who is supposed to be one of the most intimidating in the series has his status humiliatingly degraded to that of a babysitter as he can’t even make Goten and Trunks take him seriously after beating them repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Gohan is enjoying his well-known hobby of flying aimlessly over the ocean when he happens to sense Broly and the movie not taking itself seriously enough. Now stuff’s really happening, and to be honest the fight between Gohan and Broly, with the crap inbetween it removed and its briefness aside, is actually pretty decent. Nothing too special, but some good techniques and maneuvering favored over endless energy blasts. From there nothing notable happens and I can’t spoil the ending, but if you can’t guess it in two tries this is probably the first DBZ-related thing you’ve seen.

The original Japanese orchestral score is mediocre, often poorly suited, and even more often totally absent. The original dub release replaced it with generic post-grunge rock and I honestly recommend it more, because at least it recognizes the soundtrack’s job to be a complement to the action, and at best it can downplay some of the stupid comedy of the kids.

I think I said Lord Slug was the worst DBZ movie? Well, I unfortunately stand corrected. It’s The Second Coming. There’s nothing redeemable about this one and it adds nothing to the series lore or cast of characters.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 11: Bio-Broly

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 11: Super Senshi Gekiha!! Katsu no wa Ore da / ドラゴンボールZ 超戦士撃破!!勝のはオレだ / Dragon Ball Z Film 11: Angriff der Bio-Kämpfer / Dragon Ball Z Película 11: ¡La Derrota del Súper Guerrero! La Victoria Será Mía / Dragon Ball Z Film 11: Attaque Super Warrior
Format: Movie (46 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: June 2, 2016 (11:20 pm EST)

I assume something PROBABLY happened in this one, but I sure as hell don’t remember what.

Ah. Well. Let’s cut to the chase. If anything I’m a defender of the Dragon Ball Z movies. It’s a simple series that shouldn’t be that difficult to write for, and a decent portion of the non-canon material has contributed cool new characters to the franchise and worked just as well as some of the better moments of the canon material. Yet even though Dragon Ball Z requires little more than ultra violence, an intimidating villain, an appropriate use of the existing cast, and well-choreographed fights, a few of these movies have failed to gather all of these things in a single entry.

The “Broly trilogy” are universally some of the worst attempts at Dragon Ball Z movies. They’re cut a lot of slack for introducing Broly who’s a popular fan favorite character even though everything else about them is very weak. To be fair, Broly is one of the best new villains the movies introduced. He fits that earlier requirement of being very intimidating, and he’s one of the few important non-canon Saiyans.

But the first Broly movie was mostly an incredibly long, boring exposition with a dull climactic fight where everyone just gets beaten to death until Goku suddenly turns it around with no suspense whatsoever. The next movie somehow got worse, as superior characters Goku, Gohan, and future Trunks were all basically gone. Gohan settled things halfway through the movie, and everything before that is terrible slapstick and some more literal slapping as Goten and Trunks tease Broly and get their asses kicked for it. Not before pissing on him and ruining whatever goodwill Broly’s coolness factor gave to him, though.

In the stunning conclusion to one of cinema’s greatest trilogies, an old rich rival of Hercule challenges him to come fight against his army of genetically-engineered creepy alien warriors, threatening to reveal Hercule wet the bed once as a kid if he refuses. It’s riveting stuff, and since our heroine Android 18 was there valorously blackmailing Hercule into paying her millions for throwing the world martial arts championship she decides to tag along. And so do Goten and Trunks, because for some reason these derivative silly kid characters must be really popular in Japan.

Well, it turns out that the annoying shaman from the previous Broly movie stole a frozen sample of his blood and somehow knew Hercule’s rival would be interested in obtaining it to make another bio-warrior. So because of this moron Broly is back and in Goten’s words “the whole universe is in danger!” This time Broly is looking rather pathetic, nothing more than a big, dripping green vomit man with a few golden locks sticking out of the back of his head being the only thing reminding you that this is Broly. Depending on your point of view, it could be considered less humiliating than being pissed on by a little kid.

Regardless, not even the writers can take the threat of Broly seriously at this point. The token character to come in and save the day is Krillin of all people, and as always he fails and does nothing to change the situation. Meanwhile huge mounds of purple goop from the bio-warrior factory is spilling out and melting everything in sight. It takes Goten and Trunks far too long to realize they’re obviously not going to beat Broly, just like they couldn’t beat him last time at the same power level. Trunks comes up with the idea to spill some of the ovulating ooze onto Broly and melt him. Because apparently this man-made sludge is stronger than super-powered space aliens. Too bad they couldn’t just throw this stuff on Frieza!

Against all common sense, Trunks’s plan succeeds and Broly dies a shameful death, changing his ice cream flavor from lemon-lime to the inferior grape. But wait, obviously the grape juice absorbs Broly’s power and now, according to the presumably genius scientist who invented it, nothing can stop it and the world is doomed etc. Moments later it turns out seawater, one of the most basic substances on Earth, turns all the goop to stone for some reason. But wait! A giant Broly rises out of the sludge! And then promptly becomes stone. Well, all things considered that was pretty easy. No one is stronger, no lessons learned, and one of Dragon Ball Z‘s few victories won without brute force doesn’t even make sense.

Well, I learned my lesson, albeit a bit too late: don’t watch Bio-Broly. But of course you’re going to watch Bio-Broly, you’re probably reading this because you’re like me and don’t want to put those hundreds of episodes and $12 figurines from your childhood to waste. Even if you’re interested in Bio-Broly for the lore, it’s a waste because it’s referenced by almost no other Dragon Ball Z media. I’ve never even seen one of the video games use Bio-Broly’s appearance.

This is the only Dragon Ball Z movie that’s been practically erased from the franchise’s history, and for good reason: it has nothing to offer. Unless you really like Hercule. At least there’s no post-grunge music in the dub this time around. The final scene of the movie straight up shoves its butt into the audience’s face, as the dead Goku is told that Broly is literally raising Hell and King Kai wants Goku and Pikkon to stop him. This sets up yet another unwanted Broly sequel that ironically wasn’t made for once, and also ironically sounds like a far more interesting scenario than what we got. Still, please don’t come back, Broly.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fukkatsu no Fusion!! Gokuu to Vegeta / ドラゴンボールZ 復活のフュージョン!!悟空とベジータ / Dragon Ball Z Film 12: Die Fusion / Dragon Ball Z Película 12: ¡El Renacimiento de la Fusión! Goku y Vegeta / Dragon Ball Z Film 12: Fusion
Format: Movie (50 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z
Original Publication: N/A (unknown)

Wacky banter between Earth’s two mightiest heroes, a cool villain and transformation, and some… unexpected cameos make this one of the best, if not THE best, DBZ movie.

This is probably my favorite Dragon Ball Z movie, which is odd if I think about it as it’s one of the most straightforward. Even odder is that it followed up the fairly garbage Bio-Broly. All Hell (or HFIL) breaks loose when a minimum-wage slave doesn’t do his job right and lets a bunch of evil energy escape which becomes Janemba. Or something. Some old villains also escape such as Frieza, Cell, and of course, Adolph Hitler. Any Dragon Ball Z fan remembers the “Holocaust Saga.”

There’s some neat psychedelic background imagery in the otherworld here that’s unlike any other Dragon Ball Z movie and makes the whole ordeal feel that much more special. At nearly an hour, this is a sizable length for a DBZ movie. It’s a battle of attrition against Janemba, but some of the best Goku and Vegeta banter in the franchise’s history keeps the proceedings from ever getting dull. Vegeta’s refusal to wear the Potara earrings is a clever way to extend the movie’s length without feeling contrived as it’s something you’d expect him to do. Gogeta has a much cooler design than Vegito as well, so thumbs up. Can’t beat that vest.

So yeah, any Dragon Ball Z fan should at least watch this movie. It’s one of the few that’s fun from beginning to end.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 13: Wrath of the Dragon

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 13: Ryuuken Bakuhatsu!! Gokuu ga Yaraneba Dare ga Yaru / ドラゴンボールZ 龍拳爆発!!悟空がやらねば誰がやる / Dragon Ball Z Film 13: Drachenfaust / Dragon Ball Z Película 13: ¡La Explosión del Puño de Dragón! Si Goku no Puede Hacerlo ¿Quién lo Hará? / Dragon Ball Z Film 13: L’attaque du Dragon
Format: Movie (51 minutes)
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Original Publication: N/A (unknown)

Wrath of the Dragon actually has the (dragon) balls to add to established Dragon Ball Z lore, catapulting it to the upper realm of these features.

This is one of the more interesting (i.e. better) Dragon Ball Z movies due to its focus on plot rather than action. That may sound unintuitive, but there’s only so many ways you can choreograph the same people firing the same laser beams. In a shocking twist, Wrath of the Dragon contributes to the canon by providing backstory for how Trunks obtained his iconic sword. That alone makes the movie’s events relevant to the audience and meaningful, something non-canon anime movies always struggle with.

New character Tapion has a fairly distinctive design, which is amazing since we’re talking about Akira Toriyama’s style, and he makes a nice addition to the franchise’s enormous cast. With his elf-like ears, sword, and ocarina, he’s a dead-ringer for Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The increased story depth makes the final fight against Hirudegarn arrive at a more natural and climactic pace, and it’s satisfying despite its brevity when compared to other Dragon Ball Z movie fights.

If you’re interested in watching some of the DBZ movies, then this should be one of your top priorities. Also, did you know the German subtitle for this movie is Drachenfaust? That’s the most metal shit I’ve ever heard. I looked up if it was the name of a well-known band, and it’s not! I call dibs for when I start my progressive black metal band.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 14: Battle of Gods

AKA: Dragon Ball Z Movie 14: Kami to Kami / ドラゴンボールZ 神と神 / Dragon Ball Z Film 14: Kampf der Götter / Dragon Ball Z Película 14: Battle of Gods
Format: Movie
Studio(s): Toei Animation
Related: Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
Originally Published: April 14, 2015 12:26 am EST

Much like Goku himself, Dragon Ball Z refuses to stay dead with Battle of the Gods, a new-yet-familiar chapter in the eternal DBZ legacy.

I was in the mood for some DBZ nostalgia and whenever that happens I decide to kill two birds with one stone and finish one of the 100 movies I haven’t seen yet. Battle of Gods came up this time for a few reasons. One of them is that it was one of the only movies I had left that wasn’t regarded as bad, and another is that it was too enticing to see Dragon Ball Z action with modern animation.

Times have changed since when most of the DBZ movies came out, and now it was a truly legendary IP with a rich history and respect towards it. The 50-minute lazy cash grabs of before wouldn’t cut it, and Battle of Gods is the one of the few that actually feels like a movie. It’s almost two hours long which is incredibly uncommon for anime movies in general, and the budget is fat. Finally, a real spectacle.

There’s something else special about Battle of Gods too. It is, in a sense, an anniversary of Dragon Ball Z. It comes across as something primarily made both as a tribute to the series and as a thank you to the fans, with the profit that would come from anything with the Dragon Ball Z name pushed aside. Most of the movie’s running time is spent on the antics occurring at Bulma’s birthday party, which is an obvious excuse for the show to celebrate itself. Nearly the entire series cast is at the party, and care is given to have every character speak at least one line. Almost none of them are important at all, but let’s not get our hopes too sky high.

In an exposition that seems almost self-aware by Dragon Ball Z standards, King Kai notifies Goku that Lord Beerus (seriously?), the super mega ultra God of Destruction has awakened and is on his way towards them. Big deal, right? Every “god” in DBZ is a total bitch. But not Lord Beerus, says King Kai. Lord Beerus is the strongest most powerful guy in the entire universe of all existence ever except maybe not so even Goku can’t beat him except maybe or maybe not. Goku goes full power only oh no he’s totally helpless because Beerus is THAT strong, but Beerus is still bored and decides to crash Bulma’s party. Vegeta is the only one aware of Beerus’s role and power, and has to keep his attitude in check so he doesn’t decide to destroy the earth.

Battle of Gods is the most comedy-focused DBZ movie, and while this should sound like suicide it actually succeeds at being funny. The humor is in character, thus further referencing the show’s long history, and it allows more of an opportunity to engage with characters the fans haven’t seen in such a long time. Battle of Gods is a very good-natured movie, which solidifies it as a tribute. Though Beerus is the god of destruction he’s an antagonist who actually isn’t evil and behaves more like a spoiled brat. Only his aide, Whis, can discipline him but he’s unfortunately more interested in sampling all the food at Bulma’s party. When Beerus’s patience starts to dry up he requests another rematch from Goku and we finally get the serious large-scale fight we came for.

And there, that’s the problem. Almost the entirety of the movie is spent goofing off at Bulma’s party. It’s a huge relief that the humor worked so well in that case, but it doesn’t change the fact that comedy is neither the thing Dragon Ball Z is best at nor what someone would expect it to focus in. For a Dragon Ball Z tribute to miss that mark is kind of surprising.

I love seeing the cast featured in modern animation, but the thing that could benefit the most from this higher budget, the fucking fight scenes, are barely featured and this momentous celebration of the franchise comes short of letting us relive the excitement it brought us in its glory days. Battle of the Gods is an extension of Dragon Ball Z and a very satisfying one at that, but it’s not enough of an upgrade where it should’ve been. Giving it the title “Battle of Gods” almost feels like false advertising in that sense.

Despite this, there isn’t a question that Battle of Gods is one of the series’ peaks. It’s funny, charmingly pokes all the right nostalgia buttons, and the small fight we do get is great while it lasts. Now that the message has gotten to the fans that Dragon Ball Z lives on, I hope to see future installments focus on and bring out what Dragon Ball Z was truly about: gripping violence. If you disagree, then you’d have to agree the series should’ve moved on before Battle of Gods.