Dragon Ball movies ranked: why The World's Strongest is god tier

I've ranked every Dragon Ball film in one tier list: the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super theatrical movies, plus the TV specials, OVAs and a few miscellaneous oddities. My tiers run from god tier at the top through top tier, high tier, mid tier and low tier, down to a bottom tier reserved for the worst. The Dragon Ball Z film I love most from the original 13 is The World's Strongest. Fusion Reborn, Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Super: Broly join it in god tier.

These rankings are only for Dragon Ball movies, not movies overall. Films like Batman Begins or The Dark Knight would be the real S tier. God tier here means god tier for Dragon Ball.

The Bardock and Trunks TV specials are god tier, even though they aren't movies

The Bardock and Trunks specials are not movies. They're longer TV episodes that aired in Japan, about 45 minutes without commercial breaks and roughly an hour with them. When Funimation released them in the United States, it labeled them as features, which was incorrect. So when somebody says the Bardock special is their favorite movie, it isn't a movie.

Still, I love both of them, and they go straight into god tier. They aren't positive and they're sad, but "they're dark but they're some of the best dragon ball stories we've ever gotten." If you haven't seen them in Japanese, you should, because the dub butchers the script. The fandom loves these specials, and so do I.

Mystical Adventure beats Curse of the Blood Rubies and Path to Power among the original Dragon Ball films

The first Dragon Ball movie, The Legend of Shenron, was called Curse of the Blood Rubies in the United States. It retells the original Dragon Ball story, but King Gurumes and his army replace Pilaf as the villains. It has tremendous action scenes, Roshi gets an epic Kamehameha, Yamcha uses nunchucks, and there's a crude joke I enjoyed. Because it's a retelling, I like it but don't love it, so it goes in mid tier.

The second film, Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, is an original story, but it isn't my favorite. It's boring. The villain is cool and there are a couple of action scenes I like, but overall it's basic. It also lands in mid tier. I enjoy the others more, but these aren't terrible movies, just not great ones.

Mystical Adventure, the third film, is another retelling, but it goes in high tier because I love it. The animation and the soundtrack are great, and it's fun to watch. It was the first Dragon Ball movie, not Z, that I ever saw. Arale is in it and so is Tao Pai Pai.

The fourth, The Path to Power, came out in 1996, right at the beginning of GT. This is my opinion, and I'm putting it in low tier. It has great animation, it's a beautiful movie and it has GT's soundtrack, and Studio Ghibli helped with it. But it's boring and it's another retelling of the Red Ribbon Army story. It isn't a bad movie, I just don't enjoy watching it. I haven't seen it in a long time, so maybe I'd like it more now.

Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return lands in high tier, while Goku Jr.'s special sinks to low tier

The 2008 OVA Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return aired at Jump Festa. It's only 30 minutes long and I had a fun time with it. It isn't top of the list, but it brought back all the characters. A couple of the characters aren't that interesting and Tarble is okay, but it's a fun watch, so it goes in high tier.

The Goku Jr. special, A Hero's Legacy, goes in low tier. It takes place after GT, before the Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. fight at the tournament at the end of the series, and tells Goku Jr.'s story. It has one emotional moment I did enjoy, when Goku comes back as a spirit and talks to Goku Jr. Beyond that, it feels like a waste of time, and I don't like it much at all.

Dead Zone, The World's Strongest and The Tree of Might open the Dragon Ball Z films strong

Going in order through the Dragon Ball Z movies, Dead Zone comes first. I love its soundtrack, its animation and the beautiful matte paintings at the end. It isn't the best movie and it isn't god tier, but it's top tier because I have lots of nostalgia for it and I adore its early look. Garlic Jr. has great dialogue, and the Ocean dub version is great.

The World's Strongest is god tier, and it's without question my favorite of the original 13 Dragon Ball Z movies, not counting Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. The soundtrack is incredible. I love Dr. Wheelo as a villain, even though many people don't. Goku screams through the Kaio-ken in whichever version you're watching, Roshi gets to fight, and Roshi, Krillin and Goku do a teacher and student Kamehameha. Then there's Kaio-ken times four. I have lots of nostalgia for it.

The Tree of Might goes in top tier. It's a great movie and I had a lot of fun with it. I love the tribute to Westerns at the very end, with Goku and Turles going face to face. The Z fighters get to fight in this one, which we don't see much of until much later in the Dragon Ball Z movies.

Lord Slug, the Cooler films and Super Android 13 split across mid, top and low tier

Lord Slug is a mid tier film, even though I like the false Super Saiyan, Lord Slug as a villain and the soundtrack. Slug is another version of King Piccolo, the same thing over again. I do like how the earth feels in danger, the way Slug covers the clouds. I love seeing Goku and Piccolo team up and Piccolo ripping his ears off. This movie used to get trashed in the fandom in the late 90s and early 2000s. I like it, but it isn't that great to me.

Cooler's Revenge is easily top tier. The plot is simple, but I love it, and Cooler is a great villain. Goku is out of commission for most of the film, so Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin and even Yajirobe get some action. I love Cooler's squadron and his final form. The finale is simple, but I enjoy the movie.

The Return of Cooler goes in mid tier. I have lots of nostalgia for it and I love Metal Cooler and the idea behind it. It's Vegeta's first appearance in a Dragon Ball Z movie, and I love Piccolo's "let my people go" line. But some of the animation is wonky and the ending is underwhelming. The timeline placement is even weirder. Other movies can sort of fit as what if scenarios, like what if Piccolo never died, but this one cannot fit anywhere at all.

Super Android 13 goes in low tier. It has great action and cool fight scenes, the opening is great and Vegeta's entrance is great. But the movie has no plot whatsoever. It's goofy in many parts, in a dumb way rather than a good one, and it drags on as it goes. Goku and Trunks fight without even transforming. Android 13 has no personality, though the dub tried to give him one. He's like Broly before Broly.

Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan and Bojack Unbound rank high, while Broly: Second Coming is my least favorite

The first Broly film, The Legendary Super Saiyan, goes in high tier. It has a good plot. I know some people hate him, but "broly is a great villain" in this movie. I like his backstory and I like Paragus. My only criticism is that the first act drags. Everyone waits forever to figure out who the legendary warrior is, when it's obviously Broly. Once the action starts, it's killer. For a long time this was my favorite Dragon Ball Z movie, and while I don't love it as much as I used to, I still like it.

Bojack Unbound is without question top tier. I almost put it in god tier. The animation is amazing, it has a Running Man gimmick, and Gohan is the main guy. The big problem is Bojack, who has no personality. He's the most boring villain of any Dragon Ball Z movie, his backstory is weak and Goku breaking the rules of the afterlife is weird. But the action and animation are tremendous. Many people say it's their favorite, and I can't blame them.

Broly: Second Coming goes in the bottom tier. I hate it. The family Kamehameha at the end is great, though it makes no sense. The movie reuses animation and its first half is boring. It's my least favorite Dragon Ball Z movie, and I hate it more than Bio-Broly, and I'm not kidding.

Bio-Broly, Fusion Reborn and Wrath of the Dragon

Bio-Broly wasn't even on the board I was using, so it has to go in by imagination, and it lands in low tier rather than the bottom. The only reason is that it gives Android 18 and Krillin something to do. A movie that doesn't feature Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo or Gohan is refreshing to me. The ending is bad and Bio-Broly is a terrible villain, maybe worse than Bojack, though he's a clone, so I give him a pass. It isn't a good movie, but at least the side characters get time to shine.

Fusion Reborn was going to be top tier, but it's going in god tier because I love it. It has Gogeta, Janemba and Super Saiyan 3 Goku fighting Janemba in hell, and Pikkon gets some shine. Janemba is my favorite movie villain of the original Z films. It's a great, fun movie that I think is still watchable, and Gogeta is still awesome.

Wrath of the Dragon goes in top tier. It's the most cinematic of the original Dragon Ball Z movies and it has an actual plot. Tapion's backstory is tremendous and I love it. The only thing I hate is how much the movie favors Goku. Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks gets knocked out of fusion with one shot from Hirudegarn, yet Goku handles him with the Dragon Fist. I do like that move, and it's a good, fun movie with a plot.

Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans and Episode of Bardock end up in low tier

The original Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans goes in low tier, not the bottom. I don't like watching it much, but it has a cool backstory with the Tuffles, which GT later redid with Baby, and I like the returning villains. It's a set of cutscenes from a video game, and while it's been called an OVA or a movie for years, it isn't really either. The animation is nice, and I love Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and Gohan working together. I wish we saw more of that in the series.

Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans gets the same treatment. I like it more than the original, but it's still low tier. It's short and to the point, without much to it. I can still watch it and have a good time, but it's not something I enjoy watching.

Episode of Bardock started in mid tier but I moved it down to low tier. It's very short and it kind of makes no sense. It's basically Bardock fan service to promote something like a Heroes card. Its length meant I didn't feel like I was wasting my time, and it's a cool ending for Bardock. I wish it were longer with a real story, but it doesn't have one. People like Super Saiyan Bardock, but it isn't a good movie or a good OVA.

Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Super: Broly are god tier, while Resurrection F is mid tier

Battle of Gods is god tier. This was the return of Dragon Ball, the renaissance, with beautiful animation, Toriyama involved and Yusuke Watanabe writing the script. I love Super Saiyan God and Beerus, and the whole Dragon Ball Super revival started with this movie. When it leaked online in September 2013, I'd just come home from my friend's wedding, and "i watched this movie nine times" that weekend. I love what it did with Vegeta's "that's my Bulma" scene and Goku admitting he has an ego and dislikes that he couldn't get the power on his own. There's so much development.

Resurrection F has not aged well, and it goes in mid tier. The animation and CGI look weird and there's no story. It brought back my favorite character, Frieza, but the way he came back was underwhelming. People loved it when it came out, but I thought it was okay. I was happy to get a new movie, Super Saiyan Blue debuted here, and the Z fighters fighting Frieza's army was cool. But he comes back, dies and Whis reverses time.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly has to be god tier. It has the best animation of any Dragon Ball movie, and it retells Broly in an interesting way, with Goku, Vegeta and Broly as the main characters. Then there's Gogeta Blue, the action and the music. I saw it in theaters about three times. Even people who hate Dragon Ball Super like this movie. And Dragonball Evolution, of course, goes in the bottom tier.