The legacy of Dragon Ball Z is one that is already pretty set in stone, it's one of the most iconic franchises to ever exist. Even with that we wouldn't be shocked to find out that there are fans out there who haven't seen everything the series has to offer thanks to the over one dozen animated movies released over the past 3 decades.
If you're one of the people who hasn't seen them all, never fear, we have a guide to help you figure out where to start and what order to watch!
The nineties Dragon Ball Z movies
- Not canon... but worth your time!
Coming out every March and July for half a decade during the height of the show's popularity, these roughly hour-long Dragon Ball Z movies were a chance for creators to morph the story into different shapes and sizes for a guaranteed audience. The films aren't exactly Toriyama canonical, but the more hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans will find some of them appreciable.
Dragon Ball Z: The Dead Zone (1989)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Return my Gohan!!
The very first Dragon Ball Z Movie, so you have to watch it for its historic value alone! It also introduces a green shrimp man named Garlic Jr. who returns for a not too great filler arc in the TV anime series. Standard revenge plot, but it has some cool early Z-era fighting.
Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (1990)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest Guy
With how high power levels sky-rocket later on in the series, we do find it hard to believe the second Dragon Ball Z movie contains 'The World's Strongest', which is canonically just God at this point we suppose.
It's not very good, and the plot is very one dimensional, but this one has cool Toriyama robots, at least!
Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: A Super Battle for the Whole Earth
Turles is a Saiyan who looks a lot like another Saiyan named Bardock who looks a lot like another Saiyan named Goku. Ignoring that, the Dragon Ball Z movie The Tree Of Might is secretly about kid Gohan secretly befriending a dinosaur in the woods, striking on some of the same magic that made the Gohan/Piccolo 'filler' work so well in Z. Well worth watching.
Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (1991)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Son Goku
The titular 'Lord Slug' is a 'Super Namekian', and whether you should watch this one or not depends on how you respond to the phrase 'Super Namekian'. Goku gets a one-time only semi-powered up form in this movie too, but it's kind of a cop-out since he relies on old strategies to win the day in this one.
Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge (1991)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: The Incredible Strongest vs Strongest
"What if Frieza had a brother named Cooler?" the movie. You get to see more of the backstory with the Saiyan race which is neat, but this one is really for the Frieza fans.
Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (1992)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Powerful Warriors
What if Frieza's brother became Meta-Cooler and he made a lot of copies of himself? Vegeta makes his first movie appearance here too. Cooler's re-appearance is a bit goofy and the concept is a little cookie-cutter but if you liked the previous Cooler movie, you'll probably dig this one too.
Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! (1992)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans
With Future Trunks now in the picture, Super Android 13! firmly takes place later on in the Dragon Ball Z timeline where said power-levels have been suped-up. While not strictly canonical, the film does further expand on the Dr. Gero and Android mythos making it one of more ambitious nineties Dragon Ball Z movie entries.
Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Burn Up!! Hot Fight • Violent Fight • Super Fierce Fight
The first appearance of Broly, the non Toriyama OC so good they gave him a trilogy and eventually introduced him into the canon properly years later. Dragon Ball Super: Broly may be the better movie, but Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan laid the groundwork for what was to come and it's good in its own right.
Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound (1993)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy
The last (1990s) appearance of Future Trunks in a Dragon Ball Z movie, the biggest reason to see this one. Bojack and his gang were also designed by Toriyama for this movie specifically, but would return in Dragon Ball Heroes years later so there's that too.
Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming (1994)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: The Dangerous Duo! Super Warriors Can't Rest
Fan favorite movie original character Broly is a back and this time he's extra angry. Surprisingly, this film sees some of the best characterization Goten ever gets, with a surprisingly heart-felt in the last few minutes. Recommended watch.
Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly (1994)
Japanese title: Dragon Ball Z Super-Warrior Defeat!! I’m the One Who’ll Win
King Kai tells Goku to fight Broly in hell, but unfortunately that's just the epilogue of this film. The rest of the movie is the same old "I'm going to create the strongest fighter" story from previous films, this one is probably only for the die-hards.
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: The Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn rules and it might be our favorite of the 90s films. Getting the so-cool-they-made-him-canon-later Gogeta's a good start, but what really makes Fusion Reborn so special is how surreal it is! Goku and Vegeta have to take on the big bad Janemba in what's basically a Jelly-Bean dimension, duking it out in a lot of trippy settings.
Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995)
Japanese title - Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won’t Do it, Who Will?
What if Dragon Ball Z was a fantasy series but also it kind of worked? It might be the most unique of the Dragon Ball Z films as a whole, with some really cool new supporting characters too. Couple that with swords, big hair, and bigger battles and it's a pretty wild send-off for the Dragon Ball Z movie lineup.
The Dragon Ball Z to Super pipeline
Dragon Ball GT ate up some of Dragon Ball's good will, but not enough to kill it. The series would return with Toriyama at the helm via a pair of movies in 2013 and 2015 that would break the ground for Dragon Ball Super to eventually spring forth. Super remade the events of both of these films, and maybe the TV versions would since be considered canon, but they're basically the same and also worse, so be sure to watch these.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)
Not only was Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods the long-dreamed return of the most popular anime ever, it perfectly captured everything that allowed Dragon Ball to enrapture audiences for decades on end. It resurrected all the whimsy and charm of early Dragon Ball while delivering fights any Dragon Ball Z movie would be lucky to have, not to mention throwing Beerus and Whis into the mix. It not only met but exceeded all our collective expectations.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015)
Very fun, pretty cool they threw the Maximum the Hormone Frieza track in there, but his return didn't quite live up to the Battle of Gods precedent. Still sets up some fun stuff for the future of Dragon Ball Super, and if you're a Frieza fan you definitely don't want to miss it.
Dragon Ball Super: The Movies
The Dragon Ball Super TV series ended in mid 2018, but the announcement of a follow-up movie soon followed.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)
Despite being the sequel film to Dragon Ball Super, the Akira Toriyama created Dragon Ball Super Broly is more or less the perfect specifically Dragon Ball Z movie. Very little fat after the introductory sequence, the film cuts straight to the point and is, essentially, three gigantic action set pieces depicting the most lavishly animated and full-bodied kinetic shonen fighting we've ever seen. A must watch.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022)
The Red Ribbon Army is back, operating as a pharmaceutical company (arguably the most evil thing they've ever done), and they want to make more super androids! A pair of super hero androids, Orange Piccolo (!), Cell Max (!!), and Beast Gohan (!!!) all enter the story and the end result is Dragon Ball-style action at its absolute best.
We need more Dragon Ball
With the passing of Akira Toriyama in 2025, the future of the Dragon Ball franchise has never been more unclear. Toyotarou is still making the Dragon Ball Super manga in the pages of V-Jump (albeit slowly), and Dragon Ball Daima was well received so we'd be surprised if there wasn't more to come. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long as the time between GT and Super this time.
