How To Watch The Dragon Ball Z Movies In Order

Battle of Gods
Battle of Gods

Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) is considered one of the most popular anime of all time. The series made a name for itself through its well-choreographed action sequences and thrilling battles between Goku and his enemies. Back in 1996, DBZ ended its successful run with almost 300 episodes worth of content. During its runtime, Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation also gave us more DBZ content by making movies.

Currently, the entire Dragon Ball franchise has a total of 21 movies, with 15 of them being DBZ films. All of these movies provide you with brand-new stories separate from the original DBZ continuity. Since most of them aren’t canon, determining their timeline placement can be confusing.

If you’re planning on watching the DBZ movies, then you need to know how to watch them in order. For you to truly enjoy, here’s the recommended watch order for the Dragon Ball Z movies.

 

Recommended Dragon Ball Z Movies Watch Order

Here’s how you should watch the DBZ movies that’ll give you the best experience. If you want to watch them with the anime, we also included their possible placement in the timeline. However, some movies just plain out contradict the anime’s events, so they may seem baffling when you watch them.

– Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (Between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z)
– Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest (Between Saiyan Saga and Namek Saga)
– Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (Between Namek Saga and Frieza Saga)
– Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (After The Tree of Might)
– Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge (Between Future Trunk’s arrival and Android’s arrival)
– Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (After Cooler’s Revenge)
– Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13 (After Dr. Gero’s death and Goku’s recovery)
– Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (Before Cell Games)
– Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound (After Cell Games)
– Dragon Ball Z: Broly Second Coming (After World Tournament begins)
– Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly (After World Tournament concludes)
– Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (During Majin Buu Saga)
– Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (After Kid Buu Saga)
– Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (After Peaceful World Saga)
– Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (After Battle of Gods)

This watch order is based on release dates since the movies were released in chronological order. However, despite them being in chronological order, some remain hard to fit in the original continuity. If you want to avoid confusion, then you can watch the movies as separate stand-alone stories. However, are the DBZ movies worth watching?

 

Should You Watch The Dragon Ball Z Movies?

Most of the DBZ movies will introduce you to characters that don’t appear anywhere else. Iconic villains such as Cooler and Broly are nowhere to be found in the anime. Furthermore, Gogeta, the Metamoran fusion of Goku and Vegeta, can only be seen in Fusion Reborn. Trust us when we say you don’t want to miss out on these incredible characters.

However, there are some movies where the plot feels flat. The action might feel intense, but the overall story just doesn’t hit the mark. A few good examples are Lord Slug and Bio-Broly, where the villains were boring, and the pacing was sluggish. Still, certain movies will keep you on the edge of your seats, such as Cooler’s Revenge and Battle of Gods.

So are the DBZ movies worth watching? If you have free time and you want more DBZ, then you should totally watch the movies. However, you might want to steer clear of the ones with mediocre plot lines.

 

Where Can You Watch The Dragon Ball Z Movies?

Most of the DBZ movies are available on Crunchyroll and Funimation. Still, you might need a VPN, depending on your region. Meanwhile, some of them are available by buying copies on Amazon and other storefronts.

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