30 Best Scenes In Dragon Ball Movies Ranked

Akira Toriyama's beloved manga series "Dragon Ball" has evolved into a full-fledged global phenomenon, being adapted into a franchise of television series, video games, and merchandising. Spinning off from the numerous anime adaptations are a growing number of feature-length films depicting the further adventures of the heroic Goku and his fellow Z-Fighters as they defend the Earth. From non-canonical side stories starring the iconic characters to continuations of the overarching story set in the main continuity, these films deliver the fan-favorite moments and frenzied fights that have made "Dragon Ball" a perennially popular property.

With dozens of films to draw from, there is certainly no shortage of beloved scenes that give the long-running television shows a run for their money in regard to sheer quality. Here are the 30 best scenes from the "Dragon Ball" movies, from its initial period chronicling Goku's childhood exploits to the epic journeys through space and time that the Super Saiyan experiences as an adult.

The 1996 film "Dragon Ball: The Path to Power" commemorated the tenth anniversary of the original "Dragon Ball" anime series, retelling and condensing the first half of the show's story into a single film. Shortly after meeting Bulma, Master Roshi, and the rest of his friends for the first time, Goku faces off against the vile Red Ribbon Army, who want to use the Dragon Balls for themselves. Goku goes on the offensive single-handedly after the paramilitary organization kidnaps his newfound friends and locks them away in their coastal headquarters, with an entire army standing in the young hero's way.

As Bulma manages to free herself and the rest of the Red Ribbon Army's prisoners, Goku blasts through waves of enemy troops with his recently learned Kamehameha Wave. When foot soldiers and tanks begin to close in for close-quarters combat, Goku easily takes down all of his opponents with his martial arts skills and the Power Pole. Already a prodigious fighter long before he grows up to be the world's greatest hero, "The Path to Power" updates and streamlines the pivotal moment in "Dragon Ball" history for movie audiences.

Vegeta has one of the most dramatic character arcs across the "Dragon Ball" franchise, going from merciless conqueror to a gruff but earnest hero in his own right. Vegeta makes a late entrance in the 1995 film "Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon," appearing as the gargantuan enemy Hirudegarn attacks a city. Charging Hirudegarn, Vegeta quickly discovers that his Super Saiyan 2 transformation is not enough to stop the towering villain and is knocked into a nearby office building.

As Hirudegarn readies a fiery attack to finish Vegeta off, the Saiyan Prince realizes the office is still full of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Mustering the last of his energy, Vegeta creates a forcefield powerful enough to withstand the full brunt of Hirudegarn's flaming attack and save everyone inside. While Vegeta passes out from the sheer effort, the scene demonstrates just how much he has grown as a character since the start of "DBZ."

The 1993 film "Bojack Unbound" is set shortly after the Cell Games, with Goku having sacrificed his life to prevent the twisted Cell from destroying the Earth. In his absence, Gohan and the rest of the Z-Fighters participate in a martial arts tournament that is interrupted by the sinister Bojack and his private army. Bojack and his minions easily defeat the heroes, with Bojack personally defeating Vegeta and transforming into his final form before beginning to painfully crush Gohan.

Unable to bear watching his son being killed from the afterlife, Goku briefly teleports to Earth and frees Gohan before offering parting words of wisdom to remind him to tap into his fighting spirit. Encouraged by his father's advice, Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan 2 and effortlessly kills Bojack's minions before destroying Bojack himself. Though a slight retread of the deceased Goku encouraging Gohan to destroy Cell during the Cell Games, his return in "Bojack Unbound" underscores that Goku's legacy lives on beyond his death.

"Wrath of the Dragon" pits the Z-Fighters against an enemy like never before, with Hirudegarn towering over them at the size of a kaiju rather than being of a similar humanoid stature like most of their opponents. To complicate matters further, Hirudegarn is able to go intangible at a moment's notice, making it difficult for the heroes to land a solid hit on him. In order to destroy this unorthodox villain, Goku unveils a new technique that holds Hirudegarn in place before taking him down for good.

After fighting across a city, Goku decides to finish the fight against Hirudegarn himself and powers up to Super Saiyan 3. Realizing Hirudegarn has to maintain his tangible form to land his own attacks, Goku goads the monster into going on the offensive before striking him with his Dragon Fist technique. The attack has Goku take on the form of a golden dragon and burst through Hirudegarn's torso before binding and destroying him in a flash of light as the battle comes to a triumphant close.

Frieza has become something of the face of all the "Dragon Ball" franchise's villains, resurfacing on multiple occasions since his initial death in "Dragon Ball Z" to menace the heroes again. One of Frieza's earliest returns came in the non-canonical 1995 movie "Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn," with Frieza and his fellow residents of Hell escaping to Earth. With Goku and Vegeta both dead at the time, it falls on Gohan and his friends to defend their home from the hordes of evil escapees.

As Gohan and the Z-Fighters take out several minor villains, Frieza leaps to the head of the undead army to formally announce his return. Unfazed, Gohan reveals his identity to the interstellar tyrant, pointing out he was the young boy Frieza fought years ago on Namek, now all grown-up, before leaping into action to fight Frieza himself. Landing a single punch right in Frieza's gut, Gohan makes the villain explode, with the rest of the army horrified by the sight and retreating en masse.

Reimagined as a more sympathetic character than in his prior appearances, Broly makes his canonical debut in the aptly titled 2018 film "Dragon Ball Super: Broly." Broly and his father Paragus hold a longstanding grudge towards Vegeta's father for exiling them to the harsh planet of Vampa, making Vegeta Broly's first target upon arriving on Earth decades later. As the fight escalates, Vegeta realizes Broly is no mere Saiyan and unveils progressively more powerful transformations of his own in an effort to maintain the upper hand against him.

After fighting Broly as a Super Saiyan, Vegeta unveils his Super Saiyan God transformation, a red-haired form that is imbued with divine energy. The anime series "Dragon Ball Super" made references to Vegeta achieving that form before, while Vegeta briefly takes on the form while fighting against Goku Black in the manga series. "Broly," however, marks the first time Vegeta is seen as a Super Saiyan God on-screen, with the Saiyan Prince demonstrating a confident mastery of the transformation's combat potential.

The first time that Gohan fought Broly, he was just a boy and was unable to deliver any attacks that visibly affected the brutal Legendary Super Saiyan. The pair would get a rematch in 1994's "Dragon Ball Z: Broly – Second Coming," with Goku dead and Gohan now a man of his own. Sensing Broly's evil energy as the villain menaces Goten and Trunks on Earth, Gohan leaps to the rescue and shows just how far he has come since his last encounter with the enemy.

Even while Broly is transformed into a Super Saiyan, Gohan is more than capable of holding his own at his base state. Realizing that Gohan is a more viable threat than the two children he was attacking, Broly transforms into a Legendary Super Saiyan, prompting Gohan to transform into a Super Saiyan 2. Though Broly now overpowers Gohan, the young hero is still able to land some solid hits and tricks Broly into flying into a magma flow, temporarily incapacitating the villain.

The 1990 film "Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might" had the Z-Fighters outmatched by the evil Turles, a Saiyan who looks just like Goku. Turles has planted a tree that sucks the life energy out of Earth to grow and produce fruit that will give those who eat it immense power. Eating a piece of the fruit, Turles became significantly stronger than Goku, with the desperate hero gathering life energy himself to create his powerful Spirit Bomb attack.

To buy Goku the time he needs, the Z-Fighters reassemble to attack Turles together, despite knowing that they are hopelessly outmatched. This trope is commonplace throughout the "Dragon Ball" franchise, but "Tree of Might" gives fans a chance to see more peripheral Z-Fighters in action one last time. From Chiaotzu to Yamcha, everyone has a role to play in the movie's battle, even if that means serving as a punching bag while Goku prepares his ultimate attack.

Without Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo, Gohan and his friends find themselves at a severe disadvantage when fighting against Broly in "Second Coming." Prior to their showdown with the Legendary Super Saiyan, Goten, Trunks, and Videl have gathered the Dragon Balls to be granted a wish from the Eternal Dragon Shenron. Without realizing the assembled Dragon Balls are near them, Gohan and Goten wish their late father could be there to help them defeat Broly while caught in a beam struggle with the villain.

The wish is audible enough for Goku to return from the afterlife, standing alongside his sons as he powers up to Super Saiyan and joins their shared Kamehameha Wave with his own. As Trunks momentarily distracts Broly, Goku encourages Gohan and Goten to unleash their full power to take advantage of the window of vulnerability. This strategy results in Broly being killed, with Goku returning to the afterlife before his sons have a chance to enjoy this happy reunion from beyond the grave.

The 1990 movie "Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest" is the first in which Goku can perform the Kaio-Ken technique, an ability learned from King Kai that allows Goku to temporarily boost his power. This new move comes in handy during the events of the film, with the evil Doctor Wheelo kidnapping Bulma and Master Roshi, luring Goku to his arctic base to steal his body for himself. Serving as Wheelo's enforcers are a trio of formidable bio-men, Kishime, Ebifurya, and Misokatsun, who face Goku in a heated brawl.

After destroying Misokatsun, Goku is frozen in a block of ice by Ebifurya while his enemies focus on Gohan and Krillin. Rather than stand by the sidelines helplessly, Goku bursts from the ice through use of the Kaio-Ken technique and engages Ebifurya and Kishime together in a fierce skirmish. After a furious flurry of kicks and punches, Goku dispatches both of his synthetic opponents in short order before turning his attention to Wheelo.

Before he trained under his father, Gohan's first martial arts mentor was Piccolo, with the stern Namekian preparing him for a showdown against Vegeta and Nappa. Gohan has shown his respect and gratitude towards Piccolo's tutelage on multiple occasions, including wearing Piccolo's weighted gear and being able to perform Piccolo's Masenko attack. Despite not actively keeping up with his training as he progresses into fatherhood and a professional career, Gohan takes his appreciation to a new level in "Super Hero."

As the heroes confront the colossal Cell Max, Gohan powers up an attack to destroy the gargantuan villain's weak spot at the top of his head. However, rather than relying on his father's Kamehameha Wave to finish off the villain, Gohan uses Piccolo's signature attack, the Special Beam Cannon, instead. When asked by Piccolo how he learned the technique, Gohan sheepishly admits that he has been practicing the attack for sometime in private, underscoring his unspoken respect for his mentor.

Goku has often been leagues ahead of the rest of the Z-Fighters in terms of raw combat strength, but this disparity is showcased in "The Tree of Might." For much of the film, the Z-Fighters are barely able to land a decent hit on any of the evil Turles' henchmen, struggling just to stay standing. This changes when Goku turns his attention to the interstellar villains, ready to decisively end the fight before confronting Turles himself.

After each of the Z-Fighters falls, Turles' troops return to gang up on Goku, with the heroic Saiyan unfazed by being completely outnumbered. The five enemies attack Goku in unison, with the young warrior able to avoid their incoming attacks before taking out each of them with a single blow. With the henchmen so quickly and easily dispatched, Turles realizes he's in for the fight of his life against Goku as "The Tree of Might" reaches its explosive climax.

For a time, Goku believes he has definitively killed Cooler, but Frieza's brother returns more powerful than before in the 1992 sequel "Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler." Reborn in a completely metal body capable of analyzing and actively improving upon flaws in his design, Cooler overpowers Goku in a harrowing battle. Fortunately, Vegeta arrives in the nick of time and unveils his own Super Saiyan transformation, though he similarly proves outmatched when battling Metal Cooler on his own.

Despite his rivalry with Goku, Vegeta agrees to work with his fellow Super Saiyan to take Metal Cooler down together in a last-ditch attack. The strategy is successful, with the joint charge bursting through Cooler and Vegeta unleashing a barrage of energy attacks to prevent the robotic villain from repairing himself. This newly forged partnership is quickly tested, however, when an entire army of Metal Coolers attack the two Super Saiyans, with an exhausted Goku and Vegeta charging together into battle.

The only person who holds a deeper grudge against Frieza than Goku is Vegeta, who was raised by the dictator after Frieza personally destroyed the Saiyan home planet while Vegeta and Goku were off-world. Though Frieza easily defeated Vegeta on Namek during the "Dragon Ball Z" anime series, Vegeta finally gets his chance for a rematch in the 2015 film "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F." Though the villain has been resurrected significantly stronger than before, the Saiyan Prince has some surprises of his own waiting for his old enemy.

"Resurrection F" marks the introduction of the Super Saiyan Blue transformation, and though Goku unveils the form first, he finds himself at Frieza's mercy when he is shot by a sniper. Frieza offers Vegeta the chance to rejoin his army in exchange for finishing off Goku, only for the Saiyan Prince to transform into a Super Saiyan Blue and beat Frieza within an inch of his life. For Vegeta, this payback to his lifelong tormentor and would-be eradicator of his people has been a long time coming, lending an overwhelming satisfaction to watching Frieza face the brunt of the Saiyan's wrath.

While Vegeta is the first person to fight Broly in the character's canonical debut during the "Dragon Ball Super" era, it's Goku who steps in and elevates the action sequence to a whole new level. Growing impatient that he won't get a chance to test his might against the Legendary Super Saiyan, Goku steps in to take his own shot against Broly. After a quick stretch to prepare for the showdown, Goku takes on Broly in a battle that sees him evolve from his base state and initial Super Saiyan form to Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue as the stakes progressively escalate.

Boasting some tight choreography and a section of the fight depicted in first-person from Broly's perspective, this centerpiece fight sequence in "Broly" represents "Dragon Ball" at its best. The sequence is energized by a rousing score, hyped up by a fight announcer mixed into the music, as Goku and Broly clash. This duel proves that there's plenty of life in the venerable "Dragon Ball" franchise, and hews to the core of what has made the property such a fan favorite for decades.