Dragon Ball (All Series)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I believe that Toei is responding to fan criticism about wanting them to get to new material faster. Had the BOG arc actually had more effort put into it with interesting filler, I don't think that people would be complaining as much, but now it looks like Toei is scared of viewers losing interest and thus are rushing to just get to the new material.

Personally I was never fond of them doing a recap of the movies in the first place. I would have rather had them wait until they could show DBZRF on TV like they did for BOG, and then everyone would have a chance to catch up, and Super could start fresh with brand new material.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Now that's actually an interesting change from the movie. Tagoma literally shoots Sashimi in the back in order to severely wound Gohan before he turns Super Saiyan, and Trunks and Goten are actually headed to the battle (and I'd love to see Freeza's reaction to two young-looking versions of both Saiyans who defeated him). On top of that, it looks like Captain Ginyu will end up taking Tagoma's body, which may end up permanently reviving that character, something that could be interesting if they intend to fully utilize him beyond just this arc.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's DBCEMBER again, and this time TFS is counting down the top 24 movies and specials; which is "technically" a best of list instead of a worst to best list since GT's movie/special would make 25 entries, and since that POS is edged out, this list can be called the top 24 by that fact alone.

Here's #24: Episode of Bardock

I have to agree with them on this one. The Bardock special from the 90's was one of the best pieces of original content to come out of the anime, IMO. It was good enough for even Toriyama to retroactively include the character in the manga's continuity since even he was impressed by the character and his story. What made it so special was going against lame tropes. Rather than being some extraordinary saint or part of some legendary bloodline, Bardock was really just an average to slightly above average warrior-class Saiyan, and his children Raditz and Kakarot (Son Goku) weren't anything inherently special, either. Goku only really became who he was through being raised by his adoptive grandfather Gohan, and through his various adventures on Earth. What made Bardock's short and simple story, as well as his status as a character, so appealing to fans was that very lack of being your typical hero story. Instead, Bardock is a cold-blooded killer just like most other Saiyans, who's only true allegiance is to his squad-mates. Seeing him essentially get "punished" by learning of the demise of his planet really cemented in the fact that he's not a good guy and won't get a happy ending. In the end he's really only trying to avenge his fallen squad by trying to kill Freeza, rather than doing it out of any noble obligation, and the result of it all is pathetically futile. Yet, the character was still fairly likable despite all of this since he was just a simple character that was neither hellbent on being a great hero or villain, but just doing what he needed to do.

You may or may not give a shit about the character, of course, but at least you could acknowledge the fact that his unconventional nature and doomed fate made him somewhat more interesting than most other typical anime-original content. The Bardock special in both the manga and anime just cheaply exploited the character's popularity without actually staying true to the character, or having any sense of heart or soul like in the original special. I always hated Episode of Bardock, and to take it a step further, as much as I adore Toriyama as a mangaka, I also have to agree with TFS on Dragon Ball Minus. Jaco was a fun short-story, but that extra chapter at the end of the manga which basically turned Bardock into Jor-El and made Kakarot out to be this special good-hearted child right from the get-go really felt so contrary to the true essence of both characters. And honestly, did anyone really care who Goku's mother was? Was anyone really dying to find that out? What made Goku special had less to do with where he came from and more to do with how he was raised and who he met on Earth. It seems like Toriyama pretty much forgot that when he wrote DBM.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm liking the changes made to Tagoma in Super. I wonder if that was Toriyama's original plan for the character in a first draft of the film or something, but was cut out for time later down the line. Would make sense, and explain why he's prominent on the poster and promotional materials despite only being in the film for 10 minutes before getting killed off. I'm looking forward to Ginyu vs. Gotenks next week, and I'm hoping that he'll stick around after the arc is done. I always thought he was too fun of a character to kill off.

It's DBCEMBER again, and this time TFS is counting down the top 24 movies and specials; which is "technically" a best of list instead of a worst to best list since GT's movie/special would make 25 entries, and since that POS is edged out, this list can be called the top 24 by that fact alone.

I don't know, I'd gladly take Hero's Legacy over most DBZ movies. Especially the Broly sequels. 

Speaking of which, I was surprised to see them rank Second Coming below Bio-Broly, but yeah, it really is worse and it's only redeeming quality is the Father-Sons Kamehameha at the end. At least Bio-Broly has Android 18 as a prominent and ass-kicking character going for it, though that still not nearly enough to make it watchable, much less a decent film.

As far as Bardock goes, yeah, no one needed Episode of Bardock and DB Minus, and I much prefer the original special and version of the character. I actually was interested in seeing who Goku's mother was, and I'm sure plenty of people were as well. But at the cost of Bardock's characterization? I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wanted that trade-off. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's not so much that I was against seeing Goku's mother revealed (though just like in the case of Peter Parker's parents, I don't find that to be an integral part of his character), but rather that I didn't want to see a contrived special that retcons something which I actually liked in order to get to see that character.

The funny thing is that, had Toriyama written a special around her character back when it was still his main job to produce new Dragon Ball content every week, I have a feeling tha this chapter would look very different than it does now.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Speaking of Bio-Broly: http://teamfourstar.com/video/dbcember-top-24-movies-and-specials-21/

Yeah, no surprise, here. They pretty much flat-out came and said that this would be the next one on their list. I love how Kaiser says that he can't wait until he actually has more positive things to say other than "well, this isn't the worst of the movies or specials."

To be honest, though, most DBZ movies and specials are pretty mundane, boring stuff, IMO. Out of all of the pre-BOG movies, I'd say that the only one that I particularly found to be above average was The Path to Power, and even that is essentially just mash-up of the first few arcs of Dragon Ball, and not as good as those, at that. What makes it entertaining though is the excellent production values, combined with the spirit of Toriyama's characters, which makes even an inferior version of his work still stand out as something genuinely fun in its own right.

Anyways, if I had to rank the movies and specials myself, excluding the GT one, it'd be like this:

Ass:

24. Broly: Second Coming
23. Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans
22. Bio-Broly
21. Episode of Bardock
20. The Return of Cooler
19. Fusion Reborn


Mediocre:

18. Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
17. Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
16. Bojack Unbound
15. Super Android 13
14. Tree of Might
13. Lord Slug
12. The World's Strongest
11. Cooler's Revenge
10. Dead Zone
09. Wrath of the Dragon (Almost above average; this one actually had some promise, but was ultimately underdeveloped)
08. Mystical Adventure
07. Curse of the Blood Rubies

Above Average:

06. Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
05. The Path to Power

Solid Entertainment:

4. Bardock: The Father of Goku
3. The History of Trunks (Easily the best thing to come out of the Cell Saga)
2. Battle of Gods
1. Resurrection F

It's no surprise that the two best movies on my list were the only two with Toriyama's direct involvement.

And yes, I know that BOG is popularly considered to be the better film, but having re-watched both numerous times, I can honestly say that DBZRF edges it out a bit for me since I find the whole film to be good fun, whereas BOG does drag quite a bit at parts, IMO.

[LumRanmaYasha]

My top 4 is exactly the same as yours and the rest of your top 9 would be mine in a slightly different order. After that, I don't know how I'd rank them, except for putting Second Coming, Bio-Broly, and Episode of Bardock at the bottom. The other DBZ movies are just one big pile of meh to me and I can't really place 'em one way or another.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I didn't really try too hard, with those, to be honest. I just ranked them based on which movies/specials at least had one or two qualities or aspects or moments that I enjoyed about them more than others. On the whole, though, they are honestly just pretty boring affairs, and stuff that I could never personally bother to go and re-watch. The classic Dragon Ball movies always at least had some charm to them. I did rank Mystical Adventure and Curse of the Blood Rubies as mediocre, though, since those retreaded a bit too heavily on familiar material, without even really mixing it up in an interesting way like Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle or The Path to Power did. Still, on the whole, they are much better than all of the old-school DBZ movies.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The movies from the original series were a lot of fun. I wish we could have some movies from that era of DB again.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I wish Toriyama would follow suit with the previous two Dragon Ball Z films, and write some sort of fun side-story with the classic Dragon Ball characters during that timeline (even if it has to be in an alternate Universe, which is actually canon now).

Or, better yet, he could just write a Dr. Slump movie. Just forget plot entirely and go balls-out on comedy with a big animation budget. That'd be fucking awesome.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I agree that Sleeping Princess isn't great by any means, but really, THAT LOW! I at least had some fun with that movie. How on Earth is it more boring than The Return of Cooler or Super Android 13?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The Return of Cooler is at #19 on the list. I totally agree that it's crap, but again, how is Sleeping Princess worse than that?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

18. Super Android 13
17. Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan

No arguments here. I especially agree with them 100% on Broly (we even ranked it in the exact same spot on the list, at that); he's a boring villain with a ridiculous and nonsensical backstory and a weak motivation for hating Goku (which would have been amusing if this movie was focused on comedy, though). I have never understood why he's such a massively popular anime original character. Unlike Bardock, who actually has a character to begin with, Broly is just a substanceless berserker, the least interesting kind of villain that there is.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, DBZRF made #7 on the list. Oddly enough, I don't disagree with their assessment of the strengths and flaws of the movie. Rather, I don't understand how films like Fusion Reborn (which I personally think is fucking awful), Dead Zone, and The World's Strongest (both of which are fairly mediocre, in my book) could be be considered superior. I can't help but feel like TFS's love of those productions has a bit more to do with nostalgia than with how well they actually hold up now.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So....

http://www.polygon.com/2015/12/19/10627322/what-the-hell-is-dragon-ball-z-doing-in-an-ad-for-ford-cars

I have no idea what Dragon Ball Z has to do with cars, but apparently the Ford Focus is the officially endorsed motor vehicle of Dragon Ball.

I shall now await the inevitable product placement in Super.