Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990) User Reviews

Great buildup to an anticlimax

[smetin · 7/10 · 16 June 2017]

What I have grown to love about Dragon Ball is that all the stories tend to lead to something big happening at the end. When i started watching this movie I assumed the same would be true. We learned about what the Tree of Might can do to planets and its purpose. We are introduced to a few new Saiyans, one of which has a rather familiar face! The characters involved get into some pretty epic battles and we even get to see the Big Ape come out.

It was all looking like it was going to lead to something huge happening. However, when the big reveal and final battle were revealed I felt somewhat deflated. I don't know if it is just me, but this is not what I had grown to expect from Dragon Ball. This movie is great for fans of the series, but don't expect great things.

They screwed up the ending

[culwin · 8/10 · 21 February 2000]

Although I gave this movie an 8/10, I didn't like it quite as much as the other Dragonball Z movies. The whole reason was the ending. I don't want to give anything away, but it seemed like they got 45 minutes of the movie done and said "Uh-oh, we made this movie too long! We have to think of some way to end it, fast!"... The final battle was somewhat of a disappointment. If they would have spent a little more time and made a really excellent ending to match the rest of the movie, it could have been so much better. Still a must see for any DBZ fan.

I've been pronouncing his name wrong

[ericstevenson · 7/10 · 20 September 2016]

This is another good "Dragonball Z" movie, but I don't think it's one of the best. I think it's mostly because of the villain. He looks just like Goku and I kind of think that was a bit too obvious to represent as an evil counterpart to him. He doesn't have much depth and I felt like they could have done more with him. Hey, we get an environmental message in the series! It's kind of weird to see the Dragon Balls being used for something like that. Besides this, it's still quite watchable.

This introduces Gohan's pet dragon, Icarus. Alright, I'm not sure if he appears in the later movies, but it's interesting to meet this character. I think it's a good idea to have a main character with a pet. There really is something you could do with that and it works here. At first, I thought they wouldn't go all the way and make Gohan the great ape, but they did! The plot is also pretty cool. I like the idea of a giant tree, especially with all the details with the roots. It's a pretty original idea. Turles (I thought his name was pronounced "Turuls" and not "Tur-less") has some colorful henchmen too. ***

A pretty good flick.

[Aaron1375 · 3 April 2001]

If you like the series this is one of the more enjoyable movies I have seen in the series (Dead Zone and the World's Strongest are the only other two I have seen). If you are a DBZ fan one thing to keep in mind is that this does not conincide with the series. It is best to think of them as different entities (I do wish they could get the same people to do the dubbing though). This one is especially good because you actually see some of the other characters involved in the fight for the earth. Yamacha and Tien and Choutzou all actually take part in the action. In the series they rarely do anything after the Saiyan Saga (the one where Vegeta is introduced). Aside from the fact Vegeta is not in this it is very good. Goku fights a Saiyan named Turlos who is threating the earth. There are some very good battles and you get to see Goku use the Kao Ken technique and the spirit bomb. A very good ending fight as well make this movie very entertaining.

More like a super episode than a movie. Not totally satisfying.

[tornado_trendy · 7/10 · 15 July 2006]

While whatever little happens in this movie is top notch and nothing less than spectacular, it only lasts for 1 hour and ends up less than satisfying especially after the screwed up ending. The fight scenes are the best of any DBZ episode and the special effects are superb. However, there's really not much story and too much time is wasted on the usual 'staring' present in DBZ. To illustrate how good the few scenes and action are, take note that the majority of the scenes in the DBZ series title song are from this movie. The animation standard is much better than the average DBZ episode. A major shortcoming is that Turles and his team spend too little time fighting. They should have had much longer fight scenes when it came to his team and they were too easily defeated. However, I prefer this to the Brolly movie any day. There is very little in this movie but that little is top notch stuff. Definitely a must see. Is it a must purchase? I really can't say the same.

The Tree of Might...Good Memories

[metalalchemist1 · 7/10 · 20 May 2006]

Wow, this movie was awesome back in the day. I am pretty sure this was the first Dragon Ball Z movie I saw. It was on Toonami once when they showed anime movies on Fridays. But anyways, looking back on it today, I can see that this movie is above average for a DBZ movie (it really holds it ground, seeing as the newer movies look 10x better than this one), it is far better than LORD SLUG and BROLY's SECOND COMING. The action was great and the main villain was enjoyable. The story isn't predictable (for DBZ), and the music and voice acting was pretty decent. But it can't compete with the far superior movies, such as FUSION REBORN, WRATH OF DRAGON, COOLER's REVENGE, BOJACK UNBOUND, and SUPER ANDROID 13. 7/10

The RE-dubbed

[jdj_pilot · 9/10 · 1 April 2009]

FUNimation re-dubbed this and released Dragonball Z Movie 3: Tree of Might as a double feature with Dragonball Z Movie 4: Lord Slug in 2008.

All I can say is THANK YOU FUNIMATION FOR SAVING THIS MOVIE!!!

I HIGHLY recommend this version over the earlier Canadian dub. Oddly enough, it DOES make a huge difference. A lot of folks loved this movie (including me), but something was just off... maybe it was not having the voices we all know and love doing the parts... or maybe the series actors just know the characters better, who knows... But now with the cast from the entire series, it's one of the better Dragonball Z movies!

A tree that isn't good for the environment.

[emasterslake · 7/10 · 15 June 2008]

A Saiyan named Taurus has invaded Earth in order to plant a tree that will both destroy the planet and give Taurus strength a hundred-fold. Goku and the Z fighters aren't going to let this happen and duke it out with Taurus's group for the sake of the Earth.

This movie has more alternate storytelling than the previous movie did. As the movie went, it has little connection to the anime series than the whole meeting Icarus part in the movie, who only appears during the Garlic Jr. Saga.

That and the introduction of Taurus who only appeared in this movie and was never mentioned during the first 3 seasons of the anime. As he and his minions wear the same uniform for Frieza, but they never mentioned their leader even though it's obvious who they work for.

So in short, the Dragon Ball fans will enjoy this title for an alternate storyline movie.

The Tree of Might is pretty good dubbed.

[jgusw · 8/10 · 15 December 2000]

This is the best Dragon Ball Z movie dubbed that's out today. It's just real good. It has a lot of action, cool fights, and you feel the characters. If you like Dragon Ball Z and don't have problems with the dubbing, then watch this one. It truly is the best dubbed Dragon Ball Z movie.

One Act Movie

[mrphantasm · 10/10 · 10 September 2005]

This was the first Dragonball Z animated feature released in Argentinian theaters (the second feature was a mix of two different titles). In the late 90s Latin-America were captivated for the epic adventures of Goku and company, this animated series arrival on Latin-America happened several year after the huge success it had in Japan. Japanese Animation was perceived as too violent for children and other nonsense babbling of ignorant critics avid of sound like expert psychologists or sociologists.

"Dragonball Z la pelicula" it was the Argentinian title of this feature. It is a one act movie, there's no introduction, there's a conflict (Turtles and his plan for the Earth) and then we have fights, fights and more fights. The final result is stunning, the animation is superb and the chace enjoy it in big screen made for me a even greater experience. If we compare this title with others from i.e. Disney or Dreamworks, indeed it is more violent and bloody, but no much more bloody than the news we watch on TV. Yet there's enough sensibility and zen philosophy to make Dragonball Z something fascinating for children and non-children (even though this sounds like a cliché).

Not Bad, Not Great, Just Mediocre

[djdj61592 · 6/10 · 28 December 2012]

So tree of might well I'll begin with that my first viewing was the ocean dub with Peter Kelamis as goku, something i was not quite use to when i first watched it back in 2001 and boy is it bad and i recently watched a couple ocean dubbed dbz eps with Peter Kelamis and yeah really bad. i applaud the in house funimation dub for all their hard work that went into dubbing dbz.

Now with that out of the way tree of might was just OK. It had a plot that seemed too big for the running time this defiantly could have been longer, so the pacing in this really suffers. another thing i should mention is turles has no clear back story because its different in the ocean dub than it is in the funimation dub. ocean's dub states that turles is an upper class saiyan that just resembles goku and the funimation states goku and turles are twin brothers so thats confusing another thing it has no real place in the time line like some other dbz movies so this movie to me is a stand alone. i think another problem is turles is less menacing then the other early dbz movie villains Dr wheelo was a giant robot with a brain, and garlic Jr was a hulking monster in his final form, turles is just a saiyan and goku has beaten 3 other saiyans in the show and turles wasn't even a match in till he ate the fruit. the other villains aren't worth mentioning because the film doesn't think so either they have cool designs but other than that nothing redeemable. the fights are entertaining but no weight to them there seems to be nothing on the line, images of the earth dying from the tree is about all you get for some tension. so if your a dbz fan give this a watch there's some good things here the fights are enjoyable and the animation is good as well. if your a pure dbz fan of the story then not so much it doesn't fit in with the shows plot and doesn't develop any main or supportive characters either its just there as its own mediocre movie.

Dragon Ball Z with the loooooong stalls cut out...

[dieusani · 4/10 · 18 March 2002]

Entertaining. Didn't have a lot of substance, but it has a lot of good animation and fighting action. The plot is halfway decent, but don't even try to fit it into the DBZ timeline...apparently this is after Frieza, but Goku can't go Super Saiya-jin. I think. In any case, the fights are excellent, the dubbing is pretty nice, and this film really shows how exciting DBZ could be if they cut the trademark DBZ Long Stalling/Charge-up Sequences out of the cartoon, and maybe half the episodes...anyway, in general, it's pretty nice.

Spectacular!

[Op_Prime · 17 January 2001]

This is a great Dragon Ball Z movie. It's also a pretty good movie compared to many others. The dialogue is not as cheesy as it can be on the series and voices are pretty good. The action scenes and fights are the best part of all. The story is fairly strong and exciting. Involves a lot of the favorite characters to a good degree.

This is a definite must see.

Review for Tree of Might

[goku_stalker · 7/10 · 27 May 2005]

This film was actually rather entertaining. It was noted as the first scene opened that Ocean group had inputted their own musical score (series music). Which made me dislike the movie in an instant. Yet even though the film did have some extremely corny lines (writer Christopher Neel) and music this side of poor, I still liked it. My brother (19yrs) loves this film. He said it is because you get to see the crew sorta just... hanging out. Mostly referring to the 'coffee at the Sons' scene. Though this film did have points such as that and Goku bathing which was a plus. It had a definite pothole. This was when Turles destroyed the fake moon so he himself would not transform, after Gohan did. Basically that was totally unjustified. Because it is well known that when an Oozuru's light source is extinguished they revert back to their natural Saiya-jin form.

Now this wasn't a mix up in translation which would be okay but an out right what-in-the-hell flaw. The fight scenes were very well done, and Turles would have been perfect but for his voice. It bugged the heck outta me. All scratchy and so forth. I liked how the movie ended though, sure Goku's spirit bomb (genki dama) was a predictable move yet having to form another one in the way he did was a surprise. A very cool animation sequence there. Speaking of animation it was noted to be rather good in this film, compared to the other two previous flicks. I am not sure why, I think because it was set outside, beneath a clouded sky that the characters were often well shaded. It's a worthwhile watch, especially if you're a fan, if you're not... what the hell are you reading this for!

Peak DB animation quality

[Cookiejar55 · 10/10 · 7 February 2021]

I was blown away with the wonderful animation in this film. I hope they decide to bring this style back once DBS season 2 starts. The story despite being rather short is interesting, you get the see everyone take part, the fights are good as always, keep in mind this is non-canon however so it doesn't logically fit into the main storyline. Fun fact: in the Cartoon Network intro back in the 90s they used clips from this movie rather than DBZ series.

Cliché...

[Stefan_Loves_Movies · 5/10 · 10 February 2022]

Dragon Ball Z: Tree of Might (1990) is an Animation/Action/Adventure 1h DBZ movie directed by Daisuke Nishio.

The movie was underwhelming, in my opinion. The fights were okay and so was the animation and score, but other than that, there's not much else to talk about...

The plot is way too SIMPLE and GENERIC. There are NO plot twists or special moments. Goku has to take care of the classic bad guy, who you know nothing about + other random stuff happening on the screen. The ending is terrible. It is rushed and makes no sense.

Conclusion: I don't recommend watching Dragon Ball Z: Tree of Might (1990).

My favorite Dragon Ball Z movie

[toshguy · 13 April 2007]

Most DBZ fans think that the earlier DBZ movies suck because the heroes aren't as strong as they are in the more recent sagas of the series, but I totally disagree. I'm pretty sure that this is one of the best DBZ movies ever made.

The FUNimation version (the old uncensored one) is surprisingly well handled. Well, most of the voices are very annoying, but I'm glad that they kept the original music score and were allowed to put the word "hell" in the script. The script is fairly well written and they didn't add as much annoying sound effects as they did in the dubbed versions of the previous movies.

I don't have many complaints about the dub, although some of those Canadian voice actors have unbelievably annoying voices! Anyway, on to the plot - magnificent! Simply the one of the best non-manga adaptation DBZ plots ever. There are plot holes and differences in some of the concepts in this movie and those of the series, but that's just so that the story could be more entertaining. Really good story!

I sincerely recommend this movie, as well as the previous two, their dubbed versions especially. Of course, many of the voices in them are very annoying and there are some really annoying sound effects too, but it's still more enjoyable to listen to them than to read subtitles throughout the entire movie.

Tree of Might Have Been Good

[JayWolfgramm · 5/10 · 11 March 2023]

This was one of the first Dragon Ball movies I ever saw. It was one of the three that Toonami aired and several of its animated bits would make it into their "Rock the Dragon" intro. There is some potential in the premise, and the villain, although not all that clever, has a memorable design and makes an excellent example of what Goku could have been.

It is a shame that this movie is so middling in execution. Turles has all these henchmen, which would have been excellent fodder for the Z- Fighters to take out, but in the end Goku has to do it all himself. The movie spends way too much time focusing on Gohan and his new Dragon friend Icarus.

In the end, this movie ends up blending in with a lot of the other Dragon Ball Z movies and doesn't bring much new to the table. It clearly doesn't fit in the cannon of the series, and Turles is just a far less interesting Vegeta.

The tree may not be mighty or pine, but it is fine.

Cool movie, you should watch it..

[foxhill · 19 April 2000]

A cool DBZ movie, from the Dragon Ball Z series, cool background music that fits the scenes perfectly. You have to keep an open mind while watching this if you haven't seen the DBZ series yet. Mild language, I think that there's only one swear word in it, at least in the English version...A good use of animation technique when the scenes change from good-natured to dark and dangerous. Plot is basically that Goku must save the Earth again, without losing his friends and family in the process.

Whoever Dubbed this should be severely punished

[Luki_Dimension · 12 November 2004]

I've been a fan of Dragonball Z for years. Its a great anime. So when I spot a Dragonball Z movie in a store for the first time, I snap it up.

Oh, my, God.

Did they even know what they were dubbing when they did this? The voices are so awful it hurt to listen to them! They completely destroyed the fun loving Goku that we all know and love, and he came across as character with no depth whatsoever! And (though I can't speak for the American version) there was no 'original' Japanese option. I love watching the anime in its original form, and it was just cheap to leave it out.

The story itself, was good, if you don't mind a few plot holes here and there. They never explain one of the major mysteries (why Turles looks like Goku), but the fight scenes were cool.

In conclusion, hit the mute button and flick on subtitles if you want to enjoy this movie. You're not gonna manage to any other way.

uhh....

[MovieRat-2 · 28 September 1999]

Being a huge Dragon Ball Z fan (via Cartoon Network), I was hoping to find a good movie out of "Tree of Might." Unfortunately, the film didn't quite live up to my expectations.

When I first saw this movie I was just getting started in the Dragon Ball Z universe and I was often wondering what was going on. Maybe that was my problem. Or maybe it was the fact that it wasn't as enjoyable to watch as the TV series. Excellent fight sences but other than that, the story was lacking.

As I watched this film I didn't have the same feelings as I did in the TV series. There was never the sense of suspence that the series created.

For those who are looking to find out what the Dragon Ball Z universe is all about, avoid this film and stick with the TV series (which are available on tape).

For those who are fans of Dragon Ball Z, take this film with a grain of salt.

Really love the villain in this movie

[adamgranz · 7 June 2022]

This is okay like the movie but not my favorite the villain was a badass he looks like goku and almost kills him the score was awesome and why kills the villain was so epic I give b.

Lacks the fun of the other two DBZ movies

[whamontree · 26 June 2000]

This is the third in the series of three Dragon Ball Z OAVs currently available in the US. The first two had a sense of fun and adventure about them which this one sorely lacks. Everything here is serious business. If you haven't been initiated into DBZ, this isn't a bad start. I would however, recommend this OAV's direct predecessor, "The World's Strongest", instead.

oddly watchable

[chip98 · 28 April 1999]

Currently seen as a series on the Cartoon Network as "Dragon Ball Z".

Really, how much bad can you say about outer-space martial-arts Eastern-mystic characters bent on destroying--or saving--Earth (they're always trying to destroy or save Earth) as they trade barbs in London cockney or Texas drawls? Though DBZ hails from the high end of low-rent Japanese anime, it is often visually stunning and always different. Beats World Championship Wrestling any day. Full of cliffhangers and sometimes unintentionally funny. Don't try to figure out the premise or plot, just shift your brain into neutral, lie back and watch.

Out of the three DBZ movies released,this is the best one

[Son Goten · 9 July 2000]

The DragonBall Z movie,"Tree of Might" is the best one out of the three released here.For the first time I get to see the Z Warriors fighting together.Also,I think that Turles is better than Garlic Jr.(DeadZone) and Dr.Wheelo(The World's Strongest).I suggest that you get the uncut dubbed version.

My last comment on this great movie is that I got to hear the real name of the fighter's moves.I also liked "Cha La Head Cha La"Better than "Walk The Dragon".