Disclaimer
Once again I'm doing a double review as the movies are rather short. I do reviews based on how good the plot, characterization, emotional pull, scene quality, and creativity are set up, and while I will not hold these movies to any particular standard of the original source material or previous (or future) movies, I may reference other animes or the main source material for other reasons. At the end of the review, I'll recommend both films to those I think will enjoy them the most, and give a reasonable score. Remember, just because something gets a 10 out of 10 doesn't mean you will like it for sure, it just means the media in question was very well done and constructive. The length of said media will not affect the overall score.
WARNING possible spoilers WARNING
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The Tree of Might is a simple plot. People who were associated with the Saiyens, and a living Saiyen himself, Turles, comes to Earth to grow a giant tree. This tree who's fruit was for the eternal dragon (huh!?) increases the power of people who eat it. The tree also kills the planet. This is also the introduction of Icarus the dragon who Gohan pals around with once in a while as he is seen in a silly subplot. Is the plot good? Not really. It isn't bad, as it is rather simple, but it isn't good either. It works though.
The plot for Lord Slug is a bit more interesting. Lord Slug uses planets as frozen over ships for space so he wants the entire planet so he can continue to travel with his old age. Why is never explained, but it isn't needed either, as he is there to kill the Earth. Lord Slug also wishes for eternal youth ripping off Piccolo's plan. Anyway, turns out Slug is a powerful super Namekian and is a powerful warrior, especially younger. This plot is a bit better, as Lord Slug has a goal, and will kill anything and everything, including planets, to get what he wants, which is... well again, not explained, but we will bring that up later. It is a far more interesting story and plot for sure.
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There is a lot of character with Tree of Might. Goku actually has to fight Gohan, and even considers giving up as his energy has expired and he doesn't think Turles can be defeated. There is a lot of character building for Goku here. Turles also is a classic Saiyen honestly which fits well, but he respects Gohan's strength and to a point seems to respect Goku even though they are enemies. Not bad, and impressive in a way for these movies, even if not canon.
Lord Slug himself isn't the best character, as he is evil, and won't let anything stand in his way, but his motives are literally never explained. He isn't a bad character, but not great. Goku's "false" transformation comes out of no where. The only character building is Gohan and Chi Chi which is not bad but kind of slim. It works, but isn't great.
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Despite the minor story, at this point, Tree of Might is once again the better movie. The stakes are shown to be really high, Goku's anger for Turles sending Gohan in monkey form to attack Goku, and the action is so well done. This movie shows the audience that the planet is slowly dying plus Icarus is in the movie which is a close connection to Gohan. Well done Tree of Might, well done. Great action moments as well as a few feels.
Lord Slug however is no slouch. While not the better of the two action and tension, it still does rather well here. The fights are pretty cool, especially when Piccolo smashes and breaks a guy's hand, and blows his head off. The tension of the freezing planet is shown well enough, and Piccolo destroying his ears to spite Lord Slug was a clever move.
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Tree of Might had a few issues with making out what you were seeing exactly when actually showing the Tree of Might. It looked grainy and didn't really get the effect of it being that huge down as well as it could have. A minor issue though as the rest of the movie plays out pretty well. The main issue is the scene of the fire and almost everything involving Icarus. There was no point, other then saving Goku at the end because even monkey Gohan liked Icarus... more then Goku even. Not only that but the Icarus calming Gohan down lasted only a few seconds when Turles smacked the dragon out of the way. For emotional pull this was great, but the scene was kind of pointless and not really needed and that makes everything involving Icarus kind of pointless which is sad because that took up a large portion of the movie.
There were no issues except one with Lord Slug as the movie was animated really well. The wishing for eternal youth was lame and pointless honestly but this is small issue as it took a total of a few minutes to complete.
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Tree of Might was a very creative movie. The settings were awesome, the designs of the enemies were interesting and the quick draw ending with Turles and Goku was awesome. Having a new Saiyen enemy actually use Gohan's tail as a weapon was very well done and creative, and even Icarus was well designed. Also way to go actually including Tien, Yamcha, and some of the other characters that rarely actually end up in these movies. They may not have had too much impact, but it was still nice to see them.
Lord Slug is still a creative design in its own right. The settings remind me of Akira or some type of fallout setting, with abandoned store fronts being the battle grounds. It would be like if Goku had a fight near Coney Island. It was an awesome setting and the enemy designs and powers were once again original. The false super Saiyen was a little cheesy and came from nowhere, but outside of that it was a good creative movie.
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Neither of these are bad movies. Lord Slug is slightly better then Tree of Might, but Tree of Might is close behind and may make up for it through having better action and more creative battles. Still, if you aren't a fan of Dragon Ball Z, or have no idea what its about, I don't recommend coming here first. You can learn about some of the characters and what they are about, but it will still be confusing. That being said if you are a fan, you will probably enjoy these movies, as they are done well and have great action scenes. Tree of Might is better if you enjoy the characters, but Lord Slug has the better plot.
Honestly while Lord Slug is rated higher, I think Tree of Might may actually be the better movie overall. Still I recommend them both, as Lord Slug has better structure to it in the long run. As said, if you are a fan of the series, then you will probably enjoy both movies. If you know about the series enough and love action, these aren't bad movies to look into. If you dislike Dragon Ball Z or are not familiar with the series, I have a hard time recommending these movies at all. If you aren't familiar with the series, but want to watch one of the movies first, go with the Tree of Might, as it does a better job of showing the characterization for Goku and some of the others.