YBa2Cu3O7-x (123 or YBCO phase) films were prepared on YSZ substrates by the sol-gel method. The reaction between the YBCO film and the YSZ substrate, the c-axis orientation of the 123 crystals in the film, and their influence on the critical current density (Jc) and the critical temperature (Tc) have been investigated. When the coating films were fired at temperatures higher than 950 °C, the films reacted heavily with the substrate, the c-axis orientation of the 123 crystals in the films perpendicular to the substrate increased, and the 123 phase in the films changed to the 211 phase and further to the 202 phase as the reaction of the films with the substrate progressed. It has been found that Jc and Tc were improved as the c-axis orientation of the films increased and the film-substrate reaction decreased, indicating that the orientation of films increased as the film-substrate reaction was reduced when the volume fraction of the BaZrO3 formed by the film-substrate reaction was between about 5 and about 13%.