Entertainment
10 Near-Perfect Fantasy Movies You’ll Want to Rewatch Immediately
Movies have been captivating the human imagination for around 130 years now, especially fantasy films. This comes as no surprise, given that fantasy is one of, if not the oldest, genres of storytelling and ever-growing special effects allow us to bring mythological creatures and alien worlds to life. Even if the effects of older classics don’t quite hold up as well compared to modern ones, the best fantasy films can still be enjoyed thanks to how effectively they pull us into their worlds and make us believe for a few hours that the impossible is possible.
Thus, fantasy movies are a good source of comfort entertainment, especially as the world continues to become more and more uncertain. Most of the examples on this list you’ve probably already seen, but no matter how many times you watch them, they never lose their magical spark.
‘Time Bandits’ (1981)
Kevin (David Rappaport) is a young history buff who is shocked to find six dwarves in his room one night. They are the Time Bandits, former employees of the Supreme Being (Tony Jay and Sir Ralph Richardson) tasked with repairing holes in the universe, but would rather use them to get rich. They take Kevin with them as they rob history blind, unaware that the personification of Evil (David Warner) is watching them and intends to take their map for his use.
Time Bandits is the first of Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination,” and perfectly blends childlike wonder with comedy and some biting social commentary regarding consumerism. The Time Bandits themselves make for a very fun bunch of protagonists, thanks to how they simultaneously work together like a well-oiled machine and are at each other’s throats like a dysfunctional family. Gilliam’s creativity is also on full display, especially near the end when the Time Bandits go to the Time of Legends and pull from all eras of history to fight Evil.
‘Legend’ (1985)
Princess Lili (Mia Sara) is shown the last two unicorns in the world by her forest friend, Jack O’the Green (Tom Cruise), unaware that she is being followed by the goblin Blix (Alice Playten). When Lili ignores Jack’s instructions not to touch the unicorns, Blix kills the stallion and removes his horn, plunging the forest into a magical winter. While Lili protects the mare, Jack and his forest friends try to recover the horn, which has been taken to the fortress of Blix’s demonic master, Darkness (Tim Curry).
If you can find the extended edition of Legend, then you’re in for a fantastic fairy tale with some of the best practical effects from the 1980s. Curry, in particular, is completely transformed into an otherworldly beast, yet his charisma and charm shine through and keep you captivated with every word. The forest is also an incredibly constructed set, dripping with personality that makes it feel all the more real as a location.
‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ (1926)
A wicked sorcerer asks for the hand of the Caliph’s daughter in marriage and offers a magical flying horse. The Caliph’s son, Prince Achmed, tests the horse first, but can’t control it as it flies off into the horizon. When he finally gets it to land, he is in a foreign place and threatened by demons, forcing him to make new allies if he hopes to return home.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated film, and will soon be turning 100 years old. It also remains one of the most unique, thanks to its stylistic animation, done through painstakingly moving pieces of cardboard against bright backgrounds to create a shadow puppet aesthetic. The results are on-point movements that evoke every emotion felt by the characters without any spoken dialogue.
‘The Thief of Bagdad’ (1940)
A blind beggar reveals to a crowd in Basra that he is Ahmad (John Justin), the king of Baghdad, who was betrayed and usurped by his evil Vizier, Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). Before he was to be executed, he escaped the city with the help of a quick-witted thief named Abu (Sabu) and fled to Basra. There, Ahmad fell in love with its beautiful Princess (June Duprez), unaware that Jaffar also lusted after her and was well-trained in the black arts of sorcery.
The Thief of Bagdad is pure cinematic magic, and is perhaps the most influential film adaptation of the One Thousand and One Nights. It’s a beautiful movie full of bright colors, lavished sets, and the first use of blue screen technology, which really helps to make the magical moments feel otherworldly and distinct. Sabu and Veidt are the two actors who stand out the most: Sabu is bursting with energy that makes his young thief endearing, while Veidt uses his time during silent films to draw you in with nothing but his eyes.
‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ (2022)
After being crushed in battle with a giant, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) learns that he is on the last of his nine lives. At first, he brushes it off, but after a close encounter with a mysterious white wolf (Wagner Moura), he resigns himself to the life of a house cat. That is, until he learns that a map has been found that leads to the last Wishing Star, which he hopes to use to regain his missing lives and continue his life of daring adventures.
You wouldn’t expect a sequel to a spin-off released eleven years later to end up as one of the best animated films of the 2020s, yet Puss in Boots: The Last Wish pulled it off. First off, it looks gorgeous: the film uses stylistic graphics inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to create a watercolor-like design that captures the feel of a storybook come to life. Story-wise, it manages to balance hilarious comedy full of clever nods to fairy tales with a hard-hitting story about accepting one’s mortality.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991)
Belle (Paige O’Hara) is the bookish daughter of inventor Maurice (Rex Everhart) who longs for a more exciting life than the one she currently leads. She gets her wish when her father goes missing in the woods, and she finds him in the dungeons of an enchanted castle ruled over by a beast (Robby Benson). Belle offers to take her father’s place, and, over time, comes to see that there is more to the beast than first seems.
Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and is perhaps the gold standard when it comes to updating a fairy tale for the modern day. It keeps the spirit of the story’s message about looking past rough exteriors to see the good inside, but adds character development for both of the leads, a plethora of beloved side characters, and a villain who, in any other story, would be the fairy-tale hero. It also boasts some of the best songs in any Disney film, courtesy of the legendary duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
A grandfather (Peter Falk) visits his sick grandson (Fred Savage) and reads him a fairy tale. It tells the story of Buttercup (Robin Wright), a farm girl who is chosen by Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon) to be his bride after her lover, Westley (Cary Elwes), is lost at sea. However, a trio of bandits captures Buttercup, planning to kill her and start a war with Humperdink’s neighbors, but they are pursued by a mysterious and highly skilled man in black.
The Princess Bride was not a huge hit on release, but the years have seen it re-evaluated as one of the most beloved and quoted fantasy films of all time. It has a beautiful tongue-in-cheek style of humor, which invites the audience to kick back and enjoy a story full of romance, witty banter, and plenty of self-aware jokes. It also helps that the actors all do a phenomenal job in their roles, especially Mandy Patinkin as the revenge-obsessed Spanish fencer, Inigo Montoya.
‘Mary Poppins’ (1964)
Ignoring his children’s request for a kind nanny, after they drove away their most recent one, George Banks (David Tomlinson) puts an ad in the paper for the strictest nanny he can find. The next day, a storm blows away everyone who answered it, while a woman named Mary Poppins (Dame Julie Andrews) floats down from the sky and convinces Mr. Banks to hire her. Though she is firm towards the children, she also takes them on many whimsical adventures alongside her friend, Bert (Dick Van Dyke).
Mary Poppins was a passion project of Walt Disney, and though author P. L. Travers hated what was done to her story, it was a smash hit, nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and walking away with five. It’s very easy to see why: the film taps into a pure and unspoiled kind of magic, shown through its many charming characters and iconic songs, courtesy of the Sherman Brothers. Yet the film also knows how to touch on more mature issues, as seen through George Banks’ character arc of mending the broken relationship with his children.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
After inheriting a magic ring from his uncle, Bilbo (Sir Ian Holm), the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) learns from the wizard, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen), that it is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron (Alan Howard), to dominate all life in Middle-earth. The only way to destroy it is to venture into the heart of Sauron’s land, Mordor, and toss it into the fires of the volcano from which it was forged. Aided by his friends and allies from the kingdoms of men, elves, and dwarves, Frodo sets off on his perilous quest, all while Sauron’s armies launch a brutal war of conquest.
Just like the books by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings is one story told over three films, which were shot simultaneously. It wowed audiences with its groundbreaking use of special effects to bring Middle-earth and its people to life, to say nothing of how those effects were used to conjure some of the greatest battles in all cinema. Yet the story is what truly makes it timeless, as it touches on themes of finding hope in the darkest of moments, the corrupting nature of power, and the bonds of friendship, to name a few.
‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
Stuck inside her farmhouse as it is caught in a tornado, Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) can do nothing but watch as she is transported from Kansas to the magical land of Oz. She is given a pair of Ruby Slippers from Glinda (Billie Burke), the Good Witch of the North, after her house crushes their previous owner, the Wicked Witch of the East, and is told to seek out the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) if she wants to get home. She is joined by a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley), and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), but they must contend with the deceased witch’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).
The Wizard of Oz overcame one of the most hellish productions in Hollywood history to become an iconic piece of cinema history. Though not the first film to make use of Technicolor, it’s the first one people think of thanks to how brilliantly it used it to make the land of Oz feel truly magical and otherworldly. Combined with timeless characters brought to life by the perfect actors, catchy songs, and a universal message about the importance of home, you have a movie that never fails to put a smile on your face regardless of age.
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