Top 10 Best Fantasy Movies Of All Times Like The Lord Of The Rings & Star Wars That Any Fan Must Watch

Among all the fictional genres, few are able to amaze the audience like fantasy movies, and even fewer can titillate our creative senses quite like the best fantasy movies of all times. They usually feature themes related to magic, fantastic creatures, or imaginary worlds.

For this reason, it is quite common for fantasy works to have as main reference the mythologies of different peoples and historic times. More than enough material for the production of great movies.

Our list of the best fantasy movies has room for everyone here. From the most award-winning to the best long-running saga and even animated. There are even laser guns and laugh-out-loud moments on our list of top fantasy movies of all time.

Below is a list of the top 10 fantasy movies of all time. Of course, we readily admit that we have left some great movies out of this compilation of the best fantasy movies of all times, but that is how lists are. Should you have a great movie that should be included, please mention it in the comments:

Top 10 Best Fantasy Movies of All Times

1. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) - The Most Award-Winning

Every list of best fantasy movies of all times worth your time must contain The Lord of the Rings, so let's start right off the bat with these three movies that have left their marks on the history of cinema. The trilogy was so successful and so well executed that it managed, in total, to win 17 Oscars.

The third movie, Return of the King, is one of the few to have won 11 Oscars, including the categories of best picture, best director, and best adapted script. You could say the saga is among the best fantasy adventure movies of all time as well.

For you who spent the last decade inside a cave, here is a brief synopsis of what it is about: A great evil resurfaces in Middle Earth and is looking for its magic ring to restore its strength. This ring is in the possession of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, small and peaceful beings who do not like adventures. However, the wizard Gandalf warns of the danger that Frodo is in, and the two, plus a group of companions, will cross Middle Earth to destroy the Ring.

2. The Princess Bride (1987) - A Lighthearted Movie

By lighthearted we don't mean the kind of story that your mother used to read to you to tuck you in bed. Unless of course, the story that she read to you contained fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, persecutions, escapades, true love, and miracles, which are what The Princess Bride is about.

The movie tells the love story between Princess Buttercup and Westley. The boy, being poor, travels overseas in search of wealth to be able to marry the princess. Buttercup soon receives the news that Westley's ship has been attacked by the terrible pirate Roberts, which leaves her desolate.

Five years later, believing that Westley is dead, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck. It is at this point that Westley returns, revealing himself to be the terrible pirate Roberts. With the help of the swordsman Inigo Montoya and the giant Fezzik, Westley will try to prevent the marriage.

It is practically impossible to watch this movie and not repeat these lines afterward: "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Definitely one of the best fantasy movies of all times.

3. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - A Powerful Movie

Fantasy is a movie genre and horror is another. However, this does not mean that the two cannot be together at times. When this happens, a subgenre of fantasy emerges, called dark fantasy. That said, Pan's Labyrinth is a great example of a dark fantasy film.

The movie takes place during the Spanish Civil War. It tells the story of Ophelia, a little girl who has to deal with the complications of her mother's pregnancy and the dangerous presence of her stepfather. Despite this terrible and realistic scenario, the girl encounters a faun who presents her with a series of magical trials from an ancient labyrinth.

4. The Wizard of Oz  (1939) - A Classic

Since the beginning of cinema history, there have been fantasy movies. Filmmaker Georges Méliès, for example, was one of the first to strongly embrace this genre even at the time of silent cinema. However, when colors reached the big screens, fantasy movies became even more impressive.

The Wizard of Oz is a movie released at the time of transition from black and white to color cinema and uses these two forms to tell its story. When the protagonist Dorothy is in the real world, all scenes are shot in black and white. This contrasts with the scenes that take place in Oz, as they are all colorful and vibrant. This is to indicate how magical and impressive that land is compared to the flat and "colorless" Kansas from which Dorothy came.

The movie tells the adventures of Dorothy, who ends up in Oz after her home in Kansas is blown up by a tornado. Dorothy makes friends with a brainless Scarecrow, a heartless tin man and a cowardly lion. Together they will seek the Wizard of Oz to solve their problems. A classic that deserves to be considered one of the best fantasy movies of all times.

5. A Monster Calls (2016) - A Less Well-Known Movie

This movie shows a very common trait among some fantasy works: how the fantastical is often used as a way to escape from reality.

In A Monster Calls, we follow the story of Conor, a 12-year-old boy whose mother suffers from cancer. After complications in the mother's state of health, the boy begins to receive visits from a monster. The monster tells Conor that he will tell three stories, one a day until the fourth day when it will be the boy's turn to tell a story.

6. Star Wars (1977 - 2019) - Fantasy But in Space

Commonly described as a science-fiction franchise, however, Star Wars fits much better in the fantasy genre. Despite all its reality taking place amid laser weapons, spaceships, and robots, the movies do not focus on any technological or scientific concept.

As for fantasy, Star Wars fulfills all the requirements. The Force can be seen as magic, aliens as fantastic beings and monsters, and there is even a princess! The space opera saga has spanned several decades and is certainly one of the best fantasy movies of all times.

7. Song of the Sea (2014) - Animated Fantasy

Perhaps one of the best combinations that exist in cinema is between the genre of fantasy and the techniques of animation. Cartoons show all the beauty that a fantastic world can have. Everything that the imagination is capable of creating, animation can reproduce.

Any of Disney's fairytale-based movies could be in that category. However, our spot is reserved for a movie not as well known as the others but is just as beautiful (perhaps even more) than any production about princesses. Song of the Sea is an animated movie by Cartoon Saloon studio and was inspired by Irish folklore.

The movie tells the story of Ben, a ten-year-old child, who discovers that his little sister, Saoirse, is a Selkie (a woman who manages to become a seal). Together, the siblings will start an adventure to save all the fairy creatures from the clutches of the terrible Celtic goddess Macha.

8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - A Hilarious Movie

Not only can horror go hand in hand with fantasy, but humor is also capable of that and the result can be very excellent. The English surrealist humor group Monty Python, aka the Beatles of comedy, was able to prove it. Of course, this movie is above all a comedy, but the elements of fantasy are present.

The story is a version of this comedy group that follows the legend of King Arthur and his knights in their divine mission to find the Holy Grail used by Jesus Christ. An adventure full of knights who speak "Ni", wild Frenchmen, holy grenades, and the mysterious murder of a historian.

In addition, the film raises some very good questions we should all ponder, such as 'what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?' We don't know if it's 100% among the best fantasy movies of all times, but it must be one of the funniest.

9. Harry Potter (2001 - 2011) - A Fantasy Series

Another series that needs to be on a fantasy list. Not only did the books introduce the fantasy genre to young people and children, but movies played a similar role in building the cinematographic culture of an entire generation.

The fantastic aspects of the story are very clear. The magic is present everywhere, far beyond spells, and in the day-to-day, as in food, decorative objects, sports, and the post office. The protagonist himself doesn't know any of that at the beginning of the story, but over the course of the eight movies, Harry Potter becomes the wonder of the wizarding world.

10. Groundhog Day (1993) - Everyone's Favorite

This movie has no dragons, knights, nor princesses. But the "magic spell" of this movie is something very subtle, and it is what classifies this movie as a fantasy. And Groundhog Day is the kind of movie that is in everyone's personal best fantasy movies of all times list.

Groundhog Day tells the story of Phil, a weather commentator for a TV station that goes to a small town to cover a local event. It is Groundhog Day, a festival in which a groundhog predicts whether winter will end sooner or later that year. Phil just wants the day to be over soon to get home. However, whenever he sleeps, he must relive Groundhog Day over and over.

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