The 25 Best Live-Action Fantasy Movies of All Time, Ranked

This post was originally published on here

It’s easy to see why the fantasy genre has always been a popular one within the medium of film. Movies themselves are all works of fantasy or make-believe, to some extent, manipulating reality and performing various tricks with cameras, editing, and visual effects to present new worlds. Of course, some of those worlds are intended to replicate reality, or even retell real-life events, but unless it’s a particularly objective documentary, it is likely, at least in some ways, a sort of fantasy.

As for fantasy movies? Maybe they’re therefore like a kind of double fantasy (and not the kind by John Lennon and Yoko Ono). They play to the strengths of such a visual medium by using filmmaking techniques to their fullest, creating lively worlds removed from our own, and more fantastical (obviously) than the settings generally found in other genres. To focus on those made in live-action — as animated fantasy movies add another level of unreality — the following movies represent some of the best when it comes to the fantasy genre and are ranked below, starting with the great and ending with the greatest.

25

‘Excalibur’ (1981)

Standing as one of the greatest R-rated fantasy movies of all time, Excalibur retells a classic myth in a visually spectacular and rather bold way. It’s named after the mythical sword wielded by King Arthur, and the film overall retells the story of this legendary king and his knights of the Round Table.

There’s a particular focus on the search for the Holy Grail, which is a similarly mythic object to Excalibur that has shown up in various films, some not even of the fantastical variety. It’s also one of director John Boorman‘s best movies overall, standing out in an interesting (perhaps even chaotic) filmography that also includes titles like Deliverance, Zardoz, and the divisive Exorcist II: The Heretic.

24

‘Barbie’ (2023)

Though it’s primarily a comedy movie — and arguably an adventure one, too — the massively popular Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie also qualifies as a work of fantasy. It takes place partly in Barbie Land and partly in the real world, with the former very much being a greatly different world that contrasts in ways both funny and dramatic with the reality we’re more familiar with.

It’s a movie that goes all out with capturing Barbie Land in a memorable and visually appealing way, and has made Barbie — perhaps surprisingly — one of the most technically exceptional movies of 2023. Barbie‘s immense box office success probably means viewers haven’t seen the last of Barbie Land, either.

23

‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)

Groundhog Day is another interesting example of a live-action fantasy movie, because it first and foremost feels like a comedy (or maybe a dramedy, with some of the film’s more serious moments in its back half). The setting is Punxsutawney, a real place, but the situation that the film’s lead character finds himself in is fantastical.

That’s because Groundhog Day is a time-loop movie, and one of the most iconic of all time at that. It follows Phil, played by Bill Murray, as he tries to work out how to break free of the same day repeating over and over again, learning about the horrors of (effective) immortality and how to better himself as a person. As a work of what’s sometimes called “low fantasy,” it’s excellent,

22

‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990)

Fantasy elements are present throughout Edward Scissorhands in interesting ways that make it feel unique. Its setting is almost like the real world, but there is also something uncanny about the exaggerated suburbs much of the film is set within; it’s also visually very in line with Tim Burton‘s style.

Of course, some of the film’s also set in and around a gothic mansion, and such a setting also feels very Tim Burton. The titular character is an unfinished experiment made by a now-dead scientist, and the movie follows his attempts to fit in with the so-called “normal” world, with its distinct approach to fantasy and its simple yet effective story making Edward Scissorhands a powerful watch.

21

‘Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack’ (2001)

Most movies in the long-running Godzilla series would count as works of science fiction, but the series hasn’t been without some fantasy elements. One of the best Godzilla movies overall, 2001’s Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, stands out further by having its monsters be more closely tied to fantasy than sci-fi.

It only follows the 1954 original movie, taking place decades later and having Godzilla rise again due to vengeful spirits that reside within him. The heroic monsters here — Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon — weren’t created by science gone wrong, either, as they’re all mythical guardian monsters that are summoned to help defeat Godzilla. The film provides a fresh and uniquely fantastical look at some familiar characters and ends up being an all-time great Godzilla movie because of how successfully it achieves this.

20

‘The Phantom Carriage’ (1921)

It’s always surprising when a movie from the silent era holds up as effectively creepy all these years later, and The Phantom Carriage can count itself among these surprisingly great films. It’s more than a century old and still works wonders as a fantasy/horror movie.

The Phantom Carriage is about a legend concerning New Year’s Eve which tells of how the last person to die in any given year becomes responsible for driving the carriage that collects the souls of the dead over the next year. It explores this fantastical premise with some immensely creative special effects, and evokes an appropriately spooky and otherworldly atmosphere throughout.

19

‘The NeverEnding Story’ (1984)

Many family-friendly fantasy movies also happen to be animated (especially when it comes to those made by Disney), but there are certainly live-action fantasy movies that can be enjoyed by all ages. One of the most iconic would have to be 1984’s The NeverEnding Story, which is based on the 1979 novel of the same name.

It follows a young boy as he enters a fantasy world through a book he finds and, while there, gets wrapped up in a quest to save this world from evil forces. It’s likely a childhood classic for many and something to be remembered fondly, and it still holds up today as a creative and fittingly childlike piece of fantasy.

18

‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ (1975)

Though Monty Python and the Holy Grail isn’t a parody of a specific film (it’s similar to Excalibur, but that one was released six years later), it is definable as a parody of the King Arthur legend. The film is about him and his Knights of the Round Table attempting to find the Holy Grail, only everything is much sillier than normal this time around.

It feels like a bunch of skits strung together at times, but most of the scenes are thankfully hilarious on their own, and there are enough callbacks and forward momentum to keep things feeling vaguely coherent. And yet when Monty Python and the Holy Grail becomes incoherent and completely ridiculous, this also proves to be hugely entertaining, making this one of the goofiest — but perhaps also one of the best — live-action fantasy movies of all time.

17

‘Faust’ (1926)

And now for something completely different to Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 1926’s Faust. As a fantasy movie, Faust is downbeat and distinctly moody and is based on the German legend of the same name, which has a story centering on God and Satan challenging each other to control the Earth.

The titular Faust is a man at the center of their competition, with Satan wagering that he can corrupt the man, and God claiming he cannot. What follows is an unsurprisingly tragic story, though what is surprising is how creatively shot and effectively unsettling it is, with it undeniably being one of the best-looking films made during cinema’s silent era.

16

‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000)

Martial arts movies often benefit from working in some fantastical elements to play out alongside the more grounded action sequences. What results is a subgenre known as wuxia — which translates to “martial heroes” — which are essentially movies about martial artists and warriors, though characters are often capable of things real-life people can’t do.

Few wuxia movies have proven to be as great as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was also notable for generating a huge amount of acclaim on an international scale. It’s a movie with action that’s breathtaking and characters who pull off amazing feats, with all this resulting in a movie that’s successful at telling a deeply human story about love, regret, and betrayal while also having excellent, fantastical fight scenes.