The best fantasy movies that define the genre include some highly respected classics and some newer releases that take viewers to magical worlds. The fantasy genre has been around since silent cinema as part of both the horror genre and sci-fi releases. However, in the 1930s, fantasy films took a life of their own and never looked back.

This genre includes movies set in ancient times, on other planets, or even in the real world where magic is real, even if society doesn’t realize it. They also include some major box office successes and Oscar-winning releases. There are also some releases in the comedy and young adult genres, and these all define what fantasy is all about.

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

The Wizard of Oz is one of the earliest fantasy movies to see monstrous mainstream success. While there were swords and sandals movies released before this, this film took things to a new level and made it available for the entire family to enjoy. Judy Garland stars as

Dorothy Gale, a young girl swept into the magical land of Oz.

When there, she meets a kind witch, who tells her the Wizard can help her get back home, but when she meets the Wizard, he demands she kill the Wicked Witch of the West before he can help her. With the fans she meets along the way, she sets out on her journey to find her way back home.

This fantasy movie was a colorful and upbeat musical that delivered magic and wonder using the new Technicolor format, one of the first to use this in a film. It received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow.” The Library of Congress says it is the most-seen movie in history.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Horror movies like King Kong and the Godzilla franchise used stop-motion practical effects to create giant fantastical creatures. However, in the realm of fantasy epics, the most impressive use of stop-motion for monsters came in the movie Jason and the Argonauts.

This movie was made using Ray Harryhausen’s monsters. Jason and the Argonauts is based on the 3rd-century BC Greek epic poem, The Argonautica, and is set in the world of Greek Gods. It tells the story of the son of the slain King Aristo and the prophecy that he would one day avenge his father’s death.

Decades later, the Academy Awards honored Ray Harryhausen with a lifetime-achievement award, with Tom Hanks offering high praise for his work on Jason and the Argonauts, saying:

“Some people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane. I say Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made.” (via The New York Times)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

One of the greatest fantasy movies of all time about Death is the 1957 Swedish classic, The Seventh Seal. In one of his greatest roles, Max von Sydow plays Antonius Block, a knight who returns home after the Crusades, but finds Death literally waiting for him there. Desperately wanting to see his wife before he dies, he challenges Death to a game.

The game is chess, and the knight’s game with Death plays out in between scenes of him traveling with his companions across the countryside, which is ravaged by the plague. There are several religious motifs used in the film, and it remains an iconic piece of cinema that offers one of the best looks at the Middle Ages.

The version of Death presented in The Seventh Seal has been used many times in the years since this film’s release. It was used for comedic purposes in the comedy movie Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey and was the template for the character of Anton Chigurh in the Western crime drama No Country for Old Men.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

In 1975, the Monty Python comedy troupe made a movie spoofing the Middle Ages with the fantasy comedy release, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The film was based loosely on the King Arthur legend, and many of the comedy moments in the movie were based on similar gags they had used in their popular BBC TV series.

The story follows King Arthur (Graham Chapman) as he and his men search for the Holy Grail. This includes Sir Lancelot (John Cleese), Patsy (Terry Gilliam), Sir Robin (Eric Idle), Sir Belvedere (Terry Jones), and Sir Galahad (Michael Palin). The film is often called one of the greatest British comedies ever made.

The gags are all memorable, from the Black Knight and the Soothsaying Bridgekeeper to using coconuts to replicate horse trots and meeting with the Knights Who Say Ni in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Labyrinth (1986)

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop took a break from making Muppet movies and TV shows in the 1980s to make two very different, yet very disturbing fantasy movies, with giant puppets. In 1982, they created the dark fantasy film, The Dark Crystal, and in 1986, they made the puppets for Labyrinth.

Unlike The Dark Crystal, the story in Labyrinth starts in the real world, where a teenager wishes her annoying baby brother would go away. After making a wish to the Goblin King, she was shocked when he showed up and took her brother. She then set out to find the baby and rescue him from great danger.

With a young Jennifer Connelly as Sarah and David Bowie as the Goblin King, Jareth, the leads were perfect. Labyrinth was dark, yet made, at the time, for younger audiences to enjoy as well. Although this fantasy movie was the last film Jim Henson directed, it has since become a beloved cult classic.

The Princess Bride (1987)

In 1987, William Goldman wrote the adaptation of his book of the same name about a mysterious pirate who arrives to save a kidnapped Princess and also rescue her from the man who wants to marry her to steal the kingdom. The movie is one of the biggest cult classics of the 1980s and remains a beloved release to this day.

Directed by Rob Reiner, Cary Elwes stars as Wesley, the farmhand who loved Princess ʙuттercup but ended up becoming a pirate after the infamous Dread Pirate Roberts attacked his ship. He returns when three bandits (including an amazing Wallace Shawn) kidnap the princess at the behest of Prince Humperdinck.

The Princess Bride is full of great quotes and some great moments that have withstood the test of time. It was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2016 and has even been released on Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection.

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Based on the novel by Michael Ende, The NeverEnding Story features a boy from the real world getting swept into a magical fantasy land. Bastian Balthazar Bux is a young boy who is bullied and runs to hide in a bookstore. It is here that he finds the book called The NeverEnding Story, but when he starts, he is transferred into the book’s world.

This is Fantasia, and Bastian watches as a young hero named Atreyu is tasked with finding a cure for the young Childlike Empress to save her life. This is a pure quest movie, and it has all sorts of fantastical creatures, the best of which is the Luck Dragon Falkor.

The movie is a beloved classic for an entire generation of movie fans, and The NeverEnding Story has some of the most heartbreaking and poignant moments for any fantasy movie made mostly for a young audience.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

A recent New York Times poll called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring one of the top 100 best movies of the 21st century, and its sequels failed to make the list. While that might be argumentative, since the other movies were much more entertaining, this was the film that introduced the fantasy world.

The first movie spends its running time showing the hobbits walking to the river, but it ends before anything significant happens. Despite this, this first movie is the one that has the most hobbits, sets up the immense world-building that Peter Jackson meticulously pulled from Tolkien’s novels, and then creates the quest.

That is what makes The Lord of the Rings so great, as the battles and dangers are all part of this quest that is essential to any fantasy story, whether in a book or on the big screen. No movie has ever done it better.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

There wasn’t a bigger young adult fantasy book series in the 1990s and 2000s than the adventures of Harry Potter. This led to Warner Bros. setting its sights on the series and creating one of the best fantasy movie franchises of all time, with an amazing cast and some incredible twists and turns throughout the seven films.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is in no way the best movie in the series, and is one of the worst of the seven. However, this movie is where the magic began, with a young boy heading to a wizarding school and learning firsthand about the wonders of magic, and the audience was along for the ride.

The rest of the movies had better stories, but this first movie was an introduction to the magical world of Hogwarts and the Wizarding World, and that is what defines fantasy movies more than any wizard battle ever could.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

It’s hard to believe that a movie based on a Disney theme park ride became one of the most successful fantasy franchises ever made. Gore Verbinski (The Ring) directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and the 2003 film launched a franchise that included several sequels following these amazing characters.

Johnny Depp is who sold this series, as he played the aloof Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate who only wants to get his ship back (The Black Pearl), but he has to deal with the military, other pirates, and eventually zombies, ghosts, mermaids, and much more. However, this first movie was the best, a streamlined swashbuckling adventure.

The first movie made $1.2 billion when adjusted for inflation, and the entire franchise was a mᴀssive success that remains a fun watch even now, over 20 years later. For fantasy movies that defined the genre, this sits near the top as one of the best modern genre options available today.

Sources: The Library of Congress, The New York Times