Fantasy movies are one of the best escapes from this stressful life. It takes you to this new world with fascinating characters and their adventures.
There is nothing best than retiring yourself from work at the weekend with a good fantasy movie.
Don’t know which one to watch, or maybe to rewatch. Well, not to worry, saving your time we are enlisting the best fantasy movies that you can watch on the weekend.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
A satirical look at the grim situations of the Medieval Era is told through the story of King Arthur and set against the backdrop of a modern-day homicide case.
When the fabled king of the Britons led his knights directly on a quest for the Holy Grail, they encountered a slew of horrors that also included this relentless Black Knight and a three-headed giant.
They also found a squadron of shrubbery-challenged knights along with the perilous Castle Anthrax, this murderous rabbit, also a house of virgins, and finally a slew of rude Frenchmen.
Director – Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
The Allies penetrated Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944. In Spain, a troop of soldiers is dispatched to a remote forest to flush out the insurgents.
Capitan Vidal, a murderous sadist, leads them, accompanied by his new wife Carmen and her baby girl from a prior marriage, 11-year-old Ofelia.
Ofelia is attracted to Pan’s Labyrinth, a magical world of mythical beings, after witnessing her stepfather’s sadistic brutality.
Director – Guillermo del Toro
The Little Prince (2015)
A young girl and her mother relocate for her to attend a prestigious school.
Their next-door friend is a strange older man who keeps a dilapidated airplane in his garden. Despite his eccentricities, the young girl befriends him and uncovers his written memories of a desert adventure.
Director – Sam de Jong
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Hiccup and Toothless have united the dragons and Vikings of Berk for five years. They now spend their time mapping the island’s uncharted territories.
During one of their adventures, the pair discovers a secret cave filled with hundreds of wild dragons – and a mysterious dragon rider who turns out to be Hiccup’s long-lost mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett).
Hiccup and Toothless are thrust into the middle of a battle to defend Berk from a power-hungry warrior named Drago.
Director – Dean DeBlois
Happy as Lazzaro (2018)
This is the story of Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is frequently mistaken for a simpleton, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination.
The terrible Marchesa Alfonsina de Luna, the queen of cigarettes, rules life in their isolated pastoral village Inviolata. Tancredi asks Lazzaro to assist him in planning his kidnapping, and a loyal bond is formed.
This strange, improbable alliance is a eureka moment for Lazzaro—a valuable friendship that will travel through time and transport Lazzaro to Tancredi’s location.
For the first time in the big city, Lazzaro feels like a piece of history lost in the contemporary age.
Director – Alice Rohrwacher
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Instead of simply attacking and defeating opponents, Kung Fu Hustle emphasizes the spirit of martial arts as a means of self-improvement and defense.
The utmost martial arts hero is the one who can win over his opponent’s heart through peace and forgiveness rather than violence and vengeance.
Director – Stephen Chow
Mirai (2018)
When his younger sister Mirai arrives, a young boy named Kun feels forgotten by his family.
Running away from home, Kun stumbles upon a magical garden that serves as a time-traveling portal, where he meets his mother as a young girl and has a series of adventures with his baby sister, who has grown up, giving him a new perspective on the world.
Director – Mamoru Hosoda
Where to watch – AMC on Demand, Redbox, Apple iTunes, Amazon Video
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2018)
Mary, a young girl, pursues a mysterious cat into this nearby dense forest, where she finds out an old broomstick and the ver peculiar-looking Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blooms once every seven years.
Together, the flower and the broomstick transport Mary above the clouds and far away to Endor College, a magical school run by Madam Mumblechook and the brilliant Doctor Dee.
But terrible things have been happening at the school, and when Mary lies, she must risk her life to try to make things right.
Director – Hiromasa Yonebayashi
The Secret Garden (2020)
During the partition of Indian Pakistan in 1947, 10-year-old Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx) had just lost both of her parents.
She hasn’t, however, lost her will to live or her aristocratic ways.
She refuses to eat food that is not to her liking and expects the servants to dress her up. She is placed in the care of her uncle Archibald Craven (Colin Firth) at the isolated and secluded Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire.
The manor is as cold as its occupants, surrounded by nothing but the nightmarish moors for acres.
While Craven, a bereaved widower, keeps to himself, Mrs. Medlock (Julie Walters), the housekeeper, is stern and uptight.
Director – Marc Munden
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey(2020)
Jeronicus, a toymaker, is devastated after his helper steals his idea book and a one-of-a-kind matador doll. He loses interest in making new toys until his granddaughter visits him years later.
It’s a fantastic film. There are a lot of heart-warming occasions between these characters, as well as tiny touches with musical numbers…small details that are enjoyed.
Director: David E. Talbert
Legend (1985)
Darkness (Tim Curry) wishes to create eternal night by annihilating the last unicorns. Jack (Tom Cruise) and his friends risk everything to save the world and Princess Lili (Mia Sara) from the clutches of Darkness.
Enter a magical world filled with unicorns, magical swamps, dwarfs, and rainbows.
Director – Ridley Scott
Excalibur (1981)
Excalibur, the magical sword, begins in the hands of British lord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) and later finds its way to his bastard son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), the knave fated to become king.
Arthur fulfills his destiny by bringing together the Knights of the Round Table. Table at Camelot and uniting the country, with the help of the sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson).
Even so, this flawed monarch faces increasing difficulties in his search for love, the Holy Grail, and the survival of his nation.
Director – John Boorman
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog named Toto, are torn away from their home to the fantasy and magical land of Oz when a tornado rips through Kansas.
They travel down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, encountering a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) in need of a brain, a Tin Man (Jack Haley) in need of a heart, and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) in need of courage.
To gain his assistance, the Wizard requests that the group bring him the broom of the
Director – Victor Fleming
Jumanji (1995)
Nothing says childhood voyage like a journey inside a board game led by Robin Williams.
All hell breaks loose when a pair of siblings inadvertently open Pandora’s box by starting to play a supernatural board game.
They must now complete the game to counteract the curse it has placed on its previous player, who happens to be trapped inside.
If you like the classic (which is unquestionably the best), there’s a remake starring The Rock and Jack Black that’s also quite enjoyable.
Director – Joe Johnston
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The destiny of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries, determines the future of civilization.
Powerful forces are relentless in their pursuit of it. However, fate places it in the palms of a young Hobbit titled Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who usurps the Ring and enters legend.
When Frodo becomes the Ringbearer, he faces a daunting task: destroying only One Ring Mount Doom, where it was forged.
Director – Peter Jackson
Avatar (2009)
The Navy, who appear primitive but are highly evolved, live on the lush alien world of Pandora.
Because the planet’s environment is poisonous, human/Navi mixtures known as Avatars must connect to human minds to move freely on Pandora.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine, regains his mobility thanks to one of these Avatars and falls in love with a Navi woman (Zoe Saldana).
He is derived into a battle for the continued existence of her world as his bond with her grows.
Director – James Cameron
Edward Scissorhands(1990)
A researcher (Vincent Price) creates an animated human being, Edward, who is gentle (Johnny Depp).
However, the scientist dies before completing the assembly of Edward, leaving the young man with a bizarre appearance punctuated by the scissor propellers he has instead of his hands.
Peg (Dianne Wiest), a loving suburban saleswoman, eventually finds Edward and takes him home, where he falls for Peg’s young daughter (Winona Ryder).
Notwithstanding his generosity and artistic talent, Edward is an outcast due to his hands.
Director – Tim Burton
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
What do you see in your mind’s eye when you believe in the rabbit-hole traveler, the shrinking, the going to grow, Alice, the Mad Hatter?
Even though it’s a little underrated, Tim Burton’s gothic take on Alice in Wonderland is probably not one of them.
It’s more likely that you’ve seen the 1951 Disney animated fantasy movie. And for a good reason: The Mouse House captured Lewis Carroll’s classic’s marvels, naiveté, and sense of adventure.
Director – Clyde Geronimi
The shape of water (2017)
In 1962 Baltimore, Elisa is a mute, secluded woman who works as a house cleaner in a concealed, top government laboratory.
When she discovers the lab’s top secret – a mystical, weighted creature living in a water tank – her life is changed forever.
Elisa forms an unusual connection with her new friend, only to discover that its fate and survival are in the hands of a hostile state actor and a molecular biologist.
Director : Guillermo del Toro
Mary Poppins(1964)
It may not have all of the bells and whistles of more stereotypical fantasy films, but Mary Poppins is equity F fantasy.
The Disney classic, which combined elements of animation and live-action action sequences, transcended genre boundaries and established a standard that is as thrilling as it is family-friendly.
When the children of the wealthy and uptight Banks family, Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber), are faced with the fact that they can have a new nanny, and they get magical Marry Poppins, played by Julie Andrews, they are surprised but happy.
The siblings try to use the positive attitude of the new nanny to their preoccupied family members by undertaking a succession of fantastical adventures with Mary and her Cockney performer friend, Bert (Dick Van Dyke) (David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns).
A line of grumpy old-school nannies is shown mowing down into thin air, making way for the embodiment of modern female assertiveness.
Director: Robert Stevenson
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 2 (2011)
As young Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) prepare for their final battle against Lord Voldemort, a clash between good and evil awaits (Ralph Fiennes).
Harry has matured into a tough young man on a mission to rid the world of evil. The friends must find the Horcruxes that keep the evil Wizard immortal. Harry and Voldemort clash at Hogwarts Castle in an epic battle in which the forces of Darkness may finally meet their match.
The new locations are massive and mind-boggling, the pairs are exquisitely decked and detailed, and the life forms are even more monstrous.
Director : David Yates
The Princess Bride
A fairy tale Fantasy about a lovely young girl’s true love. He must track her down and save her after a long separation.
To be reunited with each other, they must defeat the ills of the mythical kingdom of Florin. Based on William Goldman’s novel “The Princess Bride,” which has a devoted following.
An insightful, humorous fairy tale adventure is presented in the 1987 American movie.
It follows Westley on his search to reconnect with his one true love, Buttercup, and fight the evils of the royal house of Florin along the way, both celebrating and subverting the genre.
If you need any more convincing, it also showcases perhaps the most iconic Mandy Patinkin line transfer of all time.
Director : Rob Reiner
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki, the master writer-director of Studio Ghibli, created this filled-with-joy fantasy film.
The Academy Award-winning film follows a young girl and her family as they are transported to the world of Kami from Japanese Shinto folklore.
When her parents are transformed into pigs, she sets out to save them as well as herself so that they can return to their realm. Spirited Away is among the best films of the twentieth century, with stunning visuals, compassionately realized characters, and themes that address real-world adult issues.
Chihiro (Daveigh Chase), 10, moves to a new residence in the Japanese hinterlands with her parents. Chihiro and her parents stumble upon an amusement park with a food stall after making a wrong turn down a heavily forested path.
Chihiro’s parents start eating and then transform into pigs, much to her surprise.
Chihiro meets a variety of characters in this spiritual dimension and works in a brothel for spirits while waiting to see her parents.
Director – Hayao Miyazaki
The Chronicles of Narnia (2010)
While visiting their annoying cousins, Eustace, Lucy (Georgie Henley), and Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes), they come across a painting of the Dawn Treader.
Suddenly, the painting comes to life and transports the young people to Narnia, where they run into an old friend, King Caspian played by Ben Barnes.
Caspian starts this quest to find the seven lost Lords of Telmar, the swords of whose swords will save Lord of the Rings from an evil green mist with capability to enslave men’s minds and bodies. This film is A good vessel for children of all ages to board.
Director – Michael Apted
Where to watch – Disney, prime video
Coraline (2009)
An imaginative child named Coraline discovers a parallel world behind a secret door in her new family home in this vivid stop-motion fantasy adapted from a Neil Gaiman novel.
Coraline has no idea that the world harbors dark secrets that threaten the lives of everyone she cares about.
Come for the crazy fantasy, but stay again for the coming-of-age story about a brave girl discovering the true meaning of home.
Director – Henry Selick
Featured Image Source: TA