Formerly thought of as the province of those folks you see duelling with cardboard swords in the park, fantasy movies are now big business, thanks to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Game of Thrones and, of course, the omnipresent Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s not hard to see why audiences have an increasing desire to be swept away to a time and place different from our own – just take a look at cable news or your Twitter… sorry, X feed. Movies are meant to be escapist, and there’s no genre better at transporting us away from the here and now than fantasy.
For this list of the greatest fantasy movies ever, though, we’re going with a broader definition of the term than is perhaps most used. Sure, you’ll find plenty of superhero flicks and swords-and-dwarves epics and adventures set on faraway worlds. But you’ll also find movies that suggest magic and mystery can be found right here on Earth, and that it’s attainable for even the smallest children and most cynical adults. You just need to go out and look for it.
Recommended:
🦸🏿 50 amazing comic-book movies
🛸 The 100 best sci-fi movies of all time
👹 The 50 best monster movies ever made
👾 The 50 best ’80s movies, ranked