25 Best Live-Action Fantasy Movies of All Time

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)

Directed by John Boorman

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.

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24 ‘Barbie’ (2023)

Directed by Greta Gerwig

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 to 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. The movie’s immense box office success probably means viewers haven’t seen the last of Barbie Land, either.

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23 ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)

Directed by Harold Ramis

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.

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22 ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990)

Directed by Tim Burton

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.

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

Most movies in the long-running (and largely awesome) 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.

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20 ‘The Phantom Carriage’ (1921)

Directed by Victor Sjöström

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.

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19 ‘The NeverEnding Story’ (1984)

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

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 still holds up today as a creative and fittingly childlike piece of fantasy.

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18 ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ (1975)

Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

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.

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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.

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16 ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000)

Directed by Ang Lee

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.

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15 ‘Wings of Desire’ (1987)

Directed by Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders is a director who loves making road movies and grounded dramas, but one of his most successful and acclaimed films saw him tackling the fantasy genre. That movie was 1987’s Wings of Desire, and its narrative sees two angels watching over humanity, and what happens when one realizes he’s falling in love with a human.

It provides a unique perspective on the real world, getting by with feeling fresh thanks to its otherworldly characters looking in on what’s familiar to us, but alien to them. It also spawned a remake from 1998 called City of Angels (starring Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage) that’s not nearly as nuanced or beautiful; the original is – appropriately enough – more desirable.

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14 ‘The Shape of Water’ (2017)

Directed by Guillermo del Torro

Guillermo del Toro loves fantasy, horror, and tackling stories that have disturbing elements… though he strayed away from the latter two, to some extent, when he made The Shape of Water. It’s primarily a fantasy movie and also has a strong element of romance to it while being dark and a little unsettling in parts, but not too heavily.

It takes place during the Cold War and follows a woman who’s mute and works as a janitor at a mysterious lab, only to find herself unexpectedly drawn to an amphibious creature that’s being experimented on there. The Academy Awards seems to avoid fantasy and sci-fi movies much of the time, but voters responded well to The Shape of Water, as it won a total of four Oscars, including Best Picture.

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13 ‘8½’ (1963)

8½ is a strange film, because on one hand, it’s one of the most personal Federico Fellini ever made, given the story being told here is borderline autobiographical. Yet on the other hand, it also escapes into dreams and fantasy sequences a great deal even by Fellini’s standards, and frequently enough to make it feel like it’s at least partly a fantasy movie.

Still, it always feels consistent, and the way real-life clashes with dreams, and dreams clash with memories makes for a thrilling viewing experience. Even at its most perplexing, 8½ is a movie that’s entirely worth getting immersed in, offering an engaging and unique look into the mind of one of Italy’s greatest-ever filmmakers.

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12 ‘The Seventh Seal’ (1957)

Few films from the 1950s are as iconic as The Seventh Seal, which is also up there as one of the most well-known directed by Ingmar Bergman. It’s a movie that begins with a knight playing Death in a game of chess, but as the story goes on, it reveals itself to be a film that’s concerned with exploring broader – and numerous – aspects of the human condition.

It’s all very lofty and ambitious, especially because this narrative sounds epic (and in some ways, it is), but the film itself only runs for a little over 90 minutes. It’s a more down-to-earth approach to fantasy than some might expect, but it uses otherworldly ideas and characters to explore various things that are all present in everyday life, including the search for meaning and purpose, learning to accept death, and grappling with religious beliefs.

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11 ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)

Directed by Frank Capra

It’s a Wonderful Life is certainly the most famous movie Frank Capra ever directed, and is arguably his best, too. It’s one of those movies plenty of people choose to return to every holiday season, as it’s set around Christmas and tells the story of a family man who’s made to realize the impact he has on the world, and what he means to those around him.

Its famous fantasy elements surrounding the main character viewing a world without him are explored towards the film’s end, with much of the rest of It’s a Wonderful Life being more of a family drama. But it combines these two genres undoubtedly well, using fantastical elements effectively to tell an approachable, likable, and largely moving story.

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10 The ‘Harry Potter’ Series (2001-2011)

Picking a favorite Harry Potter movie can be difficult. Some might say the third movie’s the best, even if it deviates from the source material in some contested ways. The first movie is undeniably pure, and deliberately childlike, for better or worse. And though the eighth movie might be the most emotional, it’s also only really effective when viewed as a conclusion, rather than its own movie.

Maybe it’s just best to say that the series as a whole – eight movies released between 2001 and 2011 – should count as a singular great work of live-action fantasy, and certainly one of the most iconic of the 21st century so far. Overall, these movies adapt the book series by J.K Rowling well, and tell an epic fantasy story about a young boy destined for greatness, a school filled with magic, and an intense battle between good and evil itself.

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9 ‘King Kong’ (1933)

Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Even though the original King Kong movie is now approximately nine decades old, it still stands as the best entry in what’s now a (very) long-running series. It’s about the discovery of a giant ape on Skull Island, and the chaos that unfolds when he’s brought to New York City and exhibited there as the alleged eighth wonder of the world.

As a movie that blends action/adventure, fantasy, and even some horror elements, King Kong is thrilling and always a blast to watch, with it still holding up well as a classic all these years later. The special effects are charming and hugely impressive for their time, with the imagination and creativity on offer ensuring the technical wizardry here still shines.

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8 ‘Fanny and Alexander’ (1982)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

25 years after The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman returned to make one last classic that can be defined as a fantasy film: 1982’s Fanny and Alexander. This is a family drama, showing events from the perspective of two children – the title characters – all the while incorporating some surreal and perhaps even supernatural elements, albeit sparingly.

While the theatrical cut of the film runs for a bit over three hours, there’s an even more expansive miniseries version that runs for about five hours. Both are excellent and prove rewarding for those with the time to spare and though the fantasy elements aren’t as pronounced as the fantastical parts of The Seventh Seal, there’s an argument to be made that Fanny and Alexander is an even better film overall.

7 ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ (1971)

Directed by Mel Stuart

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is ostensibly a family-friendly fantasy movie, but it goes to some strangely dark places throughout its runtime. Perhaps that’s also a part of the film’s appeal, though, with Gene Wilder certainly giving an intentionally intense performance as the enigmatic and occasionally unsettling titular character who runs the (also titular) strange and wondrous chocolate factory.

On top of all this, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is also a musical, incorporating plenty of memorable songs into its retelling of Roald Dahl’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The result is undoubtedly memorable, and though parts of it might traumatize viewers young and old, other parts are oddly beautiful in how dreamlike they can get.

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6 ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1946)

Directed by Jean Cocteau

When it comes to dark and atmospheric fantasy movies, few are quite as visually dazzling and intoxicating to fall into as 1946’s Beauty and the Beast. Though the 1991 animated Disney version is iconic in its own right, and more well-known, this take on the story is notably more mature and willing to be a true dark fairytale in the best way possible.

The story is a familiar one, centered around the strange romance between a young woman and a beastly creature who’s actually a handsome prince transformed into such a form. The tale is nothing hugely new, but the visuals are unlike anything else out there, with the film being dense, surreal, and the best kind of strange.

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