10 Best Crowd-Pleasing Fantasy Movies, Ranked

But, sticking to cinema, here are some of the most approachable, easy to like, and enduring fantasy movies from film history. They're not always necessarily the best, since some all-time great fantasy movies are kind of dark and potentially too cynical to appeal to just about everyone, but these ones are largely great, being films that are either family-friendly, or the sorts of movies older kids and above can likely enjoy.

10 'Army of Darkness' (1992)

It would feel like a bit of a stretch to call either of the first two Evil Dead movies fantasy ones, since they're more horror (well, Evil Dead II is a horror-comedy). Army of Darkness, though, was justifiably given a title without the words “Evil” and “Dead” in it, since it’s a very different beast altogether, with its premise involving Ash Williams getting transported back in time, way back to the Dark Ages.

There, he has to deal with supernatural threats once more, but just about everything is played for laughs, and it’s more fantasy than it is horror. It’s like a slapstick-heavy time travel comedy, and a chaotic action movie on top of all that, too. Army of Darkness is ridiculous and also easy to like, which is why it’s here, even if it’s probably more of a cult classic than, like, a blockbuster-level crowd-pleaser in the traditional sense.

9 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' (2011)

There’s a lot that can be said about the Harry Potter series, whether you're talking about the books or the movies, but it was really something that dominated pop culture for the first decade and a bit of the 21st century (and, to a lesser extent, the last few years of the 20th century, too). Do you need a summary of what this series is about? Is there a rock on Earth big enough to live under that’ll keep any and all knowledge about Harry Potter away from you?

Of the movies, #3 gets highlighted as the best fairly often, but the most crowd-pleasing is probably the eighth, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which adapts about the last third of the final book in the series. A lot happens in that final third, though, in terms of action, so you get a lot of that here, and payoff after payoff, all of them aiming to be as big, emotional, and exciting as possible.

8 'Shrek' (2001)

If there are any people in the world who don’t like Shrek, then they make up what would have to be a pretty much microscopic-sized minority, because Shrek is Shrek, and it’s a movie that’s more than endured for the past quarter of a century for a reason. It puts a spin on fairy tale conventions, satirizing them for a while before revealing that it had a good deal of heart all along, and it eventually gets sentimental without being sappy.

The balance of humor with some other more heartfelt stuff really worked wonders, and so Shrek ultimately became a series, or a franchise, really, since it expands well beyond movies (and the original books) now. Most other movies that have gotten as popular get some degree of backlash from people who are sick of them, but it hasn’t really ever happened with Shrek, which is a good sign that crowds were indeed pleased (and remain so, too).

7 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)

To an even greater extent than Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz really doesn’t feel like it needs much of an introduction. It is one of the earliest undeniably great/classic fantasy movies, or at least one of the earliest that still holds up and proves surprisingly watchable. That timelessness also means it keeps on getting referenced and parodied, and then also remixed in various ways (sometimes successfully, like with Wicked, and other times, not so successfully… see the largely forgotten Oz the Great and Powerful).

It’s also very much a classic family movie, and so the fact that people of all ages can find something to be entertained by here helps that whole feeling of it being a crowd-pleaser. The Wizard of Oz is just one of those historically significant films, and it doesn’t really feel like a whole lot more needs to be said.

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

Most of the movies in the Godzilla series lean more toward science fiction, which makes something like Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack stand out. This one has more fantastical elements than just about any other Godzilla movie, even if it’s still arguably science-fantasy. But the two other monsters in the title who aren’t Godzilla are legendary/fantastical creatures, and also, Godzilla in this movie is possessed by vengeful spirits, making him a supernatural force, in effect.

Not everyone is going to love the way things are re-imagined and re-energized here, but if you're okay with a slightly different Godzilla movie, there’s a lot to enjoy with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. It’s big, flashy, and also very cathartic with its action, pulling off the rather incredible feat of making you cheer on the usually much more villainous King Ghidorah.

5 'The Princess Bride' (1987)

The Princess Bride feels like it has a bit of everything, genre-wise, yet it also has a bit of everything while having something to offer to people of all ages, a bit like The Wizard of Oz and Shrek. Like the latter, it has the feel of a more modern fairy tale, keeping some of the expected sincerity while also gently poking fun at some of the more outdated things about classic fairy tales.

It’s wild to think about how well it works, and how balanced The Princess Bride is, not to mention making note of how effortlessly it does all that. It could well be the best fantasy movie of its decade, or at least stand as a major contender, and it’s also the kind of thing where if you haven’t seen it yet, why not? Watch it, like, right now. It’s an almost guaranteed good time.

4 'Spirited Away' (2001)

Convenient to single out as Hayao Miyazaki’s best movie (“easy” would be a stretch; it’s not really easy to pick one definitive Miyazaki film when they're all so good), Spirited Away is about as essential as anime movies get. It’s about a young girl’s quest through a fantastical realm that she has to get out of, with the same kind of premise as The Wizard of Oz, but a very different style and tone overall, not to mention a different kind of journey.

It’s beyond great, and easily one of the best animated movies of all time, regardless of whether you're talking about those from Japan or just overall, from any country. Spirited Away isn't as sentimental, maybe, as most crowd-pleasers tend to be, but there is heart to the film, and it stands as one of Miyazaki’s most approachable and easy-to-like films, too.

3 'Groundhog Day' (1993)

Movies about time loops usually lean toward the science fiction genre, but in Groundhog Day, it’s more fantastical, because there doesn’t seem to be any technology or discernible/scientific reason for its protagonist to keep living the same day over and over. It feels more like a purgatory of sorts; a situation designed to test him and gradually force him to change his cynical outlook on life.

That whole character journey is mostly funny, but also occasionally dramatic, and then Groundhog Day also ends up telling a love story in a way that feels genuine and not cheesy. It’s a movie with a fantastic premise that it utilizes expertly, all to the extent that calling this an easy film to enjoy really does feel like an understatement.

2 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946)

There are hardships covered in It’s a Wonderful Life, for sure, but the main message does have to do with the fact that life can be wonderful and all, even if it’s hard to see when you're in the middle of hard times. That’s where George Bailey finds himself, and he needs a unique perspective provided by a guardian angel to see that his life is far from lacking in purpose.

That’s saying a lot, by way of plot, but also, It’s a Wonderful Life is such an undeniable Christmas movie classic that you’ve likely either seen it by now (probably multiple times), or you're aware of what it’s about, more or less, through pop culture. It’s a Wonderful Life is one of the most timelessly moving films ever made, and is very much worth watching, regardless of how you usually feel about watching movies that are many decades old.

1 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)

If you had three children, and you had to pick a favorite child, it would (hopefully) be difficult, and the same can be said about picking out a favorite movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you're really into fantasy and epics, it’s like the cinematic equivalent of picking a favorite child, all to the point where it’s oftentimes tempting to treat the trilogy like one giant film instead.

But if we’re talking crowd-pleasers, it’s probably the third movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, that has the most by way of rousing and truly exciting moments. That makes sense, given things build throughout the trilogy, and this one gets to go even bigger than the other two, all the while having the undeniable catharsis that comes with a perfectly executed landing. Honorable mentions for the other two movies, but The Return of the King is probably the most crowd-pleasing of the bunch.