Fantasy films lend themselves to grandeur. While there are plenty of low fantasy films or more intimate ones thatdon't require lavish production values or expansive visual effects, there's something special about those that do. Epic fantasy movies transport us to far-off worlds or take us on grand adventures where reality has no bearing. It's what makes them such incredible cinematic experiences and why they're so rare. It takes a lot to pull these movies off, and in the last 100 years, there have only been a handful that could be considered the greatest.
From classic masterpieces to modern blockbusters, the best epic fantasy movies of the last century offer a wide variety of unique approaches. What they all share is audacious ambition and grand scale: they are high fantasy of the highest order, with everything fans come to expect of the genre and everything they don't. These are the 10 greatest epic fantasy movies from the last 100 years.
10
'Jason and the Argonauts' (1963)
Image via Columbia Pictures
When it comes to fantasy monsters, there's one name that looms larger than all others: Ray Harryhausen. The legendary visual effects pioneer, who was mentored by King Kong creator Willis O'Brien, was behind some of the most indelible stop-motion creations in cinema history. From The 7th Voyage of Sinbadto Clash of the Titans, Harryhausen brought an entire menagerie of mythological monsters to life. His most iconic work came in the sword-and-sandals fantasy epic Jason and the Argonauts.
Directed by Don Chaffey, who also collaborated with Harryhausen on One Million Years B.C., the film retells the myth of the titular characters and their quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It's a colorful and completely unpretentious film that knows that audiences are most interested in the effects, and it delivers. Harpies, a hydra, a man of bronze and a squad of skeletons all feature in the film's most spectacular sequences. Jason and the Argonauts is a colossal fantasy adventure classic.
9
'Conan the Barbarian' (1982)
Image via Universal Pictures
Sword-and-sorcery movies were one ofthe most popular subgenres of fantasy in the '80s. While most varied in quality from cheap trash to very entertaining trash, a select few rose above, chief among them Conan the Barbarian. Based on the classic pulp character created by Robert E. Howard and brought to the screen by director John Milius, the film is a brawny and bloody action adventure. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger's breakthrough role, and while he doesn't have the charisma he would weaponize in later roles, he's still a perfect visual representation of the character.
The film follows a fiery revenge plot, as Conan witnesses his parents and entire village slaughtered and becomes a child slave before growing into a mountain of a Cimmerian man, vowing revenge against the evil sorcerer Thulsa Doom (a deliciously evil James Earl Jones). There's nothing subtle about Conan the Barbarian, a fact which earned it divisive reviews from critics, but its legacy has endured. For years, it was the standard-bearer for the subgenre before finally abdicating the throne to even more epic fantasy movies.
8
'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992)
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Horror and fantasy are strange bedfellows, sharing many supernatural traits but rarely fully embracing each other. Guillermo del Toro'sPan's Labyrinthis the most acclaimed example, but it lacks a certain epicness. Thankfully, there's the absolutely decadent Bram Stoker's Draculato offer its dark embrace. Despite its title, the film deviates greatly from its source material, with Francis Ford Coppola instead telling an ages-spanning gothic romance with extravagant visual effects that were all captured in-camera. The performances may be uneven, ranging from Keanu Reeves' unconvincing English accentto Gary Oldman'siconic interpretation of the Count, but there's simply no other horror film as fantastic.
In this version of the classic tale, Dracula is a Romanian warrior cursed to live as an immortal vampire. When he comes to London, he's in search of Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), whom he believes to be the reincarnation of his beloved wife. So begins an outrageous romance and epic fantasy that takes some very dark and violent turns. Coppola was insistent on using old-fashioned techniques to accomplish the film's visual effects, and the result is a film whose visuals are as ageless as its vampire.
7
'Excalibur' (1981)
Image via Warner Bros.
Arthurian legend has inspired all sorts of different interpretations on film, from animated adventures like The Sword in the Stoneto gritty re-imaginings like The Green Knight. When it comes to the most epic and fantastic interpretation, it doesn't get any better than Excalibur. Directed by John Boorman and featuring an all-star cast, the film is a full-blooded and bloody retelling of the legend that's become the definitive cinematic representation.
The film was made after Boorman had spent years developing an adaptation of another massive fantasy that never made it into production, and he incorporated much of the work developed for it into this epic film. From the retrieval of the titular sword from the Lady in the Lake to the formation of the Knights of the Round Table, the film hits all the highlights of the legend but gives them a bloody, muddy makeover that grounds the fantasy elements in a tangible and real world. Excalibur is a richly textured, R-rated fantasy film that breathed fiery new life into a medieval legend.
6
'The Fall' (2006)
Image via Roadside Attractions
When it comes to visually arresting fantasy epics, Tarsem Singh's The Fall has no equal. Shot over four years in over twenty countries, the film has unparalleled production values that no amount of CGI can compare to. It's an indulgent, decadent filmic fantasy experience that was difficult to experience for many years after it was given a limited theatrical release and then went out of print on physical media. It's only in the last few years that the film has become widely available, which will hopefully raise its stature as a singular fantasy spectacle.
Lee Pace stars as a stuntman hospitalized after an accident who meets a young girl whom he treats to fantastic tales in exchange for morphine that she steals for him, which he plans to use to commit suicide.There's darkness underlying the film's lush visuals, but also a clear passion from Singh, whose films have often been criticized for their emphasis on visuals over plot and character. The same could be said about The Fall, but, as Roger Ebert said, there simply will never be another film like it.
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
Wuxia as a genre has roots in storytelling dating back centuries in China, and was among some of the earliest films in the country. There are decades' worth of classic wuxia movies, which combine elements of martial arts, historical fiction and low fantasy. Despite the long and storied history, the genre didn't break through with Western audiences until Ang Lee's transcendentCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was released to critical acclaim and became a box-office hit. It expanded the influence of the genre worldwide, and while some hardcore fans may bristle at its mainstream success over its many predecessors, there is no denying its mystical movie magic.
Set in China in the late 18th century, during the Qing dynasty, the film follows two master martial artists, played by action legends Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh, who share an unrequited love but are drawn together when a thief steals the legendary Green Destiny sword. The action and fight sequences of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are some of the most beautifully composed in film history, with characters that aren't so much acrobatic as they are flaunting their defiance of gravity. It's a grand melodrama, and a major film that brought international attention back to Chinese and greater Asian cinema.
4
'Star Wars' (1977)
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As inspired by classic mythology as any film on this list, George Lucas brought fantasy to a galaxy far, far away in his blockbuster space opera Star Wars. The film that completely changed Hollywood, franchise filmmaking, and the visual effects industry forever is still one of the most outright entertaining and exciting fantasy movies of all time. While Jawsis often considered the first modern blockbuster, it isn't the film that every later blockbuster would try to emulate. They all wanted to be the next Star Wars, but few of them ever came close.
While there's incredible entertainment value in the hero's journey of Luke Skywalker and his fight against the evil Empire alongside the roguish Han Solo and valiant Princess Leia, the real magic of Star Wars is the galaxy itself. Every background character feels like they have their own story, and every location feels lived in. Gone are the sterile environments that often dominated science fiction films, replaced by spaceships and planets with history etched in every corner. Star Wars is a fantasy that exists in a space all its own.
3
'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001)
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The same lived-in quality of Star Wars also applies to The Lord of the Rings. A massive production that saw all three of J.R.R. Tolkien'sseminal fantasy novels adapted back-to-back, Peter Jackson'sfilm trilogy represented a sea change in fantasy filmmaking. The combination of practical elements, location shooting and groundbreaking visual effects brought the epic fantasy world that fans had only ever been able to read about into reality with fidelity.Between The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, fantasy filmmaking entered a new golden age in the 21st century.
The first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, is still the most exciting, even if it pales in comparison to the more epic scale of the battle-heavy sequels. It offers a warm invitation into its fantasy world, introducing the backstory of the One Ring, the evil Lord Sauron, and humble hobbit Frodo Baggins with a confident ease. Where many fantasy films crumble under the weight of exposition or become incomprehensible without it, The Lord of the Rings stands tall as an epic achievement in fantasy filmmaking.
2
'Princess Mononoke' (1997)
Image via Studio Ghibli
When it comes to epic fantasy in animation, there's Hayao Miyazaki, and then there's everyone else. The director's contributions to the genre are without compare, from the quietly beautiful My Neighbor Totoroto his masterpiece Spirited Away. His most epic, and most undeniable, film is Princess Mononoke, an environmental war film that is one of the most beautiful and profoundly moving animated pictures ever made. Infinitely influential and absolutely epic, it's the definitive animated fantasy film.
Following a cursed prince who finds himself caught in a conflict between the spirits of the forest and the industrial Irontown, the film offers a nuanced examination of humanity's relationship with nature and the sometimes destructive process of progress. There is no ultimate good or evil in the film, only an eternal struggle between immovable humans and the unstoppable forces of nature. Princess Mononoke was a deeply felt passion project for Miyazaki, and every frame of it reflects it.
1
'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
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The original fantasy epic is still the best. The Wizard of Oz'sfamously troubled production, which went through multiple directors and caused all kinds of emotional and physical damage to its cast and crew, resulted in a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. It's had an everlasting impact on the genre through dozens of re-imaginings and homages that all draw on the endless magic generated from it.
Somewhere over the rainbow is where the greatest epic fantasy of the last 100 years takes place, as young Kansas farmgirl Dorothy, played with a genuine earnestness by Judy Garland, is sent twisting from her black-and-white world into the Technicolor land of Oz. There are few transitions in film more magical than when Dorothy steps into a wonderful world of color. It's a moment that encapsulates the purest feeling that fantasy films can capture: the feeling of pure wonder. It's what makes The Wizard of Oz the greatest epic fantasy movie of the last 100 years.
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