Since the inception of cinema as an art form, fantasy has been among the most popular movie genres. Featuring engrossing, often epic stories of magic, myths, and unrestrained imagination, the best fantasy films provide audiences with a sense of fun escapism that few other genres are able to replicate.
There are many ways to classify fantasy stories; the most popular is between "high fantasy" and "low fantasy." Whereas low fantasy places traditional fantastic elements like magic and fictional creatures in the real world, high fantasy is all about watching those elements unfold in a parallel world. Think masterpieces like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy or animated classics like Howl's Moving Castle. These kinds of movies are always a blast, showing the full range of wonders fantasy cinema can do.
15 'The Dark Crystal' (1982)
Image via Universal PicturesDirected by the legendary Jim Henson and Frank Oz, The Dark Crystal was heavily promoted back in 1982 as the first-ever major live-action feature film without any human actors, instead relying on cutting-edge puppets and animatronics. The result was a family picture that, even though it received a mixed critical reception originally, has aged like fine wine as one of the most beloved family classics from the 1980s.
It's one of those fantasy movies that are genuinely perfect, a cult classic that still looks absolutely stunning well over four decades after its release. From the richly detailed world-building, to the deeply endearing characters, to the perfect blend of whimsy and darkness with which Henson and Oz approached the material, there's virtually nothing to complain about when watching The Dark Crystal.
14 'The NeverEnding Story' (1984)
Image via Warner Bros.Many remember The NeverEnding Story as one of the weirdest and most disturbing movies of their childhood. However, those who watch it as adults can appreciate its profound story about a troubled boy diving into a wonderful fantasy when he opens the pages of a mysterious book. Wondrous yet dark, it's a powerful tale about how imagination can protect childlike innocence when it's broken.
A West German-produced English-language children's epic, The NeverEnding Story is a perfect gateway to introduce kids to the concept of high fantasy. Its world can only be described as magical, bolstered by gorgeous visuals, evocative music, and a deeply compelling story as the cherry on top. It has all audiences could want in a good family high fantasy film: moments of sadness, tremendous joy and wonder, and an enveloping atmosphere that makes it a pleasure to take in.
13 'Excalibur' (1981)
Image via Warner Bros.John Boorman's Excalibur, loosely based on Thomas Malory's 15th-century Arthurian romance Le Morte d'Arthur, is far more than just the movie that helped launch the careers of stars like Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, and Ciarán Hinds. Back when it came out, this R-rated gem revolutionized cinematic fantasy by proving how gritty, sexy, and potently operatic the genre could be.
That refusal to abide by the family-friendly tropes that had characterized fantasy cinema for so long is a big part of what makes Excalibur one of those classic fantasy movies that are still a must-watch in 2026. Boorman's hyper-stylized direction is absolutely delightful, and even though some may accuse the film of favoring style over substance a bit too much, the substance is well-written and well-acted enough to perfectly make up for that imbalance.
12 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' (2022)
Image via DreamWorks AnimationThere's a very good reason why DreamWorks Animation's Shrek became the winner of the first-ever Best Animated Feature Film Academy Award, and a very good reason why the franchise that it spawned has remained immensely successful over the years. After all, this is one of the most iconic animated fantasy franchises in cinema's history that we're talking about. And as solid a spin-off as Puss in Boots proved to be, it was its sequel, Joel Crawford's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, that became one of the most acclaimed animated Hollywood movies in years.
Indeed, The Last Wish is one of the best family movies of the last 10 years, a reminder of what makes DreamWorks—and animation as a whole—so uniquely magical. Beautifully colorful and vibrant, packed with riveting action sequences, and surprisingly complex in both its emotional and thematic aspects, it's a testament to just how perfect family-friendly animation can be when placed in the right hands.
11 'Son of the White Mare' (1981)
Image via Arbelos FilmsIt's often animation that ends up housing history's best high fantasy movies, and that's largely because of the infinite space for imaginative world-building that the medium allows. Few feature films demonstrate that fact better than Marcell Jankovic's Hungarian cult classic Son of the White Mare, one of the most perfect fantasy cult classic movies ever made.
It may look colorful and pretty on the surface, and it definitely is; but Son of the White Mare is nevertheless not an animated film for children. Rather, this masterfully surreal, brilliantly experimental, and deliciously psychedelic masterpiece based on the eponymous Hungarian folk tale has endured the test of time as one of the most fascinating high fantasy gems of the 1980s arthouse world.
10 'Howl's Moving Castle' (2004)
Image via Studio GhibliFor those who love animated fantasy films, it hardly gets any more iconic than Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle. One of acclaimed writer-director Hayao Miyazaki's best movies, it's a delightfully romantic adventure about Sophie, a young woman cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch. Her only chance of turning back to normal lies with a young wizard named Howl.
The film is a visually striking and thoroughly entertaining high fantasy film set in a kingdom at war populated by magic, walking castles, and some of the most beautiful vistas ever seen in animation. The voice acting is also phenomenal—including one of anime's best English dubs. After watching Spirited Away, Christian Bale reportedly asked Miyazaki to give him a role in any film he did next, not expecting to get the lead of Howl's Moving Castle, which he nailed.
9 'The Holy Mountain' (1973)
Image via ABKCO FilmsOften praised as one of surrealism's greatest masters, Alejandro Jodorowsky has made a variety of head-scratching surrealist films in different countries, from his native Chile to the country that birthed the majority of his filmography, Mexico. That's where he made The Holy Mountain, a drama about a greed-fueled world where an alchemist leads a mysterious group to a mountain where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
Pretty much all of Jodorowsky's surrealist movies operate on an entirely different reality and are, therefore, high fantasy by nature. This is particularly true of The Holy Mountain, which embraces the genre's tropes and elements with gleeful enthusiasm. With its director's typical commentary on capitalism, religion, and the spiritual world, it's a fascinating experience that audiences won't soon forget.
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz
Which Lord of the Rings
Character Are You?
One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed
The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
🏹Legolas
⚒️Gimli
👁️Sauron
🪨Gollum
BEGIN YOUR QUEST →
01
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
AAccept it. Someone has to, and running changes nothing. BStay by the side of whoever carries it. They shouldn't go alone. CStep forward and lead. This is exactly what I was made for. DIt's mine now. I won't let anyone else have it.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
AFollow them without hesitation. I'd rather die beside them than live without them. BRally others and forge a plan to help — strength in numbers. COffer wisdom and guidance. My counsel may save them where swords cannot. DLet them go. Only the strong survive, and sentiment is a weakness.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
ADestroy it. Nothing good comes from power this absolute. BUse it to protect those I love — just this once. CWield it wisely. I have the will and the knowledge to do good with it. DSeize it. I have waited long enough. It belongs to me.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
AA simple, peaceful place — green hills, good food, no adventure required. BWherever the people I love are. Home is a feeling, not a place. CA kingdom I must earn before I can truly claim it as mine. DI lost it long ago. That loss is what drives everything I do.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
ASurvive by any means. I'm not a fighter — but I'll do what I must. BFight for the person beside me, not for glory or honour. CLead the charge. Nothing inspires an army like a king at the front. DStrike from range, fast and precise — never let them get close.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it's knowing which questions to ask.
AListen, then offer honest encouragement. Sometimes people just need belief. BGive them practical help — words are fine, but action is better. CSpeak carefully. I have seen much, and I know what counsel can cost. DTell them what they want to hear. Trust is a tool like any other.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
ASmall and ordinary — but perhaps that's exactly why I was chosen. BDefined entirely by who I serve and love. I am nothing without them. CForged by hardship into something the world has not yet fully seen. DDiminished from what I once was — and consumed by the need to reclaim it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
AI find peace in it — forests, rivers, open skies. Nature restores me. BI prefer the earth underfoot — stone, mines, solid and real things. CI have watched the world change for longer than most can comprehend. DNature offers hiding places, cold water, raw fish. That's enough for me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
AShow mercy. Even the most broken souls deserve a chance at redemption. BPity them — but never trust them. They made their choices. CSee them as a tool. Their knowledge or skills may still serve a purpose. DDestroy them before they can cause more harm. Mercy is a luxury we cannot afford.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
AThat an ordinary person did an extraordinary thing — and came home. BThat I never abandoned the person who needed me most. CThat I was worthy of the crown — and everything it demanded. DNothing. I don't need songs. I needed it, and now it's gone.
REVEAL MY FATE →
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.
💍 Frodo
🌿 Samwise
👑 Aragorn
🔥 Gandalf
🏹 Legolas
⚒️ Gimli
👁️ Sauron
🪨 Gollum
You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don't have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you'd do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.
Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don't do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you're not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
8 'The Green Knight' (2021)
Image via A24Known for his elegant and fantastical films, David Lowery outdid himself with The Green Knight, a quasi-poetic adaptation of the famous Arthurian myth of Sir Gawain and his quest to confront the ominous Green Knight. While many of even the best King Arthur movies portray Camelot in a realistic Medieval light, Lowery boldly took an undeniable high fantasy approach.
Led by a magnificent Dev Patel as Gawain, Lowery's The Green Knight channels the legendary epic it's based on in a beautifully original way. Just like its source material, it's a touching story about maturity, masculinity, and chivalry; what's really interesting is how the director chose to focus on the story's commentary on humans' treatment of nature.
7 'How to Train Your Dragon' (2010)
Image via Paramount PicturesFor those who like to be immersed in imaginary worlds full of awe-inspiring magical creatures, How to Train Your Dragon and its enrapturing town of Berk are the perfect match. It's a tale of forbidden friendship where a hapless young Viking boy unexpectedly befriends a dragon. The problem? Berk is a dragon-hunting village that despises the draconic creatures.
What started as an innocent adaptation of Cressida Cowell's books was eventually reworked into an epic for "a more mature and broader audience," according to director Dean DeBlois. The result is one of DreamWorks Animation's most beloved movies, set in a scenic fantasy world where strikingly designed dragons and humans must learn to coexist.
6 'Shrek 2' (2004)
Image via DreamWorks PicturesBefore Puss in Boots: The Last Wish proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that DreamWorks Animation hasn't run out of creative gas during the 2020s, the studio was at its peak throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, delivering masterpieces of Shrek 2's stature. As iconic, beloved, and historically important as the original Shrek was, it's its sequel that has endured as many people's favorite animated DreamWorks film of all time.
Straight up, Shrek 2 is not only one of the best animated romance movies of all time, but perhaps even one of the best romantic comedies of the 21st century so far. It's as hilarious as it is deeply moving, as visually exquisite as it is full of great music, and as well-written and artfully directed as it is family-friendly. All in all, never has history seen any better high fantasy animated movie come out of Hollywood.
English (US) ·