Comments on Sci-Fi Lists: Fantasy movies
Here are my comments on this list. If there’s a (+) after the rating that means I did or would have rated it higher the first time I saw it.
The one movie that I haven’t seen that I’m interested in is Fantasia.
| Their ranking | Title | My rating | My comments |
| 1 | The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | 5 | Frodo must destroy the One Ring before Sauron takes over Middle Earth. Deserves this spot — no one could have adapted these books better. |
| 2 | The Princess Bride | 5 | Westley must rescue his true love Buttercup after being a pirate for many years — hilarious and clever. |
| 3 | Harry Potter Film Series | 3.5 (+) | Harry becomes a wizard and battles the evil Voldemort. Doesn’t deserve this spot — they’re decent movies but many on this list are better. |
| 4 | Pan’s Labyrinth | 4.5 (+) | In 1944 in Spain young Ofelia gets a stepfather she dislikes but meanwhile stumbles into a fantastic world. |
| 5 | Willow | 4 (+) | Willow is tasked with returning a baby to its home, but he gets caught up in magical and dangerous events. |
| 6 | Labyrinth | 3.5 (+) | Sarah has to rescue her baby brother from the Goblin King, who’s at the centre of a labyrinth. |
| 7 | Pirates of the Caribbean Film Series | 4.5, 2.5, 0.5 | The 1st one is great, the 2nd one is fun but confusing, the 3rd one is horrible, I boycotted the 4th one. |
| 8 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | 3.5 (+) | Indiana Jones tries to keep the Ark of the Covenant out of the hands of the Nazis. An amazing movie the 1st time you watch it — later viewings may be slighly less exciting. |
| 9 | Monty Python & the Holy Grail | 3 | King Arthur is searching for knights when God instructs them to find the Holy Grail. A parody like only Monty Python can do. |
| 10 | The Wizard of Oz | 3.5 (+) | A tornado lands Dorothy in Oz — she tries to get home as well as helping her friends the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion. |
| 11 | The Dark Crystal | 3.5 (+) | Jen must heal the Crystal by returning a shard to its rightful place. A live action movie in which all characters are muppets — a movie I have a lot of fondness for. |
| 12 | Conan the Barbarian (1982) | ||
| 13 | The NeverEnding Story | 3 (+) | Bastian is reading a book in which a warrior tries to stop the Nothing from taking over his world. I loved it as a kid but as an adult it doesn’t deserve this spot. |
| 14 | Excalibur | 2.5 | The story of King Arthur, Merlin, Guenevere, Lancelot, and the sword named Excalibur. |
| 15 | The Dark Knight | 4.5 (+) | The Joker is creating havoc and Batman is determined to bring him to justice. |
| 16 | Spirited Away | 5 | Chihiro has slipped into the spirit world — she works in a bathhouse while trying to figure out how to get back. |
| 17 | Highlander | 1 | Immortal warriors can only be killed by beheading — Connor is challenged by the Kurgan. |
| 18 | The Chronicles of Narnia Film Series | ||
| 19 | Ladyhawke | 4 (+) | Navarrre and Isabeau are in love but have been cursed — Navarre is a wolf by night and Isabeau is a hawk by day. |
| 20 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | 5 | Li Mu Bai decides to give up the warrior lifestyle — when he decides to give his sword to a friend, it gets stolen. |
| 21 | Legend | 2 | Jack has to rescue his love Lily from the Lord of Darkness. |
| 22 | Dragonheart | 2 | A dragonslayer and a dragon pretend to fight each other in order to defraud villagers. |
| 23 | Shrek Film Series | 5, 4.5 | Shrek is an ogre who falls for a princess he happens to meet — she’s not quite like a regular princess. I’ve only seen the 1st 2. |
| 24 | Princess Mononoke | 4 | Ashitaka sees both points of view when humans wage war against the forest. An animated movie with an environmental theme. |
| 25 | Edward Scissorshands | 4.5 | Edward has scissors for hands, which makes it awkward for him to do things — but he can cut hair. |
| 26 | The 13th Warrior | ||
| 27 | Stardust | 5 | A fallen star who turns into a woman, princes vying to be king, and ancient witches yearning to live forever. |
| 28 | Ghostbusters | 3 (+) | A team of Ghostbusters in New York go around entrapping ghosts in their devices. |
| 29 | Donnie Darko | 5 | Donnie starts seeing a man in a giant rabbit costume who tells him the world will end in 28 days. |
| 30 | The Clash of the Titans (1981) | 1.5 | Perseus must answer a riddle to win the hand of Andromeda — he gets some help from his father, Zeus. |
| 31 | The Mummy | ||
| 32 | Underworld | ||
| 33 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | 4.5 | Jack Skellington decides he’s tired of Halloweentown and wants to take over Santa’s job. |
| 34 | Time Bandits | 4 | Dwarves who used to work for the Supreme Being open holes in spacetime to steal things. |
| 35 | Beetlejuice | 4.5 | A young couple calls on Beetlejuice when they need some help adjusting to the afterlife. |
| 36 | Interview with the Vampire | 5 | Lestat tells his story to a reporter — he’s been a vampire for hundreds of years and must have blood to survive. |
| 37 | Howl’s Moving Castle | 2.5 | Sophie gets turn into an old woman, and goes to work for a wizard named Howl as a cleaning lady. |
| 38 | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory | ||
| 39 | Groundhog Day | 5 | A weather man experiences the same day over and over — he learns a lot about the town he’s stuck in. |
| 40 | The Green Mile | 5 | A huge black man is wrongfully convicted and sent to the electric chair — he also happens to have magic. |
| 41 | Big Fish | 5 | Edward, on his deathbed, tells his son a variety of stories from his life that are hard to believe. |
| 42 | Brazil | 5 | Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece about a man caught in a web of bureaucratic nonsense. |
| 43 | The Adventures of Baron Munchausen | 4 | When Baron Munchausen comes across a play about his life he decides to set them straight. |
| 44 | Sleepy Hollow | 2 | Ichabod Crane investigates murders in which the victims have been decapitated. |
| 45 | Army Of Darkness | ||
| 46 | Toy Story Film Series | 5, 5, 4.5 | Andy’s toys come to life when he’s not looking. |
| 47 | Amelie | 5 | Not really a fantasy, but it’s a brilliant movie about a young woman who secretly helps other people. |
| 48 | Van Helsing | ||
| 49 | Spider-Man | 5 | Peter Parker is only in high school but he becomes Spider-man and battles the Green Goblin. |
| 50 | Jason and the Argonauts | ||
| 51 | Hook | 3 (+) | Peter Pan has grown up and forgotten his time in Neverland — Captain Hook kidnaps his children to make him remember. |
| 52 | Beauty and the Beast (1991) | 4.5 | A woman is trapped in a castle with a beast, and she gradually comes to care for him. |
| 53 | Dragonslayer | 2 | Galen is an apprentice wizard whose master is killed — he then must rescue a princess and defeat a dragon himself. |
| 54 | It’s A Wonderful Life | 4.5 | George Bailey is shown by an angel what life would have been like if he’d never been born. |
| 55 | The Truman Show | 5 | Truman is in a reality show and he doesn’t know it. |
| 56 | Ever After | 4.5 | The “true” story of Cinderella, who just happens to know Leonardo da Vinci. |
| 57 | Fantasia | ||
| 58 | Batman (1989) | 4 (+) | Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and finally finds out who killed his parents — it’s the Joker. |
| 59 | Dogma | 4.5 | A couple of fallen angels are trying to return to Heaven — other people are trying to stop them. |
| 60 | The Hobbit (1977) | ||
| 61 | Big Trouble In Little China | ||
| 62 | Jumanji | 1.5 | Alan becomes trapped in a board game and is released 26 years later. Not funny, like the next entry on the list. |
| 63 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit? | 2.5 | “Everyone” loves this movie but I think it’s distinctly unfunny. |
| 64 | The Secret of NIMH | 3.5 (+) | Mrs. Brisby needs help from the superintelligent rats of NIMH to save her home from the farmer’s plow. |
| 65 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 4 | Bilbo goes on a journey with Gandalf and some dwarves — they’re retaking a mountain from a dragon. |
| 66 | The Addams Family | 4.5 | Uncle Fester has been gone for 25 years — when a man returns claiming to be him the Addams family aren’t sure. |
| 67 | Monsters, Inc. | 5 | Monsters scare little kids in order to collect their screams — scream energy powers the monster city. |
| 68 | Mary Poppins | 5 | Mary Poppins comes to help the Banks family as a nanny. A delightful and funny musical. |
| 69 | The Beastmaster | ||
| 70 | The Last Unicorn | ||
| 71 | King Kong (1933) | 3 | King Kong is brought from his island to New York, but tragedy ensues. |
| 72 | Being John Malkovich | 5 | A puppeteer accidentally finds a tunnel into John Malkovich’s consciousness, and decides to sell tickets. |
| 73 | The City of Lost Children | 5 | A scientist is kidnapping children to steal their dreams — One and Miette go to rescue them. |
| 74 | Bedknobs & Broomsticks | ||
| 75 | Chocolat | 4.5 | Vianne opens a chocolaterie in a small French village — she gradually wins over most of the townspeople. |
| 76 | The 7th Voyage of Sinbad | ||
| 77 | Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure | 4 (+) | Bill and Ted travel through time to bring back key figures from history for their history report at school. |
| 78 | The Crow | 1 | A guy is killed and comes back to life to kill the guys who killed him. |
| 79 | Babe | 5 | Farmer Hoggett acquires a pig and it somehow learns how to herd sheep — he enters it in a competition. |
| 80 | Beauty and the Beast (1946) | ||
| 81 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | ||
| 82 | Return To Oz | ||
| 83 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | 4 | Benjamin Button ages backwards — throughout the years he returns to his love Daisy whenever he can. |
| 84 | Hocus Pocus | ||
| 85 | The Seventh Seal | ||
| 86 | Alice in Wonderland (1951) | ||
| 87 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | ||
| 88 | The Witches of Eastwick | 4 | Three women are all seduced by the same mysterious man — they decide he’s more trouble than he’s worth. |
| 89 | The Birds | ||
| 90 | Big | 4 | A boy wishes to be “big” at a machine called Zoltar Speaks and his wish comes true — he then gets a job testing toys. |
| 91 | Field of Dreams | 5 | A man builds a baseball diamond in his corn field because a voice tells him to. |
| 92 | Matilda | ||
| 93 | From Dusk till Dawn | ||
| 94 | Peter Pan (2003) | ||
| 95 | The Scorpion King | ||
| 96 | Practical Magic | ||
| 97 | The Sword In the Stone | ||
| 98 | Enchanted | 5 | When Giselle arrives in New York she just wants to find Prince Edward and go home — but she gradually changes her mind. |
| 99 | Wizards | ||
| 100 | Bridge to Terabithia | 4.5 | Jesse and Leslie, 12-year-old neighbours, use their imaginations to create a world called Terabithia. |
There are some movies that deserve to be on the list that aren’t. Here are the most egregious omissions:
- Addams Family Values
- The Age of Adaline
- Ant-Man
- Antz
- The Avengers
- Bolt
- The Book of Life
- The Boxtrolls
- Brave
- Captain America 1 & 2
- Chicken Run
- Chronicle
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
- The Croods
- Despicable Me
- Elf
- The Family Man
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Finding Nemo
- Frozen
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Harvey
- Hero
- How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2
- Inside Out
- In Your Eyes
- Iron Man 1 & 3
- Liar Liar
- The Lego Movie
- Madagascar 1 & 2
- Maleficent
- Man of Steel
- Megamind
- Monsters University
- Pleasantville
- Rango
- Ratatouille
- Ruby Sparks
- The Sixth Sense
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Thor: The Dark World
- Tideland
- Unbreakable
- Up
- Warm Bodies
- Wreck-It Ralph
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men: Days of Future Past