103 Fantasy Movies You Must See Before You Die.

[EmmanuelZorg]

With books like "101 Sci-fi movies Before you Die" and "101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die" books in stores, they should do one on fantasy.

Here's how it should go according to me.

King Kong (1933).
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937).
The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Fantasia (1940).
The Thief of Bagdhad (1940).
Pinocchio (1940).
It's a Wonderful Life (1947).
ALice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1951).
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1957).
Jason and The Argonauts (1963).
Mary Poppins (1964).
The Phantom Tollbooth (1970).
Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971).
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).
Star Wars (1977).
The Hobbit (1977).
Suspiria (1977).
Superman (1978).
Phantasm (1979).
Superman 2 (1980).
Inferno (1980).
The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
Time Bandits (1981).
Excalibur (1981).
Heavy Metal (1981).
Dragonslayer (1981).
Clash of the Titans (1981).
E.T. (1982)
The Dark Crystal (1982).
Conan The Barbarian (1982).
The Secret of NIMH (1982).
The Last Unicorn (1982).
The Flight of Dragons (1982).
The BeastMaster (1982).
Fire and Ice (1983).
Return of the Jedi (1983).
Krull (1983).
The Neverending Story (1984).
Ghostbusters (1984).
The Company of Wolves (1984).
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
Nausicca: Valley of the Winds (1984).
Brazil (1985).
Legend (1985).
Joey (a.k.a. Making Contact) (1985).
Ladyhawke (1985).
Return to Oz (1985).
Labyrinth (1986).
Highlander (1986).
Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
Hellraiser (1987).
The Princess Bride (1987).
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (1987).
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
Beetlejuice (1988).
Willow (1988).
My Neighbor Totoro (1988).
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).
Batman (1989).
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).
Ghost (1990).
Edward Scissorhands (1991).
Beauty and The Beast (1991).
Delicatessen (1991).
Batman Returns (1992).
Aladdin (1992).
Army of Darkness (1992).
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
The Crow (1994).
City of Lost Children (1995).
Dragonheart (1996).
Princess Mononoke (1997).
The Fifth Element (1997).
Dark City (1998).
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).
Donnie Darko (2001).
Shrek (2001).
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (2002).
Spirited Away (2002).
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002).
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).
Big Fish (2003).
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
Hellboy (2004).
Shrek 2 (2004).
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (2005).
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005).
Batman Begins (2005).
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Pan's Labyrinth (2006).
Superman Returns (2006).
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (2007).
The Golden Compass (2007).
Beowulf (2007).
The Dark Knight (2008).
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008).
Hellboy 2 (2008).
Twilight (2008).
Watchmen (2009).

 

[RichMerk]

Good list. I'd probably delete a few if it was my list. Maybe add The Golden Child. I need to see The Hobbit again.

 

[EmmanuelZorg]

The Golden Child i haven't seen in a long time, i need to see that again. What few would you delete?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Off the top of my head, I'd add Peter Pan (2003), King Kong (2005), Stardust (2007), and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).

 

[Newski]

Okay, so, I've seen almost every film on the list, but can't comment on all. So I'll just comment on the ones I didn't like. Keep in mind that I do not harbor any ill will towards those who disagree.


Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937).-Is this really a movie? I thought it was seven silly symphonies duck taped together and called a feature? Actually, that's exactly how they put the film together, as seperate sequences the length of the average Silly Symphonies... Which is why some scenes go by way too fast while others tend to drag. Disney Got it right, however, with Pinnochio

Heavy Metal (1981).- Watch the "Major Boobage" episode of South Park instead. It's more or less the same thing.

Labyrinth (1986).- I tried to think of something that could have saved this movie, but I failed. Hard. Jennifer Connelly gave a great performance in Phenomena the previous year, and must have taken classes on how not to act for this one.

Batman Returns (1992).-A movie that is not driven by characters, but by character traits. Catwoman is Sexy and the Penguin Gross... Not my thing... Also, was the kidnapping of the first born necessary? Do you really want to introduce such an idiotic plot point so late in the film?

Donnie Darko (2001).- Unlike the other movies on this list, I don't exactly hate this film. I just get the feeling that the writers thought they were smarter than the viewing audience.


Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).- Just no.


Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (2007). The weak link of the series. How can you remove so much from the book that you no longer have enough content to fill a feature film? I mean, they have a twenty minute training montage!

The Dark Knight (2008). Mediocre. Check out Batman Begins or the sixties Batman instead


Twilight (2008). Terrible film. Just plain Terrible. I've never watched anything so coldly calculated in my life

Watchmen (2009).- Overblown, overlong, and just doesn't work outside of the Reagon-era context....




I'm really glad to see Ladyhawke Making the list... It does not deserve to be hailed as a Classic, but it definitely deserves it's cult classic status.

I'd actually add "StarChaser: The Legend of Orin' to the list... It's a bad movie (with some good things going for it) but I definitely think it should be seen. It's an animated Star Wars ripoff, made in 3D.... And it's hilariously over the top, with all the Robofetishism you can squeeze into a PG rated film.

It's not a good movie to watch, but it's a good one to have watched.


I'd also think Fritz Lang's Metropolis belongs on the list, being one of the most influential SciFi/Fantasy films ever made.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I've seen...seventy-six of those.

Not a bad list.

 

[EmmanuelZorg]

Off the top of my head, I'd add Peter Pan (2003), King Kong (2005), Stardust (2007), and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).

Those are honorable mentions, thanks so much for reminding me those are cool too.

And without "Heavy Metal" there'd be no "Fifth Element" or "Urotsukidoji" or even "Akira". "Starchaser" is on my Sci-fi flist, that's a cool one! So Newski do you think "Fire and Ice" is better then "Heavy Metal"?

Personally i thought Episode III was the best of the prequels. Donnie Darko is one of those love it or hate it type movies as i really enjoyed it. "The Dark Knight" was pure brilliance all the way thanks to the Joker! Metropolis is definitely Sci-fi.

 

[Newski]

Off the top of my head, I'd add Peter Pan (2003), King Kong (2005), Stardust (2007), and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).

Those are honorable mentions, thanks so much for reminding me those are cool too.

And without "Heavy Metal" there'd be no "Fifth Element" or "Urotsukidoji" or even "Akira". "Starchaser" is on my Sci-fi flist, that's a cool one! So Newski do you think "Fire and Ice" is better then "Heavy Metal"?

Personally i thought Episode III was the best of the prequels. Donnie Darko is one of those love it or hate it type movies as i really enjoyed it. "The Dark Knight" was pure brilliance all the way thanks to the Joker! Metropolis is definitely Sci-fi.

Like Star Wars, I find that Metropolis and Starchaser have more in common with Fantasy films...

Fire and Ice is a better film, but only slightly. I think it's one of Ralph Bakshi's weaker films....

 

[RichMerk]

What few would you delete?

I was thinking of Star Wars I-III when I wrote that. I might also delete most of the superhero and Harry Potter sequels from the list.

We can add Raiders of the Lost Ark in their place.

 

[EmmanuelZorg]

I think the HP franchise is just fantastic and unique, Raiders is definitely an action adventure movie.