Top Ranked Fantasy Films

Top Ranked fantasy films from our internet film survey. As you can tell, many of these cross at least two genres, as Wizard of Oz was also the #1 ranked musical, but who could argue that it's major appeal is its creation of a unique and popular fantasy world, one where everyone serves "the great and powerful wizard of oz", who is really an American huckster using illusion and intimidation to control others - some things never change!
© 2009, William L. Sinclair

1. Wizard of Oz, The [Fleming, Victor, 1939, US] #18 -Musical
2. Metropolis [Lang, Fritz, 1927, Germany] #23 -SciFi [photo top]
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark [Spielberg, Steven, 1981, US] #34 -Adventure [rt]
4. 8½ [Fellini, Federico, 1963, Italy] #37 -Drama
5. Sunrise [Murnau, F. W. , 1928, US] #38 -Romance
6. King Kong [Cooper, Merian C. /Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933, US] #40 -Horror
7. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens [Murnau, F. W., 1922, Germany] #48 -Horror
8. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The [Jackson, Peter, 2001, US-New Zealand] #84 -War/Adventure
9. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The [Jackson, Peter, 2003, US-New Zealand] #97 -War/Adventure
10. Shining, The [Kubrick, Stanley, 1980, US] #109 -Horror

11. Celine and Julie Go Boating [Rivette, Jacques, 1974, France] #141 -Mystery
12. Exorcist, The [Friedkin, William, 1973, US] #143 -Horror
13. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The [Jackson, Peter, 2002, US-New Zealand] #144 -War/Adventure
14. Pan's Labyrinth [del Toro, Guillermo, 2006, Mexico] #154 -Drama
15. Donnie Darko [Kelly, Richard, 2001, US] #228 -Drama
16. La Belle et la bête (Beauty/Beast) [Cocteau, Jean, 1946, France] #242 -Romance
17. Wings of Desire [Wenders, Wim, 1987, France-W. Germany] #247 -Romance
18. Un Chien Andalou [Buñuel, Luis, 1928, France] #256 -Art
19. Spirited Away [Miyazaki, Hayao, 2001, Japan] #259 -Adventure
20. Les Vampires [Feuillade, Louis , 1916, France] #266 -Horror

21. Matter of Life and Death, A [Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger, 1946, UK] #280 -Romance
22. Vampyr [Dreyer, Carl Theodor, 1932, France-Germany] #316 -Horror
23. Night of the Living Dead [Romero, George A., 1968, US] #331 -Horror
24. Voyage dans la lune, Le (Trip to the Moon) [Méliès, Georges, 1902, France] #335 -SciFi
25. Suspiria [Argento, Dario, 1977, Italy] #351 -Horror
26. Orpheus [Cocteau, Jean, 1950, France] #364 -Romance
27. Princess Bride, The [Reiner, Rob, 1987, US] #381 -Comedy
28. Eyes Without a Face [Franju, Georges, 1959, France-Italy] #400 -Horror
29. Thief of Bagdad, The [Powell, Michael, Berger, & Whelan, 1940, UK] #434 -Adventure
30. Miracle in Milan [De Sica, Vittorio, 1951, Italy] #475 -Drama

31. Meshes of the Afternoon [Deren, Maya, 1943, US] #476 -Short
32. Prestige, The [Nolan, Christopher, 2006, US] #486 -Mystery
33. Batman Begins [Nolan, Christopher, 2005, Algeria-Italy] #517 -Adventure
34. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [Spielberg, Steven, 1989, US] #519 -Adventure
35. Carrie [De Palma, Brian, 1976, US] #521 -Horror
36. If… [Anderson, Lindsay, 1968, UK] #534 -Drama
37. Mononoke-hime (anime) [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1997, UK] #554 -Adventure
38. Dawn of the Dead [Romero, George A. , 1978, US] #555 -Horror
39. Superman II [Lester, Richard, 1980, US] #556 -Adventure
40. Faust [Murnau, F. W., 1926, Germany] #585 -Horror

41. My Neighbour Totoro [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1988, Japan] #591 -Childrens
42. Eraserhead [Lynch, David, 1977, US] #601 -Horror
43. Werckmeister Harmonies [Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes, 2000, Hun-Ity-Gy-France] #613 -Society
44. Fast Runner, The [Kunuk, Zacharias, 2001, Canada] #621 -Drama
45. Dead Man [Jarmusch, Jim, 1995, US-Germany] #637 -Western
46. Evil Dead II [Raimi, Sam, 1987, US] #640 -Horror
47. India Song [Duras, Marguerite, 1975, France] #642 -Romance
48. I Walked with a Zombie [Tourneur, Jacques, 1943, US] #686 -Horror
49. Blood of a Poet, The [Cocteau, Jean, 1930, France] #693 -Drama
50. Videodrome [Cronenberg, David, 1983, Canada] #706 -Horror
51. Innocents, The [Clayton, Jack, 1961, UK] #743 -Horror
52. Time of the Gypsies [Kusturica, Emir, 1988, Yugoslavia] #769 -Crime
53. Big Fish [Burton, Tim, 2003, US] #772 -Comedy
54. Arabian Nights [Pasolini, Pier Paolo, 1974, France-Italy] #866 -Comedy
55. Phantom Carriage, The [Sjöström, Victor, 1921, Sweden] #875 -Horror
56. Orlando [Potter, Sally, 1992, UK-Russ-Fr-Ity-Neth] #910 -Adventure
57. Peter Ibbetson [Hathaway, Henry, 1935, US] #916 -Romance
58. Yeelen [Cissé, Souleymane, 1987, Mali] #944 -Adventure
59. Die Nibelungen [Lang, Fritz, 1924, Germany] #1014 -Adventure
60. Destiny (Between Two Worlds, US) [Lang, Fritz, 1921, US] #1040 -Romance

61. Host, The [Bong, Joon-ho, 2006, Korea] #1046 -Com
62. Tales of Hoffmann, The [Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger, 1951, UK] #1058 -Musical
63. Hour of the Wolf [Bergman, Ingmar, 1968, Sweden] #1076 -Horror
64. Dracula [Fisher, Terence, 1958, US] #1109 -Horror
65. Lost Highway [Lynch, David, 1997, US] #1117 -Mystery
66. Kwaidan [Kobayashi, Masaki, 1964, Japan] #1156 -Horror
67. Excalibur [Boorman, John, 1981, UK] #1159 -Adventure
68. Lucifer Rising [Anger, Kenneth, 1972, US] #1166 -Short
69. The Thief of Bagdad [Walsh, Raoul, 1924, US] #1173 -Adventure
70. Kingdom (Riget) [von Trier, Lars, 1994, Den-Fr-Gy-Sweden] #1196 -Horror
71. Heaven Can Wait [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1943, US] #1214 -Comedy
72. Lost Horizon [Capra, Frank, 1937, US] #1232 -Adventure

To These I Would Add
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T [Rowland, Roy, 1952] - wonderful kids fantasy of an evil piano teacher, co-written by Dr. Seuss

Defending Your Life [Brooks, Albert, 1991] - afterlife fantasy of Brooks', where he meets Meryl Streep, while on trial for a 'final judgment' with shoddy defense lawyer Rip Torn - hilarious!