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The best fantasy movies are those that not only transport us to another world but make us eager to return.
In the sprawling universe of fantasy movies, where dragons soar and magic reigns, there's a treasure trove of 25 films that stand out, not just for their spellbinding storytelling or eye-popping special effects, but for their uncanny ability to draw us back into their worlds time and time again, like a well-worn book whose pages never fade.
In a time of enchantments and fearsome creatures, the last remaining warrior of a mystical order travels to find a prophesied hero born with incredible powers, the last Seventh Son, to defeat a dark sorceress and her supernatural army.
24. "Eragon" (2006) Rotten Tomatoes score: 16%
A farm boy discovers a dragon's egg, leading him to become a dragon rider and the key to the resistance against an evil king, with the help of his dragon Saphira and a former rider named Brom.
23. "The Last Witch Hunter" (2015) Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
The modern world holds many secrets, but the most astounding secret of all is that witches still live amongst us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world.
Armies of witch hunters battled the unnatural enemy across the globe for centuries, including Kaulder, a valiant warrior who managed to slay the all-powerful Witch Queen, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen curses Kaulder with her own immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter in the afterlife.
Today Kaulder is the only one of his kind remaining, and has spent centuries hunting down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost loved ones.
22. "The Secret of Moonacre" (2008) Rotten Tomatoes score: 23%
When 13-year-old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn't know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. It is there that Maria uncovers a dark and ancient curse that has haunted her for years.
21. "The NeverEnding Story III" (1994) Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%
Bastian, now a teenager, returns to the magical book of The NeverEnding Story to escape from the troubles of the real world, only to find that a new evil threatens the world of Fantasia, which he must fight to save.
20. "Krull" (1983) Rotten Tomatoes score: 35%
On the planet Krull, Prince Colwyn sets out on a quest to rescue his young bride, Princess Lyssa, who is kidnapped by an alien invader known as the Beast; his journey leads him to gather a band of outlaws and to seek a powerful weapon, the Glaive.
19. "Legend" (1985) Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%
A young man, Jack, must stop the Lord of Darkness who seeks to cover the world with eternal night by killing the last of the unicorns and marrying a fair maiden who represents the light, with the help of woodland creatures and a magic unicorn.
18. "Dragonheart: A New Beginning" (2000) Rotten Tomatoes score: 40%
An orphaned stable boy, Geoff, discovers Drake, the world's last living dragon, and learns he is destined to be a knight; together, they face an evil knight who seeks a magical dragon heart to achieve immortality.
17. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (2010) Rotten Tomatoes score: 40%
Dave, a seemingly average guy, is chosen as the apprentice to Balthazar, a sorcerer, and plunged into a centuries-old conflict between good and evil, learning to harness magical powers to stop the evil sorceress Morgana.
16. "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012) Rotten Tomatoes score: 49%
In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
15. "Willow" (1988) Rotten Tomatoes score: 53%
A reluctant dwarf must play a critical role in protecting a special baby from an evil queen, with the help of a rogue swordsman, in a world filled with magic, danger, and an epic struggle between good and evil.
In a fantasy dreamscape, a young girl named Helena, drawn from her family's circus, journeys through the Dark Lands, populated with bizarre creatures and masked inhabitants, to retrieve the MirrorMask, an object of power to awaken the Queen of Light.
13. "Return to Oz" (1985) Rotten Tomatoes score: 58%
A dark and imaginative sequel to 'The Wizard of Oz', where a young Dorothy Gale returns to a deteriorated Emerald City, teams up with new friends like Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead, to overthrow the Nome King and the evil Princess Mombi.
12. "The Fall" (2006) Rotten Tomatoes score: 62%
In a Los Angeles hospital in the 1920s, a stuntman with a broken heart and a young girl with a broken arm form a bond; he tells her a fantastical story of five mythical heroes, which reflects his own state of mind and evolves as their friendship deepens.
11. "The Forbidden Kingdom" (2008) Rotten Tomatoes score: 63%
An American teenager who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kung fu classics makes an extraordinary discovery in a Chinatown pawnshop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King.
With the lost relic in hand, the teenager unexpectedly finds himself traveling back to ancient China to join a crew of warriors from martial arts lore on a dangerous quest to free the imprisoned Monkey King.
10. "Ladyhawke" (1985) Rotten Tomatoes score: 67%
A young thief and a former captain team up to help a beautiful woman and her lover, who are cursed to be always together, eternally apart: she a hawk by day, he a wolf by night, battling an evil bishop who cast the spell.
In this dark fantasy adventure, Solomon Kane, a brutally efficient 16th Century killer, renounces his past and seeks redemption after a lifetime of sin. His peaceful life is shattered when a malevolent force, known as the Darkness, lays waste to his homeland, forcing him to take up arms again and confront not only his own demons but the emerging threat to England.
8. "The Dark Crystal" (1982) Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%
On another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal to restore balance to his world, facing challenges from the sinister Skeksis who control the planet.
7. "The Last Unicorn" (1982) Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%
A beautiful unicorn sets out to learn if she is the last of her kind and discovers a wicked witch and a melancholic king with a fiery, red bull, leading her and her companions on a poignant journey to save the other unicorns.
6. "Stardust" (2007) Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%
To win the heart of his beloved, a young man named Tristan ventures into a magical realm to retrieve a fallen star, which happens to be a woman named Yvaine, leading to an adventure with pirates, witches, and royal heirs.
5. "The Company of Wolves" (1984) Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
A gothic horror fantasy film that weaves together several dark and twisted fairy tales about young girls and werewolves, as a teenage girl dreams vividly about her grandmother's disturbing stories, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.
4. "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988) Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
The elderly and eccentric Baron Munchausen tells of his fantastic adventures with his group of friends, involving the Moon, the belly of a giant sea monster, and a Turkish Sultan, to prove he's not insane.
3. "The Flight of Dragons" (1982) Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
A fantasy animation where a young man from the 20th century, Peter, is transported into a magical world of dragons, wizards, and medieval sorcery, where he must battle an evil wizard to save both the magical and the modern world.
2. "The 10th Kingdom" (2000) Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
A mini-series blending the realms of fairy tales and reality, where a father and daughter are transported from New York City to a magical land where they must end the tyranny of an evil queen to return home.
1. "Ink" (2009) Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
A man known as Ink, trapped between the worlds of the dream and the waking, fights to save a child, Emma, from the Incubi, dark creatures who create nightmares, while the Storytellers, benevolent dream-givers, attempt to rescue her soul.
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