Favorite fantasy movies
by shushuela | created - 31 Dec 2012 | updated - 31 Dec 2012 | PublicAs an avid fantasy films fanatic, here's a list of favorite ones that really had an impact on me.
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1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
PG-13 | 146 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards
Votes: 322,965 | Gross: $78.62M
2. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,052,516 | Gross: $171.48M
3. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,386,177 | Gross: $760.51M
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,978,691 | Gross: $377.85M
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
PG-13 | 178 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Votes: 2,006,584 | Gross: $315.54M
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,978,691 | Gross: $377.85M
7. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Pepita Emmerichs
Votes: 108,505 | Gross: $77.23M
8. Big Fish (2003)
PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange
Votes: 458,831 | Gross: $66.26M
9. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 433,590 | Gross: $2.38M
10. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 849,043 | Gross: $10.06M
11. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 216,823 | Gross: $132.09M
12. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 323,143 | Gross: $12.34M
13. Cloud Atlas (2012)
R | 172 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 374,359 | Gross: $27.11M
14. Being John Malkovich (1999)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Votes: 353,303 | Gross: $22.86M
15. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 270,120 | Gross: $62.50M
16. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
PG | 119 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin, Akihiro Miwa
Votes: 449,178 | Gross: $4.71M
17. Ponyo (2008)
G | 101 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tomoko Yamaguchi
Votes: 163,416 | Gross: $15.09M
18. Children of Men (2006)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Votes: 529,306 | Gross: $35.55M
19. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.
Directors: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Ming-Na Wen, Ving Rhames
Votes: 84,071 | Gross: $32.13M
20. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 450,873 | Gross: $30.86M
21. King Kong (2005)
PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 446,782 | Gross: $218.08M
22. The Abyss (1989)
PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester
Votes: 193,215 | Gross: $54.46M
23. Contact (1997)
PG | 150 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
Votes: 293,045 | Gross: $100.92M
24. Vanilla Sky (2001)
R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Votes: 285,642 | Gross: $100.61M
25. The Sixth Sense (1999)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Votes: 1,051,077 | Gross: $293.51M
26. Lady in the Water (2006)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban
Votes: 103,756 | Gross: $42.29M
27. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,724 | Gross: $10.14M
28. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney
Votes: 156,901 | Gross: $20.16M
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