Letterboxd Top Fantasy, a list by keith

9.0

/2135204/

88

/54490/

84

/25842/

4.5

/1926836/

94

/279/

86

/2050091/

94

/41/

3.5

age 11+

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.

85

8.1

/74665/

83

/3739/

82

/1764/

4.5

/466608/

92

/12/

87

/249/

8.5

/676895/

age 16+

SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.

91

8.6

/950309/

86

/30099/

85

/17811/

4.5

/3244089/

96

/225/

96

/23081/

96

/41/

8.7

/1391593/

4.0

age 9+

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

83

8.4

/39804/

82

/2051/

82

/583/

4.4

/399011/

71

/13/

9.1

/205518/

3.5

age 16+

In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.

87

8.8

/1929021/

87

/53331/

84

/23266/

4.4

/1885599/

95

/258/

95

/72895/

87

/39/

3.0

age 11+

Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.

89

8.6

/549485/

84

/9344/

82

/4729/

4.4

/703880/

94

/97/

95

/14103/

89

/17/

4.0

age 9+

A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

89

8.7

/1486250/

86

/41552/

84

/17951/

4.4

/1968733/

93

/174/

97

/42486/

82

/25/

4.0

age 9+

The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.

87

IMDb 64

8.9

/2173745/

87

/63890/

84

/26802/

4.4

/2531333/

91

/235/

95

/80557/

92

/34/

3.0

age 11+

Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.

89

8.1

/70851/

77

/952/

77

/847/

4.4

/70186/

100

/46/

94

/1018/

100

/8/

4.0

age 17+

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

87

8.3

/476589/

84

/15508/

83

/8693/

4.4

/1474015/

93

/123/

94

/12004/

78

/31/

8.6

/871132/

4.0

age 12+

Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

86

7.9

/82971/

78

/1476/

78

/1452/

4.3

/173331/

95

/65/

93

/2055/

79

/9/

4.0

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

82

8.2

/503195/

84

/18647/

83

/10724/

4.3

/2187816/

88

/185/

93

/14660/

82

/40/

8.6

/1005585/

2.5

age 8+

Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

88

8.1

/27907/

78

/561/

80

/626/

4.3

/55624/

100

/34/

93

/412/

4.0

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

82

8.6

/1538540/

86

/31998/

85

/18705/

4.3

/1132476/

78

/134/

94

/31674/

61

/36/

3.5

age 16+

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

87

8.0

/27497/

79

/602/

77

/450/

4.3

/49993/

97

/38/

93

/635/

4.0

age 10+

A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.

87

8.1

/213921/

78

/3440/

81

/3237/

4.3

/366360/

93

/73/

93

/3119/

88

/15/

4.0

age 13+

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

82

7.9

/4775/

81

/599/

77

/195/

4.3

/27863/

89

/55/

8.5

/245434/

Following Madoka's rewriting of the universe, sacrificing herself and her happy normal days to save all magical girls from the cruel fate that awaited them by wiping witches out of existence, the despair still manifest into creatures known as nightmares. Magical girl Homura Akemi continues to fight alone in the hope that she will be able to see Madoka smile again.

83

8.0

/63794/

77

/871/

77

/739/

4.3

/37164/

86

/37/

96

/839/

79

/17/

A group of Serbian socialists prepares for the war in a surreal underground filled by parties, tragedies, love and hate.

87

8.0

/60700/

79

/2995/

80

/1921/

4.3

/268934/

100

/96/

90

/458/

89

/28/

8.2

/133910/

4.0

age 9+

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

83

8.0

/67325/

81

/3529/

80

/1528/

4.3

/128976/

99

/95/

92

/459/

85

/24/

2.5

age 7+

The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival.

78

7.7

/32072/

77

/667/

77

/527/

4.2

/89237/

67

/30/

86

/799/

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.

78

7.8

/126758/

77

/3196/

76

/1450/

4.2

/163357/

64

/117/

85

/4896/

64

/23/

4.0

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

85

7.7

/22376/

74

/458/

76

/384/

4.2

/50677/

93

/29/

89

/500/

87

/4/

4.0

In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn.

81

7.7

/11796/

78

/599/

74

/315/

4.2

/53930/

100

/14/

92

/233/

66

/6/

7.7

/35215/

age 16+

Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.

87

8.1

/924879/

79

/37317/

78

/18060/

4.2

/3198103/

96

/251/

87

/79171/

96

/37/

4.0

age 6+

Remy, a resident of Paris, has quite a sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart's delight. The only problem is, Remy is a rat. When he winds up in the sewer beneath one of Paris' finest restaurants, Remy finds himself ideally placed to realize his dream. He forms an unusual alliance with the restaurants rookie employee, and together they work through challenges stemming from Head Chef Skinner, Remy’s colony, and renowned food critic Anton Ego, who strikes fear in the hearts of chefs all throughout France.

87

8.0

/43944/

81

/3072/

81

/1323/

4.2

/158929/

99

/174/

98

/20/

87

/28/

3.5

age 8+

In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.

79

75

7.5

/7176/

79

/583/

74

/240/

4.2

/66835/

90

/31/

86

/21/

65

/7/

8.1

/56560/

age 14+

As a group of university students go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as "The Girl with Black Hair" experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife – all the while unaware of the romantic longings of "Senpai", a senior student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her in an effort to win her heart.

82

8.2

/231404/

83

/10429/

82

/4513/

4.2

/609863/

95

/79/

96

/927/

65

/13/

3.0

age 6+

A selfish postman and a reclusive toymaker form an unlikely friendship, delivering joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it.

88

78

8.3

/5063/

82

/130/

86

/201/

4.2

/24872/

100

/6/

94

/36/

Poor, hungry peasant Macario longs for just one good meal on the Day of the Dead. After his wife cooks a turkey for him, he meets three apparitions, the Devil, God, and Death. Each asks him to share his turkey, but he refuses all except Death. In return, Death gives him a bottle of water which will heal any illness. Soon, Macario is more wealthy than the village doctor, which draws the attention of the feared Inquisition.

83

76

8.1

/7165/

75

/139/

77

/155/

4.2

/9642/

93

/14/

90

/52/

Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, travels to Worms, capital of the Burgundian kingdom, to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Kriemhild.

82

7.9

/22464/

76

/523/

77

/433/

4.2

/50771/

91

/46/

89

/336/

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

86

8.0

/37743/

77

/722/

79

/708/

4.2

/63677/

94

/35/

92

/474/

4.0

After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves unable to depart... and, over the next few days, all of their elaborate societal pretenses and façades deteriorate as they are reduced to living like animals.

80

65

7.7

/2766/

74

/91/

74

/103/

4.2

/15160/

90

/201/

A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.

83

68

7.8

/3565/

77

/150/

75

/89/

4.2

/21527/

100

/17/

81

/10/

90

/5/

A horse goddess gives birth to three powerful brothers who set out into the Underworld to save three princesses from three evil dragons and reclaim their ancestors' lost kingdom.

80

74

7.2

/6948/

70

/143/

67

/156/

4.2

/22209/

80

/54/

87

/132/

100

/4/

Julie, a daydreaming librarian, meets Céline, an enigmatic magician, and together they become the heroines of a time-warping adventure involving a haunted house, psychotropic candy, and a murder-mystery melodrama.

80

64

7.6

/2633/

75

/107/

76

/229/

4.2

/20312/

90

/36/

In this episodic animated fantasy from France, an art teacher interprets a series of six fairy tales (each involving a prince or princess) with the help of two precocious students. Princes and Princesses was created using a special style of cutout animation, with black silhouetted characters performing the action against backlit backdrops in striking colors.

78

66

7.2

/1998/

77

/159/

74

/83/

4.2

/11640/

85

/153/

7.6

/29706/

In a loose retelling of the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series, Utena Tenjou arrives at Ohtori Academy, only to be immediately swept up in a series of duels for the hand of her classmate Anthy Himemiya and the power she supposedly holds. At the same time, Utena reunites with Touga Kiryuu, a friend from her childhood who seems to know the secrets behind the duels. Utena must discover those secrets for herself, before the power that rules Ohtori claims her and her friends, new and old.

82

78

7.6

/7788/

76

/232/

75

/156/

4.2

/20966/

100

/18/

87

/130/

77

/5/

A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

84

7.6

/15352/

76

/399/

72

/258/

4.2

/51515/

88

/34/

90

/386/

91

/19/

4.0

On a cold Monday morning, a group of counselors clock in at an old-fashioned social services office. Their task is to interview the recently deceased, record their personal details, then, over the course of the week, assist them in choosing a single memory to keep for eternity.

80

68

7.9

/2386/

82

/267/

76

/102/

4.2

/6223/

79

/22/

8.5

/138244/

Tomoe Enjou is attacked by bullies from his old school and saved by Shiki Ryougi. He asks her to hide him at her place and admits that he killed someone. Several days later, there are still no broadcasts about the murder as if it didn't happen... and when the victims are found, they're alive and unharmed.

81

80

7.9

/4151/

81

/497/

80

/225/

4.2

/20553/

8.3

/307667/

With help from Meme Oshino, the apparition specialist, Koyomi defeats the three powerful vampire hunters: Dramaturgy, Episode and Guillotinecutter. Koyomi takes back all the limbs of Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade in order to become a human again.

84

8.1

/34223/

80

/478/

76

/416/

4.2

/24194/

100

/7/

96

/259/

3.0

In this luminous tale set in the former Yugoslavia, Perhan, an engaging young Romany with telekinetic powers, is seduced by the quick-cash world of petty crime that threatens to destroy him and those he loves.

81

7.8

/35916/

79

/1545/

78

/965/

4.2

/132633/

93

/59/

90

/779/

70

/15/

8.2

/93296/

age 12+

Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.

76

7.7

/40347/

76

/1415/

76

/755/

4.2

/77766/

70

/33/

86

/1271/

62

/15/

7.9

/112207/

D, a legendary dhampir competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to track down Charlotte Elbourne, a young woman who has seemingly been abducted by vampire nobleman Meier Link.

87

8.6

/21143/

88

/1279/

84

/1197/

4.2

/117710/

94

/106/

The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small town in Northeastern Brazil. When they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary before they are admitted to paradise.

84

8.0

/195039/

81

/6638/

79

/3918/

4.2

/423613/

89

/19/

90

/72/

86

/7/

8.3

/255011/

age 11+

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

79

7.8

/296052/

78

/15341/

78

/8721/

4.2

/2469170/

91

/275/

74

/17853/

80

/40/

3.0

age 9+

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.

87

8.4

/381158/

86

/18719/

84

/12203/

4.2

/1323183/

98

/118/

94

/1179/

81

/26/

8.8

/2046554/