I agree. This list is blasphemous

um, sorry i love LOTR too, but TROTK was a joke of a film with about 12 endings cos they cut most of the story out of the ending, agree that fellowship was the best of the 3 but surely is a better film than shrek… you can´t downgrade a film because of time, Star Wars (the originals) are still amazing to watch and the CGI in those 70s blasters (oops pun) is well dodgy, even the remakes, LOTR still very rewatchable…

Still – this is an awesome list of movies. I missed Caroline first time – so I havce just put in an order for it!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention Narnia! Fantastic book and fantastic movies!!!!! The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe definitely deserved a spot, I’m so sad it isn’t on the list 🙁

Lord of the Rings is an absolutely amazing book to read and I can’t wait for The Hobbit to come out in cinemas next year, but I believe it deserved a higher spot on your list!!

Now, Harry Potter is a touchy subject for me, as I am a HUGE book fan! The worst movie was The Goblet of Fire. It was just so wrong in so many way. Yes, the FX were great and Voldemort turned out just as I had pictured him, but it failed to capture the books amazing grasp on fantasy and the real story. It was a huge muss. Worthy of a mention for me is The Philosophers Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. Both stayed true to the book and looked amazing on screen! At least one of these deserved a mention!

Another few you could have chosen from are Tin Man, The 10th Kingdom, Hellboy 1 or 2, Pirates of the Carribean(any) and maybe a Discworld movie!!!

M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are all Fantasy as they are based on “old school” childrens fables, just portrayed in his own flavour, some of his best works in my opinion are, Signs, Lady in the Water, avatar the last airbender, not a hundred percent sure whether any of them “belong” in any top 10 list because like in “The Village” the story always gets lost on most viewers, most of the time i tend to “try” watch these kinds of movies kids eyes to fully get the “feel” of the movie, something i find lacking when adults crit these movies…

Also i’m not sure i would classify “Let the right one in” (hollywood version a.k.a “Let me in”)as a Fantasy, its more a thriller if not more so a Horror, as i have not yet seen the original yet i can only comment on its Hollywood counterpart, and have to say it was better then i expected, the 2 child stars played their part very well although i found the pool scene a bit “off the track” something you would find in a Marvel movie, but all-in-all quite good, I plan to watch the original very soon, judging from other comments i won’t be dissapointed

Pan’s Labyrinth, was very good but i found the movie a times too much, almost as if my brain/imagination, kept getting left behind in trying to process the Fantasy part, only to have missed some of the movie/story-line, so i found myself “loosing the plot” as for the Hellboy movies much easier to follow but lacking in the “fantasy” department.

I think LOTR really has to be taken in to consideration as an entirety in other words the whole story line not just one part, i mean isn’t that just as bad as “judging a book by its cover” besides i’m very anxiously awaiting the Hobbit, which i imagine is going to be a top seller

Spirited away was a master piece of fantasy but is not alone there are quite a few Anime/manga movies that deserve to be on any fantasy list like Howl’s moving Castle”, so much so that they really should remain in there own best of list.

Harry Potter remains to have the same input from me as LOTR, it should be looked at in its entirety not just one installment.

Stardust suprised me, to frank i found it very lacking in both Fantasy and story line, almost as if a bunch of very good actors didn’t have enough to do so decided to “slap” something together, “the Golden compass” was a much better movie all together, though not deserving a place in the top 10.

The twilight saga series, well what can i say that hasn’t already been said… Nothing?

James Cameron’s Avatar should belong in this list as according to IMDB was released 2009, any way regardless of whether it belongs or not no one can deny that its a fantasy masterpiece, but i do feel that he could have used a bit more of Del-Toro’s input rather then drowning us in CGI, there is so much CGI, it should be classified as “Animated”, whereas del-Toro, I’m sure uses a lot of CGI seams to make it look more physical, like real make-up instead of pure CGI, and that is what catches me with Del-Toro’s movies, any way other then those comments, a really good list of fantasy’s thanks again for taking the time

I guess just even the title might freak a lot of people out – while i found it very undark for a film about suicide and the afterlife. I actually think that a lot of people might like it if they went with no preconceived ideas on it, and went past the first 10 minutes.

I have seen The Fall, GORGEOUS movie–was lucky enough to catch it the theater, actually. but while it is a movie about imagination, I didn’t see it as having really any of the magical elements that the other “imagination” movies i included have, so I didn’t think it quite fit. you’re right to point it out, though (I maybe should have called it an also-ran), because it’s a film not enough people have seen.

LTROI definitely has a hitchcockian feel to it. one of the things that struck me most watching it was how silent it was, how often there was NOT a sound in the background. it’s almost uncomfortable just to watch. i haven’t seen the american version either. i’m curious about it because i like both of the kids in it, but at the same time i know it will just piss me off, so i haven’t actually sat down to see it yet.

yes it IS fabulous, isn’t it! but it’s not for everyone…hence its lack of press.

hi Strange,

thanks for the excellent alternate list (below). I thought of Big Fish but like Terabithia it read for me not as a true fantasy but just as a movie about imagination. Which I know some of these others are mind trips, but I think my sort of cut-off point was when the point of the story was the mind-trip, it was okay, when that was just part of a bigger story, not. i could see an argument for those being included, though, for sure.

hi Totz, I figured the Lady in the Water would be controversial. funny thing is, I wasn’t even aware that was the director when I saw the movie in the theater (knew his name not his face). So I had zero baggage and just looked at it as a story, and I found it delightful.

for me Shrek was important because it revitalized an interest in children’s movies in the fairy tale style. but as i mentioned, the flip side is now no one will make a straight fairy tale because they’re trying to be like shrek, and that makes me sad.

i have heard of the last airbender but never seen it. will try and check it out – thanks for the rec!

Hi Lee, well, yes, that was inconsistent of me. but if I had liked all 3 LOTR movies as well as the first one, I’d have included the trilogy. I just…didn’t.

see, I actually found the book’s ending to be disappointing after seeing the movie…

@ everyone who shared your own list/partial list – thank you. the replies that are just “your list sucks” (as came up PLENTY on my SF list) have no meaning without the second part of “here’s what it should have had.” keep ’em coming!

Oh yeah, You mentioned Let The Right One In, the original Swedish version was fantastic. I feel no need to see the American version at all. The problem with American movies nowadays is the separation from good storytelling to in-your-face extravagance. I happened upon a list a while back which mentioned this quiet little Swedish movie and found it streaming on Netflix. It was great because it reminding me so much of the old Alfred Hitchcock movies where he really let your own imagination do the work. His movies tended to be subtle, dark enough to make you question what you think is happening, and very teasing in the way of delivering the impact of the story. Let The Right One In really came through as something meaningful and definitely far beyond your common vampire movie – and the best thing, this a real vampire, not a glittery whining homo beset by a girlfriend with cow eyes!

Someone above mentioned the movie Ink. I thought this one had some great potential. it was a really good story though it was severely limited by its lack of budget, in my opinion. The acting was a little hard to tolerate but I thought Jeremy Make’s character, Jacob, stole the movie and made it worth sitting through. But again, the story was engaging enough to keep it from becoming the B-movie it really is.

Coraline can’t be 2010; I was given the DVD for Christmas 2009.

Remove Up, Mr Fox and Coraline, they’re 2010 and miss out by a year. :-/

Anyway, top tens are subjective, it’s all a matter of taste. LOTR should be #1 in any list though, it set the bar for fantasy films — and it hasn’t aged a day.