Summary
Fantasy moviesare strangely uncommon. It may be the steep budget required to make them coupled with a lack of broad audience appeal, or it may be because any fantasy film will (fairly or not) be compared toPeter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogyand come up lacking, but it’s a genre that is surprisingly underserved in cinema.
That said, there are still some great fantasy movies out there, including ones that don’t feature a single Hobbit. Some of these films have cult followings, others have all but faded into total obscurity, but every single one is agreat fantasy movie that you’ve probably never heard of.
Based on the YA novel of the same name by Jeanne DuPrau,City of Emberis set 200 years after a global catastrophe that drove a small settlement of people underground. Now, the City of Ember’s generator is beginning to fail, putting everything from food to the air supply in jeopardy. A pair of graduates from Ember City School, Doon and Lina, discover a box from the old world that was seemingly forgotten, and within it, a set of instructions on how to escape the city and return to the surface.
Despite a rock-solid cast featuring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Saorise Ronan, and Toby Jones,City of Emberwas a box-office bomb and was quickly shuffled away into obscurity. While, as an adaptation, it’s not the most faithful retelling of the source material, this is still a solid movie that features some stunning visuals and a unique approach to urban fantasy storytelling.
As far as fantasy movies go,MirrorMaskcan be a bit inscrutable. The entire film is dripping in surrealism, and while it tells the story of a young woman, Helena, finding her place in the world (in true Neil Gaiman fashion, who co-wrote the film), a lot of it is so visually strange that it is as much of a spectacle for the eyes as it is a story for the soul.
Helena works at her parents' circus but longs for a life in the real world. When her mother is taken ill following an argument between them, Helena flees the hospital and encounters a trio of strange performers. As she watches their performance, a darkness encroaches upon them, consuming two of the performers and forcing the third to flee with Helena to the City of Light. There, Helena is mistaken for a princess, one who stole a powerful charm from the city’s queen, leaving its inhabitants vulnerable to the darkness. Made on a budget of just $4 million (somehow), the film was still a bomb, grossing less than $1 million at the box office. It won’t be for everyone, butMirrorMaskis one of the most unique fantasy movies ever made, and for those who resonate with it, it will quickly become a favorite.
Director Ridley Scott’s star was rapidly risingin 1985 when he madeLegend,an attempt to create a dark fairy tale exclusively for the silver screen. While it’s clearly inspired byThe Lord of the Rings(particularly in its naming conventions),Legendtakes a more traditional approach to fantasy. The story begins with the Lord of Darkness, played spectacularly (as always) by Tim Curry, who seeks to cast the world into endless night by stealing the horns of every living unicorn.
Meanwhile, Jack of the Green, played by a 23-year-old Tom Cruise, meets Princess Lili and falls in love with her. As might be expected, Lili is kidnapped by the Lord of Darkness. Jack, meanwhile, is determined to be a prophesied great hero by the unicorn mare and is tasked with returning the mare’s horn before the Lord of Darkness' goblins can kill her.Legend, while visually stunning, was not well-received by critics, with Gene Siskel famously likening the experience of reviewing the movie to being “akin to recalling a bad dream.” However, as time has passed, the movie has found its own brand of cult status, and the combination of exceptional cinematography and Tim Curry’s stellar performance is more than worth the price of admission.
This one could go either way. For some,Dragonheartwas a formative childhood movie, especially for 90s kids, and for others, it’s likely a film they’ve never heard of. Yet it’s also a critical moment in live-action fantasy, as withoutDragonheart’sproof of concept, there may never have been aLord of the Ringstrilogy or aGame of Thronesseries.
Starring Dennis Quaid as Bowen, and Sean Connery, who provided his voice for the fully-CG dragon, Drago, the story follows an aging dragonslayer who encounters the last living dragon in a cave. When their battle ends in a stalemate, they agree to form a partnership. What initially begins as a long con where the pair stage dragon “attacks,” only for Bowen to save the day, soon becomes a much grander adventure, as they are roped into a quest to kill the evil emperor Einon, who has found a way to become immortal.Dragonheartwas a financial success, grossing double its production budget. While critics were mixed, it has earned cult-classic status in the years since. However, most important of all, this film proved that audiences could still connect with a character that was entirely CG, opening the door for Andy Serkis to tackle the CG role of Gollum just 5 years later.
There’s a more interesting reason forThe Black Cauldronbeing forgotten by audiences than just box office numbers and critical reception, although they were still factors. Based on Lloyd Alexander’s 5-book series, the film was troubled from the start. Actors were forcibly removed from auditions, a problem-filled first attempt at blending CG and hand-drawn animation caused editing issues, and one particular scene was so frightening that children in test audiences cried in the theater, prompting the Disney studio chair to step in and remove the scene himself, despite protests from the film’s director. These late edits pushed back the film’s release by six months. By the time it came out, it not only struggled to earn back its budget but was outgrossed by bothThe Care Bears Movieand a re-release ofOne Hundred and One Dalmatians,earning it the dubious title of “the movie that almost killed Disney.”
The Black Cauldronwas so infamous that Disney didn’t release the film on home video until 13 years after its theatrical run. However, this infamy has earned it enough of a reputation that it is now readily available to stream. In terms of its plot,The Black Cauldronis atypical rags-to-riches storyof a “pig-keeper” named Taran who hopes to become a legendary warrior. One of the pigs that Taran keeps is revealed as an oracle, capable of prophesying the future. As such, Taran is tasked with protecting it from the evil Horned King, who is searching for the Black Cauldron, a mythical object said to be capable of summoning an army of undead warriors.
A young English boy named Conor is dealing with his ailing mother’s battle with cancer, and facing the prospect of living with his strict grandmother if his mother were to die. Plagued by bad dreams, bullies at school, and an inability to do anything about his mother’s condition, Conor feels lost. Then, one night, a monster made out of a giant yew tree visits him. The monster promises to return for the next three nights, and each time, it will tell Conor a tale. After the third story, Conor must tell the monster the truth about his nightmares.
Unsurprisingly,A Monster Callsis a tearjerker. Between Conor’s relationship with his mother and his struggles at school, it’s hard not to feel for him, and to fear what might happen if his mother doesn’t survive. This relatability is the crux of the movie, and likely played a big role in the positive critical response it received. However, it barely made back its budget at the box office. Releasing in the first week of 2017, a notoriously dead moviegoing period, likely didn’t help, but it’s hard to say for certain what causedA Monster Callsto fall between the cracks. Regardless, it’s more than worth circling back to today.
Made on a shoestring budget, with a skeleton crew and a meager cast, it’s not hard at all to see whyThe Head Hunterdidn’t get the word of mouth it so rightly deserves. While it reviewed well, it only saw a limited theatrical release before moving straight to on-demand video streaming. Most of the film’s word of mouth came from festival screenings, and outside of that, it was rarely ever talked about. That’s a shame, because it’s one of the few modern dark fantasy horror films made, and it’s a damn good one.
A warrior, known only as “The Father,” lives in a remote cabin. He takes on posted bounties to hunt monsters, then pins their heads to the wall of his home, like a Dark Agesiteration of Geralt of Rivia.One day, a bounty is posted for the head of the monster that killed The Father’s daughter, whose body is buried near the cabin.The Head Hunteris light on story and runs almost entirely on action and atmosphere. That’s part of what makes it so impressive; the movie makes a lot out of very little, and is better for it.
Anyone who watchesThe Last Unicorntoday may notice some unusual similarities to some other (far more famous) animated fantasy films, namely, those produced by Studio Ghibli. That’s no coincidence. The film was animated by the Japanese studio Topcraft, and shortly after its release, Topcraft was dissolved. Following that,many of the studio’s most talented team members,including some guy named Hayao Miyazaki, went ahead and formed Studio Ghibli.
While it has earned a cult following,The Last Unicornhas never really gotten the flowers it deserves. Its story, about a female unicorn who sets out to save her fellow unicorns from the clutches of the evil Red Bull, is full of everything a fantasy movie needs: spectacle, humor, wonder, emotion, and stunning world-building. Backed by a solid cast that includes Jeff Bridges and Christopher Lee, it’s a wonder that this movie wasn’t a smash hit upon release, but the fact that it has all but faded into obscurity is a crying shame.
Much likeDragonheart,this one will hit differently for different people. For some,Big Fishis iconic and one of the best films of the 2000s, but for whatever reason, it is rarely talked about. It tells the story of William Bloom, a jaded man whose father has regaled him with fantastical stories all his life, claiming they are true accounts of events that happened to him. William doesn’t buy any of it, but when his father is diagnosed with cancer, William ends up going on a journey into his father’s past, meeting all the people from the stories he’s heard since childhood, and realizing how much of what he was told about is true.
Critically and commercially,Big Fishwas a success, even earning an Oscar nomination for its score. However, considering that this is a Tim Burton film made during the height of his popularity as a director,and starring Ewan McGregorduring his own meteoric rise to stardom, it’s surprising thatBig Fishhasn’t earned all-time classic status given the talent of the people behind it and the quality of the movie itself. Thankfully, it’s never too late to go back to a great movie from the past, and if there’s one underrated fantasy film that’s worth taking the time to check out,Big Fishis that movie.
