The best fantasy movies on a long flight from the 80s and 90s that will mess with your mind. A hand-curated list of fantasy films for Moviepiq.
A long flight is one of the few times you have no choice but to sit still and actually watch a film — no phone calls, no errands, nothing to do but commit. Use it wisely.
The 80s and 90s represent a golden era for genre filmmaking — budgets were generous, ideas were bold, and many of the films from this period still set the standard everything else is measured against.
Great fantasy films don't ask you to suspend disbelief — they build worlds so vivid that disbelief simply evaporates. Below are ten fantasy films that transport you somewhere entirely new while saying something true about the world you already know.
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.
In post-Civil War Spain, a troubled girl escapes into a fantastical labyrinth, where a mysterious faun reveals that she is a lost princess.
A grandfather reads a story to his sick grandson about a farmhand-turned-pirate who must rescue the woman he loves from a scheming prince.
A sullen ten-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
A mute woman working as a janitor in a secret government laboratory falls in love with a mysterious aquatic creature.
The fantasy films that endure are the ones rooted in genuine emotion. The magic is the vehicle; the story is always about something human.
A son tries to learn more about his dying father by piecing together the stories he told throughout his life.
In a countryside town bordering on a magical kingdom, a young man makes a promise to his beloved to retrieve a fallen star.
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King.
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, a young warrior encounters a battle between forest gods and humans who consume the forest's resources.
The best mind-bending films aren't just puzzles to be solved — they leave behind a residue of unease, a sense that the ground beneath the story was never quite as solid as it seemed.
A great fantasy film leaves you with that rare ache — a longing to return to a world that never existed.