The ‘fantasy’ genre is one that is loved by people of all ages around the globe. For some, it brings nostalgia, and for others, pure happiness and thrill. This genre is also home to many popular franchises, old and new. The most popular sub-genres under the ‘fantasy’ genre are action fantasy, adventure fantasy, and superhero fantasy.
Today we bring you a list of the best fantasy movies that you can watch on Netflix. The list covers all types of subgenres, so there is definitely something here for everyone’s taste.
Warcraft
Directed by Duncan Jones, this action fantasy film is based on the vastly popular video game series of the same title. Warcraft was released by Universal Pictures in the U.S. on June 10, 2016.
Anduin Lothar, commander of the human forces of stormwind in the realm of Azeroth, comes across settlements of humans that have been slaughtered. A trespassing mage informs them that the bodies show traces of Fel magic. The facts quickly unravel that Gul’dan, an orc warlock, has amassed a horde of their clans to enter and take over Azeroth. They plan to enter from a portal in their realm, Draenor, which is currently being infected with the same Fel magic.
It is now up to Anduin and his forces, with a little help from Durotan of the orc clan of Frostwolf, to stop the invaders who plan on draining the life of some captured human villagers in order to use the portal and then establishing themselves on Azeroth.
Cast- Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar, Paula Patton as Garona, a half-orc who tries to assist the humans, Toby Kebbell as Durotan, and Daniel Wu as Gul’dan.
Snow White And The Huntsman
This 2012 American fantasy film is based on the fairy tale ‘Snow White’ from the compilation by the Brothers Grimm. Snow White and the Huntsman is also the debut film of its director, Rupert Sanders.
Queen Eleanor of the kingdom of Tabor gives birth to her daughter Snow White after she wishes for a child. Years later though, the queen falls ill and passes away, leaving Snow White in the care of her father, King Magnus. In a battle against a dark army of soldiers, Magnus finds a prisoner called Ravenna and rescues her. He is enchanted by her beauty and marries her, not aware that Ravenna is the sorceress and leader of the dark army. On their wedding night she kills Magnus and takes over the Kingdom, while Snow White’s childhood friend William and his father, Duke Hammond, escape the castle and run away.
Ravenna locks Snow White away in a tower and under her rule, the kingdom is in bad shape. She also drains the youth from the young women who reside there to keep herself from aging. When Ravenna learns from her magic mirror that Snow White will be her downfall, she sends her brother Finn to bring her heart, but Snow White escapes to the dark forest, where Ravenna is powerless. She makes a deal with widower Eric the Huntsman to find Snow White who actually lets her go when he finds out Ravenna lied in their deal.
Finn gathers men to track down Snow White who, along with the Huntsman, meets a group of 8 dwarfs who also realize she may be their only chance at defeating Ravenna and join her in an attempt to destroy Ravenna and take back Tabor.
Cast- Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth as Eric the Huntsman, Charlize Theron as Ravenna, and Sam Spruell as Finn.
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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a 2012 adventure fantasy and is the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the center of the Earth. Directed by Brad Peyton and Beau Flynn, it is based on Jules Verne’s novel, ‘The Mysterious Island’. The movie pulled in a worldwide gross of $335 million.
The sequel takes place 4 years after the first movie and opens with 17 year old Sean being arrested by the police, and then released into the custody of his stepfather, Hank. It turns out that Sean had broken into a satellite control center and tells Hank he did so to enhance a coded signal he thinks is from his grandfather, Alexander Anderson, who has been missing for a long time. After a brief conversation and helping Sean put together a hidden map with coordinates to an island, Hank decides to take Sean on a trip to find the mysterious island in order to bond with him.
They first travel to Palau where they hire Gabato and his daughter Kailani to take them in search of the island via helicopter. The group soon comes to regret the idea when they get caught in a cyclone and crash into the ocean, only to finally wake up on an island. They discover that the island has miniature elephants and larger versions of smaller animals like butterflies and lizards. Eventually, they run into Alexander, Sean’s grandfather who had actually been living there for some time. He shows them around the island including a famous lost city, where they pick up clues that the island will submerge soon. The group makes a last-ditch effort to find a hidden submarine and escape before it is too late.
Cast- Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson, Venessa Hudgens as Kailani Laguatan, Luis Guzman as Gabato Laguatan, and Michael Cain as Alexander.
Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle
Based on the short story collection ‘All the Mowgli stories’ by Rudyard Kipling, Warner Bros. Pictures released this visually stunning film in 2018.
This fantasy adventure flick takes place in a jungle in India. A giant python (Kaa) watches as Shere Khan, a menacing Bengal Tiger, kills a family of humans. Only an infant boy survives and is rescued by Bagheera, a panther, who introduces him to a family of wolves. The infant, named Mowgli, is kept temporarily under the protection of the pack and Baloo (a Himalayan brown bear) as he grows to boyhood, though the pack is warned by Shere Khan that he will come after Mowgli one day.
When Mowgli fails an initiation task to be officially inducted into the pack he runs away and after a sequence of action scenes, ends up captured by the villagers. Mowgli finds out a lot about humans and in particular, a hunter. In the meantime, Shere Khan drives some of the wolves away and hunts the cattle of the villagers.The movie ends with a final showdown between Shere Khan and Mowgli to restore balance to the jungle.
Cast- Rohan Chand as Mowgli, Matthew Rhys as John Lockwood, a colonial hunter, Christian Bale as Bagheera (voice), Andy Serkis as Baloo (voice), Cate Blanchett as Kaa (voice) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan (voice).
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Love And Monsters
Love and Monsters is a 2020 release directed by Michael Matthews. The movie, which was filmed in Australia, was released by Paramount Pictures worldwide via Netflix and select theaters only.
In a post-apocalyptic world where cold-blooded creatures have mutated into large monsters and killed off most of the population, Joel Dawson is separated from his girlfriend Aimee. Cut to seven years later, Joel is living in an underground bunker colony and serving in the kitchen as he is not suited for fighting the monsters outside. When a giant ant breach and kills Connor (a survivor of the colony), Joel comes to the decision to go out in search of his girlfriend to avoid being alone. He begins his journey alone, though makes some friends on the way, one of whom is a stray dog named ‘Boy’. After facing many creatures ranging from giant toads to worm monsters, he is rescued and reunited with Aimee at a beach colony. Another group of survivors led by a man named Cap is there as well but it turns out they are not as friendly as they seem.
Cast- Dylan O’Brian as Joel Dawson, Hero and Dodge as Boy (the dog), Jessica Henwick as Aimee, Michael Rooker as Clyde Dutton, a survival expert, and Dan Ewing as Cap.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle
A direct sequel to the 1995 film Jumanji, this adventure fantasy was directed by Jake Kasden and released in 2017.
Four high school students in Brantford, who are sent to clean the school’s basement for detention, come across a video game cartridge by the name of Jumanji. When they decide to plug it into the tv and play, the four of them are sucked into the game and become the avatars they choose (Dr. Xander Bravestone, Professor Sheldon Oberon, Franklin Finbar, and Ruby Roundhouse) including the looks, voices, and abilities. The group realizes they have three lives each and must team up with Alex Vreeke, another teenager who was sucked into the game years earlier, to return the jewel called the ‘Jaguar’s Eye’ to its original shrine to lift a curse and escape the game.
Their only obstacle? A corrupt archaeologist professor named Russel Van Pelt wishes to stop them with the help of his crew and animals that he can control.
Cast- Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander Bravestone, Jack Black as Professor Sheldon Oberon, Kevin Hart as Franklin Finbar, Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse, Nick Jonas as Jefferson McDonough (aircraft pilot and Alex’s avatar), and Bobby Cannavale as Professor Russel Van Pelt.
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The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf
A spin-off of the Netflix series The Witcher, it is an adult animated fantasy that premiered on August 23, 2021.
The opening takes place in 1165 where the witcher Vesemir saves a young noble child from a leshen in a forest in Kaedwen. He is visited by the elf Filavandrel who seems to think the leshen was controlled by Kitsu, who is one of many elves who have gone missing.
Cut to the present, Vesemir and his colleague, Luka are arrested for killing two knights. Lady Zerbst, who has sympathy for the witchers, convinces the king to send Vesemir along with Tetra to find and take down Kitsu. Vesemir and Tetra are able to kill Kitsu’s basilisk but Kitsu herself escapes.
A sequence of events unfolds that reveal a con by the witchers and their leader Deglan to stay in business. This causes Kitsu and Tetra, along with the townsfolk and monsters, to attack Kaer Morhen, the witcher headquarters. A battle ensues and ends with the death of many, leaving Vesemir in charge of Kaer Morhen. The ending sees Vesemir finding the recruits for the next generation of witchers, including a young Geralt (protagonist of The Witcher).
Voice cast- Theo James as Vesemir, Mary McDonnell as Lady Illyana Zerbst, Lara Pulver as Tetra Gilcrest, and Kari Wahlgren as Kitsu.
Wonder Woman
Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman is a 2017 superhero fantasy based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the fourth installment in the DC extended universe (DCEU) and grossed over $821 million worldwide.
After Diana Prince receives a photograph of herself from Wayne Enterprises, she recalls her past. Diana was born and raised on the hidden island of Themyscira, the homeland of the Amazons, a race of women warriors. She was the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and trained to be a warrior under her aunt, General Antiope. She was told that one day Ares, who defeated all the Olympians except Zeus, would return one day to destroy mankind.
In 1918, Diana rescues U.S pilot Captain Steve Trevor after his plane crashes. He reveals that a big war is going on in the world outside their island. Thinking this to be the work of Ares, Diana sets out to find and stop him. She leaves the island with Steve and is also armed with the Lasso of Hestia and a legendary sword said to be the weapon that can kill Ares.
The two team up to assist the allied forces and eventually infiltrate a German high command to locate and destroy a deadly gas before it is released. While there, Diana kills General Erich Ludendorff (who planned to use the gas), believing him to be Ares. She turns out to be wrong and the real Ares reveals himself and the fact that Diana herself is the weapon who can kill him, not the sword.
Cast- Gal Gadot as Diana, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Connie Nielson as Hippolyta, Robin Wright as Antiope, and Danny Huston as Erich Ludendorff.
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