(Photo by TriStar Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

35 Best 1980s Fantasy Movies Ranked

Star Wars didn’t just open the floodgates for science fiction and space operas. Fantasy movies also erupted in Skywalker’s wake, offering an arena of dreamy imagination for audiences seeking worlds beyond our own. 1980s fantasies have a distinct feel to them, with their classical and romantic storytelling, top puppetry and makeup, and some early (and dodgy) computer graphics. The Princess Bride is arguably the ultimate ’80s fantasy movie, a postmodern yet timeless tale of true love, piracy, and rodents of unusual size.

For our guide to the best 1980s fantasy movies, we’ve collected practically every movie of the genre with a Tomatometer and ranked them by score, with Certified Fresh films first. Industry originals like Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH), Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), and Jim Henson (The Dark Crystal) were at their creative height. But even established directors made uncharted moves, like Ridley Scott and Tom Cruise in Legend. The Neverending Story (directed by Wolfgang Petersen) has stuck around because of its featured creatures and heavy emotional beats, while the physically charged fairy tale Labyrinth was a revelation for young women and older children.

Disney turned to the dark side, with the surprisingly violent Dragonslayer and the moody Black Cauldron, a box office bomb that got the studio to lighten up with The Little Mermaid, kicking off their late ’80s and ’90s renaissance. Independent animation took big swings (Heavy Metal, The Last Unicorn), Arnold Schwarzenegger got his break as Conan the Barbarian, and Willow is now summoned back to the Daikini world with a Disney+ series.

And now, as you wish: The best 1980s fantasy movies by Tomatometer, with Certified Fresh films first. —Alex Vo