The 40 most popular 1970s fantasy movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971 · 1h 40m · US
When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.


The Rescuers
1977 · 1h 18m · US
Two agents of the mouse-run International Rescue Aid Society search for a little orphan girl kidnapped by sinister treasure hunters.


Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975 · 1h 31m · UK
King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".


The Lord of the Rings
1978 · 2h 12m · US
Young Hobbit Frodo Baggins is thrown into an amazing adventure when he's tasked with destroying the One Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron. Frodo must travel in a small fellowship of nine warriors and accomplices. But it won't be an easy journey for the Fellowship of the Ring, on the ultimate quest to rid Middle-earth of evil.


One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book
1978 · 1h 32m · JP
Bander is a 17-year-old boy from Earth who lives on a distant planet, which is populated by human shape-shifters who feed off of vegetables and animal tails. Violence soon breaks out, as invaders launch an attack on Bander's new planet. This was Japan's first 2-hour animated film for television. The program received high ratings when broadcast as part of a set of 24-hour TV programs called "Ai wa Chikyu wo Sukuu" on Nippon Television. After a long gap since his last animated film for television, this work fully reflects Osamu Tezuka's desire to achieve theatrical quality with this production.


Fantasy Island
1977 · 1h 40m · US
Mr. Roarke and his assistant Tattoo greet a former reporter in World War II who wants to relive a brief romance that took place in London 30 years ago, a big-game hunter who, for once, wants to be the hunted and a wealthy businesswoman who wants to be a secret and silent observer at her own funeral.


House
1977 · 1h 28m · JP
Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.


Pete's Dragon
1977 · 2h 8m · US
Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble. Then, when crooked salesmen try to capture Elliott for their own gain, Pete must attempt a daring rescue.


The Man Who Fell to Earth
1976 · 2h 19m · UK
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.


Jabberwocky
1977 · 1h 45m · UK
After the death of his father, young Dennis Cooper goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky'. Will Dennis make his fortune? Is anyone brave enough to defeat the monster?


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
1972 · 1h 41m · FR
An upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined.


Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971 · 1h 57m · US
Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.


Herbie Rides Again
1974 · 1h 28m · US
The living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.


Donkey Skin
1970 · 1h 30m · FR
A fairy godmother helps a princess disguise herself so she won't have to marry her father.


The Nutcracker
1977 · 1h 18m
The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critically acclaimed Emmy-nominated production. This spectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both showcased at the peak of their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.


Wondershop
1974 · 1h 5m · BE
A bitter, miserable man runs a chaotic secondhand store, mistreating both his assistant and his customers. One day, a young brother and sister enter his shop, hoping to sell a cherished golden watch. Their arrival disrupts the owner's stingy routines, plunging the children into a surreal, unpredictable world managed by eccentric adults. Frans Buyens’ mid-length feature is a whimsical, satirical fable exploring the clash between childhood innocence and adult greed.


The Car
1977 · 1h 36m · US
The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.


Holy Pafnucio
1977 · 1h 40m · MX
Controversial, sexy and surreal tale of a messenger, his journey and encounters with many historical events and people such as Auschwitz, the Ku Klux Klan, Frida Kahlo, Cortés and Emiliano Zapata (as a beautiful woman!)


Subversion
1979 · 1h 35m · FR
A blind, paralyzed president uses his remarkable hearing and his corrupt daughter to keep his country in line. His beautiful, clever daughter works her own agenda while striving to be the equal of men. She appoints herself Chief of Firefighters and then commits arson to ensure that her job is needed.


Stepan's Remembrance
1977 · 1h 25m · SU
The heiress of a gem mage travels to St. Petersburg to fulfill her father's dream and her destiny.


Hercules in New York
1970 · 1h 32m · US
Hercules is sent from Mount Olympus to modern-day Manhattan, where he takes up professional wrestling before getting mixed up with a gang of mobsters.


Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay
1971 · 1h 26m · FR
Two French girls get lost in the woods and accidentally enter the realm of sorceress Morgana Le Fay - who gives them the choice of either staying young forever as her lovers, or rot in a dungeon for eternity.


Escape to Witch Mountain
1975 · 1h 37m · US
Tia and Tony are two orphaned youngsters with extraordinary powers. Lucas Deranian poses as their uncle in order to get the kids into the clutches of Deranian's megalomaniacal boss, evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt, who wants to exploit them. Jason, a cynical widower, helps Tia and Tony escape to witch mountain, while at the same time Tia and Tony help Jason escape the pain of the loss of his wife.


Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
1970 · 1h 13m
Valerie, a Czechoslovakian teenager living with her grandmother, is blossoming into womanhood, but that transformation proves secondary to the effects she experiences when she puts on a pair of magic earrings. Now seeing the world around her in a different light, Valerie must endure her sexual awakening while attempting to discern reality from fantasy as she encounters lecherous priest Gracian, a vampire-like stranger and otherworldly carnival folk.


The Wiz
1978 · 2h 14m · US
Dorothy Gale, a shy kindergarten teacher, is swept away to the magic land of Oz where she embarks on a quest to return home.


Three Wishes for Cinderella
1973 · 1h 22m
Popelka, a resourceful and independent young girl, is a servant in her stepmother's house and confides in her closest friend the owl. When she comes across three magical acorns, she's granted a single wish for each one of them.


The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
1973 · 1h 45m · UK
Sinbad and his crew intercept a homunculus carrying a golden tablet. Koura, the creator of the homunculus and practitioner of evil magic, wants the tablet back and pursues Sinbad. Meanwhile, Sinbad meets the Vizier who has another part of the interlocking golden map, and they mount a quest across the seas to solve the riddle of the map.


A Touch of Zen
1970 · 3h · HK
Yang Hui-zhen, a mysterious princess on the run from corrupt government officials, is joined in her endeavors by skilled Buddhist monks and an unambitious painter named Gu Sheng-zhai.


The Humpbacked Horse
1975 · 1h 7m · SU
Remake of the 1947 Soviet film directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow.


Inventário de um Feudalismo Cultural Nordestino
1978 · 11m · BR
An exercise critical of the official culture, based on a performance of the Vivencial Group. Scenography in the streets, alongside monuments of Recife.


Shanks
1974 · 1h 33m · US
Malcolm Shanks is a sad and lonely man, deaf, mute and living with his cruel sister and her husband, who delight in making him miserable. His only pleasure, it seems, is in making and controlling puppets. Thanks to his skill, he is offered a job as a lab assistant to Dr. Walker, who is working on ways to re-animate dead bodies by inserting electrodes at key nerve points and manipulating the bodies as if they were on strings. When the professor suddenly dies one night, Shanks gets the idea to apply their experimental results to a human body, and then to start exacting some revenge.


Belladonna of Sadness
1973 · 1h 27m · JP
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.


Nezha Conquers the Dragon King
1979 · 1h 5m · CN
In Chentang Pass, Nezha, the magical son of General Li Jing, makes enemies with Ao Guang, the Dragon King of East Sea. When he is reported to heaven's court and his home is threatened, Nezha takes it upon himself to destroy the palace and defeat the dragons. A retelling of the classic chapters from Investiture of The Gods.


Ondine
1975 · 2h 31m · FR
In the forest, knight-errant Hans meets and falls in love with Ondine, a water-sprite who is attracted to the world of mortal man.


The Hobbit
1977 · 1h 17m · JP
The story follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive creative who resides in a place called Middle-Earth before he is compelled to go on a quest to find a treasure buried deep in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.


The Spirit of the Beehive
1973 · 1h 39m · ES
In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn.


Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
1977 · 1h 53m · UK
Princess Farah refuses to marry Sinbad until Prince Kassim, her brother, is able to give his consent. However, the Prince's wicked stepmother, Queen Zenobia, has changed Kassim into a baboon in order to have her own son crowned as caliph. Sinbad, his crew, the Princess and the transformed Prince travel to a distant land, fighting every obstacle Zenobia places in their path, to seek the advice of a legendary wise man who can possibly tell how to end the spell.


Dracula
1979 · 1h 49m · UK
In 1913, charming, seductive, and sinister Count Dracula travels to England seeking an immortal bride.


Blacula
1972 · 1h 33m · US
An 18th century African prince is turned into a vampire while visiting Transylvania. Two centuries later, he rises from his coffin attacking various residents of Los Angeles and meets Tina, a woman who he believes is the reincarnation of his deceased wife.


Lorelei
1975 · 1h 48m · PH
A story about Lorelei a mermaid and Paing a fisherman.
The 1970s are widely considered American cinema's strongest decade, when the studio system's collapse handed a generation of young directors unusual freedom. It ended with Jaws and Star Wars inventing the modern blockbuster.
Fantasy builds worlds with their own rules — myth, magic, and invented history rendered with enough conviction to carry a story. The genre's modern shape owes much to Tolkien adaptations, but its roots run through folklore from every filmmaking tradition.