Netflix has some of the best fantasy movies you will find on a streaming service.
This is not only original Netflix fantasy movies but also some great films licensed from studios.
These include superhero movies, epic fantasy efforts, horror releases, and some of the best comedy fantasies in history.
Every month, Netflix makes major changes to its platform, removing several movies and adding numerous new ones to replace them.
Luckily, we are here every month to check the lists and update them by removing movies that have left the streaming service and replacing them with other options.
There are plenty of fantastic fantasy films just waiting to be streamed, here are our top picks.
Updated: January 2022 – We will update this article every month with fantasy movies added to streaming on Netflix, while also removing any movies that have dropped off the site, so bookmark this page for new entries every month.
Big Fish (2003)
Released in 2003, Tim Burton directed the fantasy movie Big Fish, a story of a father and son who never say eye to eye.
The movie flipped between the fantastical stories that a father told his son and the present day where the son he having to deal with his conflicted feelings after his father dies.
What the man (Billy Crudup) learns is that most of his dad’s stories were based in truth and much of the fantasy was actually reality as he sees the truth as his father passes away.
The flashback scenes have Ewan McGregor starring as Edward Bloom, while Albert Finney was Edward in present day.
300 (2006)
Zack Snyder achieved a lot of success when he directed the DCEU movies based on Superman and Batman. However, those were not his first comic book adaptations.
Before he joined the DCEU, Snyder directed an adaptation of Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ Watchmen and an adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300. For 300, he actually worked with Miller for the adaptation.
In 300, Gerard Butler and Lena Headey starred in a movie about King Leonidas leading 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian God-King Xerxes and his 300,000 soldiers. Much like Watchmen, Snyder shot almost all the movie in front of a green screen and then added replica backgrounds from the comics.
Braveheart (1995)
Mel Gibson directed and starred in the historical epic Braveheart in 1995.
The movie told the story of William Wallace, the Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England.
The movie was a massive success, picking up 10 Oscar nominations and winning for Best Picture and Best Director, while Gibson also won Best Director at the Golden Globes.
Hook (1991)
Steven Spielberg directed a family movie based on the tales of Peter Pan in 1991 titled Hook.
The movie starred Robin Williams as Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, and the movie was mostly seen as a letdown through the year of Spielberg’s career.
However, both for kids who grew up when the movie was released and for young explorers today, there is a lot to love about the movie, which was very much a boy’s tale about adventures and friendship.
Jonah Hex (2010)
Jonah Hex starred Josh Brolin as the DC Comics Wild West superhero, intent on stopping all outlaws, especially the supernatural.
The movie takes place during the Civil War and Jonah Hex was a Confederate soldier whose commanding officer ordered him to burn down a hospital. When he refused, he has to kill his best friend, the son of his commanding officer.
After the war, Jonah’s wife and son die in a house fire at the hands of this officer and he is left to die.
However, Jonah is resurrected though mystical forces and goes on to seek vengeance.
Dracula (1992)
Francis Ford Coppola created his own movie in the world of the classic Universal Monster Dracula. This was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with Gary Oldman playing the role of the vampire.
While the cast was questionable in some areas, especially with a miscast Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, the movie was a huge success.
Dracula brought a gothic atmosphere to the story and focused more on that than the actual horror. It ended up winning three Oscars, including one for Makeup and one for Costume Design.
Last Action Hero (1993)
The Last Action Hero was panned when it came out, but the movie was possibly ahead of its time.
In the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Jack Slater, a movie action hero in a successful franchise. A young boy from the real world is magically transported into the world of Jack Slater while a villain from the movie world comes into the real world.
The movie is an action movie in Schwarznegger’s heyday, but it is a satire that works on many levels and is more fun than its reputation might suggest.
Labyrinth (1986)
Jim Henson directed the fantasy movie Labyrinth in 1986 and it has remained a beloved cult classic since that time.
The movie stars Jennifer Connelly as a teenage girl who is stuck babysitting her baby brother. When she wishes the Goblin King would take the baby out of her life, he does.
The girl then sets out in a labyrinth full of dangerous goblins to try to save her brother from David Bowie’s brilliant Goblin King.
Stardust
A fantasy romantic film hit in 2007 and remains one of the best fairy tale movies of the new century.
Based on the Neil Gaiman novel and directed by Matthew Vaughn (The Kingsman), this tells the story of a fallen star and the young man who sets out to find it.
Charlie Cox (Daredevil) plays a young man who promises the woman he loves he will retrieve a fallen star to prove his love. However, when he finds the star, it is Claire Danes, and he realizes what true love really is.
He must protect her from a witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants to use the star to maintain her own youth.
A Monster Calls
A Monster Calls is a fantastic drama movie on Netflix, but it is also a very sad movie.
The movie stars Lewis MacDougall as Conor, a 13-year-old whose mother (Felicity Jones) is terminally ill. He ends up living with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) when his mother moves into a care facility.
A giant monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) visits the boy and offers to tell him three stories, and Conor has to tell him a story at the end.
The monster, and its stories, are allegories for what Conor is going through as a child, and his story at the end is equally poignant yet hopeful.
The Old Guard
In 2020, Netflix released a new action movie called The Old Guard, which was a fantastic new film for the streaming service.
Charlize Theron is Andy, the oldest immortal in a unit known as The Old Guard. These are all immortals who head out on missions to save people or stop the evil, with just the belief that what they are doing is right.
However, after years of fighting the good fight and beating evil people, they face their greatest threat — a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who wants to capture them and extract their powers for his purposes.
The BFG
Released in 2016, The BFG is a Steven Spielberg movie for Disney that is based on the classic story by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
The movie is a fantasy film about a world with giants and a 10-year-old orphaned girl named Sophie who befriends one of them.
While both are outcasts among their own people, they end up the only thing standing between a war of the humans and the giants that want to eat everyone.
Mark Rylance starred as The BFG, which was filmed and then animated using motion capture technology.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles is an adaptation of the children’s book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.
Mark Waters (Mean Girls) directs the film where Freddie Highmore stars as twin boys Jared and Simon, who move to the family’s ancestral home with their mother (Mary Louise Parker) and sister (Sarah Bolger).
In the new home, Jared finds an old book written by one of his ancestors, Arthur Spiderwick — a field guide about all the fairies he has encountered.
Soon, Jared can see these creatures, but this also opens a door where goblins invade his world.
Project Power
Project Power is an original superhero movie for Netflix, where it is more based in a sci-fi world where a drug gives people superpowers.
The powers only last for a short time, but they are very powerful, and therefore the drug is illegal.
Jamie Foxx is a U.S. Army Major, one of the first test subjects, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a New Orleans detective who uses the drug to become bulletproof.
They team up with a drug dealer named Robin to find and stop the distribution of the pills.
Okja
Boon Joon-ho won an Oscar for his 2019 movie Parasite, but he has several great movies to watch from the past.
One of these movies is his 2017 fantasy release, Okja, which is available to stream on Netflix.
The movie is about a young girl raising a genetically modified super pig, one of 26 specimens sent to farmers to contend for the best pig.
When Okja won the award, its creators came to take it and transport it to New York. The girl, Mija, tries to rescue the pig and ends up on the run with the Animal Liberation Front.
The cast is incredible, with Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito, and Lily Collins.