The genre of Fantasy

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is often regarded by many film fanatics as the quintessential fantasy films of the genre. Although the genre of fantasy is, in itself, quite elusive, it is difficult to reach a concrete decision as to what constitutes a fantasy film.
Unlike Sci-Fi films which are based on some degree of scientific truth, fantasy takes the audience to a place where things are unlikely occur in real life, often the case with a number of despotic films. Fantasy films are also often in the form of imaginations/dreams/hallucinations of the story teller and usually including elements of myth, magic and the extraordinary. The characters of fantasy films, as can be seen in areas of Tolkien's work, are often supernatural and stemming from religion (angels, lesser gods, fairies) and legends/folklore (elves, gnomes, dwarves).

There are many iconic fantasy films that have in some way, contributed to the definition of the genre:

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- Voyage Dans La Lune (1902)
- Metropolis (1927)
-  Things to Come (1936)
- King Kong (1933)
- Lost Horizon (1937)
- Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars (1938)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)






These fantasy films have paved the way for a modern generation of the genre, often incorporating modern retelling of the very films listed above. Others include:

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- Pan's Labyrinth
- Star Wars
- The Butterfly Effect
- Jacob's Ladder
- Harry Potter
- Hellboy
- Blade: Trinity
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Beetle Juice
- Bridge to Terebithia
- X-Men