Time for the 3rd Annual Fantasy Film Challenge! I have kept the core of the prompt list from last year with a few hopefully welcome tweaks.
The idea of the challenge is to explore fantasy movies. I will be using a more limited definition of the genre, focusing on stories of otherworlds, which may have similarities to our own, especially our medieval past, but are marked by the magical, strange and supernatural. I am not restricting my viewing to Tolkein inspired high fantasy or Dungeons and Dragons inspired tales, but the idea of quest narratives, magical complications, and creatures pulled or adapted from folklore and mythology will be at the center of most of my choices. So not everything on…
Time for the 3rd Annual Fantasy Film Challenge! I have kept the core of the prompt list from last year with a few hopefully welcome tweaks.
The idea of the challenge is to explore fantasy movies. I will be using a more limited definition of the genre, focusing on stories of otherworlds, which may have similarities to our own, especially our medieval past, but are marked by the magical, strange and supernatural. I am not restricting my viewing to Tolkein inspired high fantasy or Dungeons and Dragons inspired tales, but the idea of quest narratives, magical complications, and creatures pulled or adapted from folklore and mythology will be at the center of most of my choices. So not everything on the Letterboxd genre filter is going to work for me, but make this challenge your own. And some of the prompts are written to invite participants to go off genre on occasion. In the end, craft your own experience.
Watch in any order. Skip prompts you do not like and double others instead. I will be using the tag “fantasy2026” to track all of my watches. My goal is to complete the list on or before December 31, 2026.
My Progress: 28/52
If you do decide to participate, please comment below so I can follow your efforts.
2026 Participants: Nick Atkins, abystopia, donnaofbadness, Michaella, Dmytro, savagebrowncoat, sodiumman, matt armstrong, evilchachouuu, Alex Simeon, Happychipmunk2, Charcastrology, Cesar
1. Watch a fantasy film directed, written, or produced by a woman. A work-in-progress list can be found here
2. Watch the most popular fantasy movie on your watchlist
3. Watch the least popular fantasy movie on your watchlist
4. Go to your watchlist, filter the genre to Fantasy and sort by "Shuffle". Then pick one of the first five films that appears.
5. Watch a fantasy film from before the 60s
6. Watch a fantasy movie from the 60s
7. Watch a fantasy movie from the 70s
8. Watch a fantasy movie from the 80s
9. Watch a fantasy movie from the 90s
10. Watch a fantasy movie from the 00s
11. Watch a fantasy movie from the 2010s
12. Watch a fantasy film from 2020 or later
13. Watch an Indian fantasy movie
14. Watch an Italian fantasy movie
15. Watch a non-animated Japanese fantasy movie
16. Watch an animated Japanese fantasy movie
17. Watch an animated fantasy movie (non-Japanese)
18. Watch a fantasy movie from a European country other than Italy
19. Watch a movie based on a fairy tale or folk tale
20. Watch a movie inspired by Arthurian Legends
21. Watch a fantasy movie with effects by Ray Harryhausen
22. Watch a movie with dragons, where all the dragons are evil
23. Watch a movie with at least one good and/or friendly dragon
24. Watch a movie with elves
25. Watch a movie with dwarves or gnomes
26. Watch a movie with a troll or giant
27. Watch a movie with fantasy creatures living in a modern or futuristic world
28. Watch a Viking movie
29. Watch a Peplum/ Sword and Sandals movie
30. Watch a barbarian movie
31. Watch a movie with the word “fighter” or “knight” or “slayer” or “crusader” in its title
32. Watch a movie with a wizard, sorcerer, warlock, or witch
33. Watch a movie featuring a cleric or priest
34. Watch a movie about a druid or shapeshifter
35. Watch a movie about a rogue or thief
36. Watch a fantasy movie produced and/or directed by Roger Corman
37. Watch a fantasy movie from Cannon films
38. Watch a fantasy movie produced by Beijing Enlight Pictures
39. Watch a fantasy movie from the Shaw Brothers
40. Watch a fantasy movie from Arrowstorm Entertainment
41. Watch a fantasy movie from The Asylum
42. Watch a fantasy movie from Uwe Boll (I’m sorry…)
43. Watch a fantasy movie featuring Nicolas Cage
44. Video Store Bargain Bin: Watch a fantasy movie with fewer than 25k views on Letterboxd based entirely on the poster
45. Watch a fantasy movie from the Disturbing, Controversial, Shocking, Bizarre and Messed Up: The Ultimate Guide list
46. Watch a fantasy movie from The (Almost) Complete Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film list
47. Watch a fantasy movie with a poster on which a sword makes contact with the letters of the title of the film
48. Watch a fantasy movie with a bow and/or arrow on the poster
49. Watch a fantasy movie with King, Queen, Prince, or Princess in its title
50. Watch a fantasy movie with a number in its title
51. Watch a fantasy movie with a child or teen protagonist
52. Watch a fantasy movie with a female lead
Looking for movies to try? Here are some of my go-to lists:
Sword and Sorcery by Tobias Andersen
Get Medieval! by Karl Janssen
The Once and Future King by Troy Peterson
Knights by Jack Eriksson
Goblincore by Mystery Street
My own S+S list
