If you have ever found yourself reading a movie review and thinking, “Wow, this person gets it,” chances are you were reading a Roger Ebert review. For over four decades, Ebert set a standard for film criticism. An eloquent observer who could dissect a blockbuster or a quiet indie with equal sharp-eyed instinct, he was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize because he did not just review movies, but also shaped the way audiences thought about movies.
Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies” list remains one of the most respected cinematic canons and his reviews are known for their clarity… and occasional bite. When it comes to fantasy, as a genre, it often gets boxed into dragons and wizards. Ebert saw beyond the clichés and understood that fantasy was about imagination. About the human need to dream beyond what’s real. From animated wonders to dark fables, he admired movies that bent the rules of time and space, so long as they did it with heart.
Roger Ebert’s taste in fantasy was global, eclectic, and grounded. So, if you want to explore a fantasy through the eyes of one of cinema’s most trusted guides, here is a list of 10 Roger Ebert-approved fantasy movies everyone should watch at least once.
‘The Spirit of the Beehive’ (1973)
The Spirit of the Beehive takes you to a quiet Spanish village not long after the Civil War and tells the story of two young sisters, Ana and Isabel, who watch a traveling screening of James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931). Ana, the younger of the two, becomes haunted by the idea that the monster is real. Her sister, being the casually cruel older sibling, tells her that it’s a spirit who lives nearby, and when Ana takes it to heart, she ends up discovering a wounded fugitive hiding in an abandoned barn and believes he is the monster.
Childhood Wonder
In The Spirit of the Beehive, the delicate portrait of childhood imagination collides with political silence and adult detachment. Full of quiet spaces and slow scenarios, it is a fantasy of myth-making and of how stories shape the way children see the world. Roger Ebert called it “one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen.” He was especially moved by Ana Torrent’s performance, noting how her “open, innocent features” made her belief plausible.
‘Wings of Desire’ (1987)
Berlin, before the wall came down, is a city of longing in Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire. It follows two angels, Daniel and Cassiel, who drift through the city invisibly, listening to the thoughts of its inhabitants. They cannot intervene, only observe. But when Damiel begins to year for more, to touch, to taste, and to fall in love, his fascination with an artist named Marion drives him to finally “take the plunge.”
Witnessing Life Without Living It
Ebert described Wings of Desire as a movie that “evokes a mood of reverie, elegy and meditation.” Captivated by its patience and its refusal to explain everything, he praised Bruno Ganz’s role as Damiel and also Henri Alekan’s cinematography, especially the way the camera “floats over the city” and shifts from monochrome to color with such emotional precision that you forget you’re witnessing a film unfold at all.
‘The Thief of Bagdad’ (1924)
The Thief of Bagdad is a technicolor masterpiece that opens with a dethroned king named Ahmad, and a street-smart thief named Abu, escaping prison and going on a quest to reclaim a kingdom and a princess. Along the way, they must navigate a world full of wonder and danger, as well as a nefarious sorcerer named Jaffar, who uses sorcery to seize power and enchant the princess.
A Timeless Adventure
The story is simple. Well-heard of even. But the visuals are anything but. Matte paintings, blue screen effects, and practical effects make every frame feel like a storybook coming to life. Roger Ebert, naturally, found The Thief of Bagdad quite entertaining, and he placed it on a level with The Wizard of Oz, another classic fantasy everyone should watch at least once. To quote Ebert from his review:
“To see either film is to see the cinema incorporating every technical art learned in the 1930s and employing them to create enchanting visions. Today, when dizzying CGI effects, the Queasy-Cam and a frantic editing pace seem to move films closer to video games, witness the beauty of “Thief of Bagdad” and mourn.”
‘Orpheus’ (1950)
Written and directed by Jean Cocteau, Orpheus is a surreal, modern-day fever dream set in postwar Paris. In the movie, poet Orpheus finds himself drawn into a strange triangle involving his wife Eurydice, a mysterious Princess, and a chauffeur named Heurtebise. After witnessing the death of a young rival, Orpheus is pulled into the underworld via a Rolls-Royce and a mirror and falls in love with the Princess, who is Death incarnate.
Mirrors and Mythic Longing
While drifting between life and death, poetry and politics, Cocteau’s signature visuals weave themselves seamlessly into the narrative, resulting in a movie that’s dreamy and romantic, but also strangely grounded. Ebert noted all of that in his review. He was especially taken by the way Cocteau’s effects “aren’t tricks at all, but simply the conditions of his mythical world.”
‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999)
There is no graceful way to summarize Being John Malkovich because it’s a movie that defies rigid packaging. Craig Schwartz is a struggling puppeteer who stumbles upon a portal behind a filing cabinet on the 7½th floor of a Manhattan office building. This portal leads directly into the mind of actor John Malkovich, where visitors can spend exactly 15 minutes before being ejected onto the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig, his co-worker and crush Maxine, and eventually Malkovich himself, get entangled in this metaphysical loop.
Serious and Sad and Satirical
With the way it spirals into questions about identity, control, and consciousness, all while maintaining a wicked sense of humor, it’s easy to get captivated by Being John Malkovich. Roger Ebert himself was floored by the inventiveness and sheer audacity of the movie, describing it as “a movie that creates a new world for us and uses it to produce wonderful things.” Charlie Kaufman’s script, he said, had “ideas enough for half a dozen films,” and yet it never felt overloaded.
‘The Golden Compass’ (2007)
Based on the 1995 novel, titled Northern Lights, written by Philip Pullman as a part of the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass transports viewers to a parallel universe that feels like a steampunk-inspired version of Victorian England. The story revolves around a fiercely curious orphan named Lyra Belacqua, who is entrusted with the alethiometer, and when children begin disappearing, she forms a team and journeys north to rescue them.
Thoughtful Without Losing Its Magic
A rich and layered adventure, The Golden Compass is another Roger Ebert-approved fantasy movie that everyone should watch at least once. Ebert saw it as more than just a fantasy epic. He called it “a darker, deeper fantasy” than The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, praising its complexity and visual grandeur. He was also intrigued by the philosophical undercurrents about free will and truth and admired Nicole Kidman’s icy portrayal of Mrs. Coulter.
‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit combines noir mystery and cartoon hijinks against the gloriously exaggerated backdrop of 1947 Hollywood. In it, private detective Eddie Valiant is hired to investigate a scandal involving the manic and exuberant toon star Roger Rabbit and his wife Jessica. When Marvin Acme, the owner of Toontown, turns up dead, Roger becomes the prime suspect, and Eddie grudgingly gets pulled into a huge conspiracy.
Cinematic Fusion Like No Other
Robert Zemeckis has made a genius movie. The way it treats absurd elements, like animated characters sharing screen space with humans, interacting with props, and moving with weight and dimensions, like they’re ordinary, somehow makes perfect sense. Ebert was particularly dazzled by the movie’s technical mastery and called it “sheer, enchanted entertainment from the first frame to the last,” and admired how the camera moved like a 1940s thriller, refusing to play it safe.
‘Ugetsu’ (1953)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, Ugetsu unfolds like a ghost story. It is set during Japan’s civil wars, and it follows two brothers. Genjuro is a potter obsessed with wealth, and Tobie is a farmer who dreams of becoming a samurai. Their ambitions lead them away from their wives and into a city haunted by war, where they are seduced by the ethereal Lady Wakasa and her castle, which is suspended in time.
A Ghostly Fable
Ugetsu is moral storytelling at its most haunting. Every scene seems to be floating between worlds, the eerie beauty and landscapes enveloping the frames and enchanting the viewers. Roger Ebert praised its ability to feel both like a fable and a lived reality. In his review, he wrote:
“The characters in Ugetsu are down to earth, and in the case of Tobei, even comic, but the story feels ancient, and indeed draws on the ghost legends of Japanese theater. Unlike ghost stories in the West, Mizoguchi’s film does not try to startle or shock; the discovery of the second ghost comes for us as a moment of quiet revelation, and we understand the gentle, forgiving spirit that inspired it.”
‘My Neighbor Totoro’ (1988)
There’s no plot twist or villain in My Neighbor Totoro, and that’s precisely why it is so magical. Two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, move to the countryside with their father as their mother recovers from an illness in a nearby hospital. As the girls explore their new home, they encounter a giant furry forest spirit named Totoro, and the whimsical Catbus.
Fantasy as Comfort
Hayao Miyazaki’s observational fantasy is built on small moments, like a pillar that wobbles, a nap or Totoro’s belly, and a bottle in a stream. It is a kind world where curiosity is treated with reverence, and Ebert identifies it. He adored My Neighbor Totoro, calling it “one of the most beloved of all family films” and praising its “benign” universe. The hand-drawn animation, the attention to detail, the watercolor backgrounds, all contribute to the joy and realism of the movie.
‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2001)
From the moment Harry receives his Hogwarts letter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone lays the groundwork for an epic fantasy world complete with magical rules and gothic charm. Harry, raised by his cruel relatives, discovers that he is a wizard and is whisked off to Hogwarts, where he befriends Hermione and Ron, learns spells, plays Quidditch, and uncovers a mystery about a hidden stone and a dark sorcerer.
Classic Born From Care
Building a universe that feels ancient but alive, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone thrives on elements of whimsy and danger. Ebert, like millions of others, was charmed by the movie’s fidelity to J.K. Rowling’s novel. Apart from the performances of the young cast, he also loved the adult ensemble. Alan Rickman’s slow delivery, Maggie Smith’s warmth, and Richard Harris’s twinkling gravitas. For Ebert, this was fantasy done right. It was immersive, respectful, and built to last.
