Scifi And Fantasy The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked  

Ranker Film
1.2k votes 145 voters 3.4k views 68 items

List Rules Only fantasy films in language other than English. Vote up the best foreign fantasy films.

We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, Ranker may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

If you're a fantasy junkie looking to expand your perspective, why not check out some of the best foreign fantasy films? Fantasies have the ability to transport viewers to another world, one filled with magic, the supernatural, and the make believe. Foreign language fantasy movies are unique in that - while creating an imaginary universe - they can simultaneously introducing you to the culture and customs of other countries. From animated classics to live action adventures, there are plenty of good foreign fantasy films that will delight any viewer. 

What films will you find here? The Godzilla franchise found the monstrous title character wreaking havoc on the people of Japan. A futuristic city is the setting for the 1927 German classic Metropolis. Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro are iconic animated classics set in Japan. Other good movies featured on this top foreign fantasy films list include The City of Lost Children, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Stalker, and The Host. 

Which foreign film deserves the top spot on this list? Give your favorite movies a thumbs up and add anything you feel is missing. 

list ordered by

1
29 4
Pan's Labyrinth is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Doug Jones, Ivana Baquero, Sergi López i Ayats Pan's Labyrinth, originally known in Spanish as El laberinto del fauno, is a 2006 Spanish-Mexican dark fantasy film written and directed by Mexican Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and ...more

2
29 8
The NeverEnding Story is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Gerald McRaney, Limahl, Moses Gunn The NeverEnding Story is a 1984 West German epic fantasy film based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende, about a boy who reads a magical library book that tells a story of a young ...more

3
24 6
Spirited Away is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Miyu Irino, Bunta Sugawara, Ryunosuke Kamiki Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film stars Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, ...more

4
19 5
Border is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Eva Melander, Jorgen Thorsson, Ann Petrén Border is a 2018 Swedish fantasy film directed by Ali Abbasi A customs officer who can smell fear develops an unusual attraction to a strange traveler while aiding a police investigation which ...more

5
29 17
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-Fat Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of Han actors, ...more

6
17 5
Princess Mononoke is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Jada Pinkett Smith Princess Mononoke is a 1997 anime epic action historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli and produced by Toshio Suzuki. The film stars the ...more

7
19 12
My Neighbor Totoro is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Noriko Hidaka, Ikue Ōtani, Sumi Shimamoto My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film – which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika ...more

8
14 9
Beauty and the Beast is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, Josette Day Beauty and the Beast is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film adaptation of the traditional fairy tale of the same name, written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1757 as part ...more

9
16 12
The City of Lost Children is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Ron Perlman, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Pinon The City of Lost Children is a 1995 French-German-Spanish science fantasy drama film directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Ron Perlman, who does not speak French, and ...more

10
16 16
TrollHunter is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Knut Nærum, Otto Jespersen, Robert Stoltenberg Trollhunter is a 2010 Norwegian dark fantasy film, made in the form of a "found footage" mockumentary. It is written and directed by André Øvredal, and features a mixed ...more

11
7 4
Ranker Video
Alex Gaginsky added The Story of Voyages Tatyana Maksuta, Andrey Mironov

12
7 4
Night Watch is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Anna Semenovich, Jeanna Friske, Gosha Kutsenko Night Watch is a 2004 Russian urban fantasy supernatural thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov. It is loosely based on the novel The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, and is the first part ...more

13
6 3
The Snow Queen is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Sergey Martinson, Janina Żejmo, Vladimir Gribkov The Snow Queen is a 1957 Soviet feature animated film directed by Lev Atamanov. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian ...more

14
6 3
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Baahubali 2: The Conclusion Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (English: The One with Strong Arms: The Conclusion), also known by the initialism BB2, is a 2017 Indian historical fiction film directed by S. S. Rajamouli. Shiva, ...more

15
16 17
Nausicaä of the Valley of the ... is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Jōji Yanami, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Ichirō Nagai Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a 1984 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his own 1982 manga of the same name. ...more

16
5 2
The Scarlet Flower is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Lev Durov The Scarlet Flower is a 1952 Soviet feature animated film directed Lev Atamanov. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on the story of the same name by Sergei ...more

17
5 2
The Sword and the Dragon is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Sergey Martinson, Boris Andreyev, Andrei Abrikosov Ilya Muromets, known in the US as The Sword and the Dragon and in the UK as The Epic Hero and the Beast, is a Soviet fantasy film directed by the noted fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko, made ...more

18
5 2
Monster Hunt is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Monster Hunt

19
6 4
Baahubali: The Beginning is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Prabhas ahubali: The Beginning, also known as BB1, is a 2015 Indian dramatic action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli. In ancient India, an adventurous and daring man becomes involved in a decades old ...more

20
5 3
Mio in the Land of Faraway is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Christopher Lee Christian Bale Nicholas Pickard Mio in the Land of Faraway is a 1987 fantasy film directed by Vladimir Grammatikov and starring Christopher Lee, Christian Bale, Nicholas Pickard, Timothy Bottoms and Susannah York. Based on the ...more

21
5 4
The Monkey King is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Chow Yun-Fat, Donnie Yen, Zhang Zilin The Monkey King is a 2014 Hong Kong-Chinese fantasy film directed by Cheang Pou-soi and starring Donnie Yen as the titular protagonist. Yen also serves as the film's action director. Production ...more

22
3 2
Formula of Love is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Formula of Love Aleksandr Abdulov, Tatyana Pelttser, Elena Valyushkina Formula of Love is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin. It is loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by ...more

23
3 2
Arthur and the Invisibles is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Madonna, David Bowie, Robert De Niro Arthur and the Invisibles is a French/American CGI animated/live-action feature film adaptation of the 2002 children's book Arthur and the Minimoys, and the 2003 sequel Arthur and the Forbidden ...more

24
3 2
An Ordinary Miracle is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Oleg Yankovsky, Aleksandr Abdulov, Andrei Mironov An Ordinary Miracle is a Soviet 1978 romantic fantasy musical film directed by Mark Zakharov and based on a play by Yevgeni Shvarts. This is the second adaptation of the play; the first one was ...more

25
3 2
Sadko is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Foreign Fantasy Movies, Ranked
Alex Gaginsky added Mikhail Astangov, Stepan Kayukov, Mikhail Troyanovsky Sadko is a 1952 Russian fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Ptushko. The film is based on an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which was based on a Russian bylina with the same name, and scored ...more