MRQE Ranks: Best to Worst Live-Action Fairy Tales

1

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Cast: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton

Director: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Richard Thorpe, King Vidor

Writer: L. Frank Baum

Synopsis: The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made J... [MORE]

2

The Red Shoes (1948)

Cast: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Leonide Massine, Robert Helpmann

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Synopsis: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's influential musical tragedy set the stage for the climactic dance ballets that became a staple of the Arthu... [MORE]

3

Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Cast: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel Andre, Mila Parely, Nane Germon

Director: Jean Cocteau

Synopsis: Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (originally released in France as La Belle et la Bête) stars Josette Day as Beauty and Jean Marai... [MORE]

4

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Cast: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdu, Alex Angulo, Doug Jones

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Synopsis: Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with th... [MORE]

5

Amélie (2001)

Cast: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Serge Merlin, Rufus

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Synopsis: One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-... [MORE]

6

The Princess Bride (1987)

Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon

Director: Rob Reiner

Synopsis: Based on William Goldman's novel of the same name, The Princess Bride is staged as a book read by grandfather (Peter Falk) to his ill grandson (Fre... [MORE]

7

The Dark Crystal (1982)

Director: Jim Henson, Frank Oz

Synopsis: Jim Henson ventures into Tolkien territory in his all-Muppet fantasy feature The Dark Crystal. The titular Crystal maintains equilibrium in a mythi... [MORE]

8

Finding Neverland (2004)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Nick Roud, Radha Mitchell

Director: Marc Forster

Synopsis: Following up his critically acclaimed Monster's Ball, director Marc Forster took on this biography of playwright James Matthew Barrie, the scribe w... [MORE]

9

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Cast: Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Graham Crowden, Brian Glover, Kathryn Pogson

Director: Neil Jordan

Synopsis: Company of Wolves is Little Red Riding Hood for the Alien generation. Sheltered 13-year-old Sarah Patterson, living on the edge of a foreboding woo... [MORE]

10

Big Fish (2003)

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman

Director: Tim Burton

Synopsis: Tim Burton directs the fantasy drama Big Fish, based on the book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Southern writer/illustrator Daniel Wall... [MORE]

11

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker

Director: Tim Burton

Synopsis: Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands opens as an eccentric inventor (Vincent Price) lovingly assembles a synthetic youth named Edward (Johnny Depp). Ed... [MORE]

12

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Cast: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney, Moses Gunn

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Synopsis: Wolfgang Petersen adapted Michael Ende's children's story for this charming fantasy film that spawned several sequels. Bastian (Barret Oliver) is d... [MORE]

13

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor

Director: Tim Burton

Synopsis: Director Tim Burton brings his unique vision and sensibility to Roald Dahl's classic children's story in this lavish screen interpretation. Willy W... [MORE]

14

Stardust (2007)

Cast: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Synopsis: A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win t... [MORE]

15

EverAfter (1998)

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Patrick Godfrey, Megan Dodds

Director: Andy Tennant

Synopsis: Andy Tennant directed this Cinderella variant. The Brothers Grimm arrive at the home of a wealthy Grande Dame (Jeanne Moreau) who speaks of the man... [MORE]

16

Enchanted (2007)

Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Idina Menzel

Director: Kevin Lima

Synopsis: Classic Disney animation meets contemporary urban chaos when a frightened princess is banished from her magical animated homeland to modern-day New... [MORE]

17

Peter Pan (2003)

Cast: Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Jason Isaacs, Lynn Redgrave, Richard Briers

Director: P.J. Hogan

Synopsis: Director P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding) helms this live-action retelling of J.M. Barrie's classic children's play +Peter P... [MORE]

18

Labyrinth (1986)

Cast: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm

Director: Jim Henson

Synopsis: George Lucas produced and Jim Henson directed this gothic fantasy which pits living and breathing actors Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie (who, al... [MORE]

19

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton

Director: Andrew Adamson

Synopsis: Four siblings -- Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), and Susan (Anna Popplewell) -- are sent from their London... [MORE]

20

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Casper Van Dien, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon

Director: Tim Burton

Synopsis: Washington Irving's tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman gets a few new twists in a screen adaptation directed by Tim Burton. In this ve... [MORE]

21

Splash (1984)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dody Goodman

Director: Ron Howard

Synopsis: "I'm in love with a mermaid!" read the opening line of Leonard Maltin's original review for Splash. And with the delightful Darryl Hannah in the l... [MORE]

22

Willow (1988)

Cast: Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Patricia Hayes

Director: Ron Howard

Synopsis: Though Willow was one of director Ron Howard's few box-office disappointments, it definitely deserves a second look. At once an epic celebration an... [MORE]

23

Legend (1985)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennent, Alice Playten

Director: Ridley Scott

Synopsis: This lavishly staged and costumed fantasy is about young Jack (Tom Cruise) and his lady love Princess Lili (Mia Sara), and how Jack battles Darknes... [MORE]

24

Pretty Woman (1990)

Cast: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, Jason Alexander

Director: Garry Marshall

Synopsis: Self-involved corporate raider Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) has recently split up with his girlfriend. Seeking directions to the Beverly Hills Hotel... [MORE]

25

Hook (1991)

Cast: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg filters J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan through a distinctly 1990s sensibility in Hook. Peter Pan has become Peter Banning (Robin William... [MORE]

26

Ella Enchanted (2004)

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Vivica A. Fox, Joanna Lumley

Director: Tommy O'Haver

Writer: Gail Carson Levine

Synopsis: Adapted from author Gail Carson Levine's award-winning children's book of the same name, the Miramax-financed modern fantasy Ella Enchanted is dire... [MORE]

27

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Matt Lucas

Director: Tim Burton

Synopsis: Director Tim Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) team up to deliver this visually dazzling take on the c... [MORE]

28

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Ian McShane

Director: Rupert Sanders

Synopsis: The enchanting Snow White (Kristen Stewart) joins forces with the fierce Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), who was recruited by the diabolical Queen (Cha... [MORE]

29

Penelope (2006)

Cast: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Richard E. Grant, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage

Director: Mark Palansky

Synopsis: A kindly aristocrat suffering from an unsightly curse breaks free from her extravagant, prison-like estate to seek adventure and discover her true ... [MORE]

30

Mirror Mirror (2012)

Cast: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, Sean Bean, Nathan Lane

Director: Tarsem Singh

Synopsis: The timeless fairy tale Snow White gets a dazzling makeover by visionary director Tarsem Singh in this fantasy adventure starring Oscar winner Juli... [MORE]

31

DragonHeart (1996)

Cast: Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, Julie Christie

Director: Rob Cohen

Synopsis: A boy and his dragon unite to fight evil in this fantasy. Bowen (Dennis Quaid), a Knight of The Old Code in Medieval times, is summoned by Aislinn ... [MORE]

32

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Synopsis: Inspired by the beloved segment of the Walt Disney classic Fantasia, The Sorcerer's Apprentice moves the setting of the story to modern-day Manhatt... [MORE]

33

Sydney White (2007)

Cast: Amanda Bynes, Sara Paxton, Matt Long, Jack Carpenter, Jeremy Howard

Director: Joe Nussbaum

Synopsis: After pledging her late mother's once-dignified sorority, a college freshman aligns herself with seven social outcasts in an attempt to influence c... [MORE]

34

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Cast: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce, Monica Bellucci, Peter Stormare

Director: Terry Gilliam

Synopsis: Two men who have made a career out of spinning remarkable stories find themselves bringing them to life in this inventive fantasy inspired by the c... [MORE]

35

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Synopsis: Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton reimagine Hansel and Gretel grown-up as bounty hunters in this Paramount Pictures production. Will Ferrell's Gary ... [MORE]

36

Beastly (2011)

Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Knudsen

Director: Daniel Barnz

Synopsis: A curse transforms a handsome and arrogant young man into everything he detests in this contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Wealthy Kyl... [MORE]

37

Red Riding Hood (2011)

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Synopsis: Amanda Seyfried stars in this dark retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fable, set in a medieval village where a werewolf has been terro... [MORE]

38

Pinocchio (2002)

Cast: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Carlo Giuffre, Kim Rossi Stuart, Peppe Barra

Director: Roberto Benigni

Synopsis: Academy Award-winner Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio. In hi... [MORE]