The 1970s was a fascinating era in the history of cinema that included some of the most outrageous and underrated fantasy movies ever made. This was a time before computer-generated imagery had taken over, and the special effects needed for live-action fantasy were done through the use of practical effects or a stop-motion style. Adding to this, this era reached a level of creative expression never before seen, leading to the development of plenty of ambitious, trail-blazing, and unique, underrated animated fantasy films.

While some fantasy movies from the 1970s have become cornerstones of popular culture, such as timeless classics like Monty Python and the Holy Grail or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this barely scratched the surface of what that decade could offer. Looking back on 1970s fantasy movies, lots of filmmakers, like Ralph Bakshi and Terry Gilliam, pushed the boundaries of the genre, and even directors outside the Western world were making unique and idiosyncratic fantasy films. There were just so many underrated fantasy movies from the 1970s.

10

The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (1973)

Directed by Gordon Hessler

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was a 1970s fantasy adventure based on the Arabian Nights tales of Sinbad the Sailor. This was the second of three Sinbad movies by Columbia Pictures, the first being The 7th Voyage of Sinbad from 1958 and the second being Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger from 1977. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad used cutting-edge stop-motion effects to push the boundaries of what could be achieved in a fantasy film and delivered an exciting adventure for the entire family.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was a box office hit and even won the first Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film. Despite memorable performances, a distinctive style, and an exciting story filled with magic and villains, this Gordon Hessler-directed feature has not achieved the same level of mainstream recognition as other major fantasy films of the 1970s and has been underrated by modern viewers. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was a solidly enjoyable fantasy adventure that deserved to reach a larger audience.

9

Wizards (1977)

Directed by Ralph Bakshi

The freaky psychedelic trip that was Wizards stood as the first fantasy film by Ralph Bakshi, who was previously known for urban films like Fritz the Cat and later made his own animated version of The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi’s Wizards was a creative tour de force that pushed the limits of contemporary animation as it told an adult-centric fantasy story about opposing wizards fighting using magic and technology. With Nazi imagery being used to represent the horrors of war, at times, Wizards’ messaging may have been a little too on the nose, yet it still stood as fascinating filmmaking.

Wizards mixed polemic political statements related to nuclear war and man’s inhumanity toward man with awe-inspiring animation, strong characterization, and unique stylistic expression. It’s a testament to the boundary-pushing era of 1970s cinema that a film like Wizards received a theatrical release and even went on to find financial success at the box office. Wizards was an allegorical fantasy whose bombastic style and over-the-top messaging meant it did not endure within popular culture in the way other more mainstream fantasies have.

8

Time After Time (1979)

Directed by Nicholas Meyer

Time After Time was a unique sci-fi fantasy that starred Malcolm McDowell as the British author H. G. Wells, using a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper in the 20th century. As an amusing, light-hearted fantasy story, the performances were fun, and the energy was kept consistently high while its clever story juxtaposed Victorian England and contemporary America. While Time After Time was well-received at the time of its release, it has not achieved the kind of enduring recognition that the quality of this film deserved and stands as a highly underrated release.

McDowell was joined by a talented cast of secondary characters, which included Mary Steenburgen as Amy Robbins. Steenburgen’s role bore many striking similarities to her later portrayal of Clara Clayton in Back to the Future Part III. Much like in that future sci-fi classic, in Time After Time, Steenburgen also found herself falling for a time-traveling man from a different era. This fascinating connection was just one of many reasons that viewers should be sure to check out Time After Time.

7

Belladonna Of Sadness (1973)

Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto

The Japanese surrealist art film Belladonna of Sadness was a powerful fantasy story for adults only. As the third and final entry in Mushi Production’s adult-oriented Animerama trilogy, after A Thousand and One Nights and Cleopatra, this intense story followed Jeanne, a peasant woman who made a Faustian deal with the Devil and was sexually assaulted by local nobility on the day of her wedding. Although Belladonna of Sadness was a commercial failure upon its release, it has since built up cult status among cinephiles.

Through intense psychedelic imagery, Belladonna of Sadness addressed urgent themes of misogyny, feudal oppression, moral depravity, rebellion, and witch-hunting. By mixing religious imagery with erotic and violent tendencies, director Yamamoto achieved an incredibly dynamic film-watching experience that may be too much for some viewers to bear. Over 50 years since its release, Belladonna of Sadness still holds the power to shock modern audiences through its extreme nature and uncompromising avant-garde style.

6

The Point (1971)

Directed by Fred Wolf

Among 1970s music fanatics, The Point was an animated cult classic that blended incredible music with a fantastical story that could be enjoyed by children and adults alike. Directed by Fred Wolf and with a story and music composed by singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson just a few years after he found success with “Everybody’s Talkin’ from the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack, this was a unique and idiosyncratic production that deserved more love than it got. Presented as a bedtime story, The Point was a fantasy film about young Oblio, a round-headed boy in a world full of pointed things.

The Point was an enjoyable fairy-tale story that was packed with incredible music from Nilsson and featured Dustin Hoffman as the narrator in its first telecast before he was replaced by Ringo Starr for the home video release. The message of The Point related to self-acceptance, as the story encouraged children not to reshape themselves to fit into a pre-established system and to embrace their unique nature. The Point was an incredibly underrated 1970s fantasy movie whose soundtrack also acted as Nilsson’s sixth studio album.

5

Jabberwocky (1977)

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Director Terry Gilliam, the man behind one of the most highly-rated fantasy movies of the 1970s, Monty Python and the Holy Grail; however, many may not be aware he also made one of that era’s most underrated fantasy films, Jabberwocky. With a title taken from the nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, Jabberwocky was every bit as absurd as its name suggested. With plenty of slapstick humor, Michael Palin starred in this British fantasy about a clumsy hero’s efforts to hunt and kill a dragon.

Jabberwocky mimicked many of the same stylings that made Monty Python and the Holy Grail a success, but that previous film had far more enduring popularity. With themes of money, corruption, and the search for meaning in life, Jabberwocky was a worthy addition to Gilliam’s unique filmography, which included subsequent fantasies like The Fisher King and The Brothers Grimm. For Monty Python lovers looking for something similar, Jabberwocky was an exciting, underrated discovery.

4

The Hobbit (1977)

Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass

Although Peter Jackson found success adapting the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, it must be noted that the first feature-length Middle-earth adaptation actually came with the release of The Hobbit in 1977. This animated movie told the story of Bilbo Baggins as an NBC television special animated by Topcraft. The Hobbit received a mixed reception upon release and was criticized for omitting key plot points from the fantasy novel as well as the lackluster quality of its animation.

While The Hobbit may not be the definitive cinematic version of Tolkien’s story, it must be admitted that it captured the sense of fun and adventure that the novel portrayed so well. At the time of release, The Hobbit was produced to be an enjoyable children’s adventure and did not have to compete with the lofty standards set by Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Among acclaimed movies like The Return of the King, this animated version of The Hobbit was often forgotten and deserved to be rediscovered by a contemporary audience.

3

The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)

Directed by Chuck Jones, Abe Levitow, & Dave Monahan

With strange music, creative writing, and an educational message, The Phantom Tollbooth was among the most underrated children’s movies of the 1970s. Utilizing live-action and animation, The Phantom Tollbooth felt ahead of its time with its unique style as a young boy named Milo overcame his sense of apathy by entering a gateway to an incredible parallel magical universe. From here, Milo traveled to different lands, such as the letter-based King of Words named Dictionopolis or the number-centric Kingdom of Mathematics named Digitopolis.

The Phantom Tollbooth was a frantic 89-minute adventure that packed a lot of characters and ideas into its swift runtime. With a psychedelic aesthetic that placed it firmly in the early 1970s, The Phantom Tollbooth was pure fantasy propelled by a unique sense of humor. As a forebear to later films that attempted to blend live-action and animation, The Phantom Tollbooth could be viewed as a precursor to everything from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Space Jam.

2

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

The Man Who Fell to Earth blended fantasy and sci-fi for an unusual alien story that felt like no previously released film. With David Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, a strange humanoid alien who traveled to Earth to seek water for his drought-stricken planet, The Man Who Fell to Earth soon became less about his mission and more about falling victim to the vices of humankind’s worst depravities. Bowie was appropriately cast as this gaunt otherworldly figure, as during the production of this film, he was amidst his own cocaine dependency as his personal life mimicked the struggles of Newton.

Today, The Man Who Fell to Earth was mostly remembered for its association with Bowie and how it influenced his stage persona of The Thin White Duke and the music he released during the mid to late 1970s. However, this ignored what a unique and interesting film director Roeg had produced, as its themes of environmentalism, social decay, and use of surreal imagery have stood the test of time. The Man Who Fell to Earth was an experimental triumph that went on to influence other acclaimed films, such as Under the Skin.

1

Zardoz (1974)

Directed by John Boorman

There were many insane facts about the 1974 Zardoz movie starring Sean Connery. As an unusual science fantasy written and directed by John Boorman, Zardoz was full of trippy visuals and special effects that firmly rooted it in the 1970s. In a post-apocalyptic world, Zardoz told the story of stone-worshipping barbarians growing food for a hidden elite called the Eternals. Once Zed (Connery) became curious about the stone idol, Zardoz, he was caught between the two camps in a brutal development that peaked during its gun-fueled shoot-em-up climax.

Zardoz was shot entirely in Wicklow, Ireland, and featured Connery in an outrageously skimpy outfit that had to be seen to be believed. Despite receiving a lackluster critical response upon its release, Zardoz has since been reappraised and developed into a true cult classic of fantasy cinema. It’s ambitious, outrageous, and often pretentious, but Zardoz was well worth checking out, even if it’s only to see Connery’s get-up.