Best Fantasy movies of 1970s that are award winners or nominees

Star Wars(1977)

Combined Rating:
89
Combined Critics Rating: 84

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee, and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader.



Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back(1980)

Golden Globe 1
Combined Rating:
60
Combined Critics Rating: 41

After the rebels are overpowered by the Empire on their newly established base, Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Master Yoda. His friends accept shelter from a questionable ally as Darth Vader hunts them in a plan to capture Luke.



Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory(1971)

Combined Rating:
49
Combined Critics Rating: 26

Charlie receives a golden ticket to a factory, his sweet tooth wants going into the lushing candy, it turns out there's an adventure in everything.



Somewhere in Time(1980)

Golden Globe 1
Combined Rating:
45
Combined Critics Rating: 29

A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.



The Lord of the Rings(1978)

Golden Globe 1
Combined Rating:
42
Combined Critics Rating: 23

The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle-earth.



Heaven Can Wait(1978)

Combined Rating:
39
Combined Critics Rating: 24

A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.



The Wiz(1978)

Combined Rating:
34
Combined Critics Rating: 20

An adaptation of 'The Wizard of Oz' that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.



Phantom of the Paradise(1974)

Combined Rating:
33
Combined Critics Rating: 18

A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.



Oh, God!(1977)

Combined Rating:
29
Combined Critics Rating: 17

When God appears to an assistant grocery manager as a good natured old man, the Almighty selects him as his messenger for the modern world.



O Lucky Man!(1973)

Golden Globe 1
Combined Rating:
25
Combined Critics Rating: 13

This sprawling, surrealist musical serves as an allegory for the pitfalls of capitalism, as it follows the adventures of a young coffee salesman in Europe. Many actors play multiple roles, giving the film a stagy tone.



Man of La Mancha(1972)

Combined Rating:
18
Combined Critics Rating: 11

The funny story of mad but kind and chivalrous elderly nobleman Don Quixote who, aided by his squire Sancho Panza, fights windmills that are seen as dragons to save prostitute Dulcinea who is seen as a noblewoman.



Herbie Rides Again(1974)

Combined Rating:
18
Combined Critics Rating: 4

The living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.



Scrooge(1970)

Combined Rating:
17
Combined Critics Rating: 0

A musical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about an old bitter miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.



The Island at the Top of the World(1974)

Combined Rating:
12
Combined Critics Rating: 8

In 1907, four explorers discover a lost colony of Vikings in the Arctic.



The Little Prince(1974)

Combined Rating:
10
Combined Critics Rating: 0

A pilot, stranded in the desert, meets a little boy who is a prince on a planet.



Resurrection(1980)

Combined Rating:
8
Combined Critics Rating: 0

Edna Mae Macaulay experiences the afterlife for a brief time after a car accident that kills her husband. As she begins her long process of physical healing, she discovers that she has the ...



I Never Promised You a Rose Garden(1977)

Combined Rating:
6
Combined Critics Rating: 4

A disturbed,institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.



Charley and the Angel(1973)

Combined Rating:
2
Combined Critics Rating: 0

Charley is a workaholic family man that finds out from an angel that his "number's up" and he will be dying soon so he tries to change his ways and be a better husband and father with the time he has left.



Shanks(1974)

Combined Rating:
2
Combined Critics Rating: 0

A mute puppeteer uses a deceased scientist's invention to control dead bodies like puppets.