Top Ten Fantasy Movies

        Top Ten Fantasy Movies 

        

          1.   Life of Pi (2012)

       Life of Pi, based on the novelby Yann Martel, tells the fantastical story of Pi Patel, a sixteen-year-old South Indian boy who survives at sea with a tiger, named Richard Parker, for 227 days. While cast away, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with the fearsome Bengal tiger. It’s the story of their relationship and survivel.

Directed By:  Ang Lee

 Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan, Tabu

2.   The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey (2012) & The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

The Hobbit  is an epic fantasy adventure film based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. It tells the tale of Bilbo and his journey to the Lonely Mountain with Thirteen Dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf the Grey, to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

Directed by Peter Jackson.

Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage

          

           3.   The Lord of the Rings Series

       The Lord of the Rings is a film series consisting of three epic fantasy adventure films adapted and directed by Peter Jackson and based on English author J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Set in the fictional world of  middle earth, the three films follow the Frodo as he and a fellowship embark on a quest to destroy a ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord.

Director: Peter Jackson

 Cast: More Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen

         

          4.   Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

         At the end of the Spanish civil war, a young girl meets the god Pan, who gives her three challenges. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

Director:Guillermo del Toro

 Cast: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez

5.   Pirates of the Caribbean series

           Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy films stories following the adventures of Jack SparrowThe films take place in a fictional historical setting; a world ruled largely by an amalgam of alternative, evil versions of theBritish Empire and the East India Company, with the pirates representing freedom from the ruling powers

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom

6.   Harry Potter series

      The young Wizard Harry Potter’s quest to overcome the Dark wizard whose aims are to become immortal, conquer the wizard world, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way.

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe

7.   King Kong (2005)

       The film tells the story of an overly ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter, King Kong a legendary giant gorilla. Captured, he is displayed in New York City, with tragic results

Directed by Peter Jackson

Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black

8.   X-Men series

        The X-Men series tells the story of a team of mutant superheroes and their adventures.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, PatricK Stewart, Ian McKellen

9.   The Avengers (2012)

       Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. assembles a team of superhumans to save the planet from Loki and his army.

Director:Joss Whendon

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans

10. Wrath of the Titans (2010)

       Perseus, a son of Zeus, lives as a fisherman after the death of his wife with his young son, Helius. He is called again, this time to rescue his father Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.

Directed: Jonathan Leibesman

Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson

Who is Richard Parker in Life of Pi?

Who is Richard Parker in Life of Pi?

Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure film by Ang Lee based on the novel by Yann Martel. It tells the story of Pi Patel, a sixteen-year-old South Indian boy who survives at Pacific Ocean with a tiger, named Richard Parker. Richard Parker lives on the lifeboat with Pi and is kept alive with the food and water Pi delivers. Richard Parker develops a relationship with Pi that allows them to coexist in their struggle. Two hundred and twenty-seven days after the ship's sinking, the lifeboat washes onto a beach in Mexico. Richard Parker disappears into the nearby jungle without a glance back.

The Two Stories of Pi Patel

The last part of the story describes a conversation between Pi and two officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport who are conducting an inquiry into the shipwreck. They meet him at the hospital in Mexico where he is recovering. Pi tells them his tale, with the tiger, but the officials rejects it as unbelievable. Pi then offers them a second story in which he is adrift on a lifeboat not with zoo animals, but with the ship's cook, a sailor with a broken leg, and his own mother. The cook amputates the sailor's leg for use as fishing bait, and then kills the sailor and Pi's mother for food. Pi then kills the cook and dines on him.

It is implied that the hyena symbolizes the cook, the zebra the sailor, the orangutan Pi's mother, and the tiger Pi. Pi points out that neither story can be proven nor neither explains the cause of the shipwreck.

Who is Richard Parker?

Depending on which of Pi's stories you believe, Richard Parker is either a real tiger or simply an imagination of Pi’s mind. We know that it is difficult to consider a tiger co-existing with a boy in a small boat for more than 200 days. He might be considered as either the projection of Pi or a symbolic presentation.

Though Richard Parker is quite fearsome, ironically his presence helps Pi stay alive. Alone on the lifeboat, Pi has many issues to face in addition to the tiger onboard. Renewed, Pi is able to take concrete steps toward ensuring his continued existence: searching for food and keeping himself motivated. Caring and providing for Richard Parker keeps Pi busy and passes the time. Without Richard Parker to challenge and distract him, Pi might have given up on life. After he washes up on land in Mexico, he thanks the tiger for keeping him alive.

Richard Parker: Pi’s Fear

“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, and shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always ... so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”
                                                                     Yann Martel Life of Pi

          Pi knew that fear is the only true opponent in life. In the middle of the ocean, among various other threats and needs, the real problem that Pi faced was the tiger. The portrayal of Richard Parker can be a symbolic presentation of the fear of the shipwrecked Pi. The main emotion that Pi felt throughout his adventures journey was fear, the fear the sea, the fear of survival…When he was at the zoo with Anandi, Pi says Richard Parker is the most magnificent creature in their zoo. He had always amazed and feared the huge tiger. Thus when he faced his life’s true opponent, fear, it is natural that he compares that instinct or situation with the most fearful thing he ever saw, Richard Parker.

       

  Pi soon finds that if he doesn’t fight the fear, it will conquer him. So he decides to control his fear. You could see Pi trains the tiger to control him.

“Without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.”

Through several training exercises, he dominates Parker. This success gives him confidence, making his other obstacles seem less insurmountable. Renewed, Pi is able to take concrete steps toward ensuring his continued existence: searching for food and keeping himself motivated. Without Richard Parker to challenge and distract him, Pi might have given up on life. ultimately he reaches the shores of Mexico. The fear of sea or survival no more haunts him, Richard Parker is no more present in his life. It slowly withdraws into the wild.

The same fear that could defeat him became his motivator. If Pi doesn’t develop an uncontrollable fear, he couldn’t be active and survive the 227 days. The fear of survival helps him to find the bravery that lied within him.  In life ‘fear’ can, sometimes act as a motive. The fear of the future outcome of a particular act or living style makes one to act responsibly. The same fear of survival, Richard Parker, helped him to act and survive in the middle of the ocean.

The Second Story

In the second story (the one without animals) Pi represents the tiger. Pi, a pure vegeterian, had to cath fish and eat it. To survive in the vast ocean he had to develop a more aggressive nature. He had to kill the murderer of his loving mother. For all these things, Pi, had to devolope some animalistic insticnts. Thus he imagine himself as the most fearsome animal he ever witnessed, Richard Parker. The brutality of his mother’s death and his own shocking act of revenge are too much for Pi to deal with, and he finds it easier to imagine a tiger as the killer, rather than himself in that role.

The real question is , which story do you, prefer? The answer or explanation depends on your preference of the two stories.

Top 25 Science Fiction/ Dystopian Movies of All Time

Top 25 Science Fiction Movies of All Time

 1.    Matrix (1999)

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

Directed: The Watchowsky Brothers

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving

 2.  Inception (2010)

 

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. One last job is offered for him,a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible.

        Directed: Christopher Nolan

        Stars: Leonardo Dicaprio, Josph Gordon Levitt

3.  Avatar (2009)

 

A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

             Directed: James Cameron

             Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana 

  

4.   V for Vendetta (2005)

 

A shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses guerrilla tactics to fight against his terrorist, totalitarian society.

           Director:  James McTeigue

           Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman 

 

5.  Terminator 2 (1991)

 

A Cyborg, T-101 comes from future to protect Sarah Connor ‘s teenage son, John Connor, from an even more powerful and advanced Terminator, the T-1000.

         Directed : James Cameron

         Stars : Arnold Schwarzenegger

6.   Equilibrium(2002)

 

In a Fascist future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system

        Director: Kurt Wimmer

        Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean

 

7.   Blade Runner (1982)

 

A blade runner has to track down and terminate for replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to Earth seeking their maker. 

              Director: Ridley Scott

              Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Young

8.  Children of Men (2006)

 

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have become somehow infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.

           Director: Alfonso Cuaron

           Stars: Julianne Moore

9.   A Clockwork Orange  (1971)

 

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.

              Director: Stanley Kubrick

              Stars: Malcom McDowell

10. Wall-E  (2008)

In the distant future, a small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

Directed : Andrew Stanton.

Stars : Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight

11. District 9 (2009)

 

 An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.

             Director: Neil Blomkamp

             Stars: Sharlto Copley

12. Star Trek (2009)

 

The hero,James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful, time-traveling Romulan creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

Director: J.J Abrams

Stars: Chris Pine

13. 1984 (1984)

 

George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

Director: Michael Radford

Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton

14. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

 

In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.

Director: Francois Truffaut

Stars: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie

15. I Robot (2004)

 

In the year 2035 a techno-phobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity. 

            Director: Alex Proyas

            Stars: Will Smith

  

16. Total Recall (1990)

 

When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real, or does he?

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone

17. 12 Monkeys (1995)

 

In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Director: Terry Gilliam

Stars: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt

18. Gattaca (1997)

 

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

Director: Andrew Niccol

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman

19. Minority Report (2002)

 

In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder.

          Director: Steven Spielberg

          Stars: Tom Cruise

20. I am Legend (2007)

 

Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure. 

Director: Francis Lawrence

Stars: Will Smith

21. Demolition Man (1993)

 

A cop is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent enemy who is loose in a nonviolent future society.

Director: Marco Brambilla

Stars:Sylvester Stallone, Weseley Snipes,Sandra   Bullock

22. Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games is a 2012 American science fiction adventure film directed by Gary Ross, based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins.

Director: Gary Ross

Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson

23. Donnie Darko (2001)

A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.

Director: Richard Kelley

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone

24. Aliens (1986)

The planet from alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. A Company enlists  Ellen Ripley to aid a team of tough, rugged space marines on a rescue mission to the now partially terraformed planet to find out if there are aliens or survivors.

Directed : James Cameron

Stars : Sigourney Weaver

25. A.I (2001) 

A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother. 

Director: Steven Spielberg

Stars: Haley Joel Osment