The Harry Potter film franchise outlined a technology by way of its adaptation of the seven-part guide collection, however the supply materials has not aged effectively, and there are another masterpiece fantasy film franchises which might be higher than Harry Potter. Whereas Harry Potter contains many fantasy style staples like a “chosen one” storyline and fantastical creatures, different fantasy motion pictures have been extra artistic with these.
The fantasy style usually recycles storylines and plot factors, however nice collection use these as a place to begin to create one thing that feels contemporary and new. Even underrated fantasy franchises can transport viewers to a different world, and whereas Harry Potter is likely one of the most well-known, fantasy franchises like Harry Potter show that there’s extra on the market, and sometimes higher.
Dune
Harry Potter ended up rising too huge for its audience. The collection began as a childrens’ story, with character names that hinted at their professions, like Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology. Nevertheless, this stored the collection feeling infantile regardless of its darkish themes. The expansive world of Dune feels extra mature and thrilling than Harry Potter, with related themes however deeper worldbuilding.
Frank Herbert’s Dune books cowl a protracted timeline that has a “chosen one” storyline, and the collection was as soon as thought of unadaptable as a result of its complexity. Nevertheless, Denis Villeneuve created a masterpiece in his adaptation, which covers two elements of the story to date. These have a 90% and 95% Rotten Tomatoes fan ranking, respectively, with a 3rd film coming in 2026.
The story follows Paul Atreides, who, like Harry Potter, is taken into account “the chosen one” after his household was betrayed. Nevertheless, the story goes a lot deeper than Paul and his legacy. The query of whether or not Paul Atreides is a hero or a villain nonetheless evokes fan debates, and Dune is prone to stay an iconic fantasy franchise for years to come back.
Dune
5/10
- Launch Date
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September 15, 2021
Star Wars
The Harry Potter motion pictures observe Harry and his two foremost associates for his or her faculty years, however embody different characters who’re arguably extra attention-grabbing regardless of their lack of screentime. Nevertheless, every film within the Star Wars franchise has a number of fan-favorite characters, even when the flicks differ in high quality. This has led to some nice character-focused spin-offs, like Andor.
Star Wars explores way more of its universe and the varied characters dwelling in it, which makes the franchise endlessly fascinating, with its villains usually forming the most effective half. Darth Vader is broadly thought to be top-of-the-line film villains of all time, and whereas Lord Voldemort has an attention-grabbing backstory, he has a lot much less display screen presence than many Star Wars antagonists.
Harry Potter might have made family names of its foremost stars, however points of Star Wars are sometimes recognizable even to individuals who haven’t seen any of the flicks. Lightsabers, Darth Vader’s respiratory equipment, and the theme music have handed into film legend, and the franchise has had one of many greatest and longest-lasting cultural impacts of all time.
Pirates of the Caribbean
A theme park trip could also be an uncommon inspiration for a film franchise, however the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which was impressed by the Disney trip, turned a significant success towards the percentages. A part of this was by way of Johnny Depp’s standout efficiency because the charismatic Captain Jack Sparrow, who’s now top-of-the-line film antiheroes of all time.
Whereas the later Pirates of the Caribbean motion pictures didn’t obtain the success of the primary three within the franchise, it was usually higher than Harry Potter by way of originality. Harry Potter needed to adapt the supply materials, which was so detailed that most of the smaller moments have been lower from the flicks so they may advance the story.
This typically led to the flicks feeling flat in comparison with the books, with the primary characters shedding a few of their greatest traces and moments of character growth, particularly Ron Weasley, who was usually diminished to a comedic sidekick. Then again, nearly all of the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean felt three-dimensional and attention-grabbing always, and even Barbossa confirmed emotional depth.
How To Prepare Your Dragon
Harry Potter options dragons, however whereas the guide collection handled them as props relatively than characters, the dragons within the How one can Prepare Your Dragon franchise are fully-realized characters. The flicks have been based mostly on Cressida Cowell’s guide of the identical title, and every of the dragons has a definite persona, although their mannerisms and behaviors are impressed by cats.
Whereas the Harry Potter motion pictures provide a glimpse of a number of magical creatures, they weren’t totally explored till the magical zoologist Newt Scamander had his spin-off, Improbable Beasts and The place to Discover Them. Followers of fantasy creatures might favor the How one can Prepare Your Dragon franchise, as Hiccup and Toothless have a deeper partnership than Harry and Hedwig.
The Harry Potter franchise has been criticized for its lack of variety, whereas the primary characters in How one can Prepare Your Dragon are each amputees. The accidents are important and visibly accommodated, with out being their defining options. With a 99% constructive critics’ ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, the primary How one can Prepare Your Dragon film has a better rating than any of the Harry Potter motion pictures.
- Created by
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Cressida Cowell, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
- First Movie
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How one can Prepare Your Dragon
The Mummy
One of many main failings of the Harry Potter film variations is the best way it lower most of the guide’s funniest scenes. Harry and Ginny’s snarky feedback have been eliminated, whereas a lot of Ron’s most insightful traces got to Hermione, leaving him as a repetitive comedian aid character. Then again, The Mummy franchise embraces its camp humor, making it a greater fantasy collection.
Harry Potter‘s mixture of sinister and foolish doesn’t at all times translate effectively to the display screen, whereas The Mummy will get the steadiness spot-on. This was partly because of the charisma of the leads and the sensible results, which nonetheless maintain up effectively at present. The scene through which scarabs eat an disagreeable character is an ideal instance of the franchise mixing horror and humor.
One other casualty of a lot materials being lower from Harry Potter is the connection between Harry and Ginny. The flicks suffered from their lack of chemistry, whereas Rick and Evelyn’s chemistry in The Mummy made them an iconic fantasy couple. The truth that each Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are returning for The Mummy 4 is a testomony to their characters’ glorious partnership.
- Created by
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Stephen Sommers, Nina Wilcox Putnam, Richard Schayer
- First Movie
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The Mummy (1932)
The Lord Of The Rings
The Lord of the Rings is arguably the one fantasy franchise and not using a single dangerous film, and one of many best onscreen achievements of all time. The flicks have been groundbreaking by way of visible results, soundtrack, and story, with Peter Jackson figuring out which scenes to chop from the supply materials, like Tom Bombadil’s character, and which to develop, like Arwen’s story.
Like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings additionally encompasses a “chosen one” character arc, however the two are handled very otherwise, with The Lord of the Rings conveying the ache of this duty extra clearly. The scenes through which the ring impacts Boromir’s persona are constructed as much as a heartbreaking conclusion, whereas Ron’s scenes with the Horcrux really feel rushed, shedding their impression.
Harry Potter had 4 totally different administrators, which led to the flicks feeling very totally different from one another by way of tone and high quality. Then again, the Lord of the Rings motion pictures have been shot on the identical time, with the identical artistic crew. This gave the franchise a extra cohesive really feel, with the identical visible fashion and a extra tightly-woven story.