Top 10 Best Mythological Films in American Cinema

The film follows the story of orphaned girl Dorothy Gale, who, by a stroke of luck, gets lost in the magical land of Oz beyond the rainbow. During her adventure, she befriends the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. Together with her friends, she must confront the wicked Western witch Miss Almira Gulch, but with the help of Glinda - the Good Witch of the North, and the powerful Wizard of Oz, she manages to defeat the wicked witch. Dorothy is then able to return home, and her friends are granted their heart's desires.

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Regarded by many as one of the greatest films of all time, it is the most successful commercial adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 fantasy novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Directed primarily by Victor Fleming, the film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale alongside Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind, also directed by Fleming. However, it won in two other categories: Best Original Song for 'Over the Rainbow' and Best Original Score for Herbert Stothart. In 1989, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.' It is also one of the few films recognized as a Memory of the World by UNESCO.

The film is adapted from the short story 'The Greatest Gift' by writer Philip Van Doren Stern. It was directed by Frank Capra. The setting of the film is Bedford Falls (a fictional town), after World War II. The story revolves around the life of George Bailey (James Stewart), who, from birth until starting a family, has never left his hometown of Bedford Falls, despite harboring ambitions to travel the world. He says: 'There are three charming sounds in the world: the engine noise of trains, ships, and planes.' Because those sounds signal that we will leave this place to go elsewhere, to explore new lives and new lands. But every time he's about to achieve his dreams, some unexpected event occurs that keeps him tied to his hometown to help others.

Director Frank Capra provides a clear distinction between good and evil, or more accurately, between greed and forgiveness. The story is simple, emotionally rich, with cleverly embedded humorous elements. Each character is typified, each personality prominently displayed in their role within the overall framework of life. The contrast between good and evil, happiness and sorrow, despair and compassion is excellently emphasized. In a lifetime, there are always moments when we feel like we're in hell, the hell on earth, but that doesn't mean we're irresponsible to give up our lives. George Bailey lived a life of dedication, earned a lot of affection from others, 'We won't be failures if we have friends.'

No one needs to argue about what the movie is about, whether it lives up to expectations or not because Frank Capra's film contains the subtlety of a soul moved by beauty, the beauty of life, of love, and friendship. Like Casablanca, 'It's a wonderful life' is a timeless film, suitable for all ages, never outdated because the underlying ideology of the film is the purest of human thoughts.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first part of the 3-part The Lord of the Rings film series. The film follows the journey to Mount Doom in Mordor with the purpose of destroying the powerful ring of Hobbit Frodo, preventing it from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord Sauron, thus stopping his reign over Middle-earth. Frodo's companions include Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee, Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck, Peregrin 'Pippin' Took, fellow Hobbits like him, Gandalf the Grey, Aragorn and Boromir (Men), Gimli (Dwarves) and Legolas (Elves). The Lord of the Rings is about their cooperation and their different choices. They compete for the precious ring that everyone desires to possess. It's Middle-earth (China) for Men (Humans), Hobbits (Hobbits), Dwarves (Dwarves have the length), Elves (as strong as), Wizards (wizards), Ents (ents), Orcs, Uruk-hai, Wargs, Eagles, etc. It has become the most successful fantasy film of all time.

New Line Cinema began adapting The Lord of the Rings from 2001. It was made into three parts corresponding to the book. When adapted to the big screen, the film mesmerized viewers with epic battles. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring became a monument of world cinema. It won a total of 17 Oscars. Among them, part 3: The Return of the King won 11 Oscars. In addition, it won Best Picture. This is the most prestigious category rarely awarded to fantasy films. Directed by the talented Peter Jackson, the film won 4 Oscars in 4 categories: Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

The film begins on a beautiful day near Christmas, with Kris Kringle (actually Santa Claus) wandering around the bustling 34th Street in New York City. He's shocked to see people celebrating Christmas in a wrong way, especially depicting Santa Claus in an inappropriate manner. Initially noticing minor inaccuracies in attire and demeanor, he soon realizes that the individuals portraying Santa Claus have no noble intentions befitting the name. Furious, Kris Kringle decides to fulfill the responsibilities of a true Santa Claus. He's cheerful, open-hearted with children, listens to and understands them. He also turns their wishes into reality. Unbeknownst to him, he's just filling in for the real Santa Claus in a department store specializing in toy sales for Christmas profit.

Constantly claiming to be Santa Claus, Kris Kringle has caused chaos in the area. While one faction is unwilling to expel this wandering Santa Claus because his presence significantly boosts profits, another faction relentlessly criticizes, constantly trying to disrupt and falsely accusing him of having a mental illness. Since impersonating Santa Claus, Kris Kringle has brought the people of 34th Street faith in the joy of life, belief in the miracle of life. This makes the neighborhood suddenly filled with strange joy. The film doesn't offer a clear explanation of why Santa Claus wanders into the mortal world and whether he disappears or continues to live on 34th Street. But that doesn't matter because no one can fully explain the magic of life.

With black and white cinematography, the characteristic red color of Christmas doesn't appear in the film, but viewers still feel the breath of Christmas through bustling scenes, cheerful music, and humorous dialogues. Most notable are the film's soundtrack featuring Silent Night, Jingle Bell with warm melodies and profound lyrics that linger in viewers' minds.

In 1933, the first film about King Kong premiered in black and white format, starring Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong. The film had a production budget of $670,000 and grossed $6,206,460 in 1933, which is a remarkably high ratio for modern filmmakers. Over the 83 years since the character King Kong was born, dozens of films have been made, both in and out of Hollywood, about King Kong, along with animations, games, comic books, and various other forms of entertainment. The story of King Kong - the giant prehistoric gorilla with extraordinary strength and intelligence, through various versions with different narratives, has embodied countless different emotions: from a ferocious monster to the tragedy of a heroic antihero.

In this original 1933 version, a film crew arrived at an uninhabited island to shoot scenes for their film and encountered Kong - a giant gorilla. Kong immediately fell in love with the blonde actress named Ann before being captured and displayed in New York City - where it ended its life in blind love. The scene of King Kong dangling Ann on the top of the Empire State Building in this film has entered history. It caused chaos that forced the military to intervene, with Kong carrying Ann running up the Empire State Building. Fighter planes opened fire on Kong despite Ann's crying and pleading. Eventually, Kong collapsed and fell to the ground. Carl Denham quietly muttered, 'The Beast was not killed by bullets, but by Beauty.' The film was directed by Merian C. Cooper.

Harvey (1950) is adapted from a play of the same name, starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The film follows the story of Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart), a middle-aged man who is kind but eccentric, with an imaginary companion being an invisible, 6 foot 3 and a half inches tall rabbit named Harvey. According to Dowd's description, Harvey is a pooka, a type of mischievous magical creature in Celtic mythology. Elwood is constantly manipulated by his sister and niece (who live with him and aspire to social respectability) to not introduce Harvey to the people he meets. Dowd's hallucinations could jeopardize the family's reputation and embarrass his sister and niece. His sister, Veta Louise Simmons (Josephine Hull), tries to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. In a fit of rage, she admits to the psychiatrist Dr. Lyman Sanderson (Charles Drake), after years of concealing, that she occasionally sees Harvey. This leads the doctor to release Elwood and confine Veta instead.

Upon realizing the mistake, Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway), the head of the institution, decides that in order to salvage the hospital's reputation, they need to apprehend Elwood immediately. After being apprehended, Elwood undergoes some trials, although he is unaware of Dr. Chumley's, Judge Gaffney's (William Lynn), and Veta Louise's intentions. Ultimately, Elwood (along with everyone else) returns to the hospital, convincing Dr. Chumley of Harvey's existence. However, Dr. Sanderson advises Elwood to go to his office for an injection to stop seeing the rabbit. As they prepare the injection, a taxi driver informs Elwood's sister that all the people he transports to the mental hospital receive a similar drug, warning her that Elwood will become 'a perfectly normal human being. And you know what bastards they are.' Distressed by these thoughts, Veta cancels the procedure. The film was directed by Henry Koster in 1950.

The film carries numerous messages, and just grasping one of them, empathizing with the dreams and desires of just one of the characters, is enough to make viewers of all ages and genders tear up. The storyline revolves around 17-year-old Ray Kinsella, a promising baseball player who lost his father at a young age. He has to train himself on a baseball field built right in his magnificent cornfield. However, he doesn't know that his father's spirit is always with him. The uniqueness of Field of Dreams lies in its dreaminess, going against the reality of the film. From the story, the initial idea, the guiding plotlines, everything is a dream filled with ghosts, magic, wonder, defying all logic. Yet, beyond all skepticism about the absurdity of fairy tales, each story introduced in the film feels real, very mundane, something that could happen to anyone.

Field of Dreams is a modern fairy tale film, which both evokes empathy from the audience and transcends the boundaries of reality to dream, just in a reverse way, enveloping the film in a warm pink hue. In the end, he reunited with his father in a ghostly baseball game right on his cornfield. The line in the movie 'If you build it, they will come' becomes a famous saying for consolation and encouragement. Ray's magical baseball field allows those present to touch and live in the past, taking them back to the period they nailed in their minds as the most beautiful and precious. The film received positive reviews upon release and continued to be nominated for three Oscars. In 2017, the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.

The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American silent swashbuckler film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks, written by Achmed Abdullah and Lotta Woods. Loosely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, the film tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. The Thief of Bagdad is now regarded by many as one of the greatest silent films and Fairbanks' greatest work. Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance wrote, 'A romantic fantasy-adventure epic inspired by some of the Arabian Nights tales, The Thief of Bagdad is the crowning achievement of Fairbanks's career.'

Throughout the film, it tells the story of a prince who grew up in excess luxury so he was bored with everything, the cunning old vizier devised a plan to lure him out of the palace and seize the throne. The prince had to live a vagabond life, stealing... but was very happy for the adventurous life... The Thief of Bagdad was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s. Art director William Cameron Menzies was largely responsible for the production design, closely following Fairbanks' demands, who served as writer, producer, and star. Fairbanks's meticulous attention to detail, as well as elaborate visual imagery, required the use of modern special effects, including a magical rope, a flying horse, a flying carpet, and large-scale palace sets. The Thief of Bagdad is recognized as the ninth best fantasy film.

Groundhog Day is a 1993 fantasy comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Harold Ramis and Danny Rubin. In Groundhog Day (1993), Phil Connors, a weatherman, is sent to Punxsutawney to report on the annual Groundhog Day event. Disgruntled and seeing it as a mundane assignment, he ends it with disdainful remarks about Groundhog Day. Things take a turn when Phil Connors returns home and sleeps only to wake up to the same Groundhog Day, repeating multiple times. Phil Connors becomes despondent, contemplating suicide, but later reflects and realizes the true value of life he deemed mundane. Groundhog Day achieved modest success upon its initial release but later garnered attention and is often listed among the greatest comedy films. The term 'Groundhog Day' is now commonly used in the English language to describe a situation that repeats itself endlessly. In 2006, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. The film is considered an allegorical tale of self-improvement, emphasizing that happiness comes from prioritizing the needs of others over selfish desires. The film does not offer an explanation as to why the time loop occurs and why it ends, leaving viewers to speculate. Rubin has said that while he and Ramis discussed some philosophical and spiritual aspects of the film, they simply wanted it to be a sincere, uplifting, and engaging story without delving into anything else. The film teaches us how to live each day to the fullest. The film is directed by Harold Ramis.

Anyone who has experienced childhood has likely seen this film. The movie catapulted Tom Hanks' name to stardom in Hollywood, portraying a 9-year-old boy trapped in an adult's body. It all begins with the boy's wish at a fortune-telling machine at a local fair, but when he wakes up to find himself as a 30-year-old man, he is terrified and longs to return to his former self. Unable to find the fair, he flees when his mother pursues him, mistaking him for a stranger. Working at a toy company, his youthful heart helps boost sales, leading to promotions and the admiration of a beautiful colleague. However, the next day, he finds the fortune-telling machine at the fair and wishes to return to normal.

The film stars Tom Hanks, and it's this movie that elevated his status as a leading Hollywood actor. Hanks' warmth, honesty, and humility endeared him to both audiences and critics alike. He's praised as an exceptional figure in the film industry, a Hollywood 'saint.' Throughout over four decades in the film industry, Tom Hanks' name has been associated with roles of kindness. Characters embodying virtuous men, integrity, fighting for social justice, or moral values have always been his chosen roles. 'Mr. Nice Guy' or 'Mr. Standing Man' are nicknames often given to him, inspired by his on-screen characters and his down-to-earth persona.