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Big Fish poster

Movies that feel likeBig Fish (2003)

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

If you loved Big Fish, the closest films we have are Russian Ark (2002), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and I Am Dragon (2015). All three share Big Fish's dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

🍅 76% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Tim Burtonepicdreamlikecontemplativeromantic
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Big Fish hit the spot, these will too

Russian Ark poster
Russian Ark
2002 · dir. Aleksandr Sokurov
🍅 89%★ 7.2drama · fantasy · history

A dreamlike wander through memory and history in one unbroken sweep

The difference: A single-take museum odyssey, no personal father-son mythology

A ghost and a French marquis wander through the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, encountering scenes from many different periods of its history.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End poster
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007 · dir. Gore Verbinski
🍅 43%★ 7.2adventure · fantasy · actionDisney+

A swashbuckling quest treats devotion as worth chasing to the ends of the earth

The difference: A pirate blockbuster spectacle, no intimate father-son framing

After losing Captain Jack Sparrow to the locker of Davy Jones, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Captain Barbossa journey to the ends of the earth to rescue him. And as the East India Trading Company tightens its grip on the seas under Lord Cutler Beckett—now in control of Davy Jones—the fate of piracy hangs by a thread. Now, they must unite the pirate lords for one final stand. But as loyalties are tested and alliances shift, each must ultimately choose where they stand in the battle for freedom on the high seas.

I Am Dragon poster
I Am Dragon
2015 · dir. Indar Dzhendubaev
★ 6.8fantasy · romancePrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: fairy tale

The difference: Trades the scale of Big Fish for an angle of its own

In the midst of the wedding princess Miroslava is kidnapped by a dragon and carried away into his castle on the remote island. Mira left everything behind in the past - family, friends and groom. Now the only things she had were a stone cage and a mysterious young man named Arman ... but who is he and what is he doing on that island? Miroslava will know the truth too late: loving a dragon will reveal the bitter truth - love is scary.

Seven Years in Tibet poster
Seven Years in Tibet
1997 · dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud
🍅 57%★ 7.1adventure · drama · historyNetflix

An arrogant man's journey abroad quietly transforms who he is

The difference: A true-story mountaineering drama, grounded rather than tall-tale fantasy

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

The Thief of Bagdad poster
The Thief of Bagdad
1940 · dir. Tim Whelan
🍅 100%★ 7.4adventure · fantasy · romanceMax

Epic and dreamlike in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Big Fish does

When Prince Ahmad is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar, he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess.

Curse of the Golden Flower poster
Curse of the Golden Flower
2006 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 65%★ 7action · drama · fantasy

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

The difference: Sits closer to action than Big Fish does

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

Snow White and the Huntsman poster
Snow White and the Huntsman
2012 · dir. Rupert Sanders
🍅 48%★ 6.1adventure · fantasy · drama

A fairy tale unfolds with the same epic, dreamlike sense of scale

The difference: A dark fantasy adventure, no storyteller father or family reconciliation

After the Evil Queen marries the King, she performs a violent coup in which the King is murdered and his daughter, Snow White, is taken captive. Almost a decade later, a grown Snow White is still in the clutches of the Queen. In order to obtain immortality, The Evil Queen needs the heart of Snow White. After Snow escapes the castle, the Queen sends the Huntsman to find her in the Dark Forest.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 poster
🍅 25%★ 4.9adventure · fantasy · romanceNetflix

Adventure with a pulse of scale, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Bella Swan and Edward Cullen's honeymoon phase is abruptly disrupted by betrayals and unforeseen tragedies that endanger their world.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice poster
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
2010 · dir. Jon Turteltaub
🍅 40%★ 6.1fantasy · adventure · actionDisney+

Magic and wonder guide an unlikely apprentice through impossible feats

The difference: A modern sorcery action-adventure, no father's deathbed tall tales

Balthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness.

Les Misérables poster
Les Misérables
2012 · dir. Tom Hooper
🍅 70%★ 7.5history · dramaMax

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Beauty and the Beast poster
Beauty and the Beast
2014 · dir. Christophe Gans
🍅 41%★ 6.4fantasy · romancePrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: fairy tale

Forced to face the cruel side of life, a devastated, bankrupt merchant chances upon the enchanted castle of a hideous creature, the mere sight of it chills the bone to the marrow. There, a fate worse than death awaits the poor father-of-six, who, after plucking a sweet-scented rose from the repulsive master's verdant garden, must do the impossible: permit his compassionate daughter, Belle, to take his place and pay for the sins of her parent. Now, an impenetrable mystery shrouds the haunted mansion, and, as repugnance gradually turns into affection, only true love could break the spell.

The Golden Compass poster
The Golden Compass
2007 · dir. Chris Weitz
🍅 42%★ 6.1adventure · fantasy

Both lean on dream logic more than on fantasy

In a parallel universe, after overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it's part of her destiny.

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The best-reviewed films that share Big Fish’s defining feeling.