Sorry Lord Of The Rings, But This Movie Still Has The Best Quote In Fantasy History

Published Aug 24, 2026, 9:15 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account The Lord of the Rings might be the biggest fantasy movie franchise of all time, and it has many of the genre's greatest lines, but this other fantasy classic's emotional quote might just take the top spot. The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy franchise that has become popular in books, TV, movies, and more. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Taking only the core The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, there are many of the best fantasy quotes already. Gandalf's iconic "You shall not pass!" is one of the most striking and energetic lines in the genre's history. Likewise, Galadriel, talking about how the smallest person can still change the future, is another poignant quote that serves as motivation to all. While The Lord of the Rings has forever etched its name in fantasy movie history, over the years, many other genre releases have also delivered exciting quotes that have stood the test of time. Among them are franchises like Harry Potter, which will soon get a TV reboot on HBO, and movies like Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and this classic. A Compendium of Enchanted Cinema How Well Do You Know Fantasy Movies? “Magic always comes with a price.” 🪄SpellsWingardium Leviosa 🐉BeastsHere be dragons 👑KingdomsLong live the king ⚔QuestsThe hero’s journey 🔮MagicWhat lies ahead OPEN THE GRIMOIRE → 01 Across the Harry Potter films, the boy wizard is rarely without his loyal companion — a snowy owl gifted to him by Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. What is the owl’s name? AHedwig BErrol CPigwidgeon DCrookshanks ✓ Correct! Hedwig — the snowy owl Harry receives in The Philosopher’s Stone — becomes one of his most beloved companions. Errol is the Weasleys’ ancient, accident-prone owl; Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny hyperactive owl; and Crookshanks is Hermione’s ginger cat — not an owl at all. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Hedwig. Errol is the Weasleys’ clumsy family owl, Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny owl from later books, and Crookshanks is Hermione’s cat. Hedwig is the snowy owl Hagrid buys Harry for his birthday — even getting her own leitmotif from composer John Williams. NEXT → 02 In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, the farm boy Westley answers Buttercup’s every demand with the same three words — which she comes to realize actually mean “I love you.” What does he say? A“As you wish” B“Inconceivable!” C“My only love” D“Anything for you” ✓ Correct! “As you wish” is Westley’s signature line — and the film’s emotional core. “Inconceivable!” is Vizzini’s catchphrase (prompting Inigo’s famous “You keep using that word…”). The other two were never in William Goldman’s script — the whole point is that three plain words carry all the meaning. ✗ Not quite! The answer is “As you wish.” “Inconceivable!” belongs to the Sicilian Vizzini. Buttercup slowly realizes that Westley’s endlessly repeated “As you wish” is really his way of saying “I love you” — one of the most quoted lines in fantasy cinema. NEXT → 03 The 2006 Spanish-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth blends a fascist-era fairy tale with the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain, featuring the nightmarish Pale Man. Which director created this dark fantasy? AAlfonso Cuarón BGuillermo del Toro CPedro Almodóvar DRobert Rodriguez ✓ Correct! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Pan’s Labyrinth, designing the Faun and the eyeless Pale Man himself. He’d later win Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water. Cuarón directed Prisoner of Azkaban; Almodóvar is Spain’s great melodramatist; Rodriguez is del Toro’s close friend but made Sin City and Spy Kids. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Guillermo del Toro. Alfonso Cuarón (a fellow “Three Amigos” of Mexican cinema) directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pedro Almodóvar makes Spanish melodramas, and Robert Rodriguez made Sin City. Del Toro’s creature designs in Pan’s Labyrinth are now iconic. NEXT → 04 In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the four Pevensie children first stumble into the snowy land of Narnia by passing through what object? AA magic mirror BA wardrobe CA painting DA wishing well ✓ Correct! It’s a wardrobe — it’s right there in the title. Lucy hides inside during a game and finds the snow and lamppost of Narnia beyond the fur coats. A magical painting actually appears in the sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; the mirror and well are red herrings from other fantasy tales. ✗ Not quite! The answer is a wardrobe — literally named in the title. Lucy Pevensie pushes past the coats and steps out into snowy Narnia by the lamppost. (A magical painting does pull the children into the sea in the later film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — but not here.) NEXT → 05 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) made Oscar history as the first fantasy film to win Best Picture, sweeping every category it was nominated in. How many Academy Awards did it take home? A4 B7 C9 D11 ✓ Correct! Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations — tying Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the all-time record, and becoming the first (and so far only) fantasy film to win Best Picture. Remarkably, it earned zero acting nominations yet still swept the board clean. ✗ Not quite! The answer is 11 — a perfect clean sweep. Return of the King tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins ever and broke fantasy’s long Best Picture drought. Fellowship of the Ring won 4 and The Two Towers won 2; the finale took everything it was nominated for. NEXT → 06 In the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination playing a swaggering, kohl-eyed pirate captain reportedly inspired by Keith Richards. What is the character’s name? AWill Turner BDavy Jones CCaptain Jack Sparrow DHector Barbossa ✓ Correct! Captain Jack Sparrow — Depp’s loose-limbed, rum-soaked performance earned a surprise Best Actor nomination for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Will Turner is the blacksmith hero (Orlando Bloom), Davy Jones is the tentacle-faced villain (Bill Nighy), and Hector Barbossa is the mutinous rival captain (Geoffrey Rush). ✗ Not quite! The answer is Captain Jack Sparrow. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is the earnest blacksmith, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is the squid-faced sea villain, and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is the cursed rival. It was Depp’s Sparrow — modeled partly on Keith Richards — who earned the Oscar nod. NEXT → 07 Jim Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth features a teenage Jennifer Connelly navigating a maze to rescue her baby brother from the flamboyant, wild-haired Goblin King Jareth. Which rock legend played Jareth? ADavid Bowie BTim Curry CMick Jagger DSting ✓ Correct! David Bowie played Jareth, writing and performing the film’s songs including “Magic Dance” and “As the World Falls Down.” Tim Curry famously played the demon Darkness in another Ridley Scott fantasy, Legend (also 1985-86). Jagger and Sting are rock icons but never donned Jareth’s glittering cape and wild wig. ✗ Not quite! The answer is David Bowie. Tim Curry played the towering devil Darkness in the rival fantasy Legend around the same time. Bowie not only starred as Jareth the Goblin King but composed and sang the soundtrack — “Magic Dance” remains the film’s signature number. NEXT → 08 In the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story, the young warrior Atreyu journeys across the dying realm of Fantasia and befriends a furry, dog-faced luckdragon who carries him through the skies. What is the luckdragon’s name? AArtax BFalkor CGmork DBastian ✓ Correct! Falkor (Falkor the luckdragon) is the friendly, scale-and-fur covered dragon who aids Atreyu and Bastian. Artax is Atreyu’s horse, lost heartbreakingly in the Swamp of Sadness; Gmork is the wolf-like servant of The Nothing; and Bastian is the real-world boy reading the story who is ultimately drawn into it. ✗ Not quite! The answer is Falkor. Artax is Atreyu’s beloved horse (the Swamp of Sadness scene scarred a generation), Gmork is the menacing wolf-beast serving The Nothing, and Bastian is the bullied boy reading the book. Falkor is the soaring luckdragon — one of fantasy cinema’s most cherished creatures. REVEAL MY SCORE → The Grimoire Closes · Quest Complete Your Fantasy Rank 🔮 / 8 Archmage of the Silver Screen — or still lost in the labyrinth? ⤴ CAST AGAIN Released on September 25, 1987, The Princess Bride has become one of the most beloved fantasy movies of all time. While it came more than a decade before Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, The Princess Bride's quotes might not always be remembered as highly as some of the Tolkien franchise's biggest lines. That said, The Princess Bride still holds the genre's best quote. Why The Princess Bride's "As You Wish" Is The Best Fantasy Movie Quote The Princess Bride is a highly quotable movie, with the classic revenge line, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," easily being one of the film's most remembered. That said, the best quote in The Princess Bride and the one to beat The Lord of the Rings' many iconic lines to lead the fantasy genre in this regard is "as you wish." That quote is a core part of the dynamic between Cary Elwes' Westley, a farmhand, and Robin Wright's Princess Buttercup, the love of his life. What the movie reveals is that "as you wish" actually means "I love you." Buttercup slowly realizes that is Westley's code for expressing his love for her, which is sweet. Later in the movie, after Elwes' character is presumed dead and Buttercup finds herself in front of the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man who she thinks killed him, Wright's character makes him fall down a hill, to which he responds with, "as you wish." As such, their love makes for the perfect quote to reveal that Westley was alive. Then, at the end of the movie, the quote is used as the grandfather's way of saying he loves his grandson, after the latter asks him to read the story again the next day. It is a simple, direct, and poignant quote that stands the test of time among fantasy movies due to how emotionally charged it is. The Princess Bride Still Holds Up As A Perfect Fantasy Movie The Princess Bride continues to serve as the perfect definition of fantasy to this day. It tells a poignant and vibrant genre story filled with popular quotes, characters, and action sequences. The film's fantasy elements also come directly from a story that a grandfather is reading to his grandson, which adds a meta layer that makes this a classic fantasy story. The Princess Bride also directly goes against clichés and features quite a few comedic takes on moments that would have certainly been played more dramatically in other genre releases, such as the "as you wish" reveal when Westley and Buttercup hilariously fall down a hill that never seems to end. It is a unique fantasy movie. As such, The Princess Bride will always hold up as a perfect fantasy classic for fans of the genre. Release Date September 25, 1987 Runtime 99 minutes Director Rob Reiner Cast Robin Wright The Princess Bride Writers William Goldman Producers Andrew Scheinman, Rob Reiner