There is clearly nothing more cinematically satisfying than a solid, old-fashioned epic that runs for more than three hours, has a cast of powerhouse performances, pithy monologues and epic battle scenes and setpieces that take the breath away. Drama, romance, adventure and emotions all come in spades in a classic epic.
The ten mammoth movies in this line-up are not strictly Biblical epics or ones set in the era of swords and sandals. But they are epic stuff in the way they often take the breath away with their grandeur and ambition. So, if you want a solid dose of epic greatness, well read on and discover for yourselves.
10- Ben-Hur (1959)
William Wyler's expensive, record-smashing take on Lew Wallace's stuffy Biblical novel is far from what you call a masterpiece. Yes, even with the whole slate of 11 prestigious Oscars statuettes, it is not exactly a great film per se. The narrative is burdensome, the dialogue strictly perfunctory and the performances (yes, including both Hugh Griffith and Charlton Heston) are largely wooden. But let's not forget- 'Ben-Hur' was the grandiose, king-size and stubbornly old-fashioned epic that Hollywood was intended to make in the coming future.
The meticulously created sets (numbering to a record of 300) bring a majestic sweep to all the pulpy dramatic proceedings. Even the more ridiculous scenes and lines are made somewhat monumental by the visual grandeur (big thanks to Robert Surtees' mesmerizing cinematography). Most of all, there is nothing in terms of full-throttle action even today to match the deliriously enthralling chariot race (helmed impressively by Andrew Marton and Yakima Cannutt) that breaks out the film's sword-and-sandal glory with fury.
9- Braveheart (1995)
There has been no other Oscar winner which has been so debated in its public opinion than 'Braveheart'. The critics cry foul over its dodgy historical accuracy and the way it aims for a primitive viewpoint instead of something more complex. The audiences, on the other hand, lap it up lovingly as a thrilling and heroic tale of William Wallace, the legendary Scottish insurgent who rose up against the English invaders with guts and glory. It is high time since there has been a middle ground. True, actor/director Mel Gibson infuses his biopic with the same stuffy hokum that the critics complain rightly about.
The politics are non-existent, the English invaders are portrayed eventually as only nasty villains and the understated emotion is offset by the film's ridiculous air-brushing of facts and ham-fisted hero-worship. But when the battle cries resound in the air, there is nothing like 'Braveheart'. Letting rip immensely epic sequences of blood, fire and fury, Gibson and cinematographer John Toll create a harsh, unfurnished world of medieval war that is both gruesome and giddily thrilling. It is the fiery violence and emotional wallop that qualify it as something truly epic.
8- Apocalypse Now (1979)
Francis Ford Coppola's spectacular Vietnam War drama is mostly a sobering meditation on the conflict, its lasting damage on life, mind and the horror…. Nevertheless, 'Apocalypse Now' is as much a visually operatic experience as much as one that makes us feel haunted with the all-too-well-known terrors of war. The journey of war-weary Captain Willard (a superb Martin Sheen) is one that you cannot take your eyes away from, even as it frequently turns violent, nightmarish and deathly by turns.
Cinematographer extraordinaire Vittorio Storraro shoots the lush jungles, river inlets and ultimately Colonel Kurtz's demented camp of renegades with the eye of a warrior poet. Never has the brutality of a war looked so ethereal, never has horror felt so gorgeous in its intensity. Entire sequences are jaw-dropping in sheer eye-popping wonder- be it the rousing helicopter raid set to Wagner's 'The Ride Of The Valkyries' or the freaked-out climax set to the Oedipal ramblings of The Doors. As a bonus, Marlon Brando's hypnotic Kurtz even spouts many a classic monologue.
7- Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
By the time 'Once Upon A Time' was made, director Sergio Leone had already mastered a new form of Western myth-making. Not for him anymore the tongue-in-cheek tone of his early films or the stuffy moralizing of John Ford- his cinematic world was now bleak and brooding, his landscape rendered harsh rather than romantic and his characters desperate loners driven to violent ends. Did he, indirectly, influence Peckinpah's latter films too? Like all great westerns, 'Once Upon A Time' is unforgettably iconic for its legendary bursts of gunplay in between spare talk and even more striking silences.
But through its genre premise- a vengeful hero (Charles Bronson), a devilish villain (Henry Fonda, with blue-eyed menace), a goofy sidekick (Jason Robards) and a delectable belle (the alluring Claudia Cardinale)-it is also a truly epic farewell to the landscape for once and for all. The profound theme of civilization encroaching on the old ways of the West is portrayed in true epic-like fashion in the film's wide, sunbaked vistas where people settle their scores in blood. Mesmeric, moody and melancholic- it is an epic experience for ages.
6- Seven Samurai (1954)
Akira Kurosawa did more than just influence a whole slew of up-and-coming filmmakers of the 60s and 70s; he also created whole new genres, whole new tropes and shamed all Hollywood epic-makers with his 1954 masterpiece. In every sense, 'Seven Samurai' is a swashbuckler that most Western filmmakers cannot even come close to making. Its influences are all too palpable- there is the ho-hum 'The Magnificent Seven' and there is also Bollywood's very own 'Sholay', as well as the fun-filled 'A Bug's Life'. On its own, it is a marvelously epic ballad- of seven masterless warriors defending a vulnerable village against bandits.
In the expansive space of more than three hours, Kurosawa stages some of the most relentless, brutally breakneck and exhilarating scenes of galloping, slashing, stabbing and roaring battle action soaked in mud and rain. And in case, if anyone wants story, character development and drama, well he gives us those in spades too. Just watch out for Toshiru Mifune's butter-fingered yet empathetic Kikuchiyo bursting out at fellow samurais about the plight of villagers. Classic.
5- Mughal-E-Azam (1960)
One day, hopefully, present-day Bollywood will produce a film that is as epic in scale, and as monumentally rousing as 'Mughal-E-Azam'. Sure, the likes of 'Jodhaa Akbar' and 'Bajirao Mastaani' come a bit close but they will forever be in the mammoth shadow of K. Asif's- and Bollywood's only- magnum opus. More than fifty-years after it stunned audiences with the sheer majestic force of drama and romance, it remains to be fresh in both sight and sound, in both grandeur and histrionics.
The plot is classic, star-crossed romance- the ill-fated love between dreamy-eyed Prince Salim (a charismatic Dilip Kumar) and the demure courtesan Anarkali (a beautiful Madhubala), whose fortunes are doomed by the justice-seeking Emperor Akbar (played with panache by Prithviraj Kapoor). The film oscillates beautifully from jubiliant cheers to stolen glances, from sad-eyed heartbreak to intriguing statecraft and finally, from dusty, grand battles to the fireworks of powerful dialogue. Entire moments still feel iconic and no matter how much they try, film-makers can never better 'Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya' as a musical explosion of spectacle.
4- Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)
Like most Ridley Scott films, 'Kingdom Of Heaven' is best viewed in its extensive, expansive and exhilarating 'Director's Cut' edition which runs for a whopping 189 minutes and delivers massive spectacle, bloody battle action and incisive storytelling in equal measure. The mesmeric ballad-like tale follows guilt-ridden blacksmith Balian (a stiff but serviceable Orlando Bloom) as he is tugged from the frosty hills to the sun-kissed ghettoes and palm fronds of Jerusalem, to become involved in its muddling Crusades-era politics. The leper king Baldwin (a terrific Edward Norton) maintains a benevolent peace with the gallant Saladin (Ghassan Massoud) even as jackals are baying on both sides for blood and battle. Also, Balian is torn between his loyalty to the helpless town-folk and his new-found attraction for the royal Sibylla (Eva Green).
Chaos erupts without warning and the film reaches a head with explosions of dust, blood, oil and artillery- possibly some of the most incredible battle sequences ever put on the screen. But more crucially, this is also Scott in brilliant 'Blade Runner' form. He directs the proceedings with intimacy and perspective, presents strident and quietly provocative politics, makes it all look sublime(sensuously shot by John Mathieson) and doles out an epic feast for both the eye and the mind. Revisit it and be rewarded.
3- Barry Lyndon (1975)
Epic scale is never far away from the arena of Stanley Kubrick. Was not '2001-A Space Odyssey' an epic quest of the mysteries of deep space? Was not 'Dr. Strangelove' an epic farce on the inevitability of nuclear holocaust? And was not 'The Shining' an epic tragedy of insanity and familial destruction painted in blood-red?
So, what makes 'Barry Lyndon' make the cut in this list? Simple enough. While all these films were about humans falling prey to machines and forces beyond their control, 'Barry Lyndon' is all about the flimsy nature of civilization itself. William Makepeace Thackeray may have intended it as a simple ballad of a young man rising in the ranks of aristocracy but Kubrick gives it his own cynically brilliant twist. It exposes the sheer futility of the grand facades; its emotional coldness is deliberate and reflective of facile emotions of a fake society.
Let's not forget- it is also, quite simply, a truly sumptous feast for the senses and i don't mean any of the Technicolor gloss of his earlier, flawed 'Spartacus' or even the mawkish farce of some other epics of the time. 'Barry Lyndon' set the yardstick for painstaking period detail and grandeur. Art directors Ken Adams and Roy Walker recreate both opulent palace interiors and idyliic farmhouses and pastures while Kubrick and photographer John Alcott shoot powder blue skies, grey clouds, sun-dappled meadows and- in a technical masterstroke- even candle-light serving as the only mesmeric illumination in a pre-electrical age. The result is that rare epic that Hollywood has forgotten to make- intelligent, monumental and brilliant.
2- Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
Before I go on to gush with praise about its numerous virtues, let's get done with the minor niggles. Robert Bolt's narrative is crammed with memorable dialogue for the memorable actors to wield but falls short of portraying a convincingly credible picture of the eponymous war hero himself. Sure, Thomas Edward Lawrence comes off as both eccentric and excitingly rousing in equal measure (no small thanks to Peter O'Toole's charismatic performance) but the film rarely makes a solid case for his rougher edges and glosses over them in a fair bit of hero-worship. But then this is a film about heroics and the finest one at that.
With 'Lawrence Of Arabia', David Lean mastered the epic format with sheer perfection. Running at nearly 4 hours and dominated, for most part, by verbally charged sequences when the top-notch actors trade platitudes, it is a mammoth experience but one that needs to be witnessed to be believed. Among the many things that Lean did, he also set the yardstick for true visual grandeur. Freddie Young's epic Panavision cinematography captured both the sun-drenched beauty as well as the soaring heat of warfare in the desert while John Box's sets recreated the colonial club rooms as well as the camp-tents with great credibility.
One of the biggest attractions is how, even after all these years, this is a sight to behold on a silver screen, no less. There are entire images that make the viewer spellbound, aided by Maurice Jarre's elegant score; there are also many moments of shattering silence that make your jaw drop- the shimmering mirage of Sheikh Ali on the horizon or the occasional moment of calm in between the frenetic desert battles that makes you think about all the bloodshed. And there is a really epic feel to the film's spoken words too, thanks, of course, to that great cast. O'Toole is superbly assisted by Alec Guinness' stately Prince Feisal, Omar Sharif's Ali and Anthony Quinn's grizzly Auda Abu Tayi.
1- Lord Of The Rings- The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
All it took Peter Jackson was one mammoth film-making accomplishment to shame almost every single major Hollywood director and set the new rules of modern epic making in Hollywood. Noone ever imagined that a brash talent from the Outback would take the world by storm by adapting J.R. Tolkien's massive fantasy saga and made it a household name.
But while 'Two Towers' focused more on stealthy suspense and 'Return Of The King piled on the kind of ambitious, jaw-dropping action that most film-makers could only dream of, 'Fellowship' feels like a truly mesmerizing, old-school ballad that doles out the goods with wonderful indulgence. The film's beautiful, effortless shifts- from the pastoral idyll of Hobbiton to the Gothic adventure in the dusky woods, to the pacy adventure from caves of Mordor to the swashbuckling finale-lend the entire film a classical elegance that is missing in most recent epics. This feels like a bona fide adventure that entertains, hammers home chills and offers enough emotions as well to make it meaty enough.
Most crucially, like a true classic epic adventure, 'Fellowship' is also largely a film that makes us root for the heroes and rally against the villains. Jackson intended to portray Tolkien's fantasy as something that has actually happened and the film's sheer narrative depth and dramatic thrust shows that in spades- it is a story you want to believe in. Blending the stately sweep of Lean and the humanity of Kurosawa, Jackson crafted the ultimate thing- the Lord of all epics.
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