Buddy Movies For The Big Boys

10- Star Wars (1977)

For buddies who love to quarell and bicker but stay together and look out for each other….

Once upon a time in a galaxy…George Lucas made an everlasting space opera classic that, was among other things, a terrific tale of friendship against all sorts of odds. And no, I don't just mean the solid camaraderie between fresh-faced Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the cocky Han Solo (Harrison Ford). I am also talking about the irresistible dynamic between the film's mechanical juggernauts- the smooth-talking C-3PO and the sneaky R2D2. The two, serving as the narrative's observers, might quarell and bicker. But both of them might even do their best to make sure that the other always remains safe.

9- The Nice Guys (2016)

For buddies who are both silly and smart and that is what makes them stick together….

The latest entry in this list is a wild, wacky and whip-cracking Shane Black bromantic comedy that serves sizzling dollops of 70s-style and a lot of crackling chemistry between its goofy lead pair. Slippery private eye Holland March (an outstanding Ryan Gosling) is the perfect foil for hulking ex-cop Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) and as they stumble awkwardly in a murder mystery-cum-conspiracy, they end up being the perfect pair. They are both silly and unexpectedly clever in equal measure and they sure make a good two-men team against all sorts of meanies and baddies. 

8- The Last Crusade (1989)

For fathers and sons who make the best buddies and share their grandest adventures together….

The first two Indiana Jones adventures were all about the titular hero on his rollicking romps in Egypt and colonial India. But the third film is where Steven Spielberg achieved the 'Boy's Own' zing. Harrison Ford's heroic Indy shares his perilous quest, this time with..his dear daddy, played with charming relish by Sean Connery. The two hit off an endearing chemistry that only fathers and sons can relate too- discussing their common squeeze, chafing at each other's methods and catching up on the lost time by sticking together against the villains. There is also a gushing poignancy in their exploits.

7- All The President's Men (1976)

For colleagues at work who might not be like each other but stick together to get the job done at any cost….

Alan J. Pakula's journalism drama might be a scathing attack on the Nixon-era political subterfuge but it is also a thrilling tale of two different office colleagues pitted together in a race against time. Real-life heroes Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) rush through an assortment of clues, hazy conversations and reluctant witnesses to deliver the red-hot story of the scandal. In the process, they become a perfect two-man team, driven to overcome differences and get the job done at any cost. It is a comradeship every working man can understand.

6- The Avengers (2012)

For a gang of best buddies, who bicker together, party together, make plans together and save the day together…

Before Joss Whedon's 'The Avengers', superheroes were mostly solo performers. It was only with this film that it became fashionable to be a part of a club. The team consists of one smart-mouth (Robert Downey JR's Iron Man), one disciplined leader (Chris Evans' Captain America), one introvert (Mark Ruffalo's excellent Bruce Banner) and a bunch of other buddies who love to have fun. Plus, when they all come together to save the day, even the villains are shit-scared. Talk about real teamwork. It kicks ass and stays really cool.

5- E. T- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

For friends who come from different worlds but end up forming bonds that last lifetimes….

Forget NASA's space missions; in the matter of a simple science fiction ballad, Steven Spielberg brought two worlds together in a wonderful state of boyish friendship. It helped that young Elliot (Henry Thomas) was a lonely guy with noone to share his Reese's pieces with. Along came a little lost alien from the woods and friendship bloomed. From then on, it would just take a couple of unforgettable moments on a bicycle to establish their bond as something truly divine and spectacular. They also loved getting drunk together. What a camaraderie!

4- Lethal Weapon (1987)

For buddies who are total opposites, yet become more of brothers than just best friends…

It is a pity how underrated Shane Black is as a writer of some of the finest bromance in cinema. Richard Donner's blazing, cocky and hilarious cop actioner is then the ultimate testament to his natural flair for pitting exact opposites into a sort of crackling friendship against all odds. For soon-to-be retiring cop Murtaugh (Danny Glover), the perfect mismatched partner is hot-head Riggs (a stunning Mel Gibson). Together, they make for a reluctant team against a bunch of drug smugglers. But in between the terrific stunts and explosions, they always end up bonding like brothers.

3- Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

For friends whose lives may take different turns but who eventually come back to realize that they only have each other….

Whatever happened to Farhan Akhtar? Two slick-looking miserable action films have dampened his potential and his second outing, 'Lakshya', sank without a trace. It's sad, since he was the only one who nailed the urban male rapport with great panache. 'Dil Chahta Hai' is a mesmerizing, fun-filled and poignant look at three best friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna at their best) as they navigate individual paths of love and adventure only to come back together. You can still feel the influence of its throbbing male dynamic in 'Rock On!' and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'.

2- A Hard Day's Night (1964)

For buddies, who can never ever stay apart and create miracles when they all come together to rock and roll….

They taught us all that we can get by with a little help from friends. Richard Lester's rip-roaring mockumentary on the Fab Four is a soaring celebration of the enthralling, eventful days of Beatlemania and the infectious chemistry shared by the four legendary Liverpudlians. To watch them make goofy wisecracks, fool around like naughty schoolboys and drive grown-ups grumpy is a sheer delight. To watch them set the stage on fire, with mind-blowing melodies and frenzied screams of girls, is as poignant as seeing them split painfully some years later. A treat for all Beatles lovers.

1- Andaaz Apna Apna (1994)

For buddies, who are silly, slippery and utterly witless, but end up being totally loveable as heroes…

22 years after its release and lukewarm reception at the boxoffice, Rajkumar Santoshi's finest film (take that, 'Ghayal' fans) has earned its rightful honor as the only Bollywood film till date to rejoice bromance in the best, most hilarious way possible. The endlessly rib-tickling one-liners have lost none of their comic punch, the characters are worthy of being on spunky tees (eye-ball popping Master Gogo, most of all) and most of all, the infectiously mischievous lead pair of Amar and Prem (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan at their boisterous best) is still a triumph of a side-splitting funny friendship that makes all the lightning-paced tomfoolery a really endearing delight.

Suicide Squad- Lots Of Style, Little Snap

There are some things worth recommending about David Ayer's 'Suicide Squad'- possibly one of the strangest superhero films for quite sometime now. The fact that it is strange, berserk and wild is itself noteworthy.

The premise itself is excitingly killer- a mish-mash of 'The Dirty Dozen' and 'Monsters Vs Aliens'- in which the grumpy senators and military generals decide to pit a bunch of freaks of nature against monsters whom they cannot quite tame or defeat. The intention here would be to defy convention and, in the process, take a stab at the masked guardians themselves. Sure, Ayer gets a fair part of the setup right- 'Suicide Squad' starts brilliantly, all its cocked guns poised to fire at point blank and score with a roaring script, some hilarious oddballs and some crackling action to go along with them. Hell, it even takes a dig at Batman in its own whimsical ways. However, that is just about it for the film, which is soon let down with the flimsy, generic plot and a plodding sentimentalism that sucks out the hedonistic thrill out of the proceedings. In short, the sum of its bits and parts is nothing more than just a good-looking music video.

Those bits, however, do make up a giddily entertaining musical montage that might be as deliriously exciting as watching either Prince or Michael Jackson groove, with wonderfully weird visuals and jaw-dropping sound. So, we get a stellar introduction to the first sight of sharp-shooting baddie Deadshot, sweating it out inside prison bars, while The Animals belt out creepily 'The House Of The Rising Sun', before the said character wears 'ball and chain' himself. Ayer starts presenting his super-baddies with delicious, rollicking style- subtitles of an assortment of wacky fonts pop up on the screen as each of the jail-birds is introduced to us while the film jumps from sleazy strip-joints to Gotham's sewers, from snow-bound alleys to river caves hiding dark mysteries- with a snappy pace that sets the film's comic book zeitgest very well indeed. Up to this point, the film looks very compellingly pulpy indeed.

A stern Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) follows the Lee Marvin example in recruiting a ragtag team made up of these far-from-heroic nasties to fend off 'metahumans'. This is her only way to protect the country, in 'a world full of monsters', as she puts it. Her outfit consists of Deadshot (seeking a shot at redemption and reconciliation with his tweeny daughter), Aussie assassin Captain Boomerang (who has a fetish for pink unicorns. Sound familiar?), remorseful Mexican vigilante El Diablo, angry mutant Killer Croc and, finally, the lusty and wise-cracking Harley Quinn, looking dreamily to be re-united with her dear Puddin, whom we will get to in sometime.

Sure, the film promises, for them, some nihilistic fun in the city streets. But all promise is robbed off right away, as Ayer hands us a redundantly cliched master-villain, looking too obviously like someone from a Marvel outing, and then strips the film of all its anarchic fun. It could have been fine to have a script with less portentious intensity and more off-the-wall fun for the crazy freaks to have a ball with. Tim Miller's 'Deadpool' was a nonsensical, generic plot enlivened by its titular anti-hero having a blast with gore, foul-mouthed digs and fourth wall-busting electricity. The eponymous villains of this film are given precious little to do than just get drowned into a swirl of sentimentalism that feels most unwelcome.

The action sequences are nothing special to talk about- except for Harley Quinn taking down some snarling beasts inside an elevator- and there is almost no excitement to even the big confrontation in the climax. This is itself another letdown, given how the film remains loyal to the quirky spirit of the comics itself. Lensman Roman Vasyanov keeps things shadowy and grim for most part but there are also some vividly nuanced bits in between- where the film sizzles with texture- like the beaded curtains in a strip club, the shanks of meat being chopped in greasy kitchens, or the stained bars of Harley Quinn's cage. But all the style and sizzle cannot make up for a glaring absence of fun and enthusiasm in the proceedings.

What, occassionally, makes the proceedings quite lively as promised is Harley Quinn's presence itself. Margot Robbie has always been blessed with a natural flair for sensuous mischief and the role of the most genuinely naughty lady of the comic books just gives her ultimate free rein to let it all loose. She remains constantly, irresistibly plucky, upsetting the most dreadfully serious moments of the script and single-handedly lifting the film from its po-faced seriousness. She also delivers, the one line, that totally trashes the film's stiffly predictable tenor in the climax, happily declaring that she is 'off her meds'. And she nails it totally when licking the bars of her prison cage with lusty relish.

Most of the cast performs awkwardly, though this has something to do with the claustrophobic nature of the dreadfully serious narrative and the way it squeezes dry all that is ripe for fun. A moment of relaxation- inside a bar- becomes oddly boring and dull in the way how these bad-asses just lament about their sorry lives rather than trade wisecracks and get the ball rolling. It is only Will Smith's Deadshot, who actually has some presence in a gang of mostly cardboard-cut characters. Smith gets the snappy, one-liner spouting nature of his character quite well and even when the film sinks under the weight of too much gloom, he remains, endearingly, the hero of the piece.

Anticipating viewers might be wondering about the film's biggest selling point- a sneak-peek at the new Joker, here played by method-acting star Jared Leto. His version is indeed a compellingly psychothic one, replacing the whacked-out survivor instinct of Heath Ledger's unforgettable rabble-rouser with a pompous, kingpin image more similar to Jack Nicholson's own take on the iconic villain. Leto shines in his scenes indeed, looking like a resurrected David Bowie in his 'Thin White Duke' years, and snarls and hisses magnificently. However, it will take a whole new film, a whole better plot and certainly an able director to get the best out of him. For the moment though, he passes the test and he will do.

It is the great sleazy dynamic that he shares with Robbie's Quinn that lends 'Suicide Squad' rare flashes of genuine heart and emotion. There is this one standout scene for Quinn's moment of truth- for Mister J to ask her out open about how much is she willing to commit romantically to him. It is a moment I would hate to reveal more of but the gushing romance between the two freaks is just, so godamn perfect that it almost breaks the heart. 

It is also a core of unrealized emotional stakes. A more nifty film, at the hands of a true master (think David Lynch, for heaven's sake), would have teased these twisted emotions out and lent real, crackling fire to an otherwise generic plot. Unfortunately, while there is a lot of delicious style- and Ayer is certainly not as tastelessly unsubtle as Zack Snyder-there is precious little snap or soul to a film which could have been much more crazily entertaining. As Deadshot says it, the film should not have forgotten that they were all 'bad guys'.

My Rating- 2 And A Half Stars Out Of 5.

Ten Spectacular Spielberg Films

Last weekend saw the release of Disney’s highly awaited ‘The BFG’, based on fantasy legend Roald Dahl’s popular fairy-tale. The icing on the cake seemed to be the director chosen for the task- mammoth legend Steven Spielberg. Here is casting a look at the bearded filmmaking veteran’s stellar accomplishments- ten incredible Spielberg films that every cinephile should watch compulsorily.

10- A.I- Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Trying to beat Stanley Kubrick was always the near-impossible task. And yet, Steven Spielberg, a storyteller completely detached from the brilliant and cold-blooded cynicism of that director, did it, bringing sweepingly human emotion to the legendary filmmaker’s seminal designs and concepts and blending both his warmth and the late creator’s intelligence to create a truly odd sci-fi gem. Plot-wise, ‘A.I’ has all the feel of typical Spielberg. It is about a little kid in an adventure that changes his life, it is lavishly crafted, sweeping in its emotional force and packs in many a sight to behold. 

Yet, the director often breaks the mould in more than one way- the little kid is no dirty-blonde small-town bloke but rather an android with feelings David (played with chilling credibility by Haley Joel Osment). The journey he undertakes- to discover the warmth of a mother’s love-is a heart-breaking odyssey into dismal terrain, where machines are humiliated, where your deepest desires cannot come true and where all your fairy-tale dreams are buried under the sea of despair. Hypnotic, beautiful and ultimately exquisitely sad.

9- Lincoln (2012)

The latest of the bearded director’s cinematic achievements (not counting ‘Bridge Of Spies’) is a rare beast- a sneak peek at history that is both rousing yet objective, a talky political drama that simmers like an action film. Tony Kushner’s verbose fireworks, fashioned from real-life historical facts, lend much of ‘Lincoln’ its’ real buzz.  Spielberg is mostly content to offer the whole enterprise an air of old-world authenticity. Janusz Kaminsky’s moody cinematography, along with Rick Carter’s lived-in, decadent settings, adds more realism to the already terse proceedings in display. 

Steve captures the debate, moral questioning and political wrangling over the 13^th Amendment even as the Civil War rages and the eponymous American icon sizes up his advisors, family and friends and foes in a desperate bid for an idealistic dream. For all its subtly pointed politics, ‘Lincoln’ is truly special for terrific performances- Tommy Lee Jones as Republican hot-head Thaddeus Stevens, David Strathairn as the stately William Seward, Sally Field as a sprightly, domineering Mary Todd Lincoln and eventually the great, great Daniel Day-Lewis as the iconic, eccentric and ultimately heroic man himself.

8- E.T- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

For many fans, even with all the bullwhips and spaceships, the real-life massacres and war planes, the most striking image associated with Spielberg turns out to be the silhouette of a kid on a bicycle against the glare of a full white moon. To be honest, ‘E.T’ is not exactly the masterpiece that everyone calls. The story- of a little lost alien stranded in a sleepy small town and befriended by an equally listless young boy- is stellar but Steve’s own process seems a bit muddled at places. 

The scenes between the two are excellent and poignant but the shifts from sublime emotion to full-blown slapstick are sometimes jarring. Nevertheless, it is still a soaring, rousing yarn of adventure and imagination, bolstered by unforgettable visuals, an understated John Williams score and the totally loveable alien- a marvel of painstaking creature design and pop culture reference. Most crucially, of all the Spielberg films, it is the one that most celebrates the triumph of knee-high bravado over grumpy adulthood.

7- Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The likes of Kubrick, Sam Fuller, Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola had already showed the ugly, brutal reality of warfare but all of them were merely mental masturbators; ‘Saving Private Ryan’ shoved us right into the middle of the bloody, battering chaos that is war. The opening 30 minutes is a truly hellish cinematic experience- a gruesome, mind-numbing retelling of the Omaha Beach landings during D-Day. Limbs are exploded, entrails come spilling out and the gunfire, grit and dirt are relentless. Spielberg retains masterfully the grim, elegiac tone elsewhere too in this sublime tale of a team of soldiers, led by Tom Hanks’ Captain Miller, risking it all to find one man (Matt Damon) and then questioning themselves about the same. 

Robert Rodat’s elegantly understated narrative has over-arching ambitions- this is a men-on-a-mission movie, pure and simple. It is therefore to both his and Spielberg’s credit that this has neither bombast nor heroics but instead a sobering acknowledgement of mortality and loss of innocence. Sure, it might not have the political punch of ‘Paths Of Glory’ or the psychological ferocity of ‘Apocalypse Now’ but as a film that presents fear and disillusionment without pretensions, it is quite devastatingly brilliant.

6- Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

It is actually a bit of a pleasant surprise that, despite the incredible goodwill of another famous science fiction classic of 1977, Spielberg’s wholly original drama of scientific speculation and wide-eyed wonder still remains a classic in its own right. ‘Close Encounters’ is a compelling tale that would make for a Jules Verne novel, told with a fascinating blend of intelligent plotting, superb characterisation and moments of sheer wonder just lightly infused with adventure and dread. Line-worker Roy Neary (a hypnotically compelling Richard Dreyfus) becomes obsessed with the flashes of star-men waiting up in the sky; he is, however, not really alone. 

A ragtag of team of scientists, including one played by Francois Truffaut, sets out on a global quest for the truth behind unexplained events. For all the jargon, myth-busting discoveries and exciting clues, this is however a deeply personal story- dealing with the collapse of family, reason and sanity at the mercy of a relentless obsession. That does not however detract from Spielberg’s awe-inspiring, enthralling and intense blow-out moments- a chilling abduction scene and the grand finale- of the mother-ship alighting at Wyoming’s Devil Tower- which delivers bang for buck in spectacle.

5- Duel (1971)

Few actually realize how darn good Spielberg is with tension. Sure, we got enough evidence of it in 'Jaws' and 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'. But next to Alfred Hitchcock, he is perhaps the only director who can hammer obvious physical scares  with an artistry that no one can rival. Nothing might seem remotely incredible about a large truck looming over the frame, on a lonely, dusty highway but trust Steve to make even that ripe for sweaty suspense. This early TV movie is just that- a blood-red car, a bullying truck and a man who learns how does it feel to be at breakneck pace. There is no exposition- just sheer dreadful fear and a crushing despair all embodied faithfully by Dennis Weaver's genuinely bewildered performance. 

But then 'Duel' is also a supremely effective action film, devoid of effects, stripped of trickery and committed mainly to scaring the daylights out of us viewers. Sure, he might hand us ravenous sharks and resurrected dinosaurs sooner or later but sometimes all we need is a big tanker truck to crush all available chances of escape.

4- Munich (2005)

By the early 2000s, it was a bit safe to assume that Spielberg was losing the Midas touch. Sure, there were 'Minority Report' and 'A.I' and yeah, 'Catch Me If You Can' was a lot of fun as well, but nothing could match the path-breaking intensity of the previous decades. Then, he gave it to us and how. 'As its name would suggest, 'Munich' is about the 1972 Olympics fiasco- a blood-splattered national disaster in which Arab terrorists massacred nearly a dozen Israeli athletes. Spielberg takes us right in the middle of these grim and gory  proceedings with the relentless pace of a war reporter and then lets us witness the equally shocking, stealthy revenge exacted for the same. 

A team of nearly anonymous Mossad agents, led by Eric Bana's self-doubting Avner, is sent on a globe-trotting killing spree. And then, the mission takes its toll in more than one way. In the process, gone was the enthralling, occasionally sentimental Spielberg. In its place was a master film-maker, fully aware of his material and confident with his brutal, hard-hitting political brush-strokes. Talk about vengeance.

3- Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

Will there be a more memorable expression of Spielberg's relentless, self-claimed urge to never ever grow up? 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' might have kicked off a wildly successful franchise, cemented Harrison Ford as an action icon of lasting influence and vindicated the universal truth that George Lucas is one hell of a producer. But it remains a classic simply because it brought out the teenager inside us all, not least the director himself. The film is literally scattered with obvious genre influences- fantasy elements of Ray Harryhausen, the locations and women of James Bond capers and the Nazi villains of those ripping 60s yarns. 

And yet, 'Raiders' serves them in style, wit and a compelling balance of hilarious witticisms and enough perilous stakes to make for a truly rattling good time. The buzzing action scenes are still smashing, the effects still wonderfully weird, the humour still tongue-in-cheek. And even if the film does feel faintly dated a few times, Spielberg packed in enough bona fide adventure to make it all as enjoyable as a Road Runner cartoon on adrenaline-pumping form.

2- Jaws (1975)

It is easy to forget how less 'Jaws' is a typical monster movie and more of an intelligent, searing portrait of fear, adventure and courage against all odds. Endless imitations- and its own uncalled-for sequels- threaten to ruin the sheer cinematic deftness at display here, with most attention doled out to the supremely effective jump-scares and the legendary leviathan himself. 

To phrase one of the film's iconic lines, this take on Peter Benchley's novel is, like the Great White Shark who preys on Amity Beach, a perfect machine. More startling and unsettling than those perfectly rare glimpses of the oceanic killer are the quietest, creepiest moments that would best not be revealed here. And as if that was not enough, Spielberg's well-oiled, efficient process also adds welcome streaks of terrific characterisation, sharp plotting and just the enough amount of emotion to make it powerfully devastating. But then, it will always be second to some other film, as the director's ultimate triumph of cinematic power and storytelling.

1- Schindler's List (1993)

More than fantasy, science-fiction or adventure, it is when Spielberg casts his wide-eyed glance at history's troubling truths that real miracles happen. And nothing could be more special than 'Schindler's List'- a sharply brutal portrait of the worst horrors of the Holocaust that Hollywood had never witnessed before. Everything is gritty in Spielberg's grainy, black-and-white canvas- from the sordid Jew ghettoes, soon to be evacuated by the power-hungry Nazis, to the actual atrocities themselves- the spurts of blood in the snow-bound streets, the abject humiliation and disease and death in the grimy camps. The grim cinematography and lightning quick editing add a real buzz of chaos. 

But let's not forget- 'Schindler's List' is also above all a soaring, rousing celebration of hope. Its eponymous protagonist (played beautifully by Liam Neeson) is a flawed human, a man whose attempts to do good stand against his vices and yet the film sides up with him, as well as the many who strive to defy the gloom surrounding them. Intelligent yet compassionate, realistic yet emotionally raw, this is a film of exceptional strength and conviction and easily Steve's finest hour. 

Ten Biggest Epics Of All Time

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.