Epic Films (Like Ben-Hur)

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Anyone else here a fan of this genre?

I just love the spectacle these films present. Especially before CGI when the only answer to, “How are we going to get a thousand extras in one shot?” was, “Well, I guess we’re going to have to get a thousand extras.”

Ben-Hur is the epitome for me and I definitely enjoy the older stuff, but I have two more modern epics handy on physical media. Alexander Revisited and Noah.

I was excited when Alexander first came out in 2004, but never got around to watching it. An Oliver Stone epic being in development so long that Val Kilmer aged out of the title role should be a home run, but as it is it’s much forgotten and while I can look up stuff about it I never see people bring it up.

Noah was actually directed by Darren Aronofsky of all people and stars Russell Crowe. I see Crowe more as a leading man for this kind of film than the star of Alexander, Colin Farrell (though I enjoy Farrell in other stuff). But again whenever Aronofsky or Crowe get brought up I can’t say I find many people bringing up Noah.

For these newer epics I think the mood is just going to have to strike me for me to give them a chance. One drawback of this genre is to let the full world of these films breathe they tend to be long. And while bad movies can be fun to sit through, when they are bad because they are boring or something, the length just makes things worse.

[tirtefaa]

I don't know if any newer movies that fall under the realm that I like, but I'd say the one I grew up with was The Ten Commandments. Yul Brynner was so enjoyable in that, and it's weird seeing people like Vincent Price and Edward G. Robinson as cameos now that I know who they are.

[schma]

I never actually got around to watching Alexander but I don't really remember anyone being all that excited for it at the time. Perhaps that was after they'd seen it, but it just kinda came and went with a relative 'meh'.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

May 30, 2024 8:37:48 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

I don't know if any newer movies that fall under the realm that I like, but I'd say the one I grew up with was The Ten Commandments. Yul Brynner was so enjoyable in that, and it's weird seeing people like Vincent Price and Edward G. Robinson as cameos now that I know who they are.

With Ben Hur mentioned in the thread title, the first movie I thought of was The Ten Commandments

[Citizen Snips]

Lawrence of Arabia is my go-to epic.

[Limity (BLM)]

Kirk Douglas's Spartacus!

Which came into being because Kirk Douglas didn't get the lead in Ben Hur.

[OGBoardPoster2005]

The Epic genre was the earliest version of today's super hero films. Wide in scope with landscape sets shooting for more than acting and dialogue but painting a picture of a world on a canvas.

I get why eventually it got backlash though. So many entries in the mid-late 50s/early-mid 60s were just ridiculously long and only had historic appeal. They weren't cheap either.

Cleopatra is the one that stands out to me the most because it nearly killed 20th Century Fox.

[Sephiroth]

May 30, 2024 12:38:01 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

May 30, 2024 8:37:48 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

I don't know if any newer movies that fall under the realm that I like, but I'd say the one I grew up with was The Ten Commandments. Yul Brynner was so enjoyable in that, and it's weird seeing people like Vincent Price and Edward G. Robinson as cameos now that I know who they are.

With Ben Hur mentioned in the thread title, the first movie I thought of was The Ten Commandments

Even as a straight guy I gotta say-Yule Brenner was one sexy beast. That voice could melt butter.

[Natural Born Farmer]

I feel like X-Men: Days Of Future Past is pretty epic because it's got a ton of characters, a grand scale, and a story that's complex while still being told concisely.