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What is the most epic film of all time?

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Not Really. I would have to give it too Kingdom of Heaven. DC of course.
 
Name another sci-fi film that more successfully communicates a sense of scale.

Movies like Star Wars don't really succeed in communicating just how big the Death Star feels through their visuals. It never really feels like something awe-inspiring.

The space battle in ROTJ is much bigger than anything in Avatar. But even the Star Destroyer in the opening shot of Star Wars is one of the most massive things I've seen in a sci-fi film.
 

ShaneB

Member
I really need to watch a few of these mentions that I haven't seen, namely the much older films which set the scale for later epics that I love.
 

C4Lukins

Junior Member
I am going with Aliens. Ben Hur, The Longest Day, Spartacus, Braveheart and a few others were in the mix but it is Aliens. It just covers so much ground, builds and builds and builds, and then when you think it is all cool, it builds again. Jaws is a close second. 10,000 CGI troops does not an epic make.
 
I am going with Aliens. Ben Hur, The Longest Day, Spartacus, Braveheart and a few others were in the mix but it is Aliens. It just covers so much ground, builds and builds and builds, and then when you think it is all cool, it builds again. Jaws is a close second. 10,000 CGI troops does not an epic make.

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I thought for sure one of these posts would have Transformers and then my lack of faith in humanity's future would be complete.

For me nothing has been more epic than:

The Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King
Lawrence of Arabia
Gladiator
Aliens
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Fritz

Member
An amazing movie but... what the hell is "epic" about There Will Be Blood?

Well, it's really debatable. It covers fundamental themes, it's a grand tale. And the music and every other shot do give a great sense of scale. It got no star destroyer, cgi fortresses or orc armies though. But I know you didn't mean as compared to LotR.
 
Get rid of that s after alien, and you might be right.

I was just responding to my good buddy, C4.

I do in fact like Alien more than Aliens. But I absolutely love both. I wouldn't call either of them the most epic movies, considering what I imagine the word to mean.
 

C4Lukins

Junior Member
There is nothing epic about a constant action thrill ride movie either.

That would be a horrible description of Aliens. It takes a good hour before it goes into thrill ride mode, and even when there is no action it is more compelling then most action films.
 
As much as I love Alien and Aliens, I don't think those fit the bill, nor does some other stuff in here. "Epic" to me signifies a a movie that has a sort of vastness either in the questions it asks through the story, the "feel" the movie gives off with its progression, music, and cinematography, and / or literal hugeness with the scale shown through its visuals. 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, LOTR trilogy, The Tree of Life, The Good The Bad The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, Contact, lots of huge war films, etc. etc.

"Epic" has unfortunately lost it's true meaning in the age of internet hyperbole, videogame developers hyping mediocre experiences, and movie advertising calling anything with monsters, gladiator skirts, or space in it "epic."
 

C4Lukins

Junior Member
As much as I love Alien and Aliens, I don't think those fit the bill, nor does some other stuff in here. "Epic" to me signifies a a movie that has a sort of vastness either in the questions it asks through the story, the "feel" the movie gives off with its progression, music, and cinematography, and / or literal hugeness with the scale shown through its visuals. 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, LOTR trilogy, The Tree of Life, The Good The Bad The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, Contact, lots of huge war films, etc. etc.

"Epic" has unfortunately lost it's true meaning in the age of internet hyperbole, videogame developers hyping mediocre experiences, and movie advertising calling anything with monsters, gladiator skirts, or space in it "epic."

Contact is a really good mention. That film does not get enough love. That film just gets bigger and bigger.

I love all the Sergio mentions, but they always felt small and contained for me.
 

Timbuktu

Member
The only ones in this thread that teally fits the bill for me are The Last Emperor, Kingdom of Heaven and Lawrence of Arabia.

I'm not sure if an 'epic' needs to be historical, but i don't see the word as meaning just big budgets or big wide angle shots. It has to do with stories with a broader vista than the personal, covering topics that span more than one lifetime. That is whyi would think of something like The Tree of Life as something profound rather than epic. I also have a hard time using the term for sci fi and fantasy, because no matter how big and vast the story and world building is, you know that it came from one man or woman's imagination and the storyis ultimately a personal one,
 

Fritz

Member
Contact is a really good mention. That film does not get enough love. That film just gets bigger and bigger.

I love all the Sergio mentions, but they always felt small and contained for me.

That is a good opposite to the meaning of epic if you need to draw the line somewhere. I think Alien anyway but Aliens as well are very contained.
 
Contact is a really good mention. That film does not get enough love. That film just gets bigger and bigger.

I love all the Sergio mentions, but they always felt small and contained for me.

Contact gets my "space explorer" juices flowing like few movies can. The scenes
when the film finally goes to space
are amazing and the sense of wonder gets me every time. Unabashed love for Contact all day every day.

As for the Sergio stuff, that falls under progression, cinematography, and score kind of epic. Feel free to call me biased, but the way everything comes together, with those 2 movies in particular, in terms of visuals + music is damn near perfection. The cast may be small, but it's about the journey and how it's conveyed.
 

C4Lukins

Junior Member
Contact gets my "space explorer" juices flowing like few movies can. The scenes
when the film finally goes to space
are amazing and the sense of wonder gets me every time. Unabashed love for Contact all day every day.

As for the Sergio stuff, that falls under progression, cinematography, and score kind of epic. Feel free to call me biased, but the way everything comes together, with those 2 movies in particular, in terms of visuals + music is damn near perfection. The cast may be small, but it's about the journey and how it's conveyed.

I am not going to argue with you when it comes to Sergio. It just seemed like such an easy answer that I wanted to debate. Once Upon a Time in America, not being one of his best is a truly Epic film. Hard to argue with how large the stories he attempted to tell were.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
Every time someone links shots of modern movies, I always marvel at the horrible composition. The art of making movies was lost many years ago.
 
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