Category: Epic

Ryan’s Daughter: David Lean’s unfairly maligned masterpiece finds the great British director returning to his roots to create his most personal and ambitious epic

Ryan's Daughter (1970) is considered to be the great British director David Lean's lone artistic misfire. But this film, an epic romance set on the wild west coast of Ireland and starring such stalwarts like Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills and Sarah Miles, is one of Lean's most personal and ambitious films. In a … Continue reading Ryan’s Daughter: David Lean’s unfairly maligned masterpiece finds the great British director returning to his roots to create his most personal and ambitious epic →

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Superman: Richard Donner’s dazzling, delightful & star-studded superhero epic set the template for comic-book adaptations

Superman (1978), directed by Richard Donner and starring Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve as the eponymous 'Man of Steel,' was the first serious attempt at making a big budget studio feature film about a comic-book superhero, and it also remains one of the best. "This is no Fantasy" This is the first line … Continue reading Superman: Richard Donner’s dazzling, delightful & star-studded superhero epic set the template for comic-book adaptations →

Barry Lyndon: Stanley Kubrick’s ice-cold exercise in pure cinema is also his most emotionally rich and perfect movie

Barry Lyndon(1975), adapted for the screen by Stanley Kubrick from William Thackeray's novel, is perhaps Kubrick's greatest film. The film, starring Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson, charts the rise and fall of its amoral hero, Redmond Barry, in the backdrop of the tumultuous events in Eighteenth-century Europe. I find Stanley Kubrick to be a bundle … Continue reading Barry Lyndon: Stanley Kubrick’s ice-cold exercise in pure cinema is also his most emotionally rich and perfect movie →

Wyatt Earp: Kevin Costner attempted an ambitious, ‘The Godfather’-like sprawling epic on Old-West’s most legendary lawman

Wyatt Earp (1994), co-written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan is an epic Western starring Kevin Costner as legendary Frontier Marshall, Wyatt Earp, and Dennis Quaid as Earp's friend 'Doc' Holliday. The film attempts to be a definitive biopic on Earp, as it traces his growth from a young Iowa farm boy into the most legendary … Continue reading Wyatt Earp: Kevin Costner attempted an ambitious, ‘The Godfather’-like sprawling epic on Old-West’s most legendary lawman →

The Godfather: Coppola, Brando and Pacino transformed Mario Puzo’s gangster saga into a mesmerizing meditation on power, succession and moral corruption

The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a strong candidate for the title of 'the greatest American film ever made'. The film, adapted form Mario Puzo's bestselling novel, tells the story of the fictional Corleone family and starred Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in lead roles. When Mario Puzo set out to write … Continue reading The Godfather: Coppola, Brando and Pacino transformed Mario Puzo’s gangster saga into a mesmerizing meditation on power, succession and moral corruption →

Dances with Wolves: Kevin Costner directs and stars in this grand, gorgeous & ‘going native’ Western epic

Dances with Wolves (1990) is a sweeping Western epic directed by, and starring Kevin Costner. This was Costner's directorial debut and this Oscar winning film was adapted from a novel by Michael Blake. Kevin Costner, by his own admission, does not make cutting-edge movies. His films are all 'right down the middle.' His ambition as … Continue reading Dances with Wolves: Kevin Costner directs and stars in this grand, gorgeous & ‘going native’ Western epic →

Khartoum: Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier battle it out in this visually stunning war epic that has great contemporary relevance

Khartoum(1966), directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier, is the last of the Cinerama roadshow epics of the 1960s. The film has Heston playing British hero, Charles 'Chinese' Gordon, who tries to save the city of Khartoum from the invading armies of Olivier's Mahdi. Western imperialism Vs Islamic fundamentalism, that's the … Continue reading Khartoum: Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier battle it out in this visually stunning war epic that has great contemporary relevance →

The Undefeated: John Wayne and Rock Hudson teamed up for this epic, civil-war era, south-of-the-border Western

The Undefeated(1969), directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson in lead roles, is a lavishly mounted, epic Western set during the final days of the American civil war. Loosely based on Confederate States Army General Joseph Orville Shelby's escape to Mexico - with approximately 1,000 of his remaining troops (men later immortalized as "the undefeated" … Continue reading The Undefeated: John Wayne and Rock Hudson teamed up for this epic, civil-war era, south-of-the-border Western →

Little Big Man: Dustin Hoffman entered ‘The Guinness Book of World Records’ with his epic portrayal of the titular misfit in Arthur Penn’s oddball Western Tragicomedy

Little Big Man(1970) is a revisionist Western directed by Arthur Penn from Thomas Berger's satirical novel. The film stars Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb, a white man raised by Native Indian Tribes, and it tells the tale of the conquest of the American West from the point of view of the Native Americans. Dustin Hoffman … Continue reading Little Big Man: Dustin Hoffman entered ‘The Guinness Book of World Records’ with his epic portrayal of the titular misfit in Arthur Penn’s oddball Western Tragicomedy →

Patton: George C. Scott is magnificent as the brilliant and mercurial WWII General in this splendid biographical war epic

Patton(1970) is a multiple Oscar winning war-biopic directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and co-written by Francis Ford Coppola. The film has George C. Scott essaying the brilliant and mercurial General George S. Patton during WWII, starting with the general's exploits in North Africa and ending with the fall of the Third Reich and the liberation … Continue reading Patton: George C. Scott is magnificent as the brilliant and mercurial WWII General in this splendid biographical war epic →

The Alamo: John Wayne produced, directed, and starred in this stirring epic War-Western

The Alamo(1960), based on the 'Battle of Alamo' that took place in the year 1836, is an epic historical-war Western produced and Directed by John Wayne. This was Wayne's directorial debut, and he also played the role of Davy Crockett in the film alongside an ensemble cast that comprised of Richard Widmark and Laurence Harvey. … Continue reading The Alamo: John Wayne produced, directed, and starred in this stirring epic War-Western →

Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino’s postmodern ‘Antebellum’ Western is too self-indulgent, but still very entertaining

Django Unchained(2012), Quentin Tarantino's 7th film as a director, is a homage to spaghetti-Westerns, Blaxploitation flicks and Wagner's opera. The film, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio, is a revenge-Western set in the Antebellum South. “We participated in a hero’s journey — the hero here being Quentin,...And you scale the … Continue reading Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino’s postmodern ‘Antebellum’ Western is too self-indulgent, but still very entertaining →

Inglourious Basterds: In Quentin Tarantino’s glorious homage to WWII ‘Men on a Mission’ movies, words & films are more powerful than bullets & grenades

Inglourious Basterds(2009) is Quentin Tarantino's sixth feature film as a director. The film, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger, is an idiosyncratic mashup of War films and Spaghetti-Westerns, and presents an alternate history of WWII and the assassination of Hitler. If my initiation into the events of WWII was through Quentin … Continue reading Inglourious Basterds: In Quentin Tarantino’s glorious homage to WWII ‘Men on a Mission’ movies, words & films are more powerful than bullets & grenades →

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The final collaboration between Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone resulted in one of the greatest and most entertaining Westerns of all time

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the third and final film in the 'Man with no Name' trilogy from the actor-director team of Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. This rip-roaring Spaghetti Western, co-starring Lee Van Cleef and Eli Walach, is not just one of the greatest Westerns, but one of the greatest films … Continue reading The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The final collaboration between Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone resulted in one of the greatest and most entertaining Westerns of all time →

Cross of Iron: Sam Peckinpah’s gritty and unflinching World War II epic is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made

Cross of Iron (1977), starring James Coburn, James Mason and Maximillian Schell in lead roles, is Sam Peckinpah's bleak, pessimistic WWII epic about a band of retreating German soldiers on the Russian frontier. It's hard to believe that director, 'Bloody' Sam Peckinpah made just one 'War' film in his career. The film was "Cross of … Continue reading Cross of Iron: Sam Peckinpah’s gritty and unflinching World War II epic is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made →

One-Eyed Jacks: The only film directed by Marlon Brando is one of the greatest and most original Westerns ever made

One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is the only film directed by acting legend, Marlon Brando. The film is a one-of-a-kind Western that mixes the glossy production values of old-Hollywood with the emotional values of an emerging new-Hollywood, with its complex plot and morally ambiguous protagonists. "one may smile, and smile, and be a villain" from William Shakespeare's … Continue reading One-Eyed Jacks: The only film directed by Marlon Brando is one of the greatest and most original Westerns ever made →

The Great Escape: John Sturges’ magnum opus is the ultimate WWII POW Escape adventure that made stars out of Steve McQueen, James Garner and Charles Bronson

The Great Escape (1963), directed by John Sturges from the eponymous non-fiction book by Paul Brickhill, features Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Richard Attenborough and others as Allied POWs involved in the greatest escape attempt from a POW camp in Germany during WWII. Director John Sturges' The Great Escape (1963) marks the zenith of … Continue reading The Great Escape: John Sturges’ magnum opus is the ultimate WWII POW Escape adventure that made stars out of Steve McQueen, James Garner and Charles Bronson →

Gladiator: Russell Crowe’s magnificent performance and Ridley Scott’s visual artistry resurrected the Roman empire epic

With his 2000 epic film, Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe, Jaquan Phoenix, Connie Nielson, Oliver Reed and Richard Harris, Director Ridley Scott successfully resurrected the Roman empire epic that flourished during the 1950s and 60s. It's one of Cinema's great ironies that the film which ended the hot streak of big-budget biblical\Ancient Roman epic productions in … Continue reading Gladiator: Russell Crowe’s magnificent performance and Ridley Scott’s visual artistry resurrected the Roman empire epic →

Zulu: Michael Caine and Stanley Baker stars in this most beloved of British war epics that celebrates valor but does not become a celebration of imperialism

Zulu(1964), directed by Cy Endfield and starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine in lead roles, is an epic war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulu impi in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War. "In the hundred years since the Victoria Cross was created for valor and extreme courage beyond that normally expected of a … Continue reading Zulu: Michael Caine and Stanley Baker stars in this most beloved of British war epics that celebrates valor but does not become a celebration of imperialism →

El Cid: Charlton Heston embodies the legendary Spanish folk hero in all his nobility in Anthony Mann’s magnificent medieval epic

El Cid(1961), produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Anthony Mann, depicting the life of legendary Eleventh-century Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar is one of the greatest screen epics ever made. Charlton Heston plays Rodrigo aka El Cid in one of his most popular film portrayals and Sophia Loren plays his wife Doña Ximena. Don … Continue reading El Cid: Charlton Heston embodies the legendary Spanish folk hero in all his nobility in Anthony Mann’s magnificent medieval epic →