Stories that are larger than life, historical moments forever immortalized, and some of the greatest accomplishments in the history of motion pictures — these are some of the characteristics of the great epics crafted by some of the most renowned filmmakers. The jaw-dropping feats that resulted were at times acclaimed, panned, or misunderstood.
Updated July 29, 2023: If you are a fan of epic movies that transcends your cinematic experience just like the larger-than-life stories they bring to life on screen, then you will be thrilled to know that we have updated this list with a few more amazing entries to add some more grandiose to life.
As years go by, some have been forgotten or reassessed, their importance shifting through generations, but the power of their ambition proves to transcend time. From massive films set in biblical times to the near future, all these films have a lot to say about what makes humanity tick (with a lot to look at, too). Here’s a compendium of the 20 greatest cinematic epics of all time.
25 Ben-Hur (1959)
This religious epic set in the times of Christ, finds Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish aristocrat betrayed by his Roman friend as he is sent on a prison boat and his family made slaves. After his escape and mind set on revenge, an encounter with Jesus changes his heart and attitude towards life.
Remembered for its iconic imagery, legendary performances, and landmark chariot races, Ben-Hur was the biggest film in the world at its time, winning 11 Academy Awards and grossing millions, influencing the world of film for decades to come.
24 Gangs of New York (2002)
Martin Scorsese has made a name for himself with his masterful portrayal of stories of humanity and what makes them humans through his craft over his decades-long career, and Gangs of New York is no different.
This historical epic drama is set in 1863 New York's Five Point Slum, where an Irish man, Amsterdam Valon, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, tries to hunt down his father's killer, William Cutting, aka Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, follows exactly that formula to bring to life a jarring, thought-provoking, emotional and humane story in all its violent and nonetheless exhilarating glory. Decorated with gritty performances by Day-Lewis and DiCaprio, the movie manages to enthrall the audiences into looking at an admittedly dark chapter of America's history through Scorsese's artistic lense.
23 Until the End of the World (1991)
Epics have had a repetitive issue in post-production and release: length. Studios have taken auteurs to situations where their vision finds itself compromised by commercial arrangements. Unfortunately, many have been re-edited and drastically cut by studios, but eventually (and thankfully), some of these films are ultimately released as director's cuts in all their lengthy glory.
This is the case with Until The End Of The World, Wim Wenders’ ultimate road movie, a sci-fi epic that at one point had a 20-hour cut. The film finds two fugitives from the law in a journey across the globe to find a mysterious artifact. The most recent cut, gloriously re-released through the Criterion Collection, has given new audiences the chance to properly experience an almost five-hour movie about change and love.
22 Heaven’s Gate (1980)
After Cimino’s success with The Deer Hunter, his next project, Heaven’s Gate, was set out to be even bigger. However, numerous setbacks, cost overruns, retakes, Cimino’s allegedly dictatorial direction, and imposed reduction of the final cut set prejudice for the critics.
Backlash and low admissions took the film out of theatres and is said to have marked the demise of director-driven films for the next decade. In recent years, a new director’s cut and critical reassessments have given new light to a misunderstood Americana masterpiece about prejudice, cruelty, and the fast fading of the past.
21 1917 (2019)
War epics are as much a commonality in Hollywood as they are an essentiality. What better way to look back on some of humanity's most haunting chapters than through a captivating tale that hooks people into paying attention to those stories, right? However, such commonality also makes it harder for a lot of these movies to make a lasting effect on people's memories.
Then there are those movies that end up capturing people's attention from the get-go due to their unprecedented charisma in portraying possibly the same stories with a fresh perspective. Such is the case for Sam Mendes' 1917. This war epic dwells on the lives of two soldiers out on a mission to deliver a confidential message before an attack ravages their post. The movie is as thrilling as it is terrorizing, and powerful performances by George Mckay and Dean Charles Chapman make for a riveting experience almost reminiscent of poems by the war poets of the First World War era, just as the premise the movie is based on.
20 Reds (1981)
Warren Beatty’s second directorial effort shoots for the stars and delivers. Reds is the story of American journalist turned politician John Reed (Beatty). His coverage and commitment to the Russian Revolution, political activism in America, and complicated relationship with Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) are interwoven with “witness” interviews with important figures of the 20th century. As such, it's an epic historical drama, and a surprisingly underrated one.
The sprawling storyline is backed by an outstanding crew (Stephen Sondheim and Vittorio Storaro are behind the music and cinematography, respectively), not to mention a stellar cast with supporting performances from Gene Hackman, Maureen Stapleton, and some Jack Nicholson at the height of his fame. Reds is ultimately most memorable for the powerhouse performances from Keaton and Beatty as people passionate for each other and for what they believe is the future.
19 How The West Was Won (1962)
Some films really live up to their name, others are quite literally their name. How The West Was Won is both, a gigantic film detailing how the myth of the Old West came to be, seen in the life of a pioneer family. This is a movie so big it was directed by three of the best Western directors (to have John Ford direct only a portion of it — the luxury!). Beautiful photography, extensive production design, and a cast so large it feels like it won't even fit in the screen. To say that John Wayne shows up for only one scene is enough demonstrable evidence for that.
18 Dunkirk (2017)
When it comes to war epics, the list can not be completed without mentioning Christopher Nolan's historical masterpiece Dunkirk. Based on the World War II Dunkirk evacuation, the movie maximizes its rich cinematography and production value to give shape to Nolan's fully realized vision of an almost 360 degree perspective of an intense crisis with numerous lives at stake.
Hans Zimmer's background score added to the multiple perspectives used to tell the story, along with breathtaking performances from the ensemble cast adds the cherry on top of this movie, rightfully hailed as one of Christopher Nolan's finest examples of artistry to date.
17 The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
If William Wyler molded the epic genre, David Lean polished it to perfection. The Bridge on the River Kwai has William Holden and Alec Guinness as the respective leaders of American and British POWs in WWII forced to build a bridge for the Japanese. As plans to blow it up emerge, one of them has developed pride for his creation and will try to avoid its destruction.
Well-executed in all aspects, poetic and entertaining, the film has an enduring legacy as one that sheds light on the lives of those at war rather than a good-evil dichotomy.
16 Andrei Rublev (1966)
Director Andrei Tarkovsky’s meditation on faith and the role of the artist in the world, Andrei Rublev is about the life of a religious painter (Anatoliy Solonitsyn) as explored through episodes that mark his existence. From his drifting in a dangerous, undefined, yet Russian territory and establishment as an artist, to the retreat from his practice and eventual return to faith and art.
A magnificent declaration of art’s role in life, Andrei Rublev is a breathtaking monument to faith and to those who stand in the face of oppression (at its time censored by the atheist Soviet government).
15 Barry Lyndon (1975)
It’s that conspiracy theory, it’s that ground-breaking camera work, that emotional distance in its characterization, but overall, it’s director Stanley Kubrick’s curious geniality at making the most out of the role chance can play in the development of life. Barry Lyndon is his most underrated film and arguably his film that has aged best), with technical details so elegant and unique.
The film is beautifully slow-paced yet in a way that never feels slow, and the brilliant direction of actors led by the cunning and unreadable performance of Ryan O’Neal as the titular character solidifies the film's greatness.
14 Munich (2005)
An underrated Steven Spielberg classic, Munich tells the story of a dramatized version of the covert Operation Wrath of God, led by Israel as a counterstrike after the Munich massacre in 1972 by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
This political epic thriller comes out with surprisingly sharp teeth in lieu of Spielberg's often milder approaches in order to tell an unabashedly bold and intensely thought-provoking story around one of humanity's most scarring memories. The movie is as crafty as it is uncompromising, made even more so with groundbreaking performances by the likes of Daniel Craig, Eric Bana, and Geoffrey Rush, among others.
13 Doctor Zhivago (1965)
An ode to romance through the troubles of life, Doctor Zhivago chronicles the life of a physician (Omar Sharif) as his existence is changed irreversibly by the Russian Revolution. While history is extremely relevant as the judge, jury, and executioner of the characters’ lives, these lives are precisely the focus of Doctor Zhivago: their shortcomings and virtues, their way of dealing with success and tragedy, and how the human spirit faces the inevitable void of uncertainty and change.
12 Apocalypse Now (1979)
Flawed, complicated, and yet somehow absolutely perfect, Apocalypse Now is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and truly is a trip into such darkness. Director Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to his early and mid-70s hits is a hallucinatory journey into the Vietnam War and the fractured minds it produced.
Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent to kill Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has gone rogue and allegedly insane, fighting the Viet Cong with a guerilla army that see him as a demigod. As the plot unfolds, it’s clear that there’s more to it than what Willard has been told. Through his eyes and ambivalent motives to find Kurtz, Vietnam becomes closer to a psychological ward than a battlefield, a place where men are sent to die, and find the darkness of life within themselves.
11 Fanny And Alexander (1982)
The great Ingmar Bergman found a tender way to present cruel and dark narratives in Fanny And Alexander. If his prior efforts were a dark trip into the human soul, he seems to let go of this in this film which was meant to be his swan song; even though that darkness is still present, something has changed.
As the siblings at the front of the film must face the unhappiness brought upon the family by their mother’s new marriage, hope still lingers, family is still around, love is there to be taken, and magic is present in a child’s heart. Ghosts, telepathy, religion, and imagination come to life in a 312-minute journey of cinematic bliss.
10 Giant (1956)
George Stevens is at the top of his game in Giant, which follows three generations of a wealthy Texas family as they go through decades of change, racial prejudice, and their own troubles. As much as Giant is a portrait of Texas changing, it’s also one of the American family — how whatever preconceptions may exist about it, will eventually evolve. It's a formidable study of race, power, and love, brought to life by electric performances from Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean in his last-ever role.
9 Gone with the Wind (1939)
The enduring story of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Ashley Wilkes (Clark Gable) still resonates through time. The complicated relationship at the heart of this melodrama is filled with jealousy, selfishness, loss, and regret. Through it all, never pretends to show love in wartime as romantic but as a bond condemned to its context, inevitably defined by it.
Gone with the Wind certainly has not aged as well as many other films in this list, due to its lack of emphasis to large sociological aspects present in the story. Selznick’s production is uncritical of slavery and is highly defensive of Southern tradition.
8 War and Peace (1966-67)
The year is 1956, an American production adapting Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is released to worldwide acclaim. The year is 1965, the Soviet government has finally finished their cultural response, their own adaptation to legendary novel. This is no ordinary Cold War-era counterstrike; this is a film that succeeds in being way better than the American version and also renders it into nonexistence.
Sergey Bondarchuk’s film is a seven-hour-long mega-production that can be described by no other words than legendary and unrepeatable. The film was received with critical and commercial success, and to this day stands as one of the most extraordinary achievements in not only cinema but art history.
7 A Bright Summer Day (1991)
Edward Yang’s film A Bright Summer Day not only deserves a spot in any epics list, it deserves to be in its highest places. A moving story that is both large and tender, grand and intimate, brutal and kind. Societal, personal, and interpersonal worlds shifting, a life of change in one of its most tumultuous stages, the greatest depiction of a teenage wasteland, and the looming abyss of adulthood.
The life of a boy growing up in mid-20th century Taiwan is both a testament to Yang’s homeland's complicated history and to all generations of young people trying to find their place in the world.
6 Seven Samurai (1954)
A film inspired by westerns that influenced westerns to come. One of such transcendental influences in the history of cinema and culture, that to this day, it’s part of life itself. The epic struggle between good and evil through the vision of mastermind and powerhouse filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Seven Samurai is peak epic filmmaking: a historical tale of heroes defending the weak from the vile, of people coming together to overcome their own difficulties, and finding strength in numbers. Of the many epics by Kurosawa, Seven Samurai stands as his finest hour and a testament to the magical alchemy of all the elements that make up the seventh art.
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