Greatest Epics-Historical Films

100 Greatest Epics-Historical Films of All-Time



The 100 Greatest Epics-Historical Films of All-Time

Epics-Historical Films often take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle and a sweeping musical score. Epics, costume dramas, historical dramas, war film epics, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' are tales that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. In an episodic manner, they follow the continuing adventures of the hero(s), who are presented in the context of great historical events of the past.

Epics are historical films that recreate past events. They are expensive and lavish to produce, because they require elaborate and panoramic settings, on-location filming, authentic period costumes, inflated action on a massive scale and large casts of characters. Biopic (biographical) films are often less lavish versions of the epic film.

More About Epics-Historical Films:

Greatest Epics-Historical Films
Introduction to Epics-Historical Films


Greatest Epics-Historical Films
100 Greatest Epics-Historical Films of All-Time

Filmsite's 100 Greatest Epics-Historical Films
(chronological order, unranked)
The linked titles below refer to reviews (with screenshots) in the "Greatest Moments and Scenes" section of the site

Cabiria (1914, It.)

The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

Intolerance (1916)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

The Ten Commandments (1923)

Ben-Hur - A Tale of the Christ (1925)

The Big Parade (1925)

The King of Kings (1927)

Napoleon (1927, Fr.)

The Sign of the Cross (1932)

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Alexander Nevsky (1938, Soviet Union) (aka Aleksandr Nevskiy)

Gone With the Wind (1939)

(King) Henry V (1944, UK) (aka The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Hamlet (1948, UK)

Samson and Delilah (1949)

Quo Vadis (1951)

Julius Caesar (1953)

The Robe (1953)

Giant (1956)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

War and Peace (1956)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Big Country (1958)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Spartacus (1960)

El Cid (1961)

How the West Was Won (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962, UK)

The Longest Day (1962)

Cleopatra (1963)

The Leopard (1963, It./Fr.) (aka Il Gattopardo)

Becket (1964, UK)

Doctor Zhivago (1965, US/UK)

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Andrei Rublev (1966, Soviet Union) (aka Andrei Rublyov, or The Passion According to Andrew)

The Bible - In the Beginning... (1966)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966, It./Sp.) (aka Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo)

Hawaii (1966)

A Man For All Seasons (1966, UK)

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

The Lion in Winter (1968, UK)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, US/It.) (aka C'era una Volta il West)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, UK)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Patton (1970)

Ryan's Daughter (1970, UK)

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

The Emigrants (1971, Swe.) (aka Utvandrarna)

The Godfather (1972)

Barry Lyndon (1975, UK)

The Man Who Would Be King (1975, UK)

Novecento (1976, It./Fr./W.Germ.) (aka 1900)

A Bridge Too Far (1977, US/UK)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Heaven's Gate (1980)

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Ragtime (1981)

Reds (1981)

Gandhi (1982, UK)

The Right Stuff (1983)

The Bounty (1984, US/UK)

Dune (1984)

Once Upon a Time in America (1984, It./US)

A Passage to India (1984, UK)

Out of Africa (1985)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

The Last Emperor (1987, UK/It./China/HK)

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Glory (1989)

Henry V (1989, UK)

Dances with Wolves (1990)

JFK (1991)

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Malcolm X (1992)

Gettysburg (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Schindler's List (1993)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Apollo 13 (1995)

Braveheart (1995)

Nixon (1995)

The English Patient (1996)

Titanic (1997)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, US/HK/China/Taiwan) (aka Wo Hu Cang Long)

Gladiator (2000)

Gangs of New York (2002)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Munich (2005)

Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

300 (2006)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Avatar (2009)

Lincoln (2012)

1917 (2019)

Oppenheimer (2023)


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