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When I was a kid, "Ben-Hur" was a big movie at my house, mainly because it was — and still is — terrific. Talk all you want about indie films, some of which are great, but epics will always have a place in moviegoers’ hearts. There’s something about seeing all that money up on screen. The production values need to be top notch, with a cast of thousands (or CGI renderings of thousands, as is the current trend), but there has to be a good story and decent acting. Remember "Inchon"? No? There’s a reason why.
For the purposes of this piece, an epic is any huge, big-budget movie that ventures to tell a story on the grandest possible canvas.
Ben-Hur (1959): Directed by William Wyler; starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins and Hugh Griffith.
Say what you want about Heston’s political beliefs. In 1959, he was at the height of his movie-star powers. This film is the very definition of epic: grand, involving and even touching at times. It won a record 11 Oscars, a feat not equaled until "Titanic" almost 40 years later.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003): Directed by Peter Jackson; starring Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and many others.
Speaking of 11 Oscars, a third movie shares that honor. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" finally won Best Picture after the first two were shut out. Although some critics think the movies are too long, myself included, they still exemplify old-school filmmaking. The canvas just doesn’t get any larger.
The Great Escape (1963): Directed by John Sturges; starring Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Richard Attenborough and James Garner.
Is there a cooler sight than seeing McQueen escaping from the Nazis on a motorcycle? I think not. Based on a true story about a group of American and British POWs who attempted a massive escape from a German prison camp, this movie has everything: scope, thrills, humor and great characters. Like most epics, it’s long, clocking in at just less than three hours.
Gone with the Wind (1939): Directed by Victor Fleming (with uncredited assistance from George Cukor and Sam Wood); starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard.
It’s so big, some say it couldn’t have been made today. Based on Margaret Mitchell’s best-selling novel, "Gone with the Wind" tells the story of the beautiful but selfish Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara. It’s as grand and involving as a movie gets — and it has the best screen kiss ever. Theaters used to show this two-hour-and-40-minute film with an intermission.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Directed by David Lean; starring Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness and Anthony Quinn.
An epic is only as good as its music and Maurice Jarre’s masterpiece is one of the grandest movie scores ever. Just mention it to someone and out comes a clumsy but passionate rendition. Yet, the movie is so much more. Lean made the thinking-man’s epic with a not-very-flattering view of British colonialism.
The Ten Commandments (1956): Directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter and Edward G. Robinson.
Sure, it’s cheesy, with Robinson’s campy "Where’s your Ten Commandments now, Moses?" But how can you not put this on the list? The movie more than makes up for its occasional lapses with the best special effects done up to that period. The parting of the Red Sea is one of the greatest moments in movie history.
The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II (1972, 1974): Directed by Francis Ford Coppola; starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and James Caan.
Maybe this is cheating, since "The Godfather" (unlike "LOTR") was initially made to stand on its own. But can you really watch one without eventually seeing the other? These are two truly great films that totally involve the viewer, even though they are sometimes repulsing: "Leave the gun, take the cannolis."
Born on the Fourth of July (1989): Directed by Oliver Stone; starring Tom Cruise and Raymond J. Barry.
With a majestic score by John Williams, "Born on the Fourth of July" takes on a journey of military madness and redemption, as the story of Ron Kovic unfolds in front of our very eyes. This truly great American film was when most people decided Cruise could actually act, evidenced by his first Oscar nomination.
The Color Purple (1985): Directed by Steven Spielberg; starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.
Spielberg has made "bigger" movies, but of all his so-called serious ones, this is my favorite. Based on Alice Walker’s novel, "The Color Purple" tells the story of Celie (Goldberg) a young African-American girl growing up in the deep South in the early part of the century. This might not be an epic in the classic sense, but Celie’s journey is so mesmerizing I had to include it.
El Cid (1961): Directed by Anthony Mann; starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren.
Forgotten by many, "El Cid" manages to show up on cable from time to time. Mann was known for two-fisted film noir and existential western and brought a certain machismo lacking in many epics. Heston is his usual big, old epic self in this one, aided by a luminous Loren.
