OT: Epic movies of today

[pinkshogun]

Field of Dreams. The Equalizer with Denzel. My favorite is the original Willy Wonka. House of Games with Joe Mantegna. Fandango, an early Costner movie is kinda timeless

[veloduffer]

Originally Posted by tuxbailey

Interstellar is pretty epic IMO. Despite the last act the theater experience was quite epic.

It seems like most Christopher Nolan movies could be deemed "epic":

Memento
Interstellar
Inception
Tenet
Dunkird
The Dark Knight

[LJohnny]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I'm more curious how OP is defining "epic"?

...because if we go by the dictionary definition ("relating to or characteristic of a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation") it seems like it's pretty easy to do "epic" in this day and age:

- a troubled/conflicted protagonist who reluctantly assumes the Hero role
- some enormous and/or dangerous vistas/settings, and a ton of extras (all trivially achieved via CGI btw)
- a story steeped in myth, or with parallels to actual mythology or mythological behavior -- aka, death-defying super-powers

I basically described every action-adventure movie made in the last ~30 years. But I'm not sure I would ever refer to Die Hard 3 as an "epic" film.

The Green Knight would be a recent epic film. Too bad it was not better appreciated by the general audience. It is a good movie!

Somewhat similar to The Last Duel, Jodie Comer is outstanding in this film. This is a film that does not quite fit in a established category thus people get confused. It is not an action film, is is not comedy for sure, but does have funny moments, it has action, it has very traumatic moments…

[veloduffer]

With all the technology and CGI, it seems IMHO that for many of the action movies that storyline is almost secondary to the effects, which I think what evolved in a lot of the Star Wars sequel/prequels, Marvel/DC Comics, etc. Entertaining but will we look back 25 yrs from now and feel that these were great or epic movies - the new classics?

I admire films where the CGI is "organic". An interesting read is the effects used on Master and Commander:Far Side of the World. They blended the effects in so well, in part that they shunned using blue screens. The ship was real (former US Navy training vessel) and they used models for certain sequences.

https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/effects...far-side-world

[marciero]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I'm more curious how OP is defining "epic"?

...because if we go by the dictionary definition ("relating to or characteristic of a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation") it seems like it's pretty easy to do "epic" in this day and age:

- a troubled/conflicted protagonist who reluctantly assumes the Hero role
- some enormous and/or dangerous vistas/settings, and a ton of extras (all trivially achieved via CGI btw)
- a story steeped in myth, or with parallels to actual mythology or mythological behavior -- aka, death-defying super-powers

I basically described every action-adventure movie made in the last ~30 years. But I'm not sure I would ever refer to Die Hard 3 as an "epic" film.

That is a great top-of-head characterization.

In other eras, "epic" would have meant something like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, or Gone with the Wind. They were also very long and had huge budgets. You could add length as a criterion to exclude the Die Hard franchise, which does.

Here is a "best of" list of films over 3 hrs. There are a lot that would not fit your definition, but many that would. I would say that length is necessary
but not sufficient condition. You cant call an 1:20 movie "epic". Am not seeing anything recent here that qualifies.

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by veloduffer

It seems like most Christopher Nolan movies could be deemed "epic":

Memento
Interstellar
Inception
Tenet
Dunkird
The Dark Knight

These are all great movies. I haven't seen Dunkirk yet but from the trail it does look Epic.

For me, a good or even great movie is not necessarily "Epic" per se. The scenes from the movie should leave me in awe while seating in the the theater. LOTR has that kind of quality as well.

[spoiler ahead]


With Interstellar, the scenes from the tsunami, the last docking scene, and their voyage toward Gargantua really floors me in that aspect.

[deluz]

For sure my all time favorite:

[veloduffer]

Originally Posted by tuxbailey

These are all great movies. I haven't seen Dunkirk yet but from the trail it does look Epic.

Before seeing Dunkird I recommend seeing "Darkest Hour", Gary Oldman's Oscar performance about Churchill leading up to the war and Dunkirk. Gives the historical background and more importantly proportion/weight to the Dunkirk rescue.

My wife and I saw Darkest Hour first and it really helped understand the history. I also think it added to the dramatical weight of Dunkirk, since it isn't movie about relationships but experiencing an event. Kind of like reading the history of a place before taking a trip to visit.

[prototoast]

My Dinner with Andre.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by tuxbailey

For me, a good or even great movie is not necessarily "Epic" per se. The scenes from the movie should leave me in awe while seating in the the theater. LOTR has that kind of quality as well.

[spoiler ahead]

This is exactly what I was thinking but put into words infinitely better than what I could manage.

IMO “epic” movies have moments that inspire awe or make you catch your breath in anticipation and execution. Whether that’s through scale, action, tension, or other attributes.

In that manner Tarentino films could be considered epic as they usually don’t have the scale, but he’s arguably the finest conversational tension craftsman of our time. The opening scene of inglorious basterds is a masterclass of scriptwriting.

And same goes for the central dialogue of Steve McQueens Hunger. A conversation between two men in a single room doesn’t sound like the setup for anything special, but by the end of the 16 minute single take you’re on the edge of your seat.

https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/f...-a4404281.html

2001 is unequivocally epic yet most of it was filmed in a soundstage. If newer movies can achieve similar reactions while effectively using CGI then they should quality as well.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by pinkshogun

Field of Dreams. The Equalizer with Denzel. My favorite is the original Willy Wonka. House of Games with Joe Mantegna. Fandango, an early Costner movie is kinda timeless

As a fan of the original Equalizer series I honestly love Denzel's version too. The current TV show totally sucks and is an insult to the name.

Leon, The Professional maybe too old now to make the cut but it's an Epic movie to me. The original Le Femme Nikita french movie was groundbreaking to me too.

And while I love the original Star Trek I'm not a Trekkie. But the first remake movie with Chris Pine as Kirk had one of the most Epic scenes I can think of. When Spock was about to get annihilated and the Enterprise dropped out of warp with weapons firing, WOW! The whole theatre erupted into cheers, Never experienced that during a movie before in all my life.

[verticaldoug]

An epic is style of filmmaking with large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle.

The Martian
Dunkirk
Bridge of Spies
12 Years a Slave
Lincoln
The Avatar
Sea Biscuit

(I think The Martian is the most epic of the bunch with the vistas of Mars, Avatar probably second)

[s4life]

Almost any movie made by either Christopher Nolan or Martin Scorsese

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Johnnysmooth

Listening to some music got me thinking and wondering what are the modern "epic" movies of today. I'm thinking along the lines of Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, etc.

The only thing I could think of was the recent remake of West Side Story.

Others?

Not sure what 'epic' means but just rented The Tender Bar..really good

Also rented The Last Duel..not impressed with that one.

Both with Ben Affleck

Lots of lists are of movies not 'of today'..as in recently released. One big long one in particularly. Looked more like a google search...

BUT 'epic'..gotta mention the best Sci-fi movies of all time.
War of the Worlds(original)
The Day the Earth Stood Still(original)
Blade Runner

[Johnnysmooth]

Originally Posted by weisan

Braveheart
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Gladiator
Kingdom of Heaven
Saving Private Ryan
Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2
The Ten Commandments
Interstellar
Forest Gump
Jurassic Park
King Kong
Last Samurai
Ben-Hur
Doctor Zhivago
1917
Lawrence of Arabia
The Last Emperor
The Passion
Titanic
Star Wars
Avatar
Apollo 13
Indiana Jones
The Mission
Matrix
Dances with Wolves
Letters from Iwo Jima
The Last of the Mohicans
Aliens
Blade Runner
Robin Hood
300
Apocalypto
Life is Beautiful
Fantasia
Mad Max
Spirited Away
Inglourious Basterds
Patton
Mission Impossible

I wouldn't call all of these "epic" but certainly like the list and have seen 90% of them. Will have to track down that final 10%.