Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epic poetry in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a character. An epic's ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other genres such as the period piece or adventure film.
Epic historical films would usually take a historical or a mythical event and add an extravagant setting, lavish costumes, an expansive film score, and an ensemble cast, which would make them extremely expensive to produce. The most common subjects of epic films are royalty and important figures from various periods in world history.
Characteristics
When described as "epic" because of content, an epic movie is often set during a time of war or other societal crisis, while usually covering a longer span of time sometimes throughout entire generations coming and passing away, in terms of both the events depicted and the running time of the film. Such films usually have a historical setting, although speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy or science fiction) settings have become common in recent decades. The central conflict of the film is usually seen as having far-reaching effects, often changing the course of history. The main characters' actions are often central to the resolution of the societal conflict.
In its classification of films by genre, the American Film Institute limits the genre to historical films such as Ben-Hur. However, film scholars such as Constantine Santas are willing to extend the label to science-fiction films such as and Star Wars. Lynn Ramey suggests that "Surely one of the hardest film genres to define is that of the "epic" film, encompassing such examples as Ben-Hur, Gone with the Wind and more recently, 300 and the Star Wars films ... none of these comes from literary epics per se, and there is little that links them with one another. Among those who espouse film genre studies, epic is one of the most despised and ignored genres". Finally, although the American Movie Channel formally defines epic films as historical films, they nonetheless state the epic film may be combined with the genre of science-fiction and cite Star Wars as an example.
Stylistically, films classed as epic usually employ spectacular settings and specially designed costumes, often accompanied by a sweeping musical score, and an ensemble cast of . Epics are usually among the most expensive of films to produce. They often use on-location filming, authentic period , and action scenes on a massive scale. Biographical films may be less lavish versions of this genre. They often have a Roadshow theatrical release and are often shot on 70 mm film.
Many writers may refer to any film that is "long" (over two hours) as an epic, making the definition epic a matter of dispute, and raise questions as to whether it is a "genre" at all. As Roger Ebert put it, in his "Great Movies" article on Lawrence of Arabia:
History
The genre reached a peak of popularity in the early 1960s, when Hollywood frequently collaborated with foreign film studios (such as Rome's Cinecittà) to use relatively exotic locations in Spain, Morocco and elsewhere for the production of epic films such as El Cid (1961) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Epic films also saw expansions eastwards, where culturally rich Asian nations such as Japan and India produced landmark and ambitious historical epics such as Seven Samurai (1954) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960), with both movies banking upon the romanticized zeitgeist of their culturally unique historical eras. This boom period of international co-productions is generally considered to have ended with Cleopatra (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). Nevertheless, films in this genre continued to appear, with one notable example being War and Peace, which was released in the former Soviet Union during 1967–1968. Epic films continue to be produced, although since the development of CGI they typically use computer effects instead of an actual cast of thousands. Since the 1950s, such films have regularly been shot with a wide aspect ratio for a more immersive and panoramic theatrical experience.
Epic films were recognized in a montage at the 2006 Academy Awards.
Public reception
Gross revenue
Academy Awards
See also
- Historical fantasy
- Historical fiction
- Historical drama
- Planetary romance
- Sword-and-sandal
- Sword and sorcery
Further reading
- Constantine Santas, The Epic in Film: From Myth to Blockbuster. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland: 2008. .
- Constantine Santas, James M. Wilson, Maria Colavito, Djoymi Baker, The Encyclopedia of Epic Films, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland: 2014.
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(2025). 9781476662916, McFarland. ISBN 9781476662916
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