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Epic film

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 epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a heroic character. An epic's ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other genres such as the period piece or adventure film.

This article is about the film genre. For films named "Epic", see Epic § Films.

Epic historical films would usually take a historical or a mythical event and add an extravagant setting, lavish costumes, an expansive musical 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.[1]

History[edit]

The epic is among the oldest of film genres, with one early notable example being Giovanni Pastrone's Cabiria, a two-and-a-half hour[a] silent film about the Punic Wars, which laid the groundwork for the subsequent silent epics of D. W. Griffith.


The genre reached a peak of popularity in the early 1960s,[7] 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). 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[edit]

Gross revenue[edit]

The enduring popularity of the epic is often credited to their ability to appeal to a wide audience. Several of the highest-grossing films of all-time have been epics. James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, which is cited as helping to revive the genre, grossed $1.8 billion at cinemas worldwide to become the highest-grossing film—a record it held for twelve years.[8] If inflation is taken into account, then the historical romantic epic Gone with the Wind is the highest-grossing film ever, with two other romantic epics (Titanic and Doctor Zhivago) also featuring among the global top ten.[9]

Academy Awards[edit]

So far the most Academy Awards ever won by a single film stands at eleven. This feat has only been achieved by three films: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), all of which are above three hours long and considered epic films. The previous record holder was Gone with the Wind (1939), also an epic, with ten awards.

Historical fantasy

Historical fiction

Historical drama

Sword-and-sandal

Sword and planet

Sword and sorcery

Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland.  978-1476662916.

ISBN

Constantine Santas, The Epic in Film: From Myth to Blockbuster. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland: 2008.  978-0-7425-5528-0.

ISBN

Constantine Santas, James M. Wilson, Maria Colavito, Djoymi Baker, The Encyclopedia of Epic Films, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland: 2014.  978-0-8108-8247-8

ISBN