Assenpfeffer
First Post
Of the relatively recent (the last decade or so,) historically-inspired epics, which do you feel is the best?
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Rate the Epics!
- Thread starter Assenpfeffer
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Wombat
First Post
Braveheart, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Master and Commerder: The Far Side of the World, Troy -- hmmm, none of them fall into "Truly Greats" in my heart or mind. Okay, I have to play fair; I haven't seen Troy yet. All of these films fall short of the mark for me, however.
Braveheart is a fun film, a good, solid film, but I studied the Middle Ages too long to take it seriously. As a friend of mine said, "It's a good film as long as you assume it takes place in a parallel dimension, where therehappens to be a place called Scotland, happens to be a place called England, and happen to be people called William Wallace, Edward I, and Robert the Bruce. Otherwise it has nothing to do with the history." The film is a fantastic postcard of and love-affair with the Scottish landscape, and there is great cinematography, acting, and action, but as history it falls flat for me. So I find it good (not great) as a film and absolutely horrible for a history -- evens out to so-so.
Gladiator? Again, I know too much about the period. The opening Romans-vs.-Tribesmen-as-Vietnam, repelte with napalm strikes, still grates on me, as does "Roman Cavalry To The Rescue!" charging through the woods. While it is a mildly entertaining film, I do not find it a great film. Overall I found the movie forced and, at many times, rather silly, but I am in a distinct minority.
Anyway, I could go on. None of these films really "do it" for me. Odd plottings, plain awful history, and the like do them all in for me in one way or another. They may be pretty to look at, but they leave a sour taste in my mouth.
I used to really love Zulu, until I read up on the period. At that point the film became, "Good cinema, questionable history", though not as bad as some of the others. Lawrence of Arabia fares better and is still a grand epic. The Lion in Winter holds up very well, especially after I read a contemporary chronicler's account of the attempted crowning of Young Henry, which reads like a scene out of the film. Amadeus is well-costumed, well-acted, but questionable in many of the details (esp. about Sallieri, but the original play was meant as an allegory, not a history).
I guess I expect too much out of historical films.
OTOH, if anyone ever options the story of the Norman Conquest of England, they would have a great property on their hands without having to change a single bit of the history to make it interesting. International Politics! Three Massive Personalities! Political And Religious Intrigue! Two Invasions! Death, Destruction, And Despair! It is made for the big screen!
Braveheart is a fun film, a good, solid film, but I studied the Middle Ages too long to take it seriously. As a friend of mine said, "It's a good film as long as you assume it takes place in a parallel dimension, where therehappens to be a place called Scotland, happens to be a place called England, and happen to be people called William Wallace, Edward I, and Robert the Bruce. Otherwise it has nothing to do with the history." The film is a fantastic postcard of and love-affair with the Scottish landscape, and there is great cinematography, acting, and action, but as history it falls flat for me. So I find it good (not great) as a film and absolutely horrible for a history -- evens out to so-so.
Gladiator? Again, I know too much about the period. The opening Romans-vs.-Tribesmen-as-Vietnam, repelte with napalm strikes, still grates on me, as does "Roman Cavalry To The Rescue!" charging through the woods. While it is a mildly entertaining film, I do not find it a great film. Overall I found the movie forced and, at many times, rather silly, but I am in a distinct minority.
Anyway, I could go on. None of these films really "do it" for me. Odd plottings, plain awful history, and the like do them all in for me in one way or another. They may be pretty to look at, but they leave a sour taste in my mouth.
I used to really love Zulu, until I read up on the period. At that point the film became, "Good cinema, questionable history", though not as bad as some of the others. Lawrence of Arabia fares better and is still a grand epic. The Lion in Winter holds up very well, especially after I read a contemporary chronicler's account of the attempted crowning of Young Henry, which reads like a scene out of the film. Amadeus is well-costumed, well-acted, but questionable in many of the details (esp. about Sallieri, but the original play was meant as an allegory, not a history).
I guess I expect too much out of historical films.
OTOH, if anyone ever options the story of the Norman Conquest of England, they would have a great property on their hands without having to change a single bit of the history to make it interesting. International Politics! Three Massive Personalities! Political And Religious Intrigue! Two Invasions! Death, Destruction, And Despair! It is made for the big screen!
WizarDru
Adventurer
Notice the 'Historically Inspired' as opposed to 'Historically Faithful' part. 
I don't got to a Hollywood epic looking for historical accuracy. I gave up on that chestnut a long time ago.
The Ten Commandments is a good movie, but I don't think anyone would pretend that Moses was anything like Charlton Heston or Nefretiti anything like Anne Baxter.
Spartacus is a great one I don't see listed here, for example. Kurosawa's Kagemusha, covering the conflict between Takeda Shingen and Nobunaga Oda, is another. Different films appeal in different ways, depending on my mood.
I don't got to a Hollywood epic looking for historical accuracy. I gave up on that chestnut a long time ago.
The Ten Commandments is a good movie, but I don't think anyone would pretend that Moses was anything like Charlton Heston or Nefretiti anything like Anne Baxter.
Spartacus is a great one I don't see listed here, for example. Kurosawa's Kagemusha, covering the conflict between Takeda Shingen and Nobunaga Oda, is another. Different films appeal in different ways, depending on my mood.
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for me Appollo 13, The Right Stuff, even Saving Private Ryan and Titanic should be on this list.
NeoSamurai
First Post
Master and Commander was extremely accurate as was the material the movie was based on. Very well done.
NeoSamurai
First Post
double post
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NeoSamurai
First Post
Triple post.
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Assenpfeffer
First Post
WizarDru said:
I was trying to confine the list to relatively recent films. I did forget a couple, though.
Mister Underhill
First Post
Braveheart is the modern benchmark in my book, but for old school style, I favor Ben Hur. That chariot race still puts 90% of modern epic filmmaking -- Troy and Gladiator included -- to shame.
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