Worst2First: My Top Ten Epic Films
Worst2First:
My Top Ten Epic Films
Here are my personal top ten favorite epic films (films lasting longer than 3 hours), worst2first...
**THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS**
#10
The Hateful Eight
3 Hours, 7 Minutes
Quentin Tarantino's eighth film pays homage to the classic films and also incorporates his unique blend of sharp-witted humor and bloody violence, all the while making you feel like you haven't just sit through an over-three-hour film. The movie centers on eight strangers during the Civil War who take refuge during a winter storm, and realize that each of them has their own secrets, and no one can be trusted. Of course, the tension builds from minute-to-minute leading to another Tarantino-infused explosive finish. Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern round out the eight strangers who all give tremendous performances.
#9
The Green Mile
3 Hours, 9 Minutes
Stephen King is best known for being a horror author, but he's also penned some profoundly dramatic novels as well, including "The Shawshank Redemption," "Stand By Me," and "The Green Mile." In the film version, Tom Hanks plays a death row corrections officer during the Great Depression when he meets a prisoner accused of murdering a child named John Coffey, and is rocked by Coffey's seemingly supernatural abilities, and doubts Coffey's guilt due to his gentle-giant nature. Hanks is always a crowd-pleasing favorite, but it's the late Michael Clarke Duncan who shines as Coffey, earning him an Academy Award nomination for his spellbinding, heartbreaking, and even uplifting performance.
#8
Gandhi
3 Hours, 11 Minutes
Focusing on the life of one of the world's most influential and unforgettable leaders, "Gandi" tells the story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement who set out to go against the United Kingdom's rule of India through pacifist, non-violent means. The film chronicles his life from start to finish, focusing on several key moments in the leader's life, giving a personal look into his world and what made him who he was. Ben Kingsley earned an Oscar for his performance, and the film went on to receive eleven Academy Award nominations, earning the Best Picture statue as well.
#7
JFK
3 Hours, 26 Minutes
Director Oliver Stone's epic "JFK" centers on one of the darkest moments in American history, and the proposed cover-up that still holds traction today. Centering on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, "JFK" focuses on the proposed cover-up and the tireless efforts of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison to find the truth, leading to several shocking conclusions that may or may not be true. The film does play fast and loose with certain facts, but maybe even those facts could be suspect - no one knows for sure, making this a great film for conspiracy theorists. Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Michael Rooker, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner, John Candy, Vincent D'Onofrio, and John Larroquette round out the stellar ensemble cast, but it's Costner's performance that truly shines.
#6
The Right Stuff
3 Hours, 13 Minutes
Focusing on America's desire to reach the moon, "The Right Stuff" centers on the first fifteen years of the space program and the highs, lows, and personal struggles that occurred in-between, and the film rests on telling the story of the Mercury Seven, the first pilots who were selected to be astronauts. Starring Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn and Sam Shepard, "The Right Stuff" proves the strength humanity has to achieve a goal seemingly thought impossible.
#5
The Deer Hunter
3 Hours, 4 Minutes
Centering on the haunting after-effects of wartime fighting, "The Deer Hunter" tells the story of three Vietnam veterans who return home and find their lives will never be the same after the horrors they encountered. Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage play these soldiers and all give electric, downright haunting performances, along with Meryl Streep and John Cazale, leaving the viewer with indelible pictures in their mind that'll stay with them long after it ends.
#4
Schindler's List
3 Hours, 17 Minutes
Stephen Spielberg is a master of directing, and "Schindler's List" is one of his finest works - most notably because it's a true story. Centering on the life of Oskar Schindler (played perfectly by Liam Neeson), an unconventional hero who built a factory to employ Polish-Jews during World War II to keep them from concentration camps, "Schindler's List" is a haunting, mesmerizing piece of cinema that chronicles the horrors the Nazis inflicted on the Jewish people and the world, presenting the true terror of the Holocaust shot entirely in black and white to fit the darkness of the period, with a John Williams score that's every bit as opposite as his iconic score for "Star Wars."
#3
The Godfather: Part II
3 Hours, 22 Minutes
The rare occurrence where the sequel is better than the original, "The Godfather: Part II" chronicles the rise of Vito Corleone to his iconic Godfather status, while also telling the story of his son's fall from grace. Francis Ford Coppola's magnum opus won six Academy Awards including Best Picture (the first for a sequel), and raised the bar on gangster and mobster movies for decades to come, giving a hurdle that no other film has come close to surpassing.
#2
Avengers: Endgame
3 Hours, 2 Minutes
Culminating ten years, twenty-two films, and numerous superheroes that have forever changed the landscape of cinema, "Avengers: Endgame" is the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, and raises the bar for every superhero movie to follow. Perfectly encapsulating the events of all the films before it, this one finds the Avengers left after the Snap trying to move on with life while also finding a way to reverse what happened, resulting in one of the most climatic, thrilling, stand-up-and-cheer final battles in cinematic history.
#1
The Lord of the Rings: The Extended Editions
11 Hours, 26 Minutes
Go big or...I guess...stay at home. Peter Jackson's prolific "The Lord of the Rings" films transformed forever the cinematic landscape, providing three eternally valuable films that've held up and will continue to be heralded as some of the best cinematic masterpieces of all time, but to watch them in their theatrical cuts is like eating a Big Mac compared to a world class steak dinner, which is what the Extended Editions provide. Offering the full spectrum of amazement, the Extended Edition doesn't leave a single stone unturned in the telling of the epic tale of Frodo Baggins and his friends as they embark on the most perilous journey ever faced - along with the triumphs, tragedies, and tremendous action that take place in-between.
Comments
Post a Comment