# Are there epic foreign movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146 "2007-07-25T21:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/1 "2007-07-25T21:05:13Z")
In the US, of course, we don’t get that much foreign film to begin with, but I was under the impression that overseas film industries are typically on a smaller scale than American ones. Are there any recent epic foreign movies - ones on a scale like _Gladiator, Lord of the Rings_, or the _Star Wars_ movies. ---
**Author:** ![kurilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@kurilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurilla)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/2 "2007-07-25T21:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] In the US, of course, we don’t get that much foreign film to begin with, but I was under the impression that overseas film industries are typically on a smaller scale than American ones. Are there any recent epic foreign movies - ones on a scale like _Gladiator, Lord of the Rings_, or the _Star Wars_ movies. [/QUOTE] Some recent Chinese epics: _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon House of Flying Daggers Curse of the Golden Flower_ ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/3 "2007-07-25T21:22:25Z")
Some of Kurosawa’s later stuff was pretty epic. _Ran_ (His version of King Lear), for example. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/4 "2007-07-25T21:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] Some of Kurosawa’s later stuff was pretty epic. _Ran_ (His version of King Lear), for example. [/QUOTE] There is a Chinese trilogy called “Infernal Affairs”. It was remade by Hollywood as the movie “The Departed”. The original was much better, and much deeper. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/5 "2007-07-25T21:29:08Z")
_Ran_, _Kagemusha_, and many others in Japanese cinema from Kurosawa and others. Eisenstein’s _The Battleship Potemkin_, _Alexander Nevsky_, and his _Ivan The Terrible, Part I & II_. Numerous examples from German cinema prior to WWII. Most of the conventions of Epic cinema actually came from abroad before being integrated and commericalized in the form of the Hollywood blockbuster. Modern epics are more limited because of the domination of American cinema and the difficulty in getting comperable budgets, but it’s hardly an American innovation. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/6 "2007-07-25T21:30:48Z")
It doesn’t get more epic than the seven hour long Russian version of **War and Peace**. There are plenty of “epic” movies, depending on how you define them. Last January I watched much of the Indian “Bollywood” Superhero epic **Krissh** , and had to leave before the end. The damned thing is Loooooong! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/7 "2007-07-25T21:37:55Z")
_The Battleship Potemkin_ (1925) comes to mind. As does _Alexzander Nevsky_ (1938) darn good movies. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/8 "2007-07-25T22:07:50Z")
Wim Wenders _Bis ans Ende der Welt_ (“Until the End of the World”) (1991) was shot in 15 cities in 7 countries on 4 continents. There’s a director’s cut, not often seen, that runs almost five hours. I’d say that’s pretty epic. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/9 "2007-07-25T22:10:32Z")
As a contemporary example, there is [Night Watch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Watch_(2004_film)) . The Russian epic vampire trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/10 "2007-07-25T22:28:36Z")
Takashi Miike’s [the Great Yokai War](http://imdb.com/title/tt0425661/) was [pretty insanely epic](http://youtube.com/watch?v=xv9fW4TdY4Y). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/11 "2007-07-25T22:47:00Z")
[Indochine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104507/) certainly seemed to go on for ever. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/12 "2007-07-25T22:47:19Z")
One could argue that LotR itself is a non-American movie, being, as it was, made by a New Zealand director, with a largely New Zealand crew, and shot almost entirely in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/13 "2007-07-26T00:17:08Z")
Depending on your definition, there’s **[L’enfants du paradis](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037674/)**. Certainly of epic length, with a large cast, though no battles. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/14 "2007-07-26T00:32:52Z")
Hmm, I think the movie “Hero” can be called a somewhat epic movie. Lots of battles, big casts, etc, though it falls in the short area for something truly epic. Other than that, the Watch (Night/Day/Dusk) movies from Russia are both good, deep, long and feature big battles. Some of the European WWII movies also count, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/15 "2007-07-26T01:02:44Z")
Bob and Doug’s \*Strange Brew \* qualifys, I think. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/16 "2007-07-26T01:21:34Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] Takashi Miike’s [the Great Yokai War](http://imdb.com/title/tt0425661/) was [pretty insanely epic](http://youtube.com/watch?v=xv9fW4TdY4Y). [/QUOTE] Hear hear. One of the most–I cannot improve upon your terminology, V–\*insanely \*entertaining movies I have ever gleefully subjected myself to. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/17 "2007-07-26T01:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] It doesn’t get more epic than the seven hour long Russian version of **War and Peace**. [/QUOTE] Also enthusiastically seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/18 "2007-07-26T01:41:14Z")
I can’t mention any specifics because I’m not too knowledgeable in this area, but it seems like there are a ton of epic Bollywood movies out there. I remember one recent one that I didn’t see called Eklavya, The Royal Guard that seemed to be a period adventure about the defense of some fort – looked pretty epic. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/19 "2007-07-26T02:03:05Z")
There are many epic Bollywood movies. One recent example, [_Asoka_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asoka_(film)), is about the historical emperor. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/20 "2007-07-26T09:04:22Z")
Princess Mononoke, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146.md?page=2)