# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/41 "2007-07-26T22:36:16Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] What makes a movie “American” then? LOTR wasn’t nominated for “Best Foreign Film”. [/QUOTE] The category is “Best Foreign _Language_ Film.” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/42 "2007-07-26T22:50:29Z")
• [Die Nibelungen: Siegfried](http://http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0015175/) (1924) • [Metropolis](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/) (1927) • [October](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018217/) (1928) • [Storm Over Asia](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0019286/) (1928) • [Westfront 1918](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0021542/) (1930) • [Kameradschaft](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0022017/) (1931) • [Mother India](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0050188/) (1957) • [The Battle of Neretva](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0064091/) (1969) ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/43 "2007-07-26T22:59:44Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] In Indian cinema we have plenty of movies on Alexander the Great, whom we called “Sikander”. [/QUOTE] Man, is this board a wealth of information, or what ? !!! “The Man Who Would be King” is one of my all time favorite movies. And the whole Alexander the Great aspect to the story always intrigued me. I had wondered if the writers had come up with “Sikander” purely as a plot device to mask the real name (until the heros figure it out for the audience). But he really is referred to as Sikander ! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/44 "2007-07-27T03:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] The category is “Best Foreign _Language_ Film.” [/QUOTE] I’ve actually been asked over here before about why British films are never in the Best Foreign Film category. The word Language does tend to get dropped. Say, from your list above, you mention _Metropolis._ Is that really considered an epic? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/45 "2007-07-27T03:48:39Z")
It was the most expensive German movie made to that time, it had a cast that included [several hundred extras](http://www.photokunst.com/gallery_murnau/st_16.html), [huge, elaborate sets](http://www.photokunst.com/gallery_murnau/sc_20066.html), and it ran three and a half hours at its German premiere. [Take a look](http://www.photokunst.com/gallery_murnau/murnau.html). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/46 "2007-07-27T03:57:54Z")
Thanks. I knew what we have now is not complete, but I didn’t realize it originally ran that long. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/47 "2007-07-27T04:23:28Z")
athelas writes: \> Are there any recent epic foreign movies - ones on a scale like Gladiator, Lord of \> the Rings, or the Star Wars movies. It’s hardly clear that any of these are American. _Gladiator_ is listed as a British/American co-production, which I believe means that it is funded by both British and American money. The Jackson films are listed as being New Zealand/American/German co-productions, which apparently means that the money comes from all those countries. Only the Lucas films are filmed solely with American money. They all were filmed at various places around the world. There’s a British, a New Zealand, and an American director for these films. The actors in all these films come from all over the English-speaking world (and even from outside the English-speaking world). The day when it was even possible to say that most large-budget films came solely from a single country is long gone. ---
**Author:** ![gS49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@gS49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gS49)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/48 "2007-07-27T12:50:30Z")
The Italian silent film “Cabiria” (1914) may be considered the first epic film, at over 181 minutes (restored) and with appropriate subject matter and scope. It’s claimed as an influence on W.D. Griffith in making “Birth of a Nation” (1915). Also contains the first dolly shot, and was reportedly the first feature-length movie shown at the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/49 "2007-07-27T14:41:51Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] What makes a movie “American” then? LOTR wasn’t nominated for “Best Foreign Film”. [/QUOTE] As mentioned earlier, it’s “Best Foreign Language Film”. Also the LotR movies were produced by an American company (New Line Cinema) in association with Peter Jackson’s outfit (Wingnut Films), which makes it American in the eyes of Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/50 "2007-07-27T18:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=gS49] The Italian silent film “Cabiria” (1914) may be considered the first epic film, at over 181 minutes (restored) and with appropriate subject matter and scope. It’s claimed as an influence on W.D. Griffith in making “Birth of a Nation” (1915). [/QUOTE] I think you mean Griffith’s _Intolerance_ (1916), with which it shares huge sets, massed extras, and an ancient milieu. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/51 "2007-07-29T19:04:27Z")
How about the German film “Stalingrad”?(Well worth watching) ---
**Author:** ![gS49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@gS49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gS49)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/52 "2007-07-30T12:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] I think you mean Griffith’s _Intolerance_ (1916), with which it shares huge sets, massed extras, and an ancient milieu. [/QUOTE] Actually, Cabiria was credited as an influence on _Birth of a Nation_, but would, of course, have influenced _Intolerance_ as well. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/53 "2007-07-30T13:01:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] The LotR movies were produced by an American company (New Line Cinema) in association with Peter Jackson’s outfit (Wingnut Films), which makes it American in the eyes of Hollywood. [/QUOTE] “Hollywood” should try saying that in New Zealand, at best “Hollywood” would leave covered in sheep shit and over ripe kiwifruit! I have NO personal opinion (I think I may be the ONLY Kiwi alive who has never seen any of the LOTR movies) but you will be taking on a nation if you try to say LOTR isn’t a Kiwi movie. Sure the story isn’t Kiwi, nor the money, nor most of the major cast but much of the technology, all of the scenery and pretty much every Kiwi who ever fancied being in a movie IS. Seriously, it doesn’t matter if Hollywood thinks the LOTR films are American every NZer including the government will poke them in the eye for saying so. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146/54 "2007-07-30T13:53:01Z")
Is there even any evidence that Hollywood thinks that Jackson’s films are American? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-epic-foreign-movies/413146.md?page=2)