# What Makes A Movie An "Epic"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285 "2007-07-26T20:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/1 "2007-07-26T20:29:37Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8819881#post8819881) , a discussion started about whether an animated film can be an “epic” I think not, I think that part of what makes a movie an epic is a breathtaking sweep of history with sweeping vistas, crowds of extras, and a sense of historic importance. All this, as far as I know, cannot be done in a small, indie film shot with a couple of friends and a single camera. With that in mind, what make a movie an “epic”? Epic Movies: \* Lawrence of Arabia War and Peace Dr. Zhivago Star Wars Zulu Dawn Lord of the Rings \* Not Epic: \* Clerks Dodgeball To Sir With Love Roman Holiday Dracula \* ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/2 "2007-07-26T23:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Not Epic: \* … Dracula \* [/QUOTE] Which version of **Dracula** are you referring to? The 1992 Coppola version was pretty opulent. ---
**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 26, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/3 "2007-07-26T23:17:30Z")
Would **It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World** be an epic? It’s long and has a cast of thousands. Is it even possible to have an Epic comedy? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/4 "2007-07-27T12:35:04Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Would **It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World** be an epic? It’s long and has a cast of thousands. Is it even possible to have an Epic comedy? [/QUOTE] You know, by golly, I’d have to say that it is. [QUOTE=NPD] Which version of Dracula are you referring to? … [/quote] Tod Browning’s, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/5 "2007-07-27T13:59:07Z")
Well, I’d describe [Princess Mononoke](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119698/) as epic in its story: it looks at a pretty wide sweep of history, and at contending forces that build up to create history. Just bea=ing animated doesn’t stop it being epic. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/6 "2007-07-27T14:20:15Z")
Orlando Bloom? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/7 "2007-07-27T14:35:25Z")
Perhaps I’m in the minority. I think “epic” I think David lean, I think Peter Jackson I think Zoltan Korda. I have a hard time thinking of cartoons (which I love). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/8 "2007-07-27T15:13:27Z")
I think cartoons can be epics. _Laputa: Castle in the Sky_ was grand and sweeping and action-packed and had a “cast” of many hundreds, if not thousands. _Kiki’s Delivery Service_ had some hallmarks of an epic, too, although it had a more intimate feel and a narrower dramatic focus. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/9 "2007-07-27T15:56:58Z")
Couldn’t **Lion King** be considered epic? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/10 "2007-07-27T16:59:55Z")
You forgot _Gone With the Wind._ ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/11 "2007-07-27T18:53:00Z")
Couldn’t **Lion King** be considered epic? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/12 "2007-07-27T20:58:46Z")
**Life of Brian** was an epic of sorts. **Brazil** , **Monsieur Verdoux** and **The Player** too. What were the most sprawling, lavish, expensive comedies ever made? ---
**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 27, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/13 "2007-07-27T21:04:07Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] **Life of Brian** was an epic of sorts. **Brazil** , **Monsieur Verdoux** and **The Player** too. What were the most sprawling, lavish, expensive comedies ever made? [/QUOTE] The Disastrous **Ishtar** would have to rank right up there… ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/14 "2007-07-27T22:25:23Z")
A bunch of different sets and a big budget. A marketing dept. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/15 "2007-07-28T07:58:16Z")
The [Clone Wars cartoons](http://www.starwars.com/clonewars/) were pretty epic. Also, they were much better than Episodes I-III. I would also count the anime series [Record of Lodoss War](http://www.amazon.com/Record-Lodoss-War-Complete-Vols/dp/6305033951) and [El Hazard: The Magnificent World](http://www.amazon.com/El-Hazard-Magnificent-World-Boxed/dp/B00005BJPK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1498158-3333417?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1185609422&sr=1-1) as epic stories. ---
**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, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/16 "2007-07-29T04:54:39Z")
Arent epics normally a fair bit longer then normal movies? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/17 "2007-07-29T12:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] Couldn’t **Lion King** be considered epic? [/QUOTE] I’d certainly consider it, alongside Dreamworks’s _Prince of Egypt_, Disney’s _Atlantis: The Lost Empire_, and potentially Robert Zemeckis’s upcoming CG _Beowulf_. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/18 "2007-07-29T12:47:13Z")
The recent _Evan Almighty_ was the most expensive comedy ever filmed, at $175 million. (Apparently they didn’t spend much of that on a script, though.) I guess a comedy can be epic, but I think the best ones work at an intimate level. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/19 "2007-07-29T12:59:17Z")
In classical literature, an epic must have 12 chapters. This would make “B” serials like _Batman vs. the Nips_ and _Son of the Mark of Zorro’s Black Whip_ the only true film epics. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285/20 "2007-07-29T17:29:21Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned “Roots”, which I mentioned in a [pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8828366&postcount=11) thread. Yessssssss! I successfully linked to the post I intended. I’m getting the hang of this stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-movie-an-epic/413285.md?page=2)