It’s no secret that many of the all-time great epic movies are also quite old. You have to go back decades to find the likes ofSeven Samurai,Lawrence of Arabia, andThe Great Escape, but they’re all worth watching, even if you’re not usually wild about older films. The best of the best classic epics went big for their time, and to the extent that they still feel big – and oftentimes rather spectacular – even all these decades later.
But if you want to see some great epic cinema and don’t want to go back further than, say, 1975, well then, you’re in luck, because what follows is a rundown of the best epic movies made in the last half-century.Some of these are still relatively old (including one title that only just sneaks in being made in the last 50 years, as of 2025), while a few others are newer, showing that there’s still a desire out there for long, carefully-made, and impressively large-scale cinema.
10’The Thin Red Line' (1998)
Directed by Terrence Malick
WhileSaving Private Ryanwas the better-knownWorld War II movie made in 1998,The Thin Red Lineprobably felt more like an epic, at least in the conventional sense, though it was also – for a war movie – quite unconventional.It boasted an immense castand unfolded in the way you’d expect a Terrence Malick war movie to, with lots of contrasting between man-made destruction and natural beauty throughout.
The Thin Red Lineis powerfully done, too, andmanages to be beautiful while also having aharsh amount of realism and brutalitywhen it comes to depicting combat. There’s a lot being balanced here, and it all comes together surprisingly well, making for an easy-to-appreciate film, so long as you’re okay with some slower pacing alongside Malick’s arthouse sensibilities/trademarks being present throughout.
The Thin Red Line
9’Gladiator' (2000)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Gladiatoris, technically, one of manyepic moviesRidley Scotthas directedduring his long filmmaking career, but it can also claim to be the best of his epics to date. It was a movie that won Best Picture while sort of helping to temporarily revive the historical epic. Well, the “mostly” historical epic, given thatGladiatorplays things pretty fast and loose with history.
It gets away with it, because what happened here really did happen so long ago, and also,Gladiatormakes it pretty clear it wants to do its own thing narratively and emotionally, including getting rather spiritual at times (in some of the film’s most moving moments, too). And the story here, regardless of accuracy, is just avery compelling one, witha great hero and villain at oddsfor very in-your-face and emotionally stirring reasons. It all comes together extremely well, and the amount of spectacle is still impressive a quarter of a century later.
8’Barry Lyndon' (1975)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
WhileStephen Kingmight not agree, generally, ifStanley Kubricktackled a genre, he did a pretty damn good job at making that genre his own, or even elevating said genre entirely. Between his take oncrime/sci-fi (A Clockwork Orange)and horror (The Shining), he also tried his hand at making a grand-scale epic, withBarry Lyndon, and more or less knocked it out of the park.
This is the oldest film included in this ranking, given that, come 2026, it’ll be more than 50 years old, but maybe that’s not too important. What does matter is thatBarry Lyndonwilllikely always look visually staggering, and its story hasevery indication of staying timeless and interesting. Also, for as long as there’s social inequality, and people stopping at nothing to raise their social standing or push others back down, that core story ofBarry Lyndonwill keep holding a level of power and relevance.
Barry Lyndon
7’Titanic' (1997)
Directed by James Cameron
Perhapsthe quintessential disaster movie,Titanicwas an unstoppable force at the box office and during awards season. In the years since it came out, it’s also remained a significant part of pop culture, and though some might call parts of it cheesy, a lot of it’s still hard to resist. There are big emotions here, it’s a sweeping romantic film, and the portions focusing on the inevitable disaster still look technically staggering.
It’s also a movie that, more than any other, could well inspire a fear of the water, or, darker still, if you are sensitive to thriller/horror/drama movies that involvelarge bodies of water and/or drowning, it’s probably one of the best to avoid. For everyone else, though,Titanicis up there asa textbook example ofhow to make a blockbusterthat has a chance to appeal, in one way or another, to almost anyone.
6’The Irishman' (2019)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
A gangster film that’s probably more of asomber look at aging and regretmore than anything else,The Irishmanis indeed long, but in a way that enhances the story at hand. This is essentially about an old man, who used to kill people for a living, looking back on his life of violence and realizing the weight of his actions, particularly because he’s lost just about everyone close to him.
Hebrought it all on himself, and that’s what makesThe Irishmanan effective tragedy, in the traditional sense. But thenit’s aMartin Scorsesefilm, and so other parts are less traditional and more unexpected; see, for example, the film’s surprisingly large amount of humor.The Irishmanspans decades,has a bunch of remarkable performances, and unpacks a great deal narratively and thematically across an absorbing 3.5-hour-long runtime.
The Irishman
5’Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India' (2001)
Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Whilea musical that’s largely about cricketmight not sound like it’d work,Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in Indiais that, and it does work. Well, that’s oversimplifying it a bit. It takes place in India at a time when the Crown rule was still in place, and follows a high-stakes wager made between a British commander and the long-suffering people living in a village who’ve grown tired of being taxed so heavily.
If they win a game of cricket, they won’t get taxed, but if they lose, the tax increases. And so that sets in motion alot of training, some drama, and then an eventual final act that involves a surprisingly emotionally involving game of cricket.Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in Indiais the sort of film that was big in India, but doesn’t get quite enough love outside the country. Don’t be put off by the premise or the gargantuan runtime. It’s superbly made, and it earns that immense runtime, too.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
4’The Right Stuff' (1983)
Directed by Philip Kaufman
Few movies feel as AmericanasThe Right Stuff, and it does that without being cheesy or overdoing it. There’s a sense of inspiration here, but it’s paired alongside some more satirical, absurd, and critical moments, too. Balance is the name of the game here, andThe Right Stuffuses three and a bit hours to do so much on an emotional front in a single movie.
It also has a fair few characters, and it spans a great deal of time, looking at the early years of the Space Race from the U.S. perspective, with a group of pilots becoming the OG astronauts.The Right Stufffeels exactly like what an epic movie set during the 20th century should look and feel like, butit’s never gotten the popularity it deserves. Lots of people who’ve seen it love it, but not enough people have seen it, and honestly, they’re just missing out.
The Right Stuff
3’Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Once Upon a Time in Americahasthe sort of scale and ambitionthat makes it tower over arguablyThe Godfatherand its sequel. Quality-wise, those movies (both just over 50 years old) might be a little better thanOnce Upon a Time in America, but it’sOnce Upon a Time in Americathat feels the most like an epic. It starts with the characters as boys, covers the way they ramp up their criminal activities as adults, and then explores the sort of regret at least one of them has as an old man.
All the while, the film boastsone of the greatest scores ever composed, and is frequently stunning to look at, with the vivid images contrasting alarmingly with the ugly subject matter at hand. The characters here are particularly brutal, as far as movie gangsters go, makingOnce Upon a Time in Americasomething of a deconstruction of gangster movies.Like with many epics, there’s a lot going on here (too much to outline in just a couple of paragraphs), but it’s a rewarding watch, once you find the time to sit down and properly absorb it.
Once Upon a Time in America
2’Ran' (1985)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
As mentioned earlier,Seven Samuraiis one of the definitive epic movies ever made, but it was far fromAkira Kurosawa’s only outing in the arena of epic filmmaking. About three decades on fromSeven Samurai, he made another film that was basically just as good:Ran. It was, however, very different fromSeven Samurai,getting both heavier and far more vibrantin a way that somehow made sense.
The color used throughoutRanpops, and it’sone of the best-looking color movies in the same way thatSeven Samuraiis one of the best-looking black-and-white movies.Rangets intense and supremely tragic, but it does all that while being engrossing and even entertaining, with a bunch of sequences that are hard to forget, once seen, all belonging to what has to beone of the best epics ever made.
1’The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)
Directed by Peter Jackson
While some might define epic movies as those based on real-life events, or at least taking place at a point in history, that would mean not being able to classifyThe Lord of the Ringsas an epic, and that would be a shame.Released in three installments between 2001 and 2003, the whole trilogy essentially functions as one massive movie, adapting the massive novel byJ. R. R. Tolkienin spectacular fashion.
The Return of the King probably feels the most epic, so it’s being included here, but you need to see the other two to fully appreciate how great an ending it is, for hopefully obvious reasons.
Of the three,The Return of the Kingprobably feels the most epic, so it’s being included here, but you need to see the other two to fully appreciatehow great an ending it is, for hopefully obvious reasons. So, honorable mention to those, but yeah,The Return of the Kingis the biggest and, potentially, the best (but this is also like picking a favorite child, so saying one’s better than the others always feels a little guilt-inducing).
