Top 10 Greatest Epic Films in American Cinema

Gone with the Wind is a monumental historical romance and epic drama in American cinema. Based on the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, the film is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era that followed.

The story follows Scarlett O'Hara, a strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, who is in love with Ashley Wilkes. However, their differing personalities prevent them from being together, and Ashley marries another woman, Melanie Hamilton. Devastated by her unrequited love, Scarlett enters several brief, unhappy marriages. Ultimately, she agrees to marry the wealthy and charismatic Rhett Butler, hoping to escape poverty and save her family. Rhett, drawn to Scarlett’s fiery and selfish personality, pursues her relentlessly. In a twist of fate, it is only after Rhett leaves that Scarlett realizes she has truly loved him all along.

Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Gone with the Wind tops the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest films. It won eight Academy Awards, and in 1989, it was selected for preservation by the United States Library of Congress.

Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama directed by Stanley Kubrick, with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo based on Howard Fast’s novel. The film is inspired by the true story of Spartacus, the leader of the ancient slave revolt, and the events of the Third Servile War.

The film stars Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, Laurence Olivier as the general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Peter Ustinov (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) as the slave trader Lentulus Batiatus, John Gavin as Julius Caesar, Jean Simmons as Varinia, Charles Laughton as Sempronius Gracchus, and Tony Curtis as Antoninus.

At the time of its release, Spartacus became the highest-grossing film produced by Universal Pictures.

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance disaster film directed, written, co-produced, co-edited, and partially financed by James Cameron. The film is based on the infamous 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as two individuals from different social classes who fall in love during the ship's ill-fated maiden voyage.

Cameron was inspired by his fascination with shipwrecks (as he himself has stated) and sought to deliver an emotional message through this disaster. He believed that a romantic story, ending with the tragic loss of one of the lovers, would achieve this. Production began in 1995 when Cameron started filming the wreckage of the Titanic on the ocean floor. The current footage was shot on the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which also served as the base of operations for the crew during filming. A full-size replica of the Titanic was constructed at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California, and cutting-edge miniatures and CGI technology were used to recreate the ship's sinking. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, with a then-record budget of approximately $200 million.

Premiering on November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film Festival and released worldwide on December 19, the film was a massive success both critically and commercially. Of the fourteen Academy Award nominations, Titanic won eleven, including Best Picture and Best Director, tying the record set by Ben-Hur (1959). With a global box office of over $1.84 billion from its initial run, it became the first film to surpass the $1 billion mark. Titanic held the record for the highest-grossing film of all time until another Cameron film, Avatar (2009), overtook it in 2010. A 3D version, released on April 4, 2012, to commemorate the centenary of the sinking, grossed an additional $343.6 million worldwide, bringing Titanic’s total to $2.18 billion. It became the second film to reach the $2 billion milestone after Avatar.

All Quiet on the Western Front is an American epic war film based on the novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of young German men who enlist to fight in World War I after being inspired by a nationalist professor. They soon face the brutal realities of war, with death and despair all around them, ultimately realizing that their understanding of the enemy was misguided.

The film stars Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander, Scott Kolk, and Owen Davis Jr.

Saving Private Ryan is an American epic war film set during the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II. The story depicts the harrowing landing of American and Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy, where they face fierce resistance from Nazi forces. A group of soldiers, led by Captain John H. Miller, is tasked with finding and bringing home Private James Francis Ryan, the last surviving son of a family that has already lost three of its four brothers in combat.

Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim and was praised by both experts and audiences. It won several prestigious awards, including accolades for the cast, direction, and cinematography, and performed remarkably well at the box office. The film grossed $481.8 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1998.

Saving Private Ryan was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and was ranked 71st in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest films of all time.

Reds is a 1981 American historical drama epic directed, co-written, and produced by Warren Beatty. The film chronicles the life and career of John Reed, the journalist and writer who documented the October Revolution in Russia through his book Ten Days That Shook the World (1919). Beatty stars as Reed, with Diane Keaton playing Louise Bryant and Jack Nicholson portraying Eugene O'Neill.

The supporting cast includes Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosiński, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, Gene Hackman, Ramon Bieri, Nicolas Coster, and M. Emmet Walsh. The film also features interviews with historical figures such as 98-year-old educator and peace activist Scott Nearing, author Dorothy Frooks, journalist and writer George Seldes, civil liberties advocate Roger Baldwin, and American writer Henry Miller.

Warren Beatty won the Academy Award for Best Director, while the film was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost to Chariots of Fire. Beatty, Keaton, Nicholson, and Stapleton received nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, with Stapleton being the only one to win. Beatty was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay alongside co-writer Trevor Griffiths. In June 2008, the American Film Institute ranked Reds #9 in its list of the top 10 epic films of all time.

The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American biblical epic film produced by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the stories of Moses' life as told in the Bible. Moses, born to a Hebrew woman, is saved from a Pharaoh's decree to kill all male Hebrew infants. He is adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, Bithiah, and raised in the royal court of Pharaoh Sethi. While loved by Sethi and Princess Nefretiri, Moses faces envy from Rameses, Sethi's son. Upon discovering his true heritage, Moses flees the court and lives in exile in the desert, where he marries, has a son, and is commanded by God to return to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves.

In 1957, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. In 1999, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Ben-Hur is a 1959 American historical epic film adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel. It is one of the three films tied for the most Academy Awards won, with 11 Oscars, alongside Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

At the time of its production, with a budget of over $15 million, it was the most expensive film ever made, and its set pieces were the largest ever created for a movie. The film features a legendary nine-minute chariot race, which has since become one of cinema's most iconic scenes. The film's score, composed by Miklós Rózsa, was the longest ever written for a movie and influenced cinema for over 15 years.

The film tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a prince betrayed by his closest friend and falsely accused of treason. Stripped of his title and reduced to slavery, his family is torn apart. After years of suffering and a perilous journey across the seas, Judah finally returns home to exact revenge on those who wronged him.

Schindler's List (1993) is an epic historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the novel *Schindler's Ark* by Australian author Thomas Keneally. The film chronicles the life of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved over 1,000 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during the Nazi regime. The movie stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the cruel Nazi officer Amon Goeth, and Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern, Schindler’s Jewish accountant.

The idea for the film was first proposed in 1963 by Poldek Pfefferberg, a member of the group of Jews saved by Schindler, known as *Schindlerjuden*. Spielberg became interested in the project after receiving a review of Keneally’s book from studio head Sid Sheinberg. Initially hesitant to tackle such a sensitive topic, Spielberg ultimately took on the project himself. The film was shot in black-and-white in Kraków, Poland, and was intended to have a documentary feel. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński gave the film a timeless quality, while composer John Williams and violinist Itzhak Perlman created a poignant and memorable score.

Premiering on November 30, 1993, in Washington, D.C., and widely released on December 15, the film became a critical and commercial success, grossing $322 million worldwide against a $22 million budget. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, and earned numerous other accolades, including seven BAFTA awards and three Golden Globe awards. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked it #8 on its list of the 100 greatest American films of all time. The film was preserved by the U.S. Library of Congress in 2004 for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.