Epics - A Debriefing

It's time for a little Post-Genre Post. What do I ultimately feel about the movies I've watched? Certainly, they were all good, and certainly they were all long, but there's more to it than that. What do I feel about each movie, and do I agree with The American Film Institute?

*THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTES TOP TEN AMERICAN EPICS*

My Interpretation:

#10 - The Ten Commandments: A good movie, but not really spectacular. It's epic-ness comes off as rather forced, through crowds and green screens and dramatic delivery, and none of the other movies have that problem. Most of the other movies are epic more easily.

#9 - Reds: Long and boring, but probably technically a good movie. The most interesting part of it was Jack Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill, and how incredibly creepy he was.

#8 - Saving Private Ryan: Very good movie. It's very chaotic, and ends really suddenly, which is kind of jarring. The opening scene is the most powerful depiction of war I've ever seen, not that I've seen that many. It I was The American Film Institute, I would have put this movie ahead of both All Quiet on the Western Front and Titanic.

#7 - All Quiet on the Western Front: Very old, and doesn't really stand the test of time. It has a very good story, but terrible imagery, camera work, and other cinematography things.

#6 - Titanic: Good cinematography, terrible story.

#5 - Spartacus: Spartacus is pretty boss. Fun movie, totally awesome, much like The Ten Commandments, but better and with gladiators and Kirk Douglas.

#4 - Gone With the Wind: Who doesn't love Gone With the Wind? When I think classic movies, I think Gone With the Wind. I love this movie, and can't wait to watch it again when it comes up in Romances.

#3 - Schindler's List: Terrific movie, very impactful, and probably the saddest thing ever. You'll be a mess after you watch it, trust me.

#2 - Ben-Hur: The epic of all epics, Ben-Hur's a fun movie. It still comes off as slightly over-dramatic (I blame Charlton Heston for this), but it really is a good movie, and also has chariots. I don't think it's a better movie than Schindler's List, but I do think it's a better epic, and deserves its spot.

#1 - Lawrence of Arabia: The best epic I've ever seen, and one of the best movies I've ever seen as well. Well-acted, great story, great music, great visuals, great characters and lots of camels. If you're going to watch any movie on this list, make it Lawrence of Arabia.

Coming up next: Science Fiction, Oooooh.