Many of the classic epic movies out there may have emotional, stirring, or even exciting sequences, but not too many of them would also classify as thrillers. Actually, not many of the following epic movies could be defined as thrillers either, but they do all stand out for being rather thrilling, or moving at a fast enough speed pacing-wise to stay consistently enthralling and oftentimes moving.
Most of these ones go by pretty fast, even if they all have runtimes that are anything but brief if you’re looking purely at the number of minutes they run for. They’re a testament to the idea that just because something goes for three hours or more, it shouldn’t be feared or shied away from, so long as you have the time. They are indeed thrilling epics, standing out for being emotionally involving and consistently exciting, all the while being continually willing to show you something new.
10
‘Babylon’ (2022)
An epic about filmmaking, Babylon is an oftentimes confronting watch, though sometimes it’s also very funny and then more than a little sad at times, too. It’s got a bit of everything, enough so that some consider it messy or contradictory, but that approach can also be seen as intentional. Babylon lays bare the notion that movies can be wonderful, but that being involved in making movies can be anything but.
There’s an exploration of what movies mean to those who watch them, and the way being involved in the industry can fluctuate between feeling inspiring and soul-crushing. Babylon doing so much emotionally can be disorientating, but there’s a lot more here than some are willing to give the movie credit for having, to the point where it honestly does feel like one of the more underrated/over-hated epics released in recent memory.
9
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966)
A movie paced so well that it ends up feeling about an hour shorter than it really is, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of the most legendary Westerns of all time because of course it is. It just is. It’s about three guys who are kind of referred to by the title, and each of them wants to find some gold buried out in the desert before either of the other two can.
It’s a movie that gives you a phenomenal score, some undeniably eye-catching images, and an always entertaining interplay between three memorable characters all trying to achieve the same fairly straightforward goal. It’s not exactly what The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is about that makes it great, but more to do with how it goes about being about that, and it’s really quite timeless from a technical and screenplay perspective.
8
‘RRR’ (2022)
RRR is an epic about two real-life people, but it’s not about something that really happened, since the two real-life people didn’t actually meet in reality. But the film says, “Hey, what if they had? Wouldn’t that have been cool?”, and then it spends about three hours showing you why that would’ve been cool, making it pretty hard to argue otherwise.
RRR starts out with a great deal of action and energy, and then keeps finding ways to escalate things over the course of its lengthy runtime.
It’s the kind of slap to the face to history that something like Inglourious Basterds also was, delivering catharsis and spectacle in a story set during historically difficult times (and, to be fair, neither movie shies away from some of the harder parts of those historical periods). RRR starts out with a great deal of action and energy, and then keeps finding ways to escalate things over the course of its lengthy runtime, never running the risk of becoming boring, even with it ultimately going for about three hours.
7
‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957)
Taking place during World War II and being one of the more directly in-your-face anti-war movies about that conflict (at least for movies made in the first couple of decades following the war), The Bridge on the River Kwai does a surprisingly great job at building tension throughout. It’s about the construction of a bridge undertaken by some Allied soldiers who are prisoners of war, and what happens when another (separate) plan is enacted to destroy said bridge.
Different people have different reasons for wanting it to remain intact or get blown sky-high, and then there’s a ton of fallout and conflict over what’s just a bridge, sure, but the bridge conflict does indeed stand in for the broader conflict of World War II. And not in ways that are obvious or clunky. It’s expertly done and is probably more thrilling than David Lean’s other particularly iconic war epic, Lawrence of Arabia, which is otherwise the better film… but it’s also not going for the same kind of tension and dread that The Bridge on the River Kwai aims to inspire.
6
‘Gladiator’ (2000)
Gladiator kicks off with its biggest set piece early on, depicting a massive battle that serves to emphasize how skilled Maximus is as a fighter while also emphasizing his capacity to lead during difficult times. He’s victorious, but then betrayed by the son of the emperor he was loyal to, and that son himself seizes the position of emperor, subsequently sentencing Maximus (and his family) to die.
But Maximus doesn’t, and then most of Gladiator involves him becoming an impactful star of the gladiatorial sphere while slowly inching his way toward the chance to get revenge on the man who took everything from him. It’s a broadly appealing story, when you break it all down, and maybe even a bit straightforward, but it just hits in a rather special way when it’s playing out, making it hard not to get at least a little excited about – and swept up in – the whole thing.
5
‘The Great Escape’ (1963)
Maybe the definitive movie about breaking out of prison, The Great Escape has a premise that involves various Allied soldiers known for their escape capabilities all imprisoned in a seemingly “impossible to break out of” prisoner of war camp. The movie does indeed involve an escape of an arguably great nature, with the epic runtime allowing ample time to be dedicated to the preparation, execution, and eventual aftermath of said escape.
That might make it sound a bit whatever, but The Great Escape makes a fairly standard-sounding story play out with a ton of excitement and undeniable intensity, so it’s not a stretch to rank it among the most thrilling epics of all time. It’s also helped immensely by a fantastic ensemble cast led by Steve McQueen that also includes the likes of James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, and James Coburn, among others.
4
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001)
Kicking off a three-part fantasy epic in style, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring doesn’t get as grand or action-packed as the two films that come later, but it’s essential nonetheless for establishing the world, the central conflict, and most of the main characters. It’s also a movie about doing a whole lot of traveling, seeing as the titular fellowship plans to venture into increasingly dangerous territory to destroy the One Ring in the only location where such a thing is possible.
And it’s all done in a way that makes The Fellowship of the Ring perhaps the best movie of 2001, or at least right up there. Also, if you’re looking at how thrilling it is specifically, you could argue that the best is yet to come. As for whether the saddest stuff in The Lord of the Rings is still to come, at this stage? Maybe not. The Fellowship of the Ring is pretty brutal emotionally, at least at times.
3
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)
Getting predictable maybe, but here’s the second film now, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But it’s fitting, considering this one does get a bit grander in scale, showing more by way of war breaking out across Middle-earth. Sam and Frodo, post-Fellowship, still do more or less what they were doing in the first movie, but the other characters – while still relevant – do take part in things that grow the scope of the overall trilogy.
It’s worth shouting out as thrilling for the big Battle of Helm’s Deep sequence alone, which is undeniably atmospheric, intense, and exciting, all at different points. And the rest of The Two Towers is no slouch either, working as an escalation of The Fellowship of the Ring while also laying some more groundwork for the final film to be even bigger. Speaking of…
2
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the ending to a trilogy, and itself probably has one of the best endings in cinematic history. Yes, there are lots of scenes, one after the other, that all feel like they could be final scenes, but you need them all after a saga that’s gone on for approximately nine hours (or even longer, should you choose to watch the extended editions).
Before it slows down for its final few scenes, though, The Return of the King is relentless and exciting, not just by epic movie standards, but by the standards of just about any genre, including (generally shorter and technically snappier) thrillers. 21st-century blockbusters haven’t really topped what was done here, and for as phenomenal as the other two movies are, there’s a solid argument to be made that with the whole The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the best was indeed saved for last.
1
‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Before it reaches its final act, Seven Samurai is pretty light on action, but the more drama-heavy stuff is still very engaging, and does a lot to build suspense and, eventually, make you care more about the action when the fighting does start going down. There are some warriors who are hired by a village filled with desperate people wanting to fight back against constant bandit attacks, and then preparations are undertaken before the next inevitable attack on the village in question.
It might not be fast-paced exactly, but Seven Samurai is perfectly paced, since you feel the length to some extent, but not in a bad way by any means. Across about 3.5 hours, there are emotional highs and lows, a good contrast between exciting and quieter scenes, and a narrative that always feels like it’s going somewhere (which is, by the end, undoubtedly successful as far as payoffs are concerned). There’s just a bit of everything here, and Seven Samurai is indeed about as emotionally involving and thrilling as classic/definitive epic movies ever got.
