Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films,

medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a

large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic
backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate
adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined
event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an
extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by
grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production
values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a
more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some
'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occurring
during antiquity) qualify as a sub-genre.

Epic Films often take an historical or imagined event,

mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant
setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and
spectacle and a sweeping musical score. Epics, costume
dramas, historical dramas, war film epics, medieval romps,
or 'period pictures' are tales that often cover a large
expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. In
an episodic manner, they follow the continuing adventures
of the hero(s), who are presented in the context of great
historical events of the past.

Epics are historical films that recreate past events. They

are expensive and lavish to produce, because they require
elaborate and panoramic settings, on-location filming,
authentic period costumes, inflated action on a massive
scale and large casts of characters. Biopic (biographical)
films are often less lavish versions of the epic film.

Epics often rewrite history, suffering from inauthenticity,

fictitious recreations, excessive religiosity, hard-to-
follow details and characters, romantic dreamworlds,
ostentatious vulgarity, political correctness, and leaden
scripts. Accuracy is sometimes sacrificed: the chronology
is telescoped or modified, and the political/historical
forces take a back seat to the personalization and
ideological slant of the story (i.e., the 'poetic license'
of Oliver Stone's controversial JFK (1991) immediately
comes to mind).

• epic/historical westerns (i.e., Cimarron (1930),

Dances with Wolves (1990))
• epic science-fiction (i.e., Star Wars (1977))
• epic/historical dramas (i.e., Bernardo Bertolucci's
The Last Emperor (1987))
 • epic war films (i.e., The Longest Day (1962))
• unconventional epics (i.e., Robert Altman's Nashville
(1975))
• auteur epics (i.e., Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979),
Warren Beatty's period film Reds (1981), and
theatrical director Julie Taymor's adaptation of
Shakespeare's Titus (1999) (Andronicus) - her debut
film with innovative production design)

Epics have existed since the earliest days of American

cinema, from D. W. Griffith's ground-breaking The Birth of
a Nation (1915), to Cecil B. DeMille's Joan the Woman
(1916), The Ten Commandments (1923) and The King of Kings
(1927), to the giant Civil War epic and Best Picture winner
Gone With The Wind (1939), to the fairly-recent
Schindler's List (1993), Titanic (1997), and Ridley Scott's
revamped 'sword and sandal' epic Gladiator (2000).
Irreverent spoofs of Biblical films have also emerged, such
as The Life of Brian (1979), with the Monty Python cast.

Epics are often called costume dramas, since they emphasize

the trappings of a period setting: historical pageantry,
costuming and wardrobes, locale, spectacle, decor and a
sweeping visual style. They often transport viewers to
other worlds or eras: ancient times, biblical times, the
Middle Ages, the Victorian era, or turn-of-the-century
America. Unlike true historical epics, period films choose
a specific historical period, and then superimpose
fictional characters or events into the setting.

Historical fiction presents readers with a story that takes

place during a notable period in history, and usually
during a significant event in that period. Historical
fiction often presents actual events from the point of view
of people living in that time period.

In some historical fiction, famous events appear from

points of view not recorded in history, showing historical
figures dealing with actual events while depicting them in
a way that is not recorded in history. Other times, the
historical event complements a story's narrative, occurring
in the background while characters deal with events
(personal or otherwise) wholly unrelated to recorded
history. Sometimes, the names of people and places have
been in some way altered. As this is fiction, artistic
license is permitted in regard to presentation and subject
matter, so long as it does not deviate in significant ways
from established history. If events should deviate
significantly, the story may then fall into the genre of
alternate history, which is known for speculating on what
could have happened if a significant historical event had
gone differently. On a similar note, events occurring in
historical fiction must adhere to the laws of physics.
Stories that extend into the magical or fantastic are often
considered a historical fantasy.

A genre of film that deals with a major historical event

and the actual historical figures involved in it. Often
great liberties are taken with the facts to facilitate a 2-
hour running time or a particular political agenda. These
films pay a great deal of attention to re-creating events
that live mostly in our memories or in textbooks. Earlier
historical films tended to concentrate on eras and
political figures who were far from the present and put
little emphasis on undermining the accepted mythologies of
history. When the production becomes expensive and
sumptuous, the cast of characters, and the narrative
sweeping and panoramic, this becomes what is called an epic
film. The films that deal with totally fictional characters
in historical settings would be better described as costume
films or period films (costume dramas, costume adventures,
swashbucklers, etc.). Some other films dealing with
historical past would fall into some other genres and
types: westerns, musicals, fantasy, war dramas,
biographies, etc.

Movies:

Cleopatra:
A historical movie, Cleopatra’s significance does not lie in the depiction of the history
but the staggering production cost. Based on the life of legendary Egyptian queen,
Cleopatra, initially, the cost of the movie was $2 million. Later, the production cost went
up to $44 million ($295 million in 2007) making it the second most expensive movie in
Hollywood cinema history. Elizabeth Taylor played the character of Queen Cleopatra.
This was one of her major performances and she was the first woman in Hollywood to
receive $1million for this role. Elizabeth had to change costume 65 times in this movie.
The costume she wore in “Cleopatra’s entry into Rome” scene was made of real gold that
cost $1million. The dress was so heavy that she wore it only for the scene. The high cost
of the movie almost bankrupted the production company, 20th Century Fox. Fortunately,
the movie did very well in North American box office and around the world. In 1964, the
movie won 4 Oscars in Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best
Costume Design, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects category.
Lagaan: