Historical epics in cinema or literature/poetry

I watched the first hour of Ben-Hur a couple of nights ago. Going to try and finish watching tonight if I don't sail into the land of Nod. What's your favourite historical epic? Gandhi, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind? Les Misérables, Doctor Zhivago, The Grapes of Wrath, Lawrence of Arabia, or perhaps something more recent?

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
I watched the first hour of Ben-Hur a couple of nights ago. Going to try and finish watching tonight if I don't sail into the land of Nod. What's your favourite historical epic? Gandhi, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind? Les Misérables, Doctor Zhivago, The Grapes of Wrath, Lawrence of Arabia, or perhaps something more recent?

Brother where are thou, Homer's Odyssey.

The Winds of War.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Brother where are thou, Homer's Odyssey.

Somehow I've never seen that, or read the Odyssey. Both things I should rectify soon.

Originally posted by mwmiller
The Winds of War.

Never heard of that before, but I've added it to my reading list.

What that actually means is that there is a slimmish-to-moderate chance I'll read it unless I discover the secret of immortality sometime in the next 60 years (in which case, it's as good as read already).

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
Never heard of that before, but I've added it to my reading list.

What that actually means is that there is a slimmish-to-moderate chance I'll read it unless I discover the secret of immortality sometime in the next 60 years (in which case, it's as good as read already).

It was written by Herman Wouk and was also made into a TV miniseries in the 1980's time frame. Robert Mitchum plays the main character and I thought he did an excellent job. There is also a sequel, "War and Remembrance". Both were good books and I enjoyed the TV miniseries as well. Some of the main actors in "Winds of War" were replaced with different actors for the sequel so therefore it might take a few episodes to get used to the switch, but it's still well done in my opinion.

Winds of War takes you from the start of WWII to December 1941, and "War and Remembrance" picks it up there and takes you to the end of WWII.

Warning!!:
Both books are very long reads, so if you only have 60 years, don't put it off too long. 😉

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
Somehow I've never seen that, or read the Odyssey. Both things I should rectify soon.

Yeah, it's only been 12 years since the movie came out🙂 and 2500 years since old Homer (Simpson?) wrote it! The music in the movie is really great. When you see George Clooney lip syncing Dan Timinski from Union Station, he does an unbelievable job, it actually looks like old George is actually singing it.

It is an old time music romp! Allison krauss, Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas (virtuoso on Dobro) from Union Station.

Allison has such a sweet voice! She sings also with Emmylou Harris and Gillian welch in the movie, a song they wrote on the spot, 'Don't leave nothing but the baby, Here is a link to a live version:

YouTube

2 of my sons were 14 when this movie came out and they couldn't get enough of it even though what they listened to was crap like Korn. That was a big surprise for me. That said that movie had a lot of street cred.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Yeah, it's only been 12 years since the movie came out🙂 and 2500 years since old Homer (Simpson?) wrote it! The music in the movie is really great. When you see George Clooney lip syncing Dan Timinski from Union Station, he does an unbelievable job, it actually looks like old George is actually singing it.

It is an old time music romp! Allison krauss, D ...[text shortened]... s crap like Korn. That was a big surprise for me. That said that movie had a lot of street cred.

A songwriter/poet friend of mine and his circle were obsessed with the soundtrack after the film came out—I liked the tunes but it wasn't really my cup of tea. At least, then—it might like it better now. But you're right about the street cred. I remember all the cool teenagers going absolutely nuts over it.

George Clooney is an excellent actor. I saw him in the Descendants at the cinema. A really nice, funny, understated film. Sometimes I think he's a bit of a cheeseball though—he can be almost smarmy sometimes, but he's good at heart and very intelligent.

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Anyone see Raise the red Lantern?

Zhang Yimou film starring Gong Li as the 4th wife of a landlord.

He put the red lantern in front of the bedroom of the concubine he wished to have for that night.

Of course it's a bit more complicated than that, the second wife trying to undue wife #3 and 4.

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Thanks for that. It seems worth watching. Another historical (albeit fictional) film set in China that I enjoyed was The Painted Veil. Not quite an epic, but one of my favourites.

Roots