Epics on Netflix
Last updated April 29, 2024
Braveheart
1995 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsEnraged at the slaughter of Murron (Catherine McCormack) -- his new bride and childhood love -- legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace (Mel Gibson, who also directed the film) slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule. With vivid battle scenes and a heaping portion of legend, Gibson's epic won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
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The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
1958 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsIngrid Bergman stars as Gladys Aylward, a real-life missionary who goes to China during the Sino-Japanese War. As the hostile Chinese begin to trust her, she takes on an arduous task: guiding 100 children through enemy territory and into safety.
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Red Cliff: Theatrical Version
2008 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhen a warmongering prime minister advances his armies against two rival kingdoms, he unwittingly prompts his adversaries to work together, resulting in an epic battle by the sea involving more than 1 million soldiers.
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Kingdom of War: Part 2
2006 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThe second installment of this sweeping historical saga follows heroic Naresuan, a gifted young warrior who would become Siam's 16th-century King Naresuan the Great, as he initiates a revolution against his country's Burmese overlords.
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The Last Emperor
1987 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsRecounting the last years of China's Ching Dynasty through flashbacks and flash-forwards, this Oscar-winning epic charts the life of Pu Yi (John Lone) -- who ascended the throne at age 3 -- from coddled aristocrat to enlightened insurgent to ordinary citizen. Co-starring Peter O'Toole as Pu Yi's Scottish tutor and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, the lavish drama collected nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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The Winds of War
1983 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsRobert Mitchum stars as naval commander Victor Henry in this epic miniseries set during World War II. Hitler leads Germany's expansion in Europe, Mussolini fights to establish fascism in Italy, and the Japanese exert pressure on China. Against this broad landscape, the Henry clan attempts to stay together even as larger forces threaten to rip them apart. This Emmy-winning production is based on a historical novel by Herman Wouk.
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Kingdom of War: Part 1
2006 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsPart 1 of this epic historical film dramatizes the childhood years that Siam's 16th-century King Naresuan spent as a hostage to the king of Burma, learning the military skills he'd one day use to set his country free of Burmese domination.
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The Winds of War
1983 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsRobert Mitchum heads an all-star cast in this miniseries based on Herman Wouk's acclaimed World War II novel focusing on two families' experiences. Their personal dramas are interwoven with historic events and supported by documentary segments.
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Immortals
2011 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn ancient Greece, King Hyperion searches for a powerful weapon that will free the bloodthirsty Titans and enable them to overpower the gods and enslave humanity. Unable to interfere directly, the gods choose a champion to defend them: Theseus.
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Titanic
1997 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis cinematic spectacle -- winner of 11 Oscars -- follows society girl Rose and penniless artist Jack as they fall in love just as tragedy strikes. Rereleased for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, the stirring romance remains timeless.
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The Sand Pebbles
1966 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsNavy engineer Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) finds himself surrounded by conflict when, during the Chinese revolution of the 1920s, he's assigned to an American gunboat in the Yangtze River. His cynical and antagonistic personality has ensured his status as a loner, and the political situation creates more questions than answers. This epic and romantic drama from The Sound of Music director Robert Wise earned multiple Oscar nominations.
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Cleopatra
1963 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis epic saga of love, greed and betrayal stars Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian queen who's determined to hold on to the throne and seduces Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general.
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Zulu
1964 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsBased on a real-life battle, this action epic follows a group of British soldiers stationed in South Africa who must defend their tiny outpost against an attack by an overwhelming force of Zulu warriors.
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Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsNamed for the Japanese phrase that signals the start of an attack, Tora! Tora! Tora! tells both the American and Japanese versions of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into World War II.
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The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsCharlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo, who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
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War and Peace
1956 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWith great attention to detail and historical accuracy, personal stories, love affairs and philosophies are woven throughout this massive, intricate tapestry of Russia during Napoleon's invasion at the turn of the 19th century. A decade of preparation and two years of filming went into the making of this engaging version of Leo Tolstoy's 20th-century masterpiece, an epic drama starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda.
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Zulu Dawn
1979 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsDouglas Hickox helms this authentically staged epic dramatizing the clash between thousands of Zulu warriors and a considerably smaller number of British soldiers stationed in Natal, South Africa, in 1879.
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The Warrior
2001 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAfter venturing into China on a diplomatic mission, a group of Korean envoys is captured, accused of espionage and sent to a remote desert to die. Refusing to accept their fate, they make their way back to Korea and rescue a beautiful Ming princess.
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1492: Conquest of Paradise
1992 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsPoised to benefit from wealth gained after the establishment of trade routes and colonies in far-flung lands, Spain's Queen Isabel (Sigourney Weaver) funds navigator Christopher Columbus's (Gérard Depardieu) historical voyage to the "New World." After traversing the sea with the &NFi;Santa María&NFi_;, &NFi;La Niña &NFi_;and &NFi;La Pinta&NFi_;, Columbus initiates contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans. Ridley Scott directs this sumptuously filmed adventure.
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Three Ages
1923 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsUsing a trio of story lines and a common theme -- the timelessness of courtship -- Buster Keaton hilariously skewers romance as he portrays a hapless suitor who vies for the girl against a stronger rival in three historic eras.
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The Falcon and the Snowman
1985 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsAs a CIA employee in charge of guarding top secret documents, all-American Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) becomes disillusioned with his country and decides to make a deal with the Soviet Union. Boyce drags his childhood friend Daulton Lee (Sean Penn) into the arrangement, but the drug-addicted Lee's reasons for committing espionage are strictly monetary. John Schlesinger directs this provocative and sometimes humorous account.
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The 300 Spartans
1962 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsA tiny cadre of Greek warriors from Sparta defend a mountain pass at Thermopylae against the overwhelming invasion of a vicious Persian Army. Led by King Leonidis, the Spartans' army consisted primarily of a security force that guarded the palace.
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Caesar and Cleopatra
1945 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn this Oscar-nominated film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play, the aging Caesar (Claude Rains) comes to Alexandria to tutor young Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) in the ways of rule, allowing her to wrestle the throne away from her brother, Ptolemy. But as time progresses, Caesar's feelings for Cleopatra turn romantic and he vows to marry her. Stewart Granger co-stars in this epic drama directed by Gabriel Pascal.
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Intolerance
1916 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsIn D.W. Griffith's monumental epic, four stories spanning two millennia illustrate how intolerance has played a pernicious role in such historic events as Christ's crucifixion and the fall of Babylon.
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The Horde
2012 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsSet in the 14th century, this powerful epic centers on the fate of Europe and the survival of the Khan dynasty when the Tatar queen goes blind -- and only St. Alexius, the Metropolitan of Moscow, can cure her.
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