10 Greatest Epic Movie Performances, Ranked
Epic movies are defined by their enormous sense of scope, the way in which they use their expansive runtimes, sweeping visuals, and monumental stories to conjure a cinematic spectacle that leaves audiences in awe. Another essential aspect of epic cinema is having characters that resonate with depth while still being in service of the narrative’s magnitude. In this regard, great performances are a requirement and, thankfully, the genre has had an abundance of them throughout its glorious history dating back to the 1930s.
With the finest feats of actors in epic cinema featuring everything from complex heroes to terrifying villains and even eccentric and thematically pointed side characters, the epic genre’s greatest performances are comfortably among the best cinema has ever seen. Iconic, powerful, daring, and completely unforgettable while encompassing that vast range of epic cinema over the past century, these performances are the finest the genre has ever seen.
10
Julie Christie as Lara Antipova in ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1965)
A sprawling epic of love, passion, and politics cast against the backdrop of the early days of the Russian Revolution, Doctor Zhivago dissects physicist and poet Yuri Zhivago’s (Omar Sharif) complex infatuation with the wife of an activist, even though he himself is married to a woman he deeply loves. Its sweeping romance is given enormous gravitas courtesy of its volatile setting of social upheaval and its array of resonant, impactful performances, the best of which comes from Julie Christie in her portrayal of Zhivago’s new love, Lara Antipova.
Her performance features all the wonderful, stylish inflections that defined acting in epic cinema in its time. Still, Christie’s brilliance resides in her ability to capture Lara’s enduring strength and underlying vulnerability, often at the same time. It presents an engrossing portrait of human dichotomy, a captivating sense of emotional depth and rich sympathy as Lara’s romantic turmoil is revealed and explored. It is an outstanding depiction of a resolute and layered woman trapped amid the chaos of the October Revolution with a desire for fulfillment and a desperation to escape.
9
Toshirō Mifune as Kikuchiyo in ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Famously following seven warriors of distinctly different backgrounds as they agree to help a defenceless village hold off a bandit gang that has been pillaging them, Seven Samurai potentially stands as Akira Kurosawa’s greatest picture. While the overall work in the film is astoundingly brilliant, few would argue that Toshirō Mifune’s complicated and comical Kikuchiyo stands out as its most intriguing character. Such a feat is a testament to the thematic emphasis written into the part, but also a triumph of Mifune’s commitment and nuance.
Working within and defining the film’s theatricality, Mifune expounds on Kikuchiyo’s underlying frustrations and trauma directed at samurai culture with outbursts of extreme physicality and poignant moments of understated depth and tenderly performed despair. With his raw impulsiveness and unpredictable passion, Mifune’s Kikuchiyo brings a sense of epic, energized bravura to the fold, but his ability to master the character’s quieter scenes with the same level of gravitas is what makes his performance so entrancing. It is the perfect balance of over-the-top enormity and contemplative restraint, and it adopts the film’s unique narrative styling perfectly to conjure one of the most iconic performances in the history of international cinema.
8
Andy Serkis as Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy (2001-2003)
One of the most important performances in modern cinematic history, given what it inspired in its wake, Gollum is an astonishing feat of motion capture technology powered by an unforgettable and incredibly committed performance from Andy Serkis. With The Lord of the Rings trilogy primarily following Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) as they carry a ring of terrible power to the dark lands of Mordor to be destroyed, Gollum emerges as one of the story’s most pivotal characters, a corrupt yet sorrowful soul twisted by his centuries in possession of the ring who guides the hobbits to their destination.
It is a delicate balance that Serkis strikes, portraying both predatory conceit and palpable vulnerability to represent how Gollum is deeply damaged by the ring’s destructive power yet remains transfixed on its allure. His physicality and voice work combine magically to make Gollum one of the most impressionable creatures in The Lord of the Rings, as well as one of the trilogy’s most complex and tragic characters. Serkis’ presence on set and his hours of work in the studio are vital to making Gollum one of the most immersive aspects of the films.
7
Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (2023)
A powerful picture that uses a shocking true story to examine and display the horrific intersection between American capitalist greed and the oppression of Native American people, Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the defining masterpieces of 2020s cinema so far. The Martin Scorsese biographical epic leans heavily on the brilliance of its stars to evoke such an impactful and impressionable gravitas, an indulgence made easy given its cast includes the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. However, it is the then-relatively unknown Lily Gladstone who steals the show with her piercing portrayal of Mollie Burkhart.
Conducting an awe-inspiring amount of emotion with her subdued stillness, Gladstone embodies the character’s agony and pride, her pain and resilience, with a presence that feels most grandiose in its quietest moments. Then, in the scenes where her cool demeanor must give way to heartache and despair, Gladstone becomes almost guttural, hitting audiences with a visceral rawness that leaves them rattled and disturbed. While Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and William King Hale (De Niro) shoulder the might of the film’s thematic ferocity, it is Mollie who is most resonant as a victim of their duplicity and cruelty. Gladstone is always phenomenal in showcasing the horrific consequences of their sly wickedness while remaining proud and strong.
6
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (1939)
Perhaps the defining epic of Old Hollywood, Gone With the Wind encompasses the sheer scope of the genre with a tumultuous tale of romance and ruin set amid the American Civil War. Vivien Leigh is as transfixing as she is challenging in the starring role of Scarlett O’Hara, a rich and beautiful Southern belle who longs for an already engaged man. Soon, she embarks on a passionate and financially convenient romance with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a charismatic gambler and smuggler who might just be O’Hara’s best match.
Leigh is astonishing as O’Hara, encapsulating the character’s scorching and selfish ambition and erratic impulses, as well as her defiance, vulnerability, and strength. O’Hara’s bratty entitlement to what she wants is one of the character’s defining traits, and Leigh embodies it magnificently, but she is able to invest deeper into the character to make her a compelling, dynamic, and dimensional illustration of self-serving desire, starry-eyed splendor and Southern values. Gone With the Wind is legendary for its astounding scale, but it has faced criticism in more recent times for being on the wrong side of history, and not unjustly so. The complexity and depth that Leigh brings to the traditional Southern belle is a significant reason why the film is still universally heralded as a quintessential classic rather than dismissed as an unpleasantly archaic picture.
5
Ralph Fiennes as Amon Göth in ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)
It is easy to make a case that Schindler’s List is the most brutal and essential epic movie of all time. Following Oskar Schindler’s (Liam Neeson) efforts to use his influence as an industrialist and Nazi Party member to spare Jewish prisoners from death in the concentration camp, the 195-minute masterpiece serves as a horrifying descent into the evil of the Holocaust. This evil is given a face in the form of Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes), the sadistic and psychotic overseer of the Płaszów concentration camp.
Cold, detached, and even bordering on banal, Göth is presented not with a towering villainy of eccentric evil, but with an understated reality, a subtle complexity that makes his cruelty all the more disturbing. Within Göth’s complicated psyche, Fiennes wrestles with the character’s boyishness and his yearnings, juxtaposing it against his imposing, sinister presence to create an air of dreadful unpredictability. The essence of Schindler’s List is the hopefulness and humanity it quietly champions, but the brilliance of it is how it jeopardizes that against the horrors it portrays. Göth is paramount to conjuring such horror, and Fiennes’s performance could not have been any more outstanding.
4
George C. Scott as General George S. Patton in ‘Patton’ (1970)
As monumental, coarse, and impressionable as the man on which it is based, Patton is a gargantuan character study focusing on the military service of—and ensuring controversies surrounding—the career of polarizing American war hero General George S. Patton (George C. Scott). While the film flaunts an impressive tonal balance between condemnation and celebration, as well as an exuberant technical grandiosity and the innate intrigue of biographical cinema, its excellence is undoubtedly defined by the sheer power and prominence of Scott’s outstanding performance.
It almost doesn’t seem just to describe it as a portrayal, as Scott immerses himself in the role so entirely that it often feels as though he is possessed by Patton himself. In fact, were it not for his maintaining his usual gravelly voice in lieu of Patton’s more high-pitched tone, he would have been completely indistinguishable from the man himself. Through extensive research, unbelievable dedication, intense preparation, and unbridled commitment, Scott produces not only one of the most engrossing performances in the history of cinema but also one of the most eerily accurate portrayals of a public figure that biographical film has ever seen.
Viewed by many to be the greatest epic of all time, Lawrence of Arabia uses its expansive 216-minute runtime to imposing effect. The film marries the focus of biographical character study with the intensity and enormity of war drama as it follows T. E. Lawrence’s feats during the First World War. An enigmatic man, the real-life Lawrence was a defining hero of the British Empire in WWI, yet often worked against imperial interests in his dealings with and loyalty to the Arab tribes he fought alongside. Peter O’Toole excels at realizing this fascinating complexity in a performance rife with internal conflict, insightful contradictions, and undeniable presence.
With his striking looks, O’Toole imbues the part with a whiff of heroic swagger, an easy confidence befitting of a scholarly war hero and stubborn individualist. However, his inflections of doubt, concern, and internal turmoil present an enchanting depth that gradually bubbles until Lawrence is driven to the brink of madness. The fact that he was able to make Lawrence such an impressionable vision of idealism and humanity while grappling with so much of the man’s cryptic intricacies is remarkable. His triumph epitomizes the grandeur and greatness of the film while defining its cerebral qualities that have made it a timeless classic.
2
Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather’ (1972)
When one thinks of The Godfather, it is impossible not to think of the grandeur and richness of Marlon Brando’s Oscar-winning performance. Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary crime epic unfolds as Brando’s aging mafia boss Don Vito Corleone’s plans to step down from the mantle meet resistance in the form of his reluctant successor, his youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino). Amid the awkward power transition, Vito is attacked by a rival gang, leaving him in a weakened state and forcing Michael to make a difficult decision.
Brando excels at realizing the character’s dimensions and nuances as well as his quiet power. The presence he is introduced with is subtle though unmissable, and it is incredible how that aura lingers even as Corleone is in recovery from the attempted murder and, later, how his calculating ferocity gives way to his gentler, more family-focused demeanor. This challenging duality, combined with Brando’s unique choices concerning his facial mannerisms, manner of speaking, and physicality, makes for a character that is as compelling and authentic as he is iconic. It is remembered by many today as Brando’s greatest part, and plays an integral role in his legacy as one of Hollywood’s most powerful and versatile actors.
1
Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007)
A powerhouse performance of transfixing wrath, insatiable greed, sinister conniving, and murky, complex humanity, Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning portrayal of Daniel Plainview is perhaps the best illustration of a character cinema has ever seen in any genre, epic or otherwise. The vile protagonist of There Will Be Blood, Plainview stands as the embodiment of the immorality within American capitalism, with the oil man’s relentless pursuit of wealth and influence in early 1900s America taking him to an oil deposit in the small Californian town of Little Boston, where he clashes with the duplicitous local preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano).
Magnetic and maniacal, Day-Lewis amplifies every trait that makes Plainview such a violently compelling figure with captivating screen presence and a visceral, vibrant power. Everything from his weathered, heavy physicality to his concocted vintage Californian accent conspires to make Plainview a figure as arresting as he is abhorrent. Presenting such a bold and intimidating demeanor while still finding plenty of room to delve into Plainview’s warped yet nuanced morality and his concealed emotional core, Day-Lewis imbues There Will Be Blood with much of its absorbing magnificence. It makes for one of the best epic movies of all time, and the best epic movie performance of all time, one that will not be forgotten.
