my friends and i are mostly all former film majors. mostly all of us work or have worked in the business. we consider ourselves a pretty knowledgable group of film buffs. we've been having this debate which has stumped some of us and divided the rest. so i thought i'd take this to the smartest people i know online. (adelman haters not withstanding ) define the difference between an epic and a blockbuster in such a way that creates clear cut guidelines of how to identify one and not the other. please give examples of each as well.
A blockbuster is a movie that makes alot of money in the theatre. Doesn't necessarily have to be a good film. An epic is a great film, that necessarily doesn't make a lot of money in the theatres. Blockbuster: King Kong Epic: Fight Club
I'd say a blockbuster is a film from any genre that achieves financial success but not necessarily critical acclaim (but it can). Example: Transformers. And I would tend to think an epic is a sub-genre of any film category (save for the comedy or animated)...doesn't have to meet critical or commercial success...but it's gotta be greater than 2 hours in length and it probably has to touch on mature themes. Example: Gone with the Wind
Blockbusters tend to do excellent at the box office but receive little if any positive critical acclaim and are popular to a wide range of different people. Blockbusters also tend to be predictable, people usually know they'll be popular and make a lot of money during their theatrical release. Epics can do well at the box office but it is not required to be an epic. They receive great amounts of critical acclaim initially or eventually. They are not necessarily predictable in terms of revenue they'll generate or people they will appeal to. Examples: Blockbuster: Transformers Epic: The Shawshank Redemption
A Blockbuster is a movie that made lots and lots of money. It used to only be used to describe a movie after it was released, but now we talk about movies as blockbusters because they are tailor made to be successful, usually action/adventure movies that are rated pg-13. Jaws being the original blockbuster, any movie starring Will Smith now being called a blockbuster before it's even released. Epic movies are ones that take place during a historical time such as a war or battle, or are based on famous people in history. The classic examples would be Cleopatra, Spartacus, The 10 Commandments, and Gone With the Wind. They usually have large casts, large set pieces, and big orchestral scores.
When I think of an epic, I think of it like an epic novel. It has all the elements of a great movie and can spend a strenuous amount of time holding your attention to their story. Shawshank Redemtion is one like the previous poster said, also I like Braveheart.
I doubt many will agree w/ my definition on an epic, but here we go: Blockbuster - box office hit examples: Transformers, an Adam Sandler movie, anything that made tons of money Epic - grand in scope, typically critically acclaimed, culturally relevant, and stand the test of time examples: the Godfather series, Gladiator, Braveheart; While not critically acclaimed, movies like Star Wars still fulfill enough requirements to me. Shawshank wouldn't make it just because it didn't feel like a large scope movie.
The distinction has always been pretty obvious to me. An "Epic" movie would be something I'd consider to be a long period piece or a biography... usually something that is more interested in a particular theme than overall cheap thrills. It should have a strong historical figure or create a larger-than-life fictional one. Some good examples of Epics I think would be: Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, The Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, Braveheart, etc. Braveheart is a good example of how to clarify between blockbuster and epic. Braveheart has arguably one of the hottest stars in Hollywood in Gibson at the time, but the subject matter is not something that is going to get asses in the seats, plus the R-rating means it is clearly more focused on purity in the story. Blockbusters should have at least 1 of the hottest actors in the business, or have a big name director with young up-and-comers (Titanic being the foremost example of a movie that cost ridiculous amounts of money to make and succeeded despite the relative 3rd tier cast). The whole idea of the Blockbuster is to create a fast-paced movie to keep the average movie goer with a short attention span appeased. They usually throw in a lot of special effects to continue the onslaught of aesthetics. Somebody like Will Smith or Tom Cruise headlines a blockbuster. A blockbuster will usually be rated PG-13 and geared specifically to a wide range demographic in order. Comic book / Hero movies usually fall into the Blockbuster category. You've got your prototypical hero, and throughout the movie we'll usually see how it ****s up this life. Examples: Mission Impossible, Independence Day, Waterworld (ouch), War of the Worlds, Men in Black, Spiderman, etc.
An epic film gives you a storyline with meaning and it's sincere, like saving private ryan. Blockbusters, well, things explode and there is usually a love triangle with the trendiest 20 year old actress.
Too many of the early responses are defining epic like Jim Rome defines it. As others have since corrected, it is a movie that is grand in scope.
A blockbuster is simply a film that does big business - the word refers to a movie that had so many people wanting to see it that there wasn't enough space on the theater's block for them to line up. While blockbusters typically have big stars, big directors, big effects and various other "bigs," nobody calls such films blockbusters if they bomb. An epic film is usually a historical or biblical film that deals with either events or larger-than-life characters that influenced major events. Think Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra, The Longest Day, or The Ten Commandments. These movies are all about plot and there tends to be little or no character development. Oski pretty much nailed the definition.
Agree with your definition of epic. But I personally would expand on the definition of "blockbuster to include dramas that also get huge audiences. Like Titanic or Sound of Music. Although I guess for the most part blockbusters do tend to be action-oriented films.
A blockbuster is simply a very sucessful or popular movie. An epic is a specific genre of film involving drama and or action layed out on a grand scope or scale. Epics generally involve large casts, high production values, and grand sweeping music. I see that some people don't consider Titanic an epic. But it definitely is in my book, because a movie can be BOTH an epic and a blockbuster. Which is what Titanic was. Other epic blockbusters include the Star Wars saga and LOTR. Epics come in different flavors. Crime Epics: Heat, The Godfather. Epic Westerns: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Magnificent Seven. Epic Romance: The English Patient. Disaster Epic: Titanic (it's a romantic epic too), The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure. And we all know about historical, war, and sword & sandal epics: Braveheart, Pearl Harbor, Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Spartacus, Cleopatra, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments.
I agree with this interpretation (except for the 'critically acclaimed' part). And Shawshank was NOT EVEN CLOSE to being epic!
Fun question that reflects the commoditization of Hollywood films over the last 35 years. Epics are dramas primarily intent on Oscar noms. They have to have premises abstracted from contemporary culture or everyday life that also encompass a huge cultural event (a war, like "Private Ryan") or era (often through the eyes of a fully lived life, ala "Gump" or "Benjamin Button"). They also have to be quantifiably bigger: with more characters, more diverse scene settings or presumably longer-than-average running time. Blockbusters are action films or comedies with big names meant to make more money than anything else that do not also have the same qualities as epics ("Star Wars," "Titanic" "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Lord of the Rings" are revenue-driven epics). All comic book movies are blockbusters. All action movies with A-List actors are blockbusters. Both have to have bigger budgets.
A blockbuster has to have been financed, produced, promoted and released in a way that implies an intent and expectation to make lots of money; if it makes money without any of those parameters it's a "sleeper" or "surprise" hit.
