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1. Titanic (1997)
directed by James Cameron
featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances FisherThis spectacular epic re-creates the ill-fated maiden voyage of the White Star Line's $7.5 million R.M.S Titanic and the tragic sea disaster of April ... More
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2. Out of Africa (1985)
directed by Sydney Pollack
featuring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick BowensOut of Africa is drawn from the life and writings of Danish author Isak Dinesen, who during the time that the film's events occured was known by her ... More
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3. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
directed by David Lean
featuring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec GuinnessBased on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago covers the years prior to, during, and after the Russian Revolution, as ... More
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4. Atonement (2007)
directed by Joe Wright
featuring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Vanessa RedgraveA mischievous girl accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit, only to find that her words have irrevocably and permanently ... More
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5. Australia (2008)
directed by Baz Luhrmann
featuring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Jack ThompsonSet against the scenic backdrop of pre-World War II Australia, Baz Luhrmann's romantic period adventure stars Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat ... More
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6. The Thorn Birds [TV Miniseries] (1983)
directed by Daryl Duke
featuring Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Bryan BrownThis mammoth TV miniseries, based on the best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, proved to be a ratings bonanza; indeed, its viewership was ... More
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7. Far and Away (1992)
directed by Ron Howard
featuring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara BabcockIn this epic Ron Howard film, Joseph Donelly (Tom Cruise) is an impoverished 19th-century Irish tenant farmer who has recently lost both his father ... More
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8. The English Patient (1996)
directed by Anthony Minghella
featuring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen AndrewsAnthony Minghella wrote and directed this award-winning adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel about a doomed and tragic romance set against the ... More
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9. Cleopatra (1963)
directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, Roddy McDowall, George Cole, Martin LandauIn 1963, this colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word -- an epic investment, an epic in the annals of ... More
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10. Gone With the Wind (1939)
directed by Victor Fleming
featuring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDanielGone With the Wind boils down to a story about a spoiled Southern girl's hopeless love for a married man. Producer David O. Selznick managed to ... More
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11. Reds (1981)
directed by Warren Beatty
featuring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski, Jack NicholsonList of all editionsFew filmmakers other than Warren Beatty would have had the courage and vision to fashion an epic film from the life of famed American Communist John ... More
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12. Map of the Human Heart (1993)
directed by Vincent Ward
featuring Jason Scott Lee, Anne Parillaud, Patrick Bergin, Robert Joamie, Annie Galipeau, John CusackList of all editionsA white, Inuit boy named Avik is the focus of New Zealand director Vincent Ward's meditation on race and romance. In the opening moments of the movie ... More
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13. Scarlett (1994)
directed by John Erman
featuring Joanne Whalley, Timothy Dalton, Barbara Barrie, Stephen CollinsList of all editionsThis much-ballyhooed TV miniseries sequel to Gone with the Wind finds former Agent 007 Timothy Dalton reprising the tough-to-fill shoes of Clark ... More
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14. The Far Pavilions (1984)
directed by Peter Duffell
List of all editionsThe lavishly produced three-part telemovie The Far Pavilions was adapted from the best-selling novel by M.M. Kaye. Set in colonial India during the ... More
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15. Esther and the King (1961)
directed by Raoul Walsh
featuring Joan Collins, Richard Egan, Denis O'Dea, Sergio FantoniList of all editionsJust over a decade before she would gain fame and some fortune as Alexis Carrington in television's Dynasty series, Joan Collins starred as Esther in ... More
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16. Partition (2007)
directed by Vic Sarin
featuring Jimi Mistry, Kristin Kreuk, John Light, Neve Campbell, Irfan KhanList of all editionsIn a time when India and Pakistan are being torn apart, true love still manages to take root despite the fear and intolerance that blights the ... More
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17. Raintree County (1957)
directed by Edward Dmytryk
featuring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, Nigel Patrick, Lee MarvinList of all editionsConceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a ... More
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18. War and Peace (1956)
directed by King Vidor
featuring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman, Anita EkbergList of all editionsWar and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and ... More
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19. Cleopatra (1934)
directed by Cecil B. DeMille
featuring Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Gertrude Michael, Joseph SchildkrautList of all editionsFilm historian William K. Everson once observed that the secret to the success of Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra is that DeMille subtly reshaped ... More
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20. War and Peace (1972)
directed by John Davies
featuring Anthony Hopkins, Anatole Baker, Faith Brook, Donald Burton, Erik ChittyList of all editionsOf the many stage, screen, and television adaptations of Leo Tolstoy's mammoth novel War and Peace, this multi-episode British TV version is widely ... More
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21. Legends of the Fall (1994)
directed by Edward Zwick
featuring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas, Julia Ormond, Tantoo CardinalList of all editionsThe sweeping, melodramatic saga of three brothers, their powerful father, and a beautiful woman, the popular period drama Legends of the Fall ... More
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22. Queen Margot (1994)
directed by Patrice Chéreau
featuring Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez, Virna LisiList of all editionsThe historical novel by Alexandre Dumas was adapted for the screen with this lavish French epic, winner of 5 Césars and a pair of awards at the ... More
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23. War and Peace (1967)
directed by Sergei Bondarchuk
featuring Lyudmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Viktor Stanitsyn, Kira Ivanova-GolovkoList of all editionsRussian director Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (Voyna i Mir) was the most expensive European film ever made for ... More
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24. Anna and the King (1999)
directed by Andy Tennant
featuring Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Bai Ling, Tom Felton, Syed AlwiList of all editionsThe true story of Anna Leonowens' experiences as a governess to the children of an eccentric Asian king has been adapted into a book of memoirs, a ... More
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25. Farewell, My Concubine (1993)
directed by Chen Kaige
featuring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li, Lu Qi, Ying Da, Ge YouList of all editionsUntil Farewell, My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji), not many people were aware that most members of the Peking Opera were originally orphans or ... More







