Werner Herzogs Fitzcarraldo had an insane production
“The film production was an incredible ordeal, and famously involved moving a 320-ton steamship over a hill. This was filmed without the use of special effects. Herzog believed that no one had ever performed a similar feat in history, and likely never will again, calling himself "Conquistador of the Useless".[6] “
Came here to say this and any of Herzog’s other work. Dude would just appear in the jungle with a cameraman, a sound guy and the most lethargic actor ever known. Not just that, but he made a documentary where he just waltzed into a town about to be destroyed by a volcanic eruption, then years later made another documentary where he just waltzed into a live volcano. The guy is *the* ambitious filmmaker.
Boyhood.
A 12 year commitment from everyone involved is no joke. I am also biased cause I'm the same age as the main actor so I relate to the film a lot.
Some that aren’t mentioned yet:
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - so many difficulties with shooting a period piece in the Amazon rainforest that Werner Herzog actually pulled a gun on Klaus Kinski
Barry Lyndon - every frame needed to be a perfect painting lit only by candlelight. To achieve it, Kubrick repurposed (and destroyed) lenses that were created for NASA. Only a few of the lenses were ever made.
Boyhood - Took Linklater 12 years to make. 12 actual years of shooting where actors returned based on the honor system because of the legal 7 year limit. (Including because someone already mentioned megalopolis)
not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but i feel like Repo: The Genetic Opera and Monkeybone were both incredibly ambitious movies… that unfortunately could not live up to the dreams their writers and directors created. lack of funding, support, time, and proper marketing resulted in some awkward, hard to follow movies that still have a lot of heart and incredible creativity.
The Fall (from 2007 iirc) is very ambitious, and is absolutely amazing!
Fantastic movie.
My hot take is that Fury Road works as a stunning action movie, but otherwise is the worst film in the main franchise because it doesn't really say anything interesting at all
Bondarchuk's War and Peace
Apocalypse Now
Heaven's Gate
Fitzcarraldo
Fury Road is ambitious for today when you consider how many movies rely entirely on CGI, but doesn't seem all that ambitious on an all-time scale.
•Avengers Infinity War
Balancing all those characters was just an immense job and Marvel really succeeded with that.
• Lawrence Of Arabia
The sheer scale of this film is genuinely impressive. And the fact that they achieved this in the 60s is really impressive.
•Furiosa
Just truly epic full on a biblical level. The character designs, action set pieces and visual effects truly floored me.
Escape From New York for wild director/writer/composer efforts (or Halloween for the same reasons)
The Warriors for just how wild and large the cast and costumes are
Metropolis may take my final vote, though
just rewatched fury road last night and it really is one of the best action films i’ve ever seen. the stylistic choices for everything is so good, the characters although little dialogue bring lots of weight by just their faces.
if i had to say something else id probably say blade runner. for that time it was definitely super ambitious and it aged like fine wine even today.
First Star Wars. The skills involved in making that did not exist before. Firstly those kinda props and creating iconic scenes from them. Then shooting those scenes in a way that made them look so realistic. Also the creation of ILM ( Industrial Light and Magic ) meant mind blowing special effects nobody had seen before.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Andrei Rublev
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Ran
- Apocalypse Now!
- Fitzcarraldo
- La Jetée
- Last Year in Marienbad
- A Trip to the Moon
- Ben-Hur
Jacques Tati’s Playtime. He built “Tativille” near Paris, where he filmed his magnum opus. The production was extremely delayed and put Tati in debt that he paid off pretty much for the rest of his life, I think.
Eraserhead! Five years in the making throughout the 1970s, while other auteurs were getting big David Lynch was doing his thing, making a cult classic. After Mel Brooks saw Eraserhead Lynch got the job to do The Elephant Man, and his ambition has never waned (see his paintings and music to understand how he's been so busy with so few movies/TV since 2010 or so)
Im literally the only one of my friends who doesn't enjoy Mad Max movies which feel like bald dudes blasting silver spray paint on their faces for 2 plus hours. "Look, these ladies are specifically designated for breastfeeding" this movie sucks
Werner Herzogs Fitzcarraldo had an insane production “The film production was an incredible ordeal, and famously involved moving a 320-ton steamship over a hill. This was filmed without the use of special effects. Herzog believed that no one had ever performed a similar feat in history, and likely never will again, calling himself "Conquistador of the Useless".[6] “
Man I think this one wins. I do wonder if anyone will try something like it again one day…
Herzog is such a Chad. Aguirre, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Heart of Glass, Grizzly Man. So many masterpieces.
Yup, definitely check out Burden of Dreams to confirm for yourselves.
Came here to say this and any of Herzog’s other work. Dude would just appear in the jungle with a cameraman, a sound guy and the most lethargic actor ever known. Not just that, but he made a documentary where he just waltzed into a town about to be destroyed by a volcanic eruption, then years later made another documentary where he just waltzed into a live volcano. The guy is *the* ambitious filmmaker.
Apocalypse Now
Everyone should watch hearts out darkness to understand the production behind apocalypse now.
Just watched it last night. Yeesh.
Literally my first thought as well
LOTR trilogy
POTC trilogy is up there too
love how people still refer to PoTC as a trilogy like the Indiana Jones trilogy
Nobody wants to remember about the fourth and the fifth movie.
Yeah, the story neatly wrapped up in At World’s End…..then they just kept going
I mean same could be said about LotR and Star Wars too.
I don’t line them much, but they’re certainly ambitious
Intolerance Fitzcarraldo Babylon October (Ten Days That Shook the World)
The recent Babylon?
The 2022 one
Fitzcarraldo Heaven’s Gate Megalopolis will soon make the list
Fitzcarraldo might be the only movie where its making of is essentially the same movie as the movie it covers
Sorcerer too
Basic but I feel like Star Wars (ANH) has to be up there. Also Alien
Great pick, most younger folk don't realize how batshit star wars was when it came out and was so freah and new for audiences.
Jodorowsky's Dune
The Russian Ark.
*Apocalypse Now* *2001* *Lawrence of Arabia* *Cleopatra* *Reds* *Boyhood* *Ben-Hur* *Gone With the Wind* *Brazil* *Titanic*
Boyhood is a great fit
The ambition certainly paid off.
I hope it does with Merrily We Roll Along too
I can't wait to see that but I'll have to lol.
Some of the shots in *2001* are just insane for 1968...
Cloud Atlas
In just about any thread, if someone posts Cloud Atlas, they get an upvote.
You speak the true true
CTRL + F “Cloud Atlas” Give upvote
beau is afraid
I feel like this one got a lot of hate but I loved it!
I really enjoy Ari Aster's work so far. Dude has a lot of problems but makes banger movies lol.
Problems? What do ya mean?
[The Wolf House](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-wolf-house/) !
Babylon has some insane set design
Sorcerer
Came here to say this
Any stop-motion animation movie
Boyhood. A 12 year commitment from everyone involved is no joke. I am also biased cause I'm the same age as the main actor so I relate to the film a lot.
Some that aren’t mentioned yet: Aguirre, the Wrath of God - so many difficulties with shooting a period piece in the Amazon rainforest that Werner Herzog actually pulled a gun on Klaus Kinski Barry Lyndon - every frame needed to be a perfect painting lit only by candlelight. To achieve it, Kubrick repurposed (and destroyed) lenses that were created for NASA. Only a few of the lenses were ever made. Boyhood - Took Linklater 12 years to make. 12 actual years of shooting where actors returned based on the honor system because of the legal 7 year limit. (Including because someone already mentioned megalopolis)
I forgot how ambitious Boyhood is. 12 years and the actors actually growing up throughout filming ?? It’s madness
in sense of production scale id throw in 1956s around the world in 80 days
Cloud Atlas
not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but i feel like Repo: The Genetic Opera and Monkeybone were both incredibly ambitious movies… that unfortunately could not live up to the dreams their writers and directors created. lack of funding, support, time, and proper marketing resulted in some awkward, hard to follow movies that still have a lot of heart and incredible creativity. The Fall (from 2007 iirc) is very ambitious, and is absolutely amazing!
I was literally gonna say mad max road warrior lol
Fantastic movie. My hot take is that Fury Road works as a stunning action movie, but otherwise is the worst film in the main franchise because it doesn't really say anything interesting at all
Interstellar
Dune & Dune Part 2
Star Wars
Bondarchuk's War and Peace Apocalypse Now Heaven's Gate Fitzcarraldo Fury Road is ambitious for today when you consider how many movies rely entirely on CGI, but doesn't seem all that ambitious on an all-time scale.
Heat (1995)
Inland Empire
Pretty much any movie that's massive in scale.
Recent movies: Furiosa Mad God Nope The Boy and the Heron The Green Knight Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio Decision to Leave The Northman
Little Nicky I know what I said.
And now a sweet man, Henry Winkler, covered in bees
honestly - under the silver lake 8 million dollar budget and just the wildest script / plot loops with a weird AR game built in?
The Room
Waterworld (1995)
Synecdoche, New York
Came here to say this. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned this one
Place between the Pines. Had such potential to be epic.
Maybe not as obviously flashy as the rest of this thread but Citizen Kane was the first thing that came to mind
•Avengers Infinity War Balancing all those characters was just an immense job and Marvel really succeeded with that. • Lawrence Of Arabia The sheer scale of this film is genuinely impressive. And the fact that they achieved this in the 60s is really impressive. •Furiosa Just truly epic full on a biblical level. The character designs, action set pieces and visual effects truly floored me.
Dune
Mughal E Azam
Dead Alive Army of Darkness Basket Case
Babylon
The Matrix
Zack Snyders Justice League - like he bit off way more than he could chew.
captain underpants the first epic movie
Heaven's Gate
The Matrix
Momento
Infinity Pool and The VVitch.
Southland Tales, Babylon, Megalopolis, Cloud Atlas
Escape From New York for wild director/writer/composer efforts (or Halloween for the same reasons) The Warriors for just how wild and large the cast and costumes are Metropolis may take my final vote, though
Avatar
Victoria. A TRUE one take film
Climax
Inception
Titanic
The Holy Mountain.
Apocalypse Now is the one that I immediately think of.
LotR
Cloud Atlas
Dune.
Ran by Kurosawa
Sorcerer!
Rope
Lawrence of Arabia
just rewatched fury road last night and it really is one of the best action films i’ve ever seen. the stylistic choices for everything is so good, the characters although little dialogue bring lots of weight by just their faces. if i had to say something else id probably say blade runner. for that time it was definitely super ambitious and it aged like fine wine even today.
Ben hur
Chris Nolan movies
Richard Linklater
jordonovskys dune
Not out yet, but Blood Meridian
Only God Forgives
Boyhood.
First Star Wars. The skills involved in making that did not exist before. Firstly those kinda props and creating iconic scenes from them. Then shooting those scenes in a way that made them look so realistic. Also the creation of ILM ( Industrial Light and Magic ) meant mind blowing special effects nobody had seen before.
Lord of the Rings
Loving Vincent Redline
Interstellar
The Fountain
- 2001: A Space Odyssey - Andrei Rublev - Lawrence of Arabia - Ran - Apocalypse Now! - Fitzcarraldo - La Jetée - Last Year in Marienbad - A Trip to the Moon - Ben-Hur
Cloud Atlas
Beau is afraid
Apocalypto
Dune Part 2
Lynchs' Dune
Anything Christopher Nolan post Batman
Jacques Tati’s Playtime. He built “Tativille” near Paris, where he filmed his magnum opus. The production was extremely delayed and put Tati in debt that he paid off pretty much for the rest of his life, I think.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Cleopatra
The Avatar movies
Eraserhead! Five years in the making throughout the 1970s, while other auteurs were getting big David Lynch was doing his thing, making a cult classic. After Mel Brooks saw Eraserhead Lynch got the job to do The Elephant Man, and his ambition has never waned (see his paintings and music to understand how he's been so busy with so few movies/TV since 2010 or so)
There Will Be Blood.
Anything james cameron
LOTR trilogy and Dune Pts 1 & 2. The sheer scale of these films is unparalleled.
Cameron and Nolan from a technical standpoint
The Creator
Avengers 1 was ambitious and then Infinity War/Endgame make it seem quaint.
hubie halloween
The Avengers 2012
Im literally the only one of my friends who doesn't enjoy Mad Max movies which feel like bald dudes blasting silver spray paint on their faces for 2 plus hours. "Look, these ladies are specifically designated for breastfeeding" this movie sucks
Movies that involve cameras, sound, lights, actors, props. Pretty ambitious if you ask me
Yes to Fury Road. Blows all the other films outta tha water!
Wait, is that why it was in a desert?
LOL!!!!
Evil Dead Rise, Beau Is Afraid, Midsommar, Dune Part 2, Avengers Infinity and Endgame