Filmmakers often need to balance ambition with realistic expectations. If you fly too close to the sun, it can lead to your downfall. The most skilled directors have mastered the art of perfecting their ambition. They achieve movie magic that others often dream of.
These ten films are some of the most ambitious ever made. While some achieved the success they were seeking, others crashed and burned.
1. APOCALYPSE NOW
The 1979 epic war film by Francis Ford Coppola is regarded as one of the best movies ever made. Making the movie, however, was no easy task.
The Documentary The Heart of Darkness details the ambitious yet problematic development of the film.
2. THE ABYSS
James Cameron is no stranger to ambitious movies. This 1989 film may be his most ambitious solely due to the technology available at the time.
Cameron built giant underwater sets that the cast and crew must persevere through during filming.
3. THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
It’s silly to look back and see Peter Jackson’s trilogy as a risk, but not everyone was sold that it would be a successful movie franchise.
Jackson filmed all three movies back-to-back-to-back. The other two would have been doomed if the first one was a dud. Instead, they’re some of the best movies ever made.
4. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Filming a movie based on a theme park ride was super ambitious at the time. That’s before you account for the grand scale of the film’s setpieces and themes. It paid off, though, as the Pirates franchise was extremely profitable for Disney.
5. WATERWORLD
The infamous Kevin Costner film is one of the biggest cinematic flops of all time, but it’s not due to a lack of ambition.
Waterworld‘s budget ran as high as $175 million before releasing in 1995.
6. CLEOPATRA
20th Century Fox is one of the biggest studios in the industry, but this 1963 film almost destroyed the studio.
They had to reuse as many props and sets as possible to help recoup the costs of the movie.
7. APOLLO 13
How do you film a zero-g sequence and make it look realistic? By filming it in zero-g, of course!
Thankfully, this ambitious idea paid off, and the Ron Howard film is a classic.
8. BOYHOOD
If taking 11 years to film a movie so you can use the same actor as he ages isn’t ambitious, then I don’t know what is.
Sadly, the concept of Boyhood is far more interesting than the final product.
9. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
The 1962 epic starring Peter O’Toole and Alec Guinness is so impressive that its visuals and cinematography still hold up today.
Many younger movie fans lament being unable to watch the movie in theaters.
10. THE MATRIX RELOADED
While the entire Matrix trilogy helped define the word ambition in moviemaking, one fan points out that a freeway was built to shoot the chase scene in Matrix Reloaded.
Today, it would have been done with a green screen and CGI.
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