San Antonio College Library

Derek Elley shows how the film epic has take up one of the most ancient art-forms and propelled it into the present day, covered in 20th century ambitions, anxieties, hopes and fantasies. He reminds us of the glee with which many epic films have worn their label, and of the sheer fun of the genre. His entertaining survey of historical epic films, dealing with periods up to the end of the Dark Ages, looks at epic form in the cinema as reinterpreted...

A peace-loving prince of Judea leads his nation against the wrath of the conquering Romans. His self-imposed destiny brings tragedy to himself, and his people, as he learns to fight, love, hate and, finally, forgive.

To escape the edict that condemned all first-born Hebrew males by Egypt's Pharoah, Rameses I, the infant Moses is set adrift on the Nile in a reed basket. Saved by the pharaoh's daughter Bithiah, he is adopted by her and brought up in the court of her brother, Pharaoh Seti. Moses gains Seti's favor and the love of the throne princess Nefertiri. He also gains the hatred of Seti's son, Rameses. When his Hebrew heritage is revealed, Moses is cast out...

When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.

As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw is a young man who is captured for sacrifice, but flees to avoid his fate. He is taken on a perilous journey to a world that is ruled by fear and oppression, where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate...