Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Figures vii
4. Acknowledgements ix
5. 1. Introduction: The Return of the Epic 1
6. Part I. Epics and Ancient History
7. 2. Sir Ridley Scott and the Rebirth of the Historical Epic 19
8. 3. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and America since the Second World War: Some Cinematic Parallels 36
9. 4. ‘There’s Nothing So Wrong with a Hollywood Script that a Bunch of Giant CGI Scorpions Can’t Solve’: Politics, Computer Generated Images and Camp in the Critical Reception of the Post-Gladiator Historical Epics 57
10. 5. Popcorn and Circus: An Audience Expects 74
11. Part II. Epic Aesthetics and Genre
12. 6. Colour in the Epic Film: Alexander and Hero 95
13. 7. Defining the Epic: Medieval and Fantasy Epics 110
14. 8. Special Effects, Reality and the New Epic Film 129
15. Part III. Epic Films and the Canon
16. 9. Pass the Ammunition: A Short Etymology of ‘Blockbuster’ 147
17. 10. Epic Stumbling Blocks 167
18. 11. The Greatest Epic of the Twenty-First Century? 188
19. 12. The Ramayana and Sita in Films and Popular Media: The Repositioning of a Globalised Version 201
20. Notes on the Contributors 216
21. Index 219