10) Cloud Atlas (2012) (Dir. Lana & Andy Wachowski/Tom Tykwer)
Cloud Atlas has been cited as the most ambitious movie to come our way in a long, long time. And when you start to delve into its source material, you wonder how it ever got the film treatment in the first place. Based on a novel by British author David Mitchell (which was toted as “unfilmable”), Cloud Atlas tells six stories across the span of time, each one told as a story from one person to the next. It’s a seriously complex and ambitious work in itself, and that’s just in novel form.
Cloud Atlas manages to exist as a movie mainly through the dedication of its directors, The Wachowskis, who even put their own money up to keep the production going – this isn’t a franchise with an already established fanbase, remember. The results were mixed, but many critics believe it to be one of the greatest (and bravest) cinematic endeavors ever untaken.
It shouldn’t work – having actors playing different characters across the span of time is certainly an eyebrow-raising idea – but somehow it does. It’s ridiculous and bizarre, but it’s also bold and brilliant. Without a doubt, Cloud Atlas is absolutely the most ambitious film of the 21st century so far. You owe yourself at least one viewing.
Honorable mentions: Ben Hur (1959), Cleopatra (1963), Apocalypse Now (1979), Waterworld (1995), Titanic (1997), Team America: World Police (2004), Avatar (2009)
Do you agree? Which insanely ambitious movie projects have we missed out? Let us know in the comments section below.