Ambition is the lifeblood that drives so many great filmmakers to make amazing films, and it's often the very same motivation that causes some filmmakers to, against their best intentions, not quite hit the mark, or in the worst of times (Waterworld) produce a complete flop. Ambition isn't something to be sniffed at, though naturally, we'll lavish praise on a filmmaker for pulling off the seemingly impossible and label them as pretentious if they can't do it. If these 10 films range in quality somewhat - though all of them have at least some intrinsic merit - they can't be faulted for their enthusiasm to push the film medium further than it has ever gone, regardless of whether they were completely successful. Either by upsetting the narrative form, innovating with technology, or simply boasting a stupid budget upon which to stage a grand spectacle, these films threw caution to the wind and have wowed, transfixed, confused and beguiled audiences ever since. Here are the 10 most ambitious movies ever made...
10. Ben Hur
William Wyler's 1959 take on Ben Hur virtually defines ambition, given the ludicrous number of records it set at the time of its release. Not only was Ben Hur the most expensive film ever made (with a budget of $15m), it also featured the largest sets ever produced for a film, and the three hour score remains the longest ever composed for a major feature. Oh, and it had an epic 212-minute run-time to boot, the most famous scene of which is the exhilarating 9-minute chariot race sequence. Ben Hur wasn't just ambitious, though; it was also a massive success, grossing almost 10x its budget, and winning a record 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, a record that went unequaled until James Cameron's Titanic came along 38 years later. Ben Hur might be over half a century old, but its crazy, even reckless level of ambition ensures that it lives on as a classic today.