Top Cinema Ensemble Casts

New film The Women brings together some of the biggest actresses currently working in Hollywood Meg Ryan, Eve Mendes, Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Bette Midler are all part of this great ensemble cast.

An adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce’s play The Women is set in New York City’s modern whirl of fashion and publishing, and tells the story of Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who seems to have it all a beautiful country home, a rich financier husband, an adorable 11-year-old daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father’s venerable clothing company.

Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening), leads another enviable life a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a possessor of a huge closet of designer clothes and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York’s cutting edge.

But when Mary’s husband enters into an affair with Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes), a sultry ‘spritzer girl’ lurking behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, all hell breaks loose.

So here at FemaleFirst we decided to take a look at some of the best ensemble casts that have graced the big screen over the years.

The Dark Knight

Despite the impressive casts of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man the second instalment of Christopher Nolan's Batman brought together a whole host of names.

Reprising his role as the caped crusader was Christian Bale with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman also back as Lucius Fox, Alfred Pennyworth and James Gordon.

But there were new faces the most notable that of Heath Ledger, who was the surprise choice as Batman's nemesis the Joker, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent.

The film was a massive box office hit, despite being shrouded in tragedy after the death of Ledger in January, going on to gross just over $949 million at the international box office making it the most financially successful movie of 2008 so far.

Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction brought together an impressive cast of John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Ving Rhames as the director really made his mark as one of Hollywood's most exciting directors.

The role of Vincent Vega revitalised John Travolta's stalling career as he went on to receive a Best Actor Oscar nomination while his partner in crime Samuel L Jackson almost blew his audition despite the role being written with him in mind.

Despite Miramax wanting either Meg Ryan or Holly Hunter for the role of Mia Wallace Tarantino wanted Uma Thurman, she would go on to star in Kill Bill. And Harvey Keitel's role was written especially for the actor while his Reservoir Dogs co-star Tim Roth was also brought on board.

The film went on to be a major critical and commercial success scooping the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Best original Screenplay Oscar as well as landing a Best Picture nomination.

Ocean's Eleven

The 1960's movie had an impressive cast of the Rat Pack which included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr but it was the 2001 picture that really featured Hollywood royalty.

Director Steven Soderbergh brought together George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and Elliott Gould in what was to be the first picture in a very successful, if somewhat unexpected, franchise.

The film was both a box office and critical success and resulted in the cast reuniting for two more movies which would see the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones and Al Pacino also join the gang.

The Magnificent Seven

Modelled on the Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai The Magnificent Seven remains one of the best Western movies ever made despite being released way back in 1960.

Director John Sturges' film tells the story of a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits and brought together a spectacular cast including Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Robert Vaughn and James Coburn.

Lead man Yul Brynner had launched his career in 1956 with immediate success. By the time The Magnificent Seven was released he had already won a Best Actor Oscar for his 1956 role in The King and I. Steve McQueen was still a relative newcomer to the acting industry having only made his breakthrough in 1959 in Never So Few, which was also directed by Sturges. Up until 1960 Charles Bronson had worked predominately in television and had not yet made a name for himself as he would go on to do starring in The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon a Time in the West.

Despite three sequels following: Return of the Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and The Magnificent Seven Ride this was the only time that the original cast were all together.

Crash

Crash was only the second full length feature film that Paul Haggis had directed which brought together Brendan Fraser Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Terrance Howard and Ryan Phillipe.

The film follows several characters that live in LA over a thirty six hour period and how they all come together. The film also looks at racial tension as well as the distance between strangers.

Crash was met with major critical success when it was launched at the Toronto Film Festival in 2004 and went head to head with Brokeback Mountain come awards season.

The film went on to scoop the Best Picture Oscar but Paul Haggis missed out on Best Director to Brokeback's Ang Lee.

The Women is released 12th September

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw