Haunting. Moving. Emotional. M-Net Movies Epic pop-up channel starts on DStv with 70 must-see battle films.

The M-Net Movies Epic (DStv 109) pop-up channel will launch at 13:00 today and run for 24 days until 14 April with more than 70 war and battle films for DStv subscribers.

The M-Net Movies Epic channel has been curated as a showcase of "the greatest war stories ever told and battles that shaped human history for more than two millennia", says M-Net. "You can almost smell the cordite of the trenches, or feel the earth move as a tank brigade rumbles towards enemy lines."

Films will range from harrowing and disturbing yet must-see stark reality like Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now, to fantasy battle stories like Independence Day and Lord of the Rings, to heroic and moving like Braveheart and Heartbreak Ridge. 

All of them elicit an emotional cinematic response whether you watch them for the first time or settle in for a rewatch - on some level they change you and how you see and what you want for the world.

Here is the list of titles that will be shown on M-Net Movies Epic:

• The Longest Day
• Red Tails
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• 300
• Apocalypse Now
• Platoon
• Spartacus
• Cutthroat Island
• Kingdom Of Heaven
• 300: Rise Of An Empire
• The Deer Hunter
• Brothers In Arms
• Dunkirk
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• The Three Musketeers
• Troy
• Full Metal Jacket
• The Siege Of Firebase Gloria
• Flags Of Our Fathers
• Master & Commander: The Far Side Of The World
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
• Transformers
• Spartacus
• Band Of Brothers
• Empire Of The Sun
• Fury
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
• The Battle Of Britain
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
• Das Boot (Director's Cut)
• Pearl Harbor
• The Last Samurai
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• Glory
• King Arthur
• The Hunt For Red October
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• Transformers: The Last Knight
• War Of The Worlds
• Gone With The Wind
• U-571
• Tobruk
• Saving Private Ryan
• Battle Los Angeles
• Independence Day
• Gettysburg
• The Battle Of The Bulge
• Predator
• Edge Of Tomorrow
• Gods And Generals
• Raid On Rommel
• Starship Troopers
• War Horse
• Hobbit, The: An Unexpected Journey
• Memphis Belle
• Tora! Tora! Tora!
• Pacific Rim
• Pacific Rim: Uprising
• The Water Diviner
• Hobbit, The: The Desolation Of Smaug
• Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
• Gone With The Wind
• Lord Of The Rings, The: The Fellowship Of The Ring
• Hobbit, The: The Battle Of The Five Armies
• Transformers: Age Of Extinction
• Lord Of The Rings, The: The Return Of The King
• The Thin Red Line
• Hurt Locker, The
• Lone Survivor
• The Pacific
• Beach Red
• Enemy At The Gates
• Heartbreak Ridge
• Empire Of The Sun
• Braveheart
• Flags Of Our Father
• Rob Roy
• We Were Soldiers

Brave hearts! M-Net and MultiChoice to run the M-Net Movies EPIC pop-up channel on DStv from 22 March featuring films showcasing the greatest cinematic battles of all time.

DStv subscribers will need brave hearts for the M-Net Movies EPIC pop-up channel that M-Net and MultiChoice will launch as its next DStv pop-up channel from 22 March that will feature films showcasing the greatest cinematic battles of all time.

M-Net Movies made the announcement about the launch of the M-Net Movies EPIC pop-up channel last week Thursday during its panel session at M-Net's comprehensive 3-day programming upfront at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg.

While not yet releasing a list of the epic war and battle films, M-Net Movies said that the M-Net Movies EPIC channel will be running for just over three weeks on channel 109 on DStv, starting on 22 March and ending on 14 April 2019.

Lynn Fourie, the senior manager for acquisitions and scheduling for M-Net Movies, said that in 2017 and 2018 M-Net did four M-Net Movies pop-up channels on DStv each year, "and this year we've got M-Net Movies Game On" that will run from 22 February to 10 March, showing over 70 films.

Every weekend will have a themed day on M-Net Movies Game On, with Formula One Friday on 22 February, followed by Soccer Saturday 23 February, and Super Bowl Sunday on 24 February. Viewers can enter the ring with legends on Friday 1 March for a boxing extravaganza. Saturday 2 March is devoted to basketball and Sunday to baseball.

Friday 8 March swings into action with golf, then ice-hockey on Saturday 9 March and rugby and athletics on Sunday 10 March.

"We are still planning the year ahead. I must mention that I don't live in the present. I live in the future," said Lynn Fourie, regarding her acquisition and scheduling work and upcoming M-Net Movies pop-up channels on DStv for the rest of the year.

"I'm working on what's happening in November 2019 into March 2020. We are working furiously and frantically to get the ideas locked down. I'm very excited about it."

"One particular M-Net Movies pop-up channel is going to take a lot of legwork - I'm 30% there, I now need to push through to the other 70%".