Intolerance
D.W. Griffith's 1916 silent behemoth Intolerance was a response to criticism of his previous film Birth of a Nation and its racist overtones. Griffith set out to tell the story of "how hatred and intolerance, through all the ages, have battled against love and charity" through four different mini-plays: The "Modern" Story, The Judean Story, The French Story, and The Babylonian Story.The sheer scale of Griffith's film-making is incredibly impressive. He basically built a full-scale city of Babylon on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard that is the inspiration for the gates of the new Hollywood Highland Center. You can also see the influence of this film in any epic battle scene from Lord of the Rings to Braveheart.
However, much like Birth of a Nation, his heavy-handed moral tone seems dated and ignorant, apparently audiences of the time agreed and Intolerance was a huge flop. Its historical importance might be that it was the first massive spending spree by a self-important director that turned into a tank at the box office (think Ishtar, Waterworld, Battlefield Earth). Either way I'm not really sure why Birth of a Nation was removed from the list and this was added.
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