20 Great "History" Films
The relationship between Film and History is a very complicated one: some films rewrite history willy-nilly and are fabulous; others are slaves to fact and are boring to watch; others still rewrite until the story is unrecognizable; and some stick to the "truth" and create wonderful films.
List activity
901 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
20 titles
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksBill PaxtonKevin BaconNASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.Empire Magazine gave Apollo 13 the "Good Science" award for filmmaking. Unlike disaster movies like 2012 or the Core, Apollo 13 stuck to the facts of reality, told its story with as much accuracy as possible, and the result is an exciting and heroic tale. The film even manages to be suspenseful even though everyone knows how it ends.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.Quentin Tarantino went and did a strange thing. He made a movie about trying to kill Hitler and gave it a surprise ending. In 2009 if anyone was trying to figure out why Valkyrie didn't really hold together as a thriller, they just needed to experience Inglourious Basterds in a theatre packed with Tarantino fans. When the firey climax came it went from being a great Tarantino film to being (maybe) his masterpiece.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.This is the "fact" based version of the end of Hitler's life, and is a nice balance to Tarantino's film. Bruno Ganz gives Hitler more depth than any previous actor in the role, and the film is as complex and unique a vision of the last days of Nazi Germany as you would expect Germany to produce.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsJesse EisenbergAndrew GarfieldJustin TimberlakeAs Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.The events of the film are flatly denied by the real people, but there is no denying that David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin created a true classic out of the story of Facebook. The "Geek" tragedy, as it was nicknamed, is everything a good historical film needs: big personalities, big stakes, timely themes, a great score, a great script, and a less-than-loyal relationship with the truth.
- DirectorTom FordStarsColin FirthJulianne MooreMatthew GoodeAn English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.The story of a man dealing with grief does not require an historical setting, but placing the tale during the Cuban Missile Crisis makes this a very period film. The experience of living at the start of the 1960s is powerfully felt throughout the film, and the visuals are more Mad Men than Mad Men.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsCharles AznavourBrent CarverEric BogosianInterrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.The brilliant conceit of making an historical film about the Armenian genocide by telling the story of the filmmakers making the film qualifies Ararat to be on the list of best meta movies. The problems of historical films dealing with "truth" are addressed directly by the ensemble of characters to great effect. Ararat is a good drama of characters, but it is also a wonderful discussion on film and filmmaking.
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsDavid StrathairnGeorge ClooneyPatricia ClarksonBroadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy.The beautiful black and white photography helps this film remain true to its television subject. This is an historical film that takes more time to present characters in an historical setting rather than to tell facts about the timeline of events. Because of this it can be enjoyed as a drama first and as a representation of history second.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.The three different time periods are wonderfully brought together by three great performances, a great script, and non-stop great art direction. It is worth watching The Hours once for the story and three leads, and then again to watch all the background bits and pieces.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTommy Lee JonesJavier BardemJosh BrolinViolence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.Usually the 1980s is a setting for teen nostalgia comedies, but this crime thriller is placed very clearly in 1980. The brilliance of this is that it avoids the problems presented by modern technology for the thriller genre. Moss is on the run and he doesn't have a cell phone to call for help, there is no internet access to check Chigur's criminal record, and Sheriff Bell can't just call Homeland Security to deal with everything as a possible terrorist threat.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.A wonderful character film plays out behind closed doors, which gives the filmmakers the freedom to imagine and create. When the war comes and history asserts itself, the characters emerge and perform exactly as the news reels and history books say they did. This works wonderfully and the climactic speech of the film is a verbatim recreation of the original broadcast.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsDaniel Day-LewisPaul DanoCiarán HindsA story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.A movie about the start of the oil industry in America and it's called "There Will Be Blood." I'd like to think that sentence was all P.T. Anderson said when he pitched the film. The movie is about greed and ambition, but (although there are a few deaths) the film itself is mostly free of blood and is rated PG in Western Canada. The title is really just a subtler way of saying, "There Is Blood Now."
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.Mozart and Salieri were not actually bitter rivals, but the film and the original play are such well-told stories that the historical upset can be forgiven.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.The second part of the Godfather films covers pre-War immigration to America, the Great Depression, the Cuban Revolution, and the 1960s U.S. That's about as epic as it gets without leaving the 20th Century.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMatt DamonTom SizemoreFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.The entire film, but the Omaha Beach opening in particular, are brilliant down-in-the-trenches presentations of the WWII experience. I have no idea how accurate it is, but watching Saving Private Ryan leaves me a bit shell-shocked. I can only imagine that it is at least somewhat accurate in its presentation of the terror of war, but in a safe two-hour movie form.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsHelen MirrenMichael SheenJames CromwellAfter the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.Still-living historical persons are difficult to represent on screen, and to play them during events in the very recent past is even harder. Hats off to Helen Mirren for managing to portray such a recognizable figure so well. Her Oscar is well-deserved. Michael Sheen's performance as Tony Blair (the first of three times he's played the part) is equally good.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.The fantasy elements are the focus of the film, but the Spanish Civil War is a very powerful part of the film's tone. Del Toro managed to put together a fantasy film about a little girl that is totally inappropriate for little girls and boys to see, but is well worth it for the more adult among us who liked Hellboy but wanted more substance.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.Woodward and Bernstein were not as handsom as Redford and Hoffman were in 1976, but Hollywood can't be penalized for making History more attractive. The story is well-known, but it is also well-told. The result is a cracking investigative thriller.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsTom HanksRobin WrightGary SiniseThe history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.Forrest Gump literally walks through history. The special effects used to place Tom Hanks into historical footage never overpowers the focus of the film, which is Gump himself and his life well-lived.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMia FarrowPatrick Horgan"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.Essentially Forrest Gump if it were a documentary by Woody Allen (and made 11 years before). Allen rewrote as he found more material to add, but the film is remarkably even-handed and very funny.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.This is another history film that has fictional main characters walking through history. The presence of the American Civil War and other elements unique to the time period are always in the background of this story of three men seeking the same treasure.