Historical films
by cloudysky1919 | created - 08 Sep 2012 | updated - 7 months ago | PublicFilms inspired by historical events or characters, or even popular myths of each time worth watching, placed in chronological order.
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1. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,138 | Gross: $20.96M
pre-historical ages
2. Iceman (2017)
Not Rated | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
The Ötztal Alps, more than 5300 years ago. A Neolithic clan has settled near a creek. It is their leader Kelab's responsibility to be the keeper of the group's holy shrine Tineka. While Kelab is hunting, the settlement is attacked.
Director: Felix Randau | Stars: Jürgen Vogel, André Hennicke, Susanne Wuest, Sabin Tambrea
Votes: 2,943 | Gross: $0.00M
circa 5400 BC
3. Troy (2004)
R | 163 min | Adventure, Drama
An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover
Votes: 570,881 | Gross: $133.38M
circa 1200 BC
4. Electra (I) (1962)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
Living in exile after the death of their father, the grown children of a murdered and usurped king converge to exact eye-for-an-eye revenge.
Director: Michael Cacoyannis | Stars: Irene Papas, Giannis Fertis, Aleka Katselli, Theano Ioannidou
Votes: 1,814
Euripides' adaptation. Written 420 B.C. Time period of the film: early 12th century BC
5. The Trojan Women (1971)
GP | 105 min | Drama
The women of Troy face enslavement after the fall of their city.
Director: Michael Cacoyannis | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas
Votes: 1,697 | Gross: $0.11M
Euripides' adaptation. Written 415 B.C. Time period of the film: early 12th century BC
6. Iphigenia (1977)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama
To appease offended gods before going to war, a commander must sacrifice his favorite daughter to them but does so under the pretext of marrying her off.
Director: Michael Cacoyannis | Stars: Irene Papas, Kostas Kazakos, Kostas Karras, Tatiana Papamoschou
Votes: 2,141
Euripides' adaptation. Written 414 B.C. Time period of the film: early 12th century BC
7. Pharaoh (1966)
180 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz | Stars: Jerzy Zelnik, Wieslawa Mazurkiewicz, Barbara Brylska, Krystyna Mikolajewska
Votes: 2,305
1107–1078/77 BC
8. King Lear (1999)
Not Rated | 190 min | Drama
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly ... See full summary »
Directors: Brian Blessed, Tony Rotherham | Stars: Brian Blessed, Hildegard Neil, Jason Riddington, Phillipa Peak
Votes: 99
Shakespeare's adaptation. Written between 1603 - 1606. Time period of the film: 800 BC
9. 300 (2006)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama
In the ancient battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. They face insurmountable odds when they are betrayed by a Spartan reject.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
Votes: 864,877 | Gross: $210.61M
480 BC
10. Socrates (1970 TV Movie)
120 min | Biography, History
A false accusation leads the philosopher Socrates to trial and condemnation in 4th century BC Athens.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Jean Sylvère, Anne Caprile, Giuseppe Mannajuolo, Ricardo Palacios
Votes: 959
~470 - 399 B.C.
11. Alexander (2004)
R | 175 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Rosario Dawson, Angelina Jolie
Votes: 176,721 | Gross: $34.30M
356 - 323 BC
12. Caesar (2002)
PG-13 | 89 min | Biography, Drama, History
Twenty-year-old Julius Caeser flees Rome for his life during the reign of Sulla, but through skill and ambition rises four decades later to become Rome's supreme dictator.
Stars: Jeremy Sisto, Richard Harris, Christopher Walken, Valeria Golino
Votes: 3,179
100 - 44 B.C.
13. Spartacus (1960)
PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
Votes: 143,291 | Gross: $30.00M
73 - 71 BC
14. Warrior Queen (2003 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 83 min | Action, Drama, History
Boudica, the Warrior Queen on Britain, leads her tribe into rebellion against the Roman Empire and the mad Emperor of Rome Nero.
Director: Bill Anderson | Stars: Alex Kingston, Steven Waddington, Emily Blunt, Leanne Rowe
Votes: 1,361
60 BC
15. Rome (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon
Votes: 185,521
52 - 30 BC
16. Augustus: The First Emperor (2003 TV Movie)
R | 178 min | Drama, History, Romance
Caesar Augustus tells of how he became the emperor to his reluctant daughter, Julia following the death of her husband Agrippa.
Director: Roger Young | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Charlotte Rampling, Vittoria Belvedere, Benjamin Sadler
Votes: 1,455
49 B.C. - 14 A.D.
17. Caligula (1979)
Unrated | 156 min | Drama, History
A dramatization of the ascent to Caesar and subsequent reign of Caligula, one of the most notorious leaders of ancient Rome. We see his ambition, his scheming, his perversion and decadence, his brutality and his lunacy.
Director: Tinto Brass | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy
Votes: 38,381 | Gross: $23.44M
circa 30 - 41 A.D.
18. I, Claudius (1976)
Not Rated | 50 min | Biography, Drama, History
The personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed
Votes: 19,388
12 B.C. - 54 A.D.
19. Fellini Satyricon (1969)
R | 129 min | Drama, Fantasy
A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first-century Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Salvo Randone
Votes: 17,192 | Gross: $1.14M
Fellini's adaptation from Petronius. Time period of the film: 1st century AD
20. Centurion (2010)
R | 97 min | Action, Drama, History
A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is devastated in a guerrilla attack.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Olga Kurylenko, Andreas Wisniewski
Votes: 86,388 | Gross: $7.89M
117 AD
21. The Eagle (2011)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In Roman-ruled Britain, a young Roman soldier endeavors to honor his father's memory by finding his lost legion's golden emblem.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, István Göz
Votes: 74,087 | Gross: $19.49M
140 AD
22. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,621,579 | Gross: $187.71M
180 AD
23. Agora (2009)
R | 127 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress, the philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Ashraf Barhom
Votes: 73,080 | Gross: $0.62M
360 - 415 AD
24. Attila (2001)
Unrated | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In 400 AD, the Roman Empire is the greatest power in the world. But to the east a fierce people arose: the Huns. They believe in a prophecy about a great king who will unite the tribes and challenge Rome for control of the world.
Stars: Pauline Lynch, Steven Berkoff, Andrew Pleavin, Tommy Flanagan
Votes: 11,109
406 - 453 AD
25. King Arthur (2004)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Clive Owen, Stephen Dillane, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd
Votes: 176,174 | Gross: $51.88M
early 5th century.
26. Vikings (2013–2020)
TV-MA | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.
Stars: Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexander Ludwig, Georgia Hirst
Votes: 583,591
circa 793
27. Pope Joan (2009)
149 min | Drama, History, Romance
A woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim in the ninth century disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks.
Director: Sönke Wortmann | Stars: Johanna Wokalek, David Wenham, John Goodman, Iain Glen
Votes: 9,113
814 - 855 (popular myth/not really a real person)
28. The White Viking (1991)
131 min | Adventure, Drama
Norway in the 10th century. Askur, son of the powerful Thorgeir marries Embla, daughter of one of the few remaining landowners in Norway, in a pagan ceremony. King Olav, a ruthless ... See full summary »
Director: Hrafn Gunnlaugsson | Stars: Gotti Sigurdarson, Maria Bonnevie, Egill Ólafsson, Tomas Norström
Votes: 460
circa 900
29. Pathfinder (1987)
86 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Sámi man witnesses a band of vicious raiders slay his family and flees to a nearby village, where he learns he must become a Pathfinder.
Director: Nils Gaup | Stars: Mikkel Gaup, Ingvald Guttorm, Nils Utsi, Henrik H. Buljo
Votes: 5,606
circa 1000 A.D.
30. Valhalla Rising (2009)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Forced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Maarten Stevenson, Alexander Morton, Stewart Porter
Votes: 63,674 | Gross: $0.02M
circa 1000
31. Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America (2007)
Not Rated | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, History
On the coast of North America in AD 1007, two Norsemen are stranded when their expedition is attacked and they are left for dead. As they struggle to survive in the vast forests of the New ... See full summary »
Director: Tony Stone | Stars: Fiore Tedesco, Tony Stone, David Perry, Noelle Bailey
Votes: 560 | Gross: $0.02M
1007
32. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
R | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Martin Hancock
Votes: 315,552 | Gross: $47.40M
1183 - 1190 (not historical accurate)
33. Robin Hood (2010)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In twelfth-century England, Robin Longstride and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen, Max von Sydow
Votes: 283,285 | Gross: $105.27M
1199 (popular myth)
34. The Last King (2016)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, History
In the year 1206 Norway is raged by civil war. The King's illegitimate infant son, Håkon Håkonsson, which half the kingdom wants killed off, is guarded in secrecy by two men. A story which changed the course of the country's history.
Director: Nils Gaup | Stars: Jakob Oftebro, Kristofer Hivju, Torkel Dommersnes Soldal, Ane Ulimoen Øverli
Votes: 7,754 | Gross: $0.01M
1206
35. The Valley of the Bees (1968)
97 min | Drama, History
Ondrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air... See full summary »
Director: Frantisek Vlácil | Stars: Petr Cepek, Jan Kacer, Vera Galatíková, Zdenek Kryzánek
Votes: 1,822
around 13th century
36. Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Not Rated | 112 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.
Directors: Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitriy Vasilev | Stars: Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Okhlopkov, Andrei Abrikosov, Dmitriy Orlov
Votes: 12,265
1241
37. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy
A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Votes: 198,608
1271 or 1348
38. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, War
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 1,091,941 | Gross: $75.60M
1272 - 1305
39. The Virgin Spring (1960)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson
Votes: 31,662 | Gross: $1.53M
13th century ballad adaptation
40. The Name of the Rose (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin
Votes: 117,348 | Gross: $7.15M
1327
41. The Decameron (1971)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, History
An adaptation of nine stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Franco Citti, Ninetto Davoli, Jovan Jovanovic, Vincenzo Amato
Votes: 12,106
Pasolini's adaptation from the collection of stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1353.
42. Andrei Rublev (1966)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev
Votes: 57,084 | Gross: $0.10M
1360 - 1430
43. John Wycliffe: The Morning Star (1984)
Not Rated | 75 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of 14th century John Wycliffe, AKA "The Morning Star of the Reformation", who was the first to translate the Bible into English.
Director: Tony Tew | Stars: Michael Bertenshaw, James Downie, Peter Howell, Barrie Cookson
Votes: 161
1320 - 1384.
44. The Reckoning (2003)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A priest on the lam takes up with a traveling band of actors, who then discover a murder has occurred and try to solve it by recreating the crime in a play.
Director: Paul McGuigan | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, Marián Aguilera, Trevor Steedman
Votes: 6,399 | Gross: $0.26M
1380
45. The Canterbury Tales (1972)
NC-17 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, History
Pasolini's artistic, sometimes violent, always vividly cinematic retelling of some of Chaucer's most erotic tales.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Hugh Griffith, Laura Betti, Ninetto Davoli, Franco Citti
Votes: 8,235
Pasolini's adaptation from Geoffrey Chaucer's, famous collection of stories. Last decade of the 14th century.
46. The Advocate (1993)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In medieval France, young lawyer Richard Courtois leaves Paris for the simpler life in the country. However, he is soon drawn into amorous and political intrigues. At the same time, he is ... See full summary »
Director: Leslie Megahey | Stars: Colin Firth, Amina Annabi, Jim Carter, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 2,199 | Gross: $0.67M
15th century
47. Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960)
166 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In the 15th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is facing a hard struggle against the neighboring Teutonic Order.Frequent clashes between the two powers finally culminate in 1410 with the Battle of Grunwald.
Director: Aleksander Ford | Stars: Urszula Modrzynska, Grazyna Staniszewska, Andrzej Szalawski, Henryk Borowski
Votes: 2,184
early 15th century.
48. The Dead Lands (2014)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure
After his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery, the teenage son of a slain Maori chieftain looks to avenge his father's murder and bring peace and honor to the souls of his loved ones.
Director: Toa Fraser | Stars: James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Xavier Horan
Votes: 5,273 | Gross: $0.00M
Maori people arrived in New Zealand circa 1300 A.D. The age the film takes place is not specified.
49. The Maidens' Conspiracy (2006)
122 min | Adventure, Romance
Tirante the knight is as committed to fighting the Turks in Constantinople as he is to relieving Carmesina, the heiress to the Byzantine Empire, of her virginity.
Director: Vicente Aranda | Stars: Caspar Zafer, Esther Nubiola, Leonor Watling, Ingrid Rubio
Votes: 1,020
a 1490 romance adaptation, 15th century
50. The King (I) (2019)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother's death.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley
Votes: 153,058
1403 - 1420 ''Sir John Falstaff'' not a real person.
51. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,675 | Gross: $10.16M
1413 - 1422
52. Vlad Tepes (1979)
114 min | Drama, History
Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, fights the Ottoman Turks on the battlefield and the Hungarian Boyars in his court.
Directors: Dumitru Fernoaga, Doru Nastase | Stars: Stefan Sileanu, Ernest Maftei, Emanoil Petrut, Teofil Vâlcu
Votes: 1,280
1439 - 1576
53. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud
Votes: 69,726 | Gross: $14.28M
1429
54. The Conclave (2006)
100 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1458, five years after the fall of Constantinople to the Turk, eighteen cardinals met in Rome to elect a new pope. A 27-year-old Spanish cardinal, Rodrigo Borgia, learns to play a very dangerous game; how to survive his first conclave.
Director: Christoph Schrewe | Stars: Manu Fullola, Brian Blessed, James Faulkner, Rolf Kanies
Votes: 617
1458
55. Luther (2003)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
During the early sixteenth century, idealistic German monk Martin Luther, disgusted by the materialism in the Catholic Church, begins the dialogue that will lead to the Protestant Reformation.
Director: Eric Till | Stars: Joseph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Peter Ustinov, Alfred Molina
Votes: 16,008 | Gross: $5.79M
1483 – 1546
56. The Borgias (2011–2013)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan
Votes: 53,965
1492 - 1503
57. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
PG-13 | 154 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Armand Assante, Sigourney Weaver, Loren Dean
Votes: 32,826 | Gross: $7.19M
1492 - 1506
58. Conquistadores Adventum (2017)
60 min | Drama, History
The story of the first thirty years after Columbus' first voyage to the New World.
Stars: Jordi Brau, Eduardo San Juan, Nacho Acero, Eduardo Ruíz
Votes: 478
1492 - 1522.
59. The Tudors (2007–2010)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
A dramatic series about the reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Anthony Brophy, James Frain
Votes: 81,263
1509 - 1547
60. Apocalypto (2006)
R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood
Votes: 331,519 | Gross: $50.87M
16th century
61. El Greco (2007)
119 min | Biography, Drama
The story of the uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as "El Greco".
Director: Yannis Smaragdis | Stars: Nick Clark Windo, Juan Diego Botto, Laia Marull, Lakis Lazopoulos
Votes: 4,947
1541 - 1614
62. Elizabeth (1998)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, Rod Culbertson, Paul Fox
Votes: 105,172 | Gross: $30.08M
1558
63. Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 75,089 | Gross: $16.29M
1558 - 1603
64. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro
Votes: 62,339
1560
65. Caravaggio (1986)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Noam Almaz, Dexter Fletcher, Nigel Terry, Sean Bean
Votes: 7,022 | Gross: $0.00M
1571 - 1610
66. The Merchant of Venice (2004)
R | 131 min | Drama, Romance
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 38,270 | Gross: $3.77M
1596
67. Queen Margot (1994)
R | 161 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
Director: Patrice Chéreau | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez
Votes: 19,004 | Gross: $2.02M
1553 - 1615.
68. The Mill and the Cross (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, History
This movie focuses on a dozen of the five hundred characters depicted in Bruegel's painting. The theme of Christ's suffering is set against religious persecution in Flanders in 1564.
Director: Lech Majewski | Stars: Rutger Hauer, Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Joanna Litwin
Votes: 4,430 | Gross: $0.31M
1564
69. The New World (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Votes: 89,926 | Gross: $12.71M
1608
70. Nightwatching (2007)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting 'The Night Watch'.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Martin Freeman, Emily Holmes, Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May
Votes: 3,452
1606 - 1669
71. The Favourite (2018)
R | 119 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
In early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 233,826 | Gross: $34.37M
early 18th century.
72. Casanova (1976)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
Giacomo Casanova uses his sexuality to find his place in life amid eccentric and strange characters.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne, Carmen Scarpitta
Votes: 8,672
1725 - 1798.
73. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 183,228
circa 1750
74. Immortal Beloved (1994)
R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to ... See full summary »
Director: Bernard Rose | Stars: Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini, Johanna ter Steege
Votes: 26,223 | Gross: $9.91M
1770 - 1827.
75. Mesmer (1994)
Not Rated | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A biography of the 18-century Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer, who used unorthodox healing practices based on his theory of "animal magnetism."
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Donal Donnelly, David Burke, Peter Dvorsky, Alan Rickman
Votes: 1,134
Second half of the 18th century.
76. TURN: Washington's Spies (2014–2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, History, War
A Long Island farmer bands together a group of childhood friends to form an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence.
Stars: Jamie Bell, Heather Lind, Samuel Roukin, Daniel Henshall
Votes: 23,450
1775 - 1783.
77. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The 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.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 428,373 | Gross: $51.97M
1756 - 1791.
78. Valmont (1989)
R | 137 min | Drama, Romance
France before 1789: When a widow hears that her lover is to marry her cousin's daughter, she asks the playboy Valmont to take the girl's virginity. But first she bets him, with her body as prize, to seduce a virtuous, young, married woman.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk
Votes: 14,306 | Gross: $1.13M
1780.
79. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 75,175 | Gross: $34.70M
1781
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