Favorite Historical Films . . . .

[indianasmith]

I am a historian with a bachelor's degree, so I love historical movies when they are well done, and I like them even when they are awful.  So what are your favorite historical movies?  I have several, among them . . .

GLADIATOR - Russell Crowe is just great in this one, and the actions sequences ROCK!  Of course, Commodus was actually strangled in his bath by a wrestler, not killed by a gladiator in the Coloseum, but that would not have made nearly as good a movie.

LUTHER - Not a lot of people saw this one, but it features a great performance by Joseph Fiennes as the great Reformer, not to mention the last role played by Sir Peter Ustinov before his death - as the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony, Luther's patron and protector.

AMISTAD - Maybe the best movie ever made about American slavery.  Again, some historical facts were altered and skewed, but the movie actually stayed true to the core of the actual events, and Anthony Hopkins was incredible as John Quincy Adams.

FLYBOYS - OK, WWI aviation was my first historical fascination, and there are so many errors in this movie I can't count them all.  But it was the first movie about WWI Flying Aces, the bravest men who ever lived, since THE BLUE MAX in 1966.  So I ate it up like candy, especially the 45 plus minutes of air combat footage!  I would still walk away from just about everything I've done or achieved in my whole life if I could get into one of those old biplanes and duke it out with the Kaiser's best over the Western Front.

I have others, but it's late.  I'lll mention them tomorrow.

So what historical films do YOU like?

[GoHawks]

I'm sure I'll think of others later, but off the top of my head I like 1776.

[indianasmith]

That's a cute musical . . . a bit dated, but still has its moments.

THE PATRIOT is also a favorite of mine, particularly the battle scenes.  I frequently use that clip from the Battle of Camden in teaching how 18th century warfare worked.

[CheezeFlixz]

I have the ones Indy listed so I won't repeat them, but I'd add ...

Amadeus - historically wrong but still great.
Saving Private Ryan - nuff said.
Amazing Grace - again historically wrong.
Elizabeth, the Golden Age - great film.
Barry Lyndon - a great mostly forgotten American film.
Alexander Nevsky - take to long to explain, read up on it.
Ivan the Terrible - Excellent film from the commie pigs.
Hitler, The Rise of Evil - historical errors but still good.

That's enough there a dozens more I could list, few are historically correct ... but after all they're movies and documentaries.

[AndyC]

The Flintstones?

Just kidding.

One that hasn't been mentioned is The Great Escape. Also enjoyed Fat Man and Little Boy.

Will probably think of more later.

[Oldskool138]

Full Metal Jacket-  Tet and Hue City

Sid and Nancy-  It's a great look at the punk culture of the late 70's.

Master and Commander: The Far Sid of the World-  I don't know why but I love this movie.  It's the greatest Star Trek movie ever made.   

[soylentgreen]

THE PATRIOT is also a favorite of mine, particularly the battle scenes.  I frequently use that clip from the Battle of Camden in teaching how 18th century warfare worked.

THE PATRIOT is what I consider a "trade-off" film.  You take the gorgeous production design and sprawling battle re-enactments but give big time on the historical accuracy.  In this case, you give alot!  The not-quite-Tarleton villain, the watered down Francis Marion, the oversimplification of race relations(a concept they wouldn't have had, no less).  I'm a tremendous fan of the film and only wish they could have played a little less to the common denominator audience, whose knowledge of American history allows them all that silly leeway.  The trouble is that, as with FLYBOYS, films about this conflict are so few and far between, beggars can't really be choosers.  So I'll take it.   The use of the Cowpens strategy was sweet, though they had to give Daniel Morgan's lines to Gibson.  I also like the depiction of lingering animosity from the French and Indian War, stunningly done thanks to the always great Tchéky Karyo.

Hugh Hudson's REVOLUTION is too often slagged on.  While yes, Pacino is a little out of his element as a Hudson Valley trapper, the look of film is stunning.  An ugly murky New York being pulled apart by conflicting loyalties(complete with the tearing down of KG3's statue!), a little more attention paid to Native American presence in the conflict and the most unsavory performance by Donald Sutherland ever!  I found the sense of exhaustion displayed at the end of the Yorktown sequence to be little more effective than the Schoolhouse Rock depiction in THE PATRIOT.

I do have very high hopes for HBO's JOHN ADAMS in March and April.  In the teaser vid you can catch a glimpse of the "Mohawks" at the Tea Party.  With a cast chosen for their acting chops rather than box-office, it promises to be a little more grounded of a portrayal.

[indianasmith]

Both HBO and A&E have done some awesome historical stuff.  ROME is a real favorite of mine, and there are two A&E films - THE CROSSING with Jeff Daniels as George Washington, and THE LOST BATTALION with Ricky Shroeder as Major Charles Whittlesey, that are really good.


Another frequently overlooked gem is RESTORATION, starring Sam Neill and Meg Ryan.  A glittering look at the court of King Charles II, it includes and increcible picture of the Great Fire of London.

What did you guys think of THE TUDORS?  I have only seen one or two episodes.

[Dennis]

Movies about historical events are just that, movies, they're meant to entertain so the movie makers take liberties with the facts for a variety of reasons, some good, some bad. They seem to feel that if the movie is historically accurate people will find it boring so they add, subtract or change the facts to fit their idea of what the public wants. It took me a while to understand this, but when I finally did these movies became much more fun to watch, some of my favorites:
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan
A Bridge to Far
Amadeus
Immortal Beloved
The Tuskegee Airmen
Knute Rockne
The Spirit of Saint Louis
The Patriot
Revolution
Hell to Eternity (actually got to see Guy Gabaldon once, doesn't look a bit like Jeffery Hunter)
Forrest Gump (not a historical movie but the film is full of history)
Gettysburg
Memphis Belle (according to my dad, who was there, this is full of mistakes, but manages to get the
idea across)        
Boys Town
There are a lot more, but I've got stuff from the "Honey Do" list to take care of so I'm stopping.   

[Shadow]

What did you guys think of THE TUDORS?  I have only seen one or two episodes.

I love it! Gorgeous production values, top notch acting, naked chicks! However, there is still a lot of historical inaccuracies. They cram the events of several years into what seems to be months and at other times just flat out make stuff up, especially in regards to Henry's sister, Margaret.

[indianasmith]

IMMORTAL BELOVED . . . was that one about Beethoven?  I seem to remember it, but I can't place it.

You know, in recent years, Hollywood has become increasingly obsessed with King Charles II.  He has been a featured character in three big films: RESTORATION, THE LIBERTINE, and STAGE BEAUTY.  Of the three, I thought the depiction of him in STAGE BEAUTY the weakest and RESTORATION the best, although John Malkovich did a good job in THE LIBERTINE.  That movie was just so grim and depressing I could not enjoy anything about it.

[CheezeFlixz]

What did you guys think of THE TUDORS?  I have only seen one or two episodes.

Haven't seen it yet, waiting for the DVD.

Watched Elizabeth R the other day and it was really good.

IMMORTAL BELOVED . . . was that one about Beethoven?  I seem to remember it, but I can't place it.

Correct with Gary Oldman, excellent film.

Other good one not yet listed,

Moll Flanders
North and South
Flags of our Father
Letter from Iwo Jima
Downfall
Mrs Brown
Glory
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Richard III
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
Tristan & Isolde
Judgment at Nuremberg

and another 100 or so more.

[indianasmith]

DOWNFALL was excellent, as was HITLER: THE RISE OF EVIL (You don't have a copy of that one you'd part with, do you?)


Did you happen to see a foreign film from about the same time, a French film set in World War I - I think it was THE VERY LONG FAREWELL or something like that?

[Mr. DS]

Is anyone a fan of I Cladius here?  I love that series, even as a kid.

[ER]

I don't know if I have a favorite historical picture, but I recently watched David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, and was impressed for far from the first time by what a beautiful film that was. Not only is it a brave subject to have been taken on in the west at the time it was made, and not only does it tell a sweeping story that I think was translated well from the novel, but there are moments of sheer unhurried artistry there that are so impressive.

Take for instance a shot of a moment of brutal conflict during the First World War, and a number of Russian men charge the German lines, and the man who initiates the charge falls, and his eyeglasses spill from his face, and if you look carefully you can see that this was no accident, Lean clearly planned the positioning of the dead soldier and his glasses, because you can see the battle reflected in them, somehow distanced and made almost...lovely, all because it is seen in the way that it is.

What other director would have set up a shot like that? Some, but not many, and I don't if anyone else could have done it so well.

Other historical films I like, in no particular order...

Henry V (1989)
High Noon
Rome
Rome Season Two
Saving Private Ryan
Matewan
The Painted Veil
The Name of the Rose
(2004's) The Alamo
Breaker Morant
Intolerance
My Brilliant Career
Mansfield Park (1999)
Gothic
Titanic
The Emperor and the Assassin


Okay, that's a lot but I am probably leaving so many off that I'll later think, "Man, I should've mentioned that one...!" But that's it for now.