UK history
by vitariz | created - 21 Jun 2013 | updated - 05 Jan 2020 | Publicoutstandng stories -true or ficional- about UK
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1. Life of Brian (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 421,738 | Gross: $20.05M
2. Tristan + Isolde (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Drama, Romance
An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, David O'Hara
Votes: 54,283 | Gross: $14.73M
3. 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: 176,038 | Gross: $51.88M
4. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, History
Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.
Director: Justin Chadwick | Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess
Votes: 119,931 | Gross: $26.81M
5. Young Bess (1953)
Approved | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The early life of Elizabeth I, from her childhood until her accession to the throne of England in 1558.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton
Votes: 1,813
6. 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: 75,037 | Gross: $16.29M
7. 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: 105,077 | Gross: $30.08M
8. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,384 | Gross: $7.09M
9. Hamlet (1996)
PG-13 | 242 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Votes: 40,041 | Gross: $4.41M
10. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 87,249 | Gross: $13.82M
11. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale
Votes: 51,964 | Gross: $22.55M
12. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 66,357 | Gross: $11.00M
13. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,435 | Gross: $38.41M
14. Wilde (1997)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The turmoil in poet/playwright Oscar Wilde's life after he discovers his homosexuality.
Director: Brian Gilbert | Stars: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle
Votes: 18,121 | Gross: $2.16M
15. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,642 | Gross: $43.18M
16. My Fair Lady (1964)
G | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 101,778 | Gross: $72.00M
17. Being Julia (2004)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Set in 1930s London, this movie involves stage actors and actresses and their experiences with love and revenge.
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, Maury Chaykin, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 12,927 | Gross: $7.74M
18. Miss Potter (2006)
PG | 88 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness, and success.
Director: Chris Noonan | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn
Votes: 32,008 | Gross: $2.98M
19. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Family
At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp
Votes: 26,471
20. Death on the Nile (1978)
PG | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As Hercule Poirot enjoys a luxurious cruise down the Nile, a newlywed heiress is found murdered on board. Can Poirot identify the killer before the ship reaches the end of its journey?
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, Jane Birkin
Votes: 39,800
21. Chariots of Fire (1981)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers
Votes: 65,852 | Gross: $58.97M
22. Gosford Park (2001)
R | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Set in the 1930s, a group of pretentious rich and famous get together for a weekend of relaxation at a hunting resort. But when a murder occurs, each one of these interesting characters becomes a suspect.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 93,977 | Gross: $41.31M
23. Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama
The lives and fortunes of the Bellamy family and their below-stairs servant staff at 165 Eaton Place play out against the social, political and historical backdrop of Edwardian London from 1903 to 1930.
Stars: Gordon Jackson, David Langton, Jean Marsh, Angela Baddeley
Votes: 3,562
24. My Left Foot (1989)
R | 103 min | Biography, Drama
Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan
Votes: 79,735 | Gross: $14.74M
25. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 240,149 | Gross: $52.77M
26. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an English cartographer must tell a Welsh village that their mountain is only a hill, the offended community sets out to change that.
Director: Christopher Monger | Stars: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Ian McNeice
Votes: 18,702 | Gross: $10.90M
27. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The 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.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 707,726 | Gross: $138.80M
28. Richard III (1995)
R | 110 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, War
The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, Edward Jewesbury
Votes: 15,563 | Gross: $2.60M
29. Alfie (1966)
Unrated | 114 min | Comedy, Drama
An unrepentant ladies' man gradually begins to understand the consequences of his lifestyle.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin, Julia Foster
Votes: 15,824 | Gross: $18.87M
30. The Honey Pot (1967)
Not Rated | 150 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy ex-girlfriends into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward, Cliff Robertson, Capucine
Votes: 2,845
31. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy
The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle
Votes: 78,752
32. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
R | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Music
A confined but troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves, James Laurenson, Eleanor David
Votes: 85,356 | Gross: $22.24M
33. Educating Rita (1983)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
An alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams, Maureen Lipman
Votes: 14,912 | Gross: $14.65M
34. Peter's Friends (1992)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Six former college friends, with two new friends, gather for a New Year's Eve weekend reunion at a large English countryside manor after ten years to reminisce about the good times now long gone.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 12,143 | Gross: $4.06M
35. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet, Simon Callow
Votes: 166,011 | Gross: $52.70M
36. A Midwinter's Tale (1995)
R | 99 min | Comedy
A group of theatre actors plays "Hamlet" in a provincial village, faced with their own temptations, disappointments, and joys.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Michael Maloney, Richard Briers, Hetta Charnley, Joan Collins
Votes: 2,770 | Gross: $0.35M
37. Secrets & Lies (1996)
R | 136 min | Comedy, Drama
Following the death of her adoptive parents, a successful young black optometrist establishes contact with her biological mother -- a lonely white factory worker living in poverty in East London.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Claire Rushbrook
Votes: 47,161 | Gross: $13.42M
38. Trainspotting (1996)
R | 93 min | Drama
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd
Votes: 725,311 | Gross: $16.50M
39. Brassed Off (1996)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
The coal mine in a northern English village may be closing, which would also mean the end of the miners' brass band.
Director: Mark Herman | Stars: Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, Ewan McGregor, Stephen Tompkinson
Votes: 20,932 | Gross: $2.56M
40. The Full Monty (1997)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.
Director: Peter Cattaneo | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Wim Snape
Votes: 114,085 | Gross: $45.95M
41. Iris (I) (2001)
R | 91 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville
Votes: 19,133 | Gross: $1.29M
42. Saving Grace (2000)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Crime
A small-town English widow, facing financial troubles after her husband's suicide, turns to agriculture of an illegal kind.
Director: Nigel Cole | Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Tchéky Karyo
Votes: 19,324 | Gross: $12.12M
43. Love Actually (2003)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney
Votes: 531,343 | Gross: $59.70M
44. The Queen (2006)
PG-13 | 103 min | Biography, Drama
After the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings
Votes: 115,962 | Gross: $56.44M
45. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 224,741
46. Amazing Grace (2006)
PG | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Romola Garai
Votes: 25,689 | Gross: $21.21M
47. The Commitments (1991)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy
Votes: 38,764 | Gross: $14.92M
48. Billy Elliot (2000)
R | 110 min | Drama, Music
A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven
Votes: 142,556 | Gross: $22.00M
49. About a Boy (2002)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Will, who attends single parent meetings to woo women, meets Marcus, a troubled 12-year-old boy. As they become friends, Will learns to be responsible while he helps Marcus with his studies.
Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz | Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Sharon Small
Votes: 191,628 | Gross: $41.39M
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