The Best Political Movies and Shows!
by SciFiSheriff | created - 02 Feb 2013 | updated - 02 Feb 2013 | PublicNo order bar the first
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1. Lincoln (2012)
PG-13 | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
As the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 272,762 | Gross: $182.21M
2. The West Wing (1999–2006)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama
Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
Stars: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, John Spencer
Votes: 85,656
3. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Passed | 100 min | Biography, Drama, History
A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan
Votes: 9,180
4. Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964 TV Movie)
80 min | Drama
The life of Abraham Lincoln is traced from the 1830s when he was a struggling backwoods lawyer to winning the Presidency in 1860.
Director: George Schaefer | Stars: Jason Robards, Kate Reid, Jack Bittner, Burt Brinckerhoff
Votes: 21
5. The Conspirator (2010)
PG-13 | 122 min | Crime, Drama, History
Mary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline
Votes: 30,016 | Gross: $11.54M
6. W. (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A chronicle of the life and Presidency of George W. Bush.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ioan Gruffudd, Colin Hanks
Votes: 50,051 | Gross: $25.53M
7. Seven Days in May (1964)
Approved | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
United States military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner
Votes: 17,351 | Gross: $7.96M
8. Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
TV-14 | 93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A profile of the life of Adolf Hitler with a unique slant, as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National Socialist German Workers Party prior to World War II.
Stars: Peter Stormare, Friedrich von Thun, Peter O'Toole, Zoe Telford
Votes: 23,647
9. Dave (1993)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
An uncanny Presidential lookalike named Dave is recruited by the Secret Service to become a momentary stand-in for the President of the United States.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn
Votes: 56,881 | Gross: $63.27M
10. Death of a President (2006)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Years after the assassination of President George W. Bush in Chicago, an investigative documentary examines that as-yet-unsolved crime.
Director: Gabriel Range | Stars: Hend Ayoub, Becky Ann Baker, George W. Bush, Brian Boland
Votes: 7,033 | Gross: $0.52M
11. Thirteen Days (2000)
PG-13 | 145 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Shawn Driscoll, Drake Cook
Votes: 62,733 | Gross: $34.59M
12. 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: 240,259 | Gross: $52.77M
13. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,443 | Gross: $9.60M
14. Frost/Nixon (2008)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell
Votes: 112,500 | Gross: $18.59M
15. Fail Safe (1964)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 24,428
16. The Iron Lady (2011)
PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama
An elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Susan Brown
Votes: 113,644 | Gross: $30.02M
17. John Adams (2008)
TV-14 | 71 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, its second President, and his role in the nation's first 50 years.
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, John Dossett, Stephen Dillane
Votes: 36,667
18. The Adams Chronicles (1976)
50 min | Drama, History
This ambitious multi-part PBS production brings to life five generations of one of America's leading political and historical families, tracing their lives from John Adams' years as a ... See full summary »
Stars: Pamela Payton-Wright, George Hearn, Michael Tolan, William Daniels
Votes: 213
19. Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
Approved | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
American frontiersman Davy Crockett fights in the Creek Indian War, is elected to the U.S. Congress and fights for Texas at the Alamo.
Director: Norman Foster | Stars: Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, Basil Ruysdael, Hans Conried
Votes: 4,891
20. The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
April 14, 1865. As four year of Civil War draw to a close, our country again faces unforgettable tragedy: the assassination of the President. Starring Lance Henriksen as the Great ... See full summary »
Director: John Gray | Stars: Rob Morrow, Lance Henriksen, Donna Murphy, Jean Louisa Kelly
Votes: 385
21. MacArthur (1977)
PG | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biopic of General Douglas MacArthur covering his war exploits during WW2 and the Korean War.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Gregory Peck, Dan O'Herlihy, Ed Flanders, Ivan Bonar
Votes: 5,128
22. The Missiles of October (1974 TV Movie)
150 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Anthony Page | Stars: William Devane, Ralph Bellamy, Howard Da Silva, James Hong
Votes: 1,127
23. The Kennedys (2011)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, History, Romance
The triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history.
Stars: Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 7,694
24. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,874
25. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, War
An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 518,583 | Gross: $0.28M
26. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Approved | 179 min | Drama, War
In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich
Votes: 85,589
27. Patriot Games (1992)
R | 117 min | Action, Thriller
When CIA analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin
Votes: 120,528 | Gross: $83.29M
28. Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004 TV Movie)
PG | 89 min | Drama, History, War
A dramatization of the 90 days leading up to Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and how General Dwight Eisenhower, against all odds, brilliantly orchestrated the most important military maneuver in modern history.
Director: Robert Harmon | Stars: Tom Selleck, James Remar, Timothy Bottoms, Ian Mune
Votes: 3,696
29. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,175 | Gross: $28.35M
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