Historical Takes
by giamail | created - 12 May 2014 | updated - 06 Mar 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 864,732 | Gross: $210.61M
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, War
Through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
Director: Mark Herman | Stars: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, Zac Mattoon O'Brien
Votes: 246,652 | Gross: $9.03M
3. The Counterfeiters (2007)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, History
The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Votes: 47,185 | Gross: $5.48M
4. Escape from Sobibor (1987 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama, History, War
German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker
Votes: 9,831
5. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 152,684 | Gross: $4.06M
6. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, History
Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.
Director: Terry George | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali
Votes: 372,380 | Gross: $23.53M
7. The Kite Runner (2007)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Khalid Abdalla, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub
Votes: 82,567 | Gross: $15.80M
8. The Last King of Scotland (2006)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington
Votes: 196,088 | Gross: $17.61M
9. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 410,677 | Gross: $11.29M
10. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 912,955 | Gross: $32.57M
11. The Reader (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain
Votes: 260,015 | Gross: $34.19M
12. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,687 | Gross: $96.90M
13. The Butler (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 132 min | Biography, Drama
As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.
Director: Lee Daniels | Stars: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda
Votes: 119,760 | Gross: $116.63M
14. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, War
Against the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald
Votes: 54,651 | Gross: $1.83M
15. Bread and Roses (2000)
R | 110 min | Drama
Two Latina sisters work as cleaners in a downtown office building, and fight for the right to unionize.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody, Elpidia Carrillo, Jack McGee
Votes: 6,074 | Gross: $0.53M
16. Anastasia (1997)
G | 94 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
The last surviving child of the Russian Royal Family joins two con men to reunite with her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, while the undead Rasputin seeks her death.
Directors: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman | Stars: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer
Votes: 136,113 | Gross: $58.41M
17. Where Do We Go Now? (2011)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village.
Director: Nadine Labaki | Stars: Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Layla Hakim
Votes: 13,509 | Gross: $0.53M
18. Night Crossing (1982)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, History
True tale about two men planning to escape from communist East Germany in a hot air balloon, but only if they can take their families with them.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: John Hurt, Jane Alexander, Doug McKeon, Keith McKeon
Votes: 1,587 | Gross: $8.00M
19. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 134,361 | Gross: $22.24M
20. Far and Away (1992)
PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky
Votes: 68,349 | Gross: $58.88M
21. Raid on Entebbe (1976)
Not Rated | 145 min | Action, Drama, History
True story of a daring Israeli commando assault on the Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free hostages of a terrorist hijacking.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto, Martin Balsam
Votes: 3,808
22. 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: 240,240 | Gross: $52.77M
23. Golden Door (2006)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama, History, Romance
A Sicilian peasant begins the journey to the promised land and meets a beautiful Englishwoman. But neither is prepared for the harsh realities of Ellis Island. Can they make it through the golden door to the America of their dreams?
Director: Emanuele Crialese | Stars: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Vincent Schiavelli, Aurora Quattrocchi
Votes: 5,198 | Gross: $1.06M
24. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 743,609 | Gross: $57.60M
25. Dangerous Beauty (1998)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.
Director: Marshall Herskovitz | Stars: Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward
Votes: 19,641 | Gross: $4.53M
26. Victory at Entebbe (1976 TV Movie)
Unrated | 119 min | Action, Drama, History
In 1976, terrorists hijack an Air France airplane, and divert it to Uganda, where they demand to exchange their hostages for fellow terrorists held in Israeli jails.
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky | Stars: Helmut Berger, Linda Blair, Kirk Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss
Votes: 1,274
27. Victoria & Abdul (2017)
PG-13 | 111 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Tim Pigott-Smith, Eddie Izzard
Votes: 38,255 | Gross: $22.25M
28. Legends of the Fall (1994)
R | 133 min | Drama, Romance, War
In the early 1900s, three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of Montana are affected by betrayal, history, love, nature, and war.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond
Votes: 183,206 | Gross: $66.64M
29. 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: 120,003 | Gross: $26.81M
30. 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: 570,789 | Gross: $133.38M
31. Queenie (1987)
233 min | Drama, Romance
An Anglo-Indian woman emigrates from India to Great Britain, pursues fame and fortune at the cost of personal happiness, and becomes a Hollywood movie star while suppressing the truth of her heritage.
Stars: Joss Ackland, Martin Balsam, Claire Bloom, Gary Cady
Votes: 470
32. A United Kingdom (2016)
PG-13 | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil.
Director: Amma Asante | Stars: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Tom Felton, Jack Davenport
Votes: 16,988 | Gross: $3.90M
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