best historical movies
by philipgiles | created - 11 Jul 2016 | updated - 11 Jul 2016 | Publicthe most realistic and believable films
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1. The Horde (2012)
Not Rated | 129 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the 14th century, a Russian bishop is forced to go on a journey inside the Horde.
Director: Andrey Proshkin | Stars: Maksim Sukhanov, Roza Khayrullina, Innokenti Dakaiarov, Aleksandr Yatsenko
Votes: 1,104
2. The Duellists (1977)
PG | 100 min | Drama, War
France, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d'Hubert is forced into a duel with hot-headed irrational Lieutenant Feraud. The disagreement ultimately results in scores of duels spanning several years.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney, Edward Fox
Votes: 26,738 | Gross: $0.20M
3. Bad Company (1972)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A God-fearing Ohio boy dodging the Civil War draft arrives in St. Joseph, MO where he joins up with a hardscrabble group of like runaways heading west
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, David Huddleston
Votes: 4,603
4. Rapa Nui (1994)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Love between the representatives of two warring tribes changes the balance of power on the whole remote island.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Jason Scott Lee, Esai Morales, Sandrine Holt, Eru Potaka Dewes
Votes: 5,323 | Gross: $0.31M
5. Bandit Queen (1994)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The story of the bandit queen Phoolan Devi who was sent to prison in 1983 and got free in 1994.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, Raghubir Yadav
Votes: 5,318 | Gross: $0.40M
6. 55 Days at Peking (1963)
Unrated | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Guy Green, Andrew Marton | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson
Votes: 7,426
7. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, History, War
In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, Harry Andrews
Votes: 3,881
8. The Last Valley (1971)
PG | 128 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During the Thirty Years' War of 1600s, a band of Protestant mercenaries peacefully coexist with German Catholic villagers in a hidden idyllic mountain valley untouched by war.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Florinda Bolkan, Nigel Davenport
Votes: 3,583 | Gross: $0.25M
9. Black Robe (1991)
R | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary nicknamed Black Robe by the natives and his small party of companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada all while facing mistrust, Iroquois warring parties and harsh winter conditions.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Aden Young, Sandrine Holt, August Schellenberg
Votes: 7,668 | Gross: $8.21M
10. 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
11. The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
R | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson, John Kani
Votes: 65,991 | Gross: $38.62M
12. Khartoum (1966)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier).
Directors: Basil Dearden, Eliot Elisofon | Stars: Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson, Ralph Richardson
Votes: 8,277 | Gross: $6.54M
13. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)
G | 118 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In 1532, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro leads an expedition into the heart of the Inca Empire and captures the Incan Emperor Atahualpa and claims Peru for Spain.
Director: Irving Lerner | Stars: Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Nigel Davenport, Leonard Whiting
Votes: 800
14. Zulu (1964)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, History, War
Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth
Votes: 42,767
15. 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: 570,817 | Gross: $133.38M
16. The Four Feathers (2002)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young British officer resigns his commission just before his regiment is sent to battle and soon receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they view as his cowardice.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Mohamed Bouich
Votes: 35,503 | Gross: $18.31M
17. Breaker Morant (1980)
PG | 107 min | Drama, History, War
Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown
Votes: 14,440 | Gross: $7.14M
18. Paths of Glory (1957)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Votes: 212,414
19. Billy Budd (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, War
When a kind-hearted sailor is made to join an English vessel at war in 1797, he finds himself caught between devotion to his crewmates and obedience to their hated, cruel master-at-arms.
Director: Peter Ustinov | Stars: Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Rogers
Votes: 4,888
20. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
PG-13 | 136 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong, Mako
Votes: 156,040 | Gross: $37.96M
21. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,722 | Gross: $17.22M
22. Taras Bulba (2009)
Not Rated | 131 min | Action, Drama, History
Set in the 16th century, this is a story about Ukraine's Cossack warriors and their campaign to defend their lands from the advancing Polish armies.
Director: Vladimir Bortko | Stars: Bogdan Stupka, Igor Petrenko, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Magdalena Mielcarz
Votes: 3,411
23. Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Approved | 106 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins, Dewey Martin, Alexis Minotis
Votes: 4,773 | Gross: $1.50M
24. Cromwell (1970)
G | 139 min | Biography, Drama, History
Puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin
Votes: 6,967 | Gross: $1.37M
25. The Cut (I) (2014)
Not Rated | 138 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In 1915 a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech and faith. One night he learns that his twin daughters may be alive, and goes on a quest to find them.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Simon Abkarian, Makram Khoury, Hindi Zahra
Votes: 8,005 | Gross: $0.03M
26. The Vikings (1958)
Not Rated | 116 min | Action, Adventure, History
A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh
Votes: 15,705 | Gross: $7.00M
27. The Monocled Mutineer (1986)
310 min | Drama, History, War
During World War I, Percy Toplis, a deserter from the British Army, plays a major role in the Étaples Mutiny in September 1917.
Stars: Paul McGann, Bill Fellows, Matthew Marsh, Anthony Calf
Votes: 391
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