Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "american-history"

1. Hamilton (2020)

PG-13 | 160 min | Biography, Drama, History

The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.

Director: Thomas Kail | Stars: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry

Votes: 113,570

2. Hidden Figures (2016)

PG | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History

The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Director: Theodore Melfi | Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner

Votes: 255,071 | Gross: $169.61M

3. The New World (2005)

PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History

The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.

Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale

Votes: 89,805 | Gross: $12.71M

4. 11.22.63 (2016)

TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

Jake Epping, a teacher, gets a chance to travel back in time to avert the death of John F. Kennedy. However, history's aversion to alteration and his love for the era and a woman endanger him.

Stars: James Franco, Sarah Gadon, George MacKay, Chris Cooper

Votes: 99,190

5. The Patriot (2000)

R | 165 min | Action, Drama, History

Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.

Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs

Votes: 293,363 | Gross: $113.33M

6. Glory (1989)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History

Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman

Votes: 144,347 | Gross: $26.83M

7. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt

Votes: 740,957 | Gross: $56.67M

8. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig

Votes: 187,526 | Gross: $75.51M

9. Masters of Sex (2013–2016)

TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Romance

Drama about the pioneers of the science of human sexuality whose research touched off the sexual revolution.

Stars: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Teddy Sears

Votes: 38,500

10. Gangs of New York (2002)

R | 167 min | Crime, Drama

In 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent

Votes: 472,653 | Gross: $77.81M

11. Billy the Kid (2022– )

TV-MA | 49 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

An epic romantic adventure based on the life of Billy the Kid, from his humble Irish roots and his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond.

Stars: Tom Blyth, Daniel Webber, Shaun Benson, Sean Owen Roberts

Votes: 7,216

12. The Untouchables (1987)

R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith

Votes: 330,630 | Gross: $76.27M

13. 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: 272,526 | Gross: $182.21M

14. Red Dead Redemption II (2018 Video Game)

M | Action, Adventure, Crime

Amidst the decline of the Wild West at the turn of the 20th century, outlaw Arthur Morgan and his gang struggle to cope with the loss of their way of life.

Stars: Benjamin Byron Davis, Roger Clark, Rob Wiethoff, Cali Elizabeth Moore

Votes: 54,261

15. The Highwaymen (2019)

R | 132 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

The untold true story of the legendary detectives who brought down Bonnie and Clyde.

Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates, John Carroll Lynch

Votes: 103,426

16. First Man (2018)

PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler

Votes: 202,129 | Gross: $44.94M

17. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

R | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

Director: Joe Berlinger | Stars: Lily Collins, Zac Efron, Angela Sarafyan, Sydney Vollmer

Votes: 103,322

18. Pocahontas (I) (1995)

G | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama

An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.

Directors: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg | Stars: Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Christian Bale, Joe Baker

Votes: 202,882 | Gross: $141.60M

19. 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: 36,580

20. JFK (1991)

R | 189 min | Drama, History, Thriller

New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau

Votes: 169,844 | Gross: $70.41M

21. Genius (2017– )

TV-14 | 50 min | Biography, Drama, History

The life stories of history's greatest minds, from their days as young adults to their final years: their discoveries, loves, relationships, causes, flaws, and genius.

Stars: Samantha Colley, Seth Gabel, Antonio Banderas, Clémence Poésy

Votes: 20,110

22. Gettysburg (1993)

PG | 271 min | Drama, History, War

In 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

Director: Ron Maxwell | Stars: Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Richard Jordan

Votes: 31,288 | Gross: $10.77M

23. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

R | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller

The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Director: Aaron Sorkin | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong

Votes: 193,221

24. Something the Lord Made (2004 TV Movie)

TV-PG | 110 min | Biography, Drama

A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.

Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Cliff McMullen, Yasiin Bey, Luray Cooper, Alan Rickman

Votes: 15,340

25. TURN: Washington's Spies (2014–2017)

TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, History, War

A Long Island farmer bands together a group of childhood friends to form an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence.

Stars: Jamie Bell, Heather Lind, Samuel Roukin, Daniel Henshall

Votes: 23,420

26. The First Lady (2022)

TV-MA | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History

In the East Wing of the White House, many of history's most impactful and world-changing decisions have been hidden from view, made by America's charismatic, complex and dynamic first ladies.

Stars: Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Gillian Anderson, O-T Fagbenle

Votes: 5,726

27. Death Valley Days (1952–1970)

TV-PG | 25 min | Western

Western stories and legends based, and filmed, in and around Death Valley, California. One of the longest-running Western series, originating on radio in the 1930s. The continuing sponsor was "20 Mule Team" Borax, a product formerly mined in Death Valley.

Stars: Stanley Andrews, Robert Taylor, Ronald Reagan, Dale Robertson

Votes: 1,045

28. The Vietnam War (2017)

TV-MA | 99 min | Documentary, History, War

A comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.

Stars: Peter Coyote, Huy Duc, James Willbanks, Duong Van Mai Elliott

Votes: 27,946

29. Roosevelt

Biography, Drama, History | Pre-production

A biographical drama about President Theodore Roosevelt.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Star: Leonardo DiCaprio

30. Harriet (I) (2019)

PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Biography, Drama

The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

Director: Kasi Lemmons | Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn

Votes: 30,696

31. The Alamo (2004)

PG-13 | 137 min | Drama, History, War

Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio Texas.

Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Emilio Echevarría, Jason Patric

Votes: 22,297 | Gross: $22.41M

32. Gaslit (2022)

TV-MA | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History

A modern take on the 1970s political Watergate scandal centering on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.

Stars: Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin

Votes: 7,613

33. United 93 (2006)

R | 111 min | Action, Drama, History

A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11th, 2001 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.

Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas, J.J. Johnson

Votes: 110,916 | Gross: $31.57M

34. Selma (2014)

PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History

A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.

Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson

Votes: 95,439 | Gross: $52.08M

35. Patton (1970)

GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War

The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong

Votes: 107,906 | Gross: $61.70M

36. Drunk History (2013–2019)

TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, History

Historical reenactments by A-list talent are presented by inebriated storytellers.

Stars: Derek Waters, Bennie Arthur, Craig Cackowski, Maria Blasucci

Votes: 12,674

37. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History

Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.

Director: Shaka King | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback

Votes: 91,422

38. 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: 119,717 | Gross: $116.63M

39. The Civil War (1990)

TV-14 | 76 min | Documentary, History, War

A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.

Stars: David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards

Votes: 18,447

40. The Loudest Voice (2019)

TV-MA | 50 min | Biography, Drama

The past decade on the life of Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News, in which Ailes arguably became the Republican party's de facto leader and was accused of sexual harassment, which brought his Fox News reign to an end.

Stars: Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane, Annabelle Wallis

Votes: 14,503

41. Documentary Now! (2015– )

TV-14 | 23 min | Comedy

"Documentary Now!" parodies the current obsession with documentaries. Season one features six different stories and stylistic approaches paying tribute to the doc format.

Stars: Helen Mirren, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Deb Hiett

Votes: 7,981

42. The Plot Against America (2020)

TV-MA | 62 min | Drama, Thriller

Characters live in an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt was defeated in the U.S. presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.

Stars: Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector

Votes: 11,232

43. J. Edgar (2011)

R | 137 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

J. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the F.B.I. for nearly fifty years, looks back on his professional and personal life.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Hamilton

Votes: 133,598 | Gross: $37.31M

44. Benjamin Franklin (2022)

225 min | Documentary, Biography, History

Exploring the life and work of writer and publisher, scientist and inventor, diplomat and signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution: Benjamin Franklin.

Stars: Peter Coyote, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Lucas, Liam Neeson

Votes: 1,160

45. Jackie (V) (2016)

R | 100 min | Biography, Drama

Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.

Director: Pablo Larraín | Stars: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup

Votes: 83,399 | Gross: $13.96M

46. Detroit (2017)

R | 143 min | Crime, Drama, History

Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore

Votes: 55,925 | Gross: $16.79M

47. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)

PG-13 | 154 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Armand Assante, Sigourney Weaver, Loren Dean

Votes: 32,790 | Gross: $7.19M

48. 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: 29,991 | Gross: $11.54M

49. The Current War (2017)

PG-13 | 102 min | Biography, Drama, History

The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas A. Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Oliver Powell, Sophia Ally, Tuppence Middleton

Votes: 30,928

50. Z: The Beginning of Everything (2015–2017)

TV-14 | 27 min | Biography, Drama, History

The story of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, a brilliant and beautiful Southern belle who became the original flapper and icon of the wild, flamboyant Jazz Age.

Stars: Christina Ricci, David Hoflin, Kristine Nielsen, David Strathairn

Votes: 4,741