| One can not look to Hollywood if one wants to see an accurate portrayal of history. That being said, the following list contains the names of movies that medievalists may find interesting for a variety of reasons. Some are serious, some are humorous, some are legendary, and some are pure fantasy. But all of them are at least entertaining on some level. If you can think of a movie that is not on the list please let us know (email me). |
| 13th Warrior, The | quasi-legendary/fantasy 1999, Dir: John McTiernan stars: Antonio Banderas, Omar Shariff (minor role) Adaption of Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead." which was extrapolated upon a fragment of an Arab's observation of viking Rus in Russia. It ain't history but it's got vikings and great combat scenes... |
| Adventures of Robin Hood, The | legendary 1938, Dir: Michael Curtiz & William Keighley stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Alan Hale(!) |
| Advocate, The (The Hour of the Pig) |
quasi-historical 1993, Dir: Leslie Megahey stars: Colin Firth, Donald Pleasence Good costumes. Follows a medieval lawyer's trevails in a small town in southern France in the late middle ages. |
| Aguerre, The Wrath of God | quasi-historical 1972, Dir: Werner Herzog stars: Klaus Kinski |
| Alexsander Nevsky | quasi-historical 1938, Dir: Sergei M. Eisenstein The legendary Battle on Lake Peipus in the 13th century. The film is pure anti-German propoganda but kind of fun nonetheless. |
| Alfred the Great | quasi-historical 1969, Dir: Clive Donner stars: Michael York |
| Becket | historical 1964, Dir: Peter Glenville stars: Richard Burton, John Gielgud |
| Braveheart | quasi-historical 1995, Dir: Mel Gibson stars: Mel Gibson The film is horribly inaccurate but has some great battle scenes. Why are the Normans always the villains? I don't know how Gibson got the nod for Best Director... but the movie is fun to watch! |
| Cadfael (TV Show) |
historical mystery fiction 1994-96, Dir: Graham Theakston, Herbert Wise stars: Derek Jacobi Based on a series of novels set in 13th century Shrewsbury in Shropshire. Follows a monk, the Cadfael of the title, as he investigates various crimes in the community. Dynamic characters and good acting. |
| Conan the Barbarian | Fantasy 1982, Dir: John Milius stars: Arnold Schwartzeneggar, James Earl Hones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman, Sven-Ole Thornsen, music by Basil Poledouris What can be said about this movie? Its rife with great dialog and some of the most "best" overacting I've ever seen. Its just plain fun... the sequel (Conan the Destroyer) was not nearly as well done and the violence and nudity were toned down. |
| Conan the Destroyer | Fantasy 1984, Dir: Richard Fleischer stars: Arnold Schwartzeneggar, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlin, Olivia D'abo, Sarah Douglas, Sven-Ole Thorsen Not nearly as good as the original but it has some fun fight sequences. |
| El Cid | quasi-historical 1961, Dir: Anthony Mann stars: Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren |
| Erik the Viking | fantasy, comedy 1989, Dir: Terry Jones stars: Tim Robbins, Mickey Rooney, Eartha Kitt, Terry Jones, John Cleese The humor is pretty dry and didn't hit a chord with American audiences who prefer fart jokes. If nothing else, they use real viking names. And the portrayal of the gods as children was a stroke of genius. |
| Excalibur | legendary 1981, Dir: John Boorman stars: Nigel Terry, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart Lots of plastic armor, fighting, and sex! What else do you need?! Magic? Its got that too... but the characters drive the story... |
| Flesh and Blood | historical fiction 1985, Dir: Paul Verhoeven stars: Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh A pack of mercenaries and their adventures through war-torn Italy. Interesting mix of late medieval themes (plagues, machievellean politics, technology, etc..) |
| Henry V (1944) | quasi-historical 1944, Dir: Laurence Olivier, Reginald Beck stars: Laurence Olivier |
| Henry V (1989) | quasi-historical 1989, Dir: Kenneth Branagh stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi Great soundtrack. Gritty battle sequence. |
| Ivanhoe (1952) | historical fiction 1952, Dir: Richard Thorpe stars: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine |
| Ivanhoe (1997) | historical fiction 1997, Dir: Stuart Orme stars: nobody famous TV miniseries presented on A&E in the U. S. A. |
| Jabberwocky | fantasy, comedy 1977, Dir: Terry Gilliam stars: Michael Palin |
| Last Valley, The | historical fiction 1970, Dir: James Clavell stars: Omar Sherrif, Michael Caine Not really medieval (30 Year's War), but an interesting view of life in a small village that is disrupted by the presence of a group of mercenaries. |
| Lion in Winter, The | quasi-historical 1968, Dir: Anthony Harvey stars: Katherine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Terry Henry Plantaganet meets with Eleanor of Aquitaine and their three sons to determine which of the sons shall be designated the heir to the English throne. |
| Long Ships, The | fantasy 1963, Dir: Jack Cardiff stars: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier |
| Messenger, The (Joan of Arc) |
quasi-historical 1999, Dir: Luc Besson stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman |
| Monty Python and the Holy Grail | fantasy, comedy 1975, Dir: Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones stars: Monty Python Great comedy. |
| Name of the Rose, The | historical fiction (mystery) 1986, Dir: Jean-Jacques Annaud stars: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Ron Perlman |
| Norseman, The | fantasy 1978, Dir: Charles B. Pierce stars: Lee Majors, Deacon Jones(!) Just plain stupid. But it has vikings in it! |
| Red Sonja | fantasy 1985, Dir: Richard Fleischer stars: Bridgitte Nielson, Arnold Schwartzeneggar, Sandahl Bergman Not particularly good but better than Conan the Destroyer. |
| Return of Martin Guerre, The | quasi-historical 1982, Dir: Daniel Vigne stars: Gérard Depardieu |
| Robin Hood | legendary 1922, Dir: Allan Dwan stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Alan Hale(!) |
| Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | legendary 1991, Dir: Kevin Reynolds stars: Kevin Costner, Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, Sean Connery(cameo) Horrid mangling of history in attempt to make the film more interesting. Costner's portrayal of Robin is perhaps the worst ever. Yet Alan Rickman is great as the vile Sheriff. |
| Vikings, The | fantasy 1958, Dir: Richard Fleischer stars: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine |
| War Lord, The | historical fiction 1965, Dir: S. Schaffner stars: Charlton Heston The only film I can recall that portrays the Normans in a positive light. In this case, most of them are typical norman swine but their leader, the warlord of the title, attempts to be a benevolent leader until distracted by his lust for a woman! And its got vikings! Ok, they call them Frisians, so I suppose they are Danish vikings - but they are clearly intended to be vikings... |
| Warriors, The (Dark Avenger, The) |
quasi-historical 1955, Dir: Henry Levin stars: Errol Flynn, Christopher Lee Flynn is Edward the Black Prince during the 100 Years' War. |
last updated September 10, 2003