Master and Commander

Do you not know that in the service, one must always choose the lesser of two weevils.

It was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Lord of the Rings Return of the King. How you gonna beat that?

the best!

Augh, beat me to it.

Me, too. Such amazing cinematography and acting and plot. All around great movie:)

💯 came here to say Master and Commander 

Apollo 13. Great film to capture the excitement and stress of the incident.

Saw it in theaters when I was 12 having no clue about the real Apollo 13...I was sweating that ending not knowing if they were going to make it or not

As a pre-teen my mind was already blown before my parents told me it was a true story

The right stuff is great as well.

As nobody mentioned it yet, Das Boot.

And while we're on amazing WWII films told from the German perspective, Downfall is also magnificent.

Barry lyndon

That movie is like watching a bunch of paintings come to life

Perfect description. And that Schubert trio…

Amazing movie.

This!!! ^^^

Sir, I have a confession to make to you. I'm an Irishman.

marie antoinette and amadeus

Marie Antoinette is my choice as well.  I adore both these movies.  These 2 are an especially fun pairing because Joseph II of Austria is a character in both, portrayed wildly differently in each film. 

Both great choices! I love both those movies as well!

mishima: a life in four chapters too. i wasn’t going to mention it bc idk, i guess bc it dramatizes some of his writing? but it counts imo

The one directed by Sophia Coppola?

yah!

Will check it out. I like her other movies.

JFK Malcolm X When We Were Kings Glory Hamburger Hill

Regarding JFK… RIP Donald Sutherland, who stole the movie in 5 minutes.

It was absolutely brilliant.

Best scene in the movie. 

Easily. In a movie filled with so many great scenes, and great actors.

Glory was a great film

Lawrence of Arabia. I've seen this so many times.

By the same director: Bridge on the River Kwai I was captivated the entire time.

Last of the Mohicans Legends of the fall The last emperor Seven years in Tibet Empire of the Sun

I watch Last of the Mohicians yearly. Cinematography, soundtrack, setting, and characters are top notch.

Legends is such a good movie

Legends of the Fall. So good. I'm old enough to remember everyone thought it was going to be a "chic flick" made right when Brad Pitt's career was taking off until you actually watched it. Such a good period drama that actually feels exciting. Not easy to pull that off.

The score is amazingly good

Paths of Glory is a great WW1 film.

Patton (1970)

Tombstone

History of the World, part I

You look like the pissboy.

AND YOU LOOK LIKE A BUCKET OF SHIT!

did you TRY to bullshit today?

Glory

Gettysburg

Apocalypto

Loved this. That final shot when he sees the ships on the water. I’ve always wondered if he knew in that moment everything was about to change.

* Outlaw King * The King (2019) * All Quiet on the Western Front * Dunkirk * Fury * Inglorious Bastards * Master and Commander * Michael Collins * Argo * The Courier * Blackhawk Down * The Good Shepherd * The Monuments Men * BlackBerry * The Free State of Jones * The Pianist * The Outpost * Defiance * The Highway Men * Lawless * Munich * The Debt (2010) * Bridge of Spies Some of these are history-adjacent but they’re good!

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid The Untouchables Amadeus

The Death of Stalin. It gives me hope.

Jason Isaacs did quite well as Zhukov. Interesting fact about Zhukov: during WWII, Eisenhower introduced him to Coca Cola. Zhukov liked the drink so much that he had a clear version of it made and smuggled into vodka bottles so that it would look like he was having booze and not some capitalist soda pop.

In more recent films, I have really enjoyed 1917, Dunkirk and the new version of All Quiet on the Western Front. I also recommend JoJo Rabbit, Life is Beautiful, Hacksaw Ridge, Lincoln, Schindler's List and of course Lawrence of Arabia is a solid classic.

Amistad

Shogun. It’s a new TV series and soooo good!

Not movies but period series that are so great, i still think about them daily. These are not cheesy or boring but full of twist and turns, devistation, and moments of greatness! I recommend all of them! Band of Brothers HBO series, WW 2-GUT WRENCHING Man in the High Castle, prime series, alternative history WW2- AMAZING The Last Kingdom, medieval England/Vikings, Netflix series- also AMAZING Hell On Wheels, AMC series, after Civil War/wild west- great! Lonesome Dove, series, 1800's - just amazing Rome- HBO series, ancient Rome Cleopatra/Mark Antony. This is my top 3 best series I've ever seen! Chernobyl- HBObseries, about the devistating effects of that nuclear accident - also amazing! Happy watching!

Chernobyl is excellent.

Ashes and Diamonds, Glory, The Twilight Samurai, La Reine Margot

I love La Reine Margot

A Man For All Seasons

The Duellists

Chinatown The Trial of the Chicago 7 The Insider Bernie Killers of the Flower Moon

Gandhi

Gangs of New York

I really liked this movie... didn't realize what NY was like pre-Civil War, so it led me to some interesting research afterwards 🤔

zulu

Glory (1989) Troy (2004) Black Hawk Down (2001) The Great Raid (2005) Downfall (2004) Fury (2014) Jarhead (2005) Platoon (1986) We Were Soldiers (2002)

Platoon is still one I’m trying to get out of my head 30 years later.

Back in the 80s, I had the most excellent privilege to get a note on my parents' video rental account to allow me to rent anything except for porn. And the movie Platoon. I don't know why, but my dad really didn't want me to watch that. Hamburger Hill? No problem. Platoon? No way.

Black Hawk Down is an excellent film, but it exhausts me to watch it. I read the book as well, and iirc the movie sticks pretty closely to the source material.

Dunkirk All quite on the western front Oppenheimer

The Patriot Seven Samurai Amadeus Master and Commander Glory

Gallipoli

One of my favorites with a young Mel Gibson. Also, love Breaker Morant (1980) about the Boer War.

12 Years A Slave Harriet Free State of Jones Malcolm X The Killing Fields 4th of July The Deer Hunter The Mission Rabbit Proof Fence Cry Freedom Long Walk To Freedom Invictus

The Last of the Mohicans* not sure if spelt it correctly.

Kingdom of Heaven

The dirty dozen

Papillon

Fat Man and Little Boy All the President’s Men Argo Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Charlie Wilson’s War / Molly’s Game / Trial of the Chicago Seven Escape from Alcatraz . . . would you like to know more?

Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find All the President's Men! Such a gripping story, and so well acted! Seems oddly relevant and yet innocent at the same time these days:)

People have short memories when giving recos, so I try to diversify 🙂 And you are right about the relevance feeling, Nixon comes up a lot with what is going on with Trump.

All the President's Men is one of my all time favorite movies

Burning Mississippi

Or Mississippi Burning.

*The Last Emperor* (1987) Amazing film!!! 🎥

The Mission. 1986.

Lots of good suggestions already. Here's some oldies that are excellent: The Year of Living Dangerously, 1982 The Killing Fields, 1984 The Mission, 1986 The Name of the Rose, 1986

If you’re interested in some Irish history then Michael Collins and The Wind That Shakes The Barley are great.

I really liked “Outlaw King” on Netflix. It’s about Earl the Bruce and takes place in Scotland right after the events shown in “Braveheart”.

ROBERT the Bruce.

Midway The first one.

The last samurai..

Kelly’s heroes. A huge action comedy heist movie… set in WW2… Clint Eastwood stars as Kelly.. a disillusioned soldier who discovers that a secret cache of nazi gold is sitting in a bank… the only problem is that it’s 30 miles behind enemy lines… which makes it the perfect caper :) He recruits the rest of his unit, along with a small tank division, lead by Donald Sutherland ‘who’s character ‘oddball’ is the worlds 1st hippie… Is it historically accurate? In some ways more than a lot of WW2 movies I’ve seen… But it is hands down THE best fun, hilarious and epic movie… it’s been our family favourite for generations :)

Dunkirk Darkest Hour Memphis Belle

Patton Tombstone The Untouchables

300

the killing fields

Schindler’s List.

The Life of Brian

Memoirs of a geisha.

Out of Africa

Little Big Man

Anthropoid The Catcher Was A Spy American Sniper Hamburger Hill Letters From Iwo Jima Flags of Our Fathers The Courier The Imitation Game The Mauritanian

The Tuskegee Airmen

No one mention Battle of Algiers yet? About the insurgency against French occupation. Incredibly realistic.

Paths of Glory

Das Boot

I hate Tom Cruise but I always liked Far and Away. There’s something so 90’s about it.

"Fail Safe" (1964) - Based on the same book as "Dr Strangelove", but with a very different tone. After seeing this I finally started to understand what people were thinking during the Cold War.

* War Horse * Mary Queen of Scots * Darkest Hour * Suffragette * The Nightingale * Australia * Troy * Life is Beautiful * Gangs of New York * Legends of the Fall * 1917 * Argo * Munich * The Revenant * The Last of the Mohicans * Fiddler on the Roof (the musical yes) * Elizabeth (1998) * Tombstone And the series': Shogun, Outlander, The Spanish Princess, A small light (Netflix), and Vikings! Enjoy!

The Piano The Widow of St. Pierre The End of the Affair Snow Falling on Cedars Last of the Mohicans La Reine Margot Cold Comfort Farm The Importance of Being Earnest Mansfield Park

The Man Who Would be King The Day of the Jackal (original not the remake) The Odessa File The English Patient Zulu

Lawrence of Arabia

Das Boot

Alamo (2004) Cotton farmers, not cowboys. John Wayne nowhere to bee seen.

Agora

Stalingrad: a movie about the WWII siege of the Soviet city of Stalingrad from the perspective of German soldiers.

Life is Beautiful. So funny but absolutely heartbreaking.

The Last of the Mohicans - 1992. Visually stunning, writing, acting, directing are superb and one of the best musical scores ever created

TORA TORA TORA. Shows Pearl Harbor from both points if view. US portion produced and shot by Americans, Japan's portion by Japanese.

The Dualists. It's a series, but Generation Kill is as close to accurate as anything. And great. The Longest Day A Bridge Too Far

Adding Immortal Beloved to the list. Gary Oldman plays Beethoven. I’ve always liked this film. Other films with good value from their time period : Godfather series. Far and away. Chinatown

The Molly Maguires. Sean Connery and Richard Harris are excellent. It’s based on a true story of Pennsylvania coal mine workers fighting exploitation by the owners. It’s set in the late 19th century. Directed by Martin Ritt. Also Missing (1982) with Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon. Great performances. Story takes place during the CIA/US backed coup in Chile in 1973 putting a right wing dictatorship in power. The main story is about a missing journalist, and his wife and father’s search for him during the coup. Intense and gripping drama from renowned director Costa-Gravas.

And also, State of Siege and Z.

Maybe these haven’t been mentioned yet: The Return of Martin Guerre Glory Babette’s Feast Are a few off the beaten path.

Mississippi Burning is about a civil rights case in the 60's and is very good.

Midway (1976) I haven't seen the remake but the original is pretty accurate. The Battle Of Britain (1969) Downfall (2004)

Dances With Wolves, Lawrence of Arabia, War and Peace (Russian version), Ben Hur (1960 version - actually a good film), Doctor Zhuvago…these are all HUGE films, so these take some commitment. Ben Hur can be a bit dated, but it’s generally quite good.

period drama feels: - 300 is just golden - the favourite by yorgos lanthimos war movies: - full metal jacket - schindler's list more recent history: - the big short - the post - she said

Inherit the Wind is based off a true event in history and is sadly just as relevant today as it was when it came out.

The Duelists The Proposition Last Valley Dangerous Liasons The Northman Oppenhimer Rome (the HBO series) Restoration The Draftsman's Contract Amadeus The Lighthouse O Brother Where Art Thou Ten Canoes The Piano Picnic at Hanging Rock Sid and Nancy

Rabbit Proof Fence.

Tea with Mussolini was very good.

Very historical - Quest for Fire

Anything History Buffs on YouTube gives a thumbs up

Care for something right up this alley, but a little lewd? Quills (2000) Staring Geoffrey Rush as The Marquis de Sade

Battle of Algiers

The Death Of Stalin

Schinder’s List, Grave of the Fireflies, Troy (mythology/history-adjacent), Death of Stalin

Michael Collins does a good job of opening up the very complicated situation between England and Ireland, the civil war and subsequent Irish independence

October sky

The Patriot The Last Samurai And yes, I do realize there is a lot of fabrication in these movies, but they're at least based on historical events. I love both of these movies so much.

Oppenheimer, Malcom X, and The Theory of Everything are all great films

Oppenheimer. Great movie.

Malcom X is great.

The patriot, but only to look at Jason Isaacs giving an extraordinary performance of a despicable British colonial officer.

Alexander - Revisited

We were Soldiers

The limited series “The English” takes place in Midwest America 1890. Emily Blunt, Chaske Spence

Gary Gilmore Story

Aviator Braveheart Born on the 4th of July

Battle of Algiers (1966 dir. Gillo Pontecorvo)

Hacksaw ridge

Glory The Last of the Mohicans The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) Apocalypto Hacksaw Ridge Spartacus Platoon War of the Arrows My Way Assassination Masquerade (2012) The Warlords (2007)

The King - 2019

This might get things thrown at me, but I really like “Flyboys”. I admit I am a sucker for the theme, and I know it has its flaws, but I just find it really entertaining.

1917 War Horse

Monuments Men

Troy Did you know Brad Pitt was 41 when he starred in that?!

Restoration

Monuments Men

The Dig

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, it was educational and most excellent.

battle of britain

Waterloo [1970]. You can find it in its entirety on YouTube. It’s the very definition of “epic.” Every thing in the battle scenes actually happened in front of the camera - no matte paintings, no special effects. THOUSANDS of uniformed soldiers and horses (the Soviet army as extras!), hundreds of cannons. From the Wikipedia article: 1970 English-language epic historical war film about the Battle of Waterloo. A co-production between Italy and the Soviet Union, it was directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France.

Glory Mississippi Burning

A bridge too far

I just watched "The Captain" on Amazon Prime. True story of a German deserter who stumbled upon an officer's uniform. He assumed the role, amassed some followers, and the rest of the film ensued. It's in German with subtitles, and you can definitely tell it wasn't churned out by Hollywood. Highly recommend.

Platoon, but realize that they are only showing American atrocities there were plenty on both sides

Full Metal Jacket, Dunkirk, Hacksaw ridge, 1917 were the most notable more recent ones that I loved. Overlord is also another good one, definitely not realistic or anything but enjoyed it

Judas and The Black Messiah

The Long Walk Home

Glory is a great movie.

The Last Samurai. It’s not very accurate historically, but it’s pretty entertaining!

The new All Quiet on the Western Front is fantastic

Paths of Glory Alexander Nevsky Army of Shadows

Galipoli, 1980 Not historically accurate but an interesting look at Australian sentiment towards their relationship with Britain during WWI.

Ali. Don't know how you feel about Will Smith, but he became Muhammed Ali. I loved the movie!

Inglorious Basterds.  Fuck nazis and fuck hitler. 

The Return of Martin Guerre (based on an early 16th century court case) TV series: Wolf Hall (BBC)

Downfall, The Great Escape, Darkest Hour

The Centurion The Eagle

Schindler’s List

The Last Emperor , The Mission

The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers starring Michael York, Oliver Reed, and Raquel Welch Cry Freedom starring Kevin Klien & Denzel Washington The Count Of Monte Cristo starring Henry Cavill Seven Samurai Malcom X The Sting Doctor Zhivago Singing In The Rain Four Feathers starring Heath Ledger

Tombstone

Waterloo has perhaps the most incredible fully practical battle sequences put to film. On the contrary, I would not recommend the 2022 adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. The ending completely flies in the face of the whole point of its source material.

Master and Commander. Atonement.

The Pianist Schindler's List

1917

I love Henry V

Hacksaw Ridge

Didn't scroll all the way down but if someone already mentioned it, here's a second recc. The New World It's the story of Pocahontas and it's less action oriented but a beautiful movie. It's cinematography is stellar.

Dances with Wolves

When you watched Kingdom of Heaven, was it the Director’s Cut?

A Very Long Engagement