I figured that I would do a top five list of some of my favorite historical fiction movies
5:
The Last of the Mohicans
An epic adventure and passionate romance unfold against the panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Madeleine Stowe is Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a proud British Colonel. Their love, tested by fate, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies that engulfs the majestic mountains and cathedral-like forests of colonial America. Based on the American literary classic by James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans is a "spellbindinlgy beautiful old-fashioned epic." (Joel Siegel, Good Morning America).
The movie is awesome, and it really has more to it than just the romantic - because unfortunately, you can't make an American made movie that involves war without using a love story as a crutch. The story adds so much information about the French and Indian (Seven Years) War, and they do it in such a way that it makes you feel like you are a part of the actual world of the 1700s. It also throws in historical characters - such as General Webb and Colonel Munro (how could I forget the great French General Montcalm) - and historical events - such as the Battle of Fort William Henry and the following massacre. It is a really good history movie that got most of its facts straight.
A slight warning however - this movie is a war movie, and is not for those that don't like blood torn movies.
4.
Valkyrie
The back of the case blurb:
"Tom Cruise gives one of the best performances of his career" (Jeffrey Lyons, NBC/Reel Talk) in this action-packed film from the director of The Usual Suspects and X-Men. Based on the incredible true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) and his ingenious assassination plot targeting Adolph Hitler, this engrossing thriller reenacts the daring operation to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. Co-starring Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Eddie Izzard, Valkyrie delivers gripping suspense and pulse-pounding excitement from start to finish!
This is an amazing specifically about the German resistances attempt at Hitler's life...and almost complete success. If you watch the movie, there is a scene at the very end where Stauffenberg screams out, "Long live sacred Germany." That quote is one of the most powerful lines in that entire movie. If you watch it, pay close attention to the soldiers that are surrounding him after he says these words...their expressions. This movie does a good job of reminding the viewers, "that not everyone was like him (Hitler)."
This one has less blood-shed, and very little to no blood. It is more about the conspiracy and resistance against Hitler's control of Germany. You should go and watch this one.
3.
The Flowers of War
This is a little known movie - but should be watched by all because this is about an event that no one seems to remember or purposely forgets.
The film, set during the Japanese invasion of China, is told from a young girl's point of view, not as a history lesson, but as an intimate, elemental and paradoxically universal celebration of the human spirit. Christian Bale stars as a dissolute Westerner who seeks refuge in a Catholic Church. There he meets a beautiful Chinese courtesan who helps him rescue a group of schoolgirls from a terrible fate at the hands of the Japanese.
The movie centers around the terrible event called the "Rape of Nanjing" or the Nanjing Massacre. Needless to say, this movie is incredibly descriptive - and heartbreaking. Anyone who watches this movie, brace yourselves. After I finished watching it, I had to know if this was true. I found a very long documentary on it, and watched every second of it. I was deeply saddened to realize that I had never even known a single thing about this. We talk about Massacre's - Boston Massacre - but those are normally drawn out. In the Boston Massacre only five people died. The Nanjing Massacre - 300,000. Now you tell me why no one talks about this in a history class! Yes the Holocaust was horrible and should not be pushed aside; but the Japanese were just as vial as the Nazis.
Fair warning though... This movie is incredibly dark. If you thought Schindler's List was hard to watch, this one will be as well. But I still encourage all of you to watch it. If there is one thing I have learned from studying history - there are just somethings that should never be forgotten, no matter how bad they are - the worse thing is to deny that none of these horrendous acts ever happened.
2.
Gettysburg
Oh Gettysburg; one of my favorites - guess that's why it is #2 :)
Summer 1863. The Confederacy pushes north into Pennsylvania. Union divisions converge to face them. Two great armies will clash at Gettysburg, site of a theology school. For three days, through such legendary actions as Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge, the fate of "One nation, indivisible" hangs in the balance.
The bloodiest battle fought on American soil comes to the screen in a powerful production "about the strategies, calculations, mistakes and heroism that turned the tide of the Civil War...a film Civil War buffs will find indispensable" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Richard Jordan and more play key roles in this magnificent epic based on Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels, filmed at actual battle locations and rigorously authenticated down to the boots.
Yes, this movie is awesome - and guess what; no love story...alas the exception is found haha :)
Gettysburg is great because it doesn't just focus on the Union side of the war. It also sheds light onto the Confederate side as well. Which is awesome because when it comes to history, nothing, I REPEAT, NOTHING is black and white. There is so much more to the stories that we are told in an average high school classroom. And Gettysburg, though it is long, is an amazing story that shares the stories of multiple historical figures. One of my favorites, and most heartbreaking, is the character depth between Union General Winfield Hancock (a hero by the way :) and Confederate General
Lewis Armistead. Oh, the feels - Hancock and Armistead were best friends before the war; were still best friends...and then by fate they met each other on opposing sides on the battlefield. One unfortunately killing the other, much to his broken heart.
That's why I love this movie. Though it is long, it has amazing character depth; and the best part, the movie's characters are only Historical Figures - not added on fictional characters. All of these historical characters are played as though they had come to life from their own personal diaries!
Yes, watch this movie!! It's a must see!
1.
The Patriot
Was there any doubt that The Patriot would be on this list? :)
The case blurb says:
In the emotionally-charged adventure The Patriot, academy award winner Mel Gibson stars as Benjamin Martin, a reluctant hero who is swept into the American Revolution when the war reaches his home and threatens his family.
Oh the Patriot :) This is one of my favorite historical fiction movies for many reasons. The number reason is because the American Revolution is the focus in my history major. I love the American Revolution. In fact, I could probably sit down for hours just talking about any thing that happened during the war...oh yes, don't get me started :) Got keep reviewing!
(Did you know that Logan Lerman was in this movie? He's the young kid on left side!)
The movie is awesome in itself. It's mostly historically accurate. The character of General Cornwallis is kind of spot on. He was a brilliant tactician. What they failed to put in this movie, that would have given Lord Cornwallis more character depth was the fact that at this point in the war, was that his wife had passed away in 1779, which greatly affected him. His heart wasn't really in the American War for Independence.
The Story of the Patriot in general is a beautiful one. It is the American Revolution wrapped up with historical characters, with an awesome plot line tied to the top like a ribbon.
If you haven't seen this movie, stop what you are doing and go watch it! :D
That's it for now!! OH, yes there are many more historical (fiction) movies out there that are awesome. But these were just the first five that came to mind. So yes go out there and watch them:
The Last of the Mohicans
Valkyrie
The Flowers of War
Gettysburg
The Patriot
HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!!!!
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Video 1: https://youtu.be/yaQeVnN6pUc
Video 2: https://youtu.be/m_1UrKgvKb0
Video 3: https://youtu.be/cj2uhyfVNmQ
Video 4: https://youtu.be/9Vz5f9NOVuk
Video 5: https://youtu.be/P5u1am7pmrw
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