Ancient Epics
by travisbcannon | created - 17 Dec 2012 | updated - 5 months ago | PublicList of my favorite historical based movies/TV shows that take place in antiquity or the middle ages.
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1. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,617,930 | Gross: $187.71M
2. Cleopatra (1963)
G | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown
Votes: 37,378 | Gross: $57.78M
3. King Arthur (2004)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Clive Owen, Stephen Dillane, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd
Votes: 176,007 | Gross: $51.88M
4. Robin Hood (2010)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In twelfth-century England, Robin Longstride and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen, Max von Sydow
Votes: 282,961 | Gross: $105.27M
5. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Robin Hood decides to fight back as an outlaw when faced with the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater
Votes: 208,201 | Gross: $165.50M
6. Centurion (2010)
R | 97 min | Action, Drama, History
A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is devastated in a guerrilla attack.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Olga Kurylenko, Andreas Wisniewski
Votes: 86,319 | Gross: $7.89M
7. The Eagle (2011)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In Roman-ruled Britain, a young Roman soldier endeavors to honor his father's memory by finding his lost legion's golden emblem.
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, István Göz
Votes: 74,017 | Gross: $19.49M
8. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,416 | Gross: $74.70M
9. The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Approved | 188 min | Drama, History, War
The death of Marcus Aurelius leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor's son, Commodus, demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness, James Mason
Votes: 10,137 | Gross: $4.75M
10. I, Claudius (1976)
Not Rated | 50 min | Biography, Drama, History
The personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed
Votes: 19,345
11. The Last Legion (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Adventure, History
As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.
Director: Doug Lefler | Stars: Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Peter Mullan
Votes: 37,094 | Gross: $5.93M
12. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Votes: 303,686 | Gross: $90.76M
13. The Odyssey (1997)
PG-13 | 88 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Follows Odysseus on his wanderings back to Ithaca following the Trojan War.
Stars: Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters
Votes: 16,082
14. Clash of the Titans (1981)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Family
Perseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.
Director: Desmond Davis | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith
Votes: 47,691 | Gross: $41.09M
15. Clash of the Titans (2010)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Perseus, a demigod and the son of Zeus, battles the minions of Hades and the Underworld in order to stop them from conquering Olympus and Earth.
Director: Louis Leterrier | Stars: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng
Votes: 292,598 | Gross: $163.21M
16. Wrath of the Titans (2012)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Perseus braves the treacherous underworld to rescue his father, Zeus, captured by his son, Ares, and brother Hades who unleash the ancient Titans upon the world.
Director: Jonathan Liebesman | Stars: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Rosamund Pike, Ralph Fiennes
Votes: 195,469 | Gross: $83.67M
17. Troy (2004)
R | 163 min | 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: 569,890 | Gross: $133.38M
18. Caesar (2002)
PG-13 | 89 min | Biography, Drama, History
Twenty-year-old Julius Caeser flees Rome for his life during the reign of Sulla, but through skill and ambition rises four decades later to become Rome's supreme dictator.
Stars: Jeremy Sisto, Richard Harris, Christopher Walken, Valeria Golino
Votes: 3,174
19. Julius Caesar (1970)
G | 117 min | Drama, History, War
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar, but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Director: Stuart Burge | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, John Gielgud, Richard Johnson
Votes: 1,996
20. Alexander (2004)
R | 175 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Rosario Dawson, Angelina Jolie
Votes: 176,579 | Gross: $34.30M
21. 300 (2006)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama
In the ancient battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. They face insurmountable odds when they are betrayed by a Spartan reject.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
Votes: 863,434 | Gross: $210.61M
22. Augustus: The First Emperor (2003 TV Movie)
R | 178 min | Drama, History, Romance
Caesar Augustus tells of how he became the emperor to his reluctant daughter, Julia following the death of her husband Agrippa.
Director: Roger Young | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Charlotte Rampling, Vittoria Belvedere, Benjamin Sadler
Votes: 1,452
23. Nero (2004 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 192 min | Biography, Drama, War
A six-episode mini-series covering five centuries of the Roman Empire.
Director: Paul Marcus | Stars: Hans Matheson, Laura Morante, Rike Schmid, Matthias Habich
Votes: 700
24. Attila (2001)
Unrated | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In 400 AD, the Roman Empire is the greatest power in the world. But to the east a fierce people arose: the Huns. They believe in a prophecy about a great king who will unite the tribes and challenge Rome for control of the world.
Stars: Pauline Lynch, Steven Berkoff, Andrew Pleavin, Tommy Flanagan
Votes: 11,099
25. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Musical
A wily Roman slave schemes to earn his freedom by romantically uniting his master with a courtesan. But matters get complicated and he ends up dragging in his neighbors around him, leading to chaos.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford
Votes: 9,836
26. Spartacus (1960)
PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
Votes: 143,070 | Gross: $30.00M
27. Spartacus (2004)
Unrated | 87 min | Action, Drama, History
After he is bought by the owner of a Roman gladiator school and trained as a gladiator, a slave leads a rebellion of slaves and gladiators into revolt against Rome.
Stars: Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, Rhona Mitra
Votes: 5,805
28. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
R | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Martin Hancock
Votes: 314,145 | Gross: $47.40M
29. Beowulf (2007)
PG-13 | 115 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel, who is terrorizing Denmark, then Grendel's Mother, who begins killing out of revenge.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Ray Winstone, Crispin Glover, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright
Votes: 174,082 | Gross: $82.16M
30. Rome (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon
Votes: 185,151
31. The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
Stars: Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell
Votes: 33,088
32. World Without End (2012)
TV-MA | 47 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
The English town of Kingsbridge works to survive as the King leads the nation into the Hundred Years' War with France while Europe deals with the outbreak of the Black Death.
Stars: Ben Chaplin, Charlotte Riley, Nora Waldstätten, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Votes: 9,130
33. Hercules (I) (2014)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 164,281 | Gross: $72.69M
Much better than the other 2014 Kellen Lutz movie "The Legend of Hercules". Though some of the legend around Hercules was changed, and historical inaccuracies for that era exist within the film, I thought this was well executed and in the spirit of a good summer flick.
34. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995–1999)
TV-G | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Hercules is half-man, half-god and a hero of fantastic strength. After his malevolent stepmother, Hera, kills his wife and children, he wanders about Earth with mortal best friend Iolaus, fighting evil and trying to overcome his loss.
Stars: Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Kevin Smith, Robert Trebor
Votes: 31,795
A little corny and campy at times, but still good fun.
35. Plebs (2013–2019)
TV-14 | 25 min | Comedy, History
"Plebs" follows three desperate young men from the suburbs as they try to get laid, hold down jobs, and climb the social ladder in the big city--that happens to be Ancient Rome.
Stars: Tom Rosenthal, Ryan Sampson, Tom Basden, Karl Theobald
Votes: 9,034
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