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Best History Movies

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945 results

945 results

457. The Unknown Known

Apr 2, 2014 • Rated PG-13

In The Unknown Known, Errol Morris offers a portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key architects of the Iraq War, and a larger-than-life character who provoked equal levels of fury and adulation from the American public. Rather than conducting a conventional interview, Morris has Rumsfeld perform and expound on his “snowflakes,” tens of thousands of memos (many never previously published) he composed as a congressman and as an advisor to four different presidents, twice as Secretary of Defense. These memos provide a window onto history—not history as it actually happened, but history as Rumsfeld wants us to see it. Morris makes plain that Rumsfeld’s “snowflakes”—whether intended to elucidate, rationalize, obfuscate, or control history—are contradicted by the facts. [RADiUS-TWC]

458. Bill W.

May 18, 2012 • Rated Unrated

Bill W. tells the story of William G. Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, a man included in TIME Magazine's "100 Persons of the 20th Century." Interviews, recreations, and rare archival material reveal how Bill Wilson, a hopeless drunk near death from his alcoholism, found a way out of his own addiction and then forged a path for countless others to follow. With Bill as its driving force, A.A. grew from a handful of men to a worldwide fellowship of over 2 million men and women – a success that made him an icon within A.A., but also an alcoholic unable to be a member of the very society he had created. A reluctant hero, Bill Wilson lived a life of sacrifice and service, and left a legacy that continues every day, all around the world. (Page 124 Productions)

459. What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy

Nov 6, 2015 • Rated Not Rated

Three men travel together across Europe. For two of them the journey involves a confrontation with the acts of their fathers, who were both senior Nazi officers. For the third, the eminent human rights lawyer and author Philippe Sands, it means visiting the place where much of his own Jewish family was destroyed by the fathers of the two men he has come to know. It is an emotional, psychological exploration of three men wrestling with their past, the present of Europe - and conflicting versions of the truth.

460. American Hardcore

Sep 22, 2006 • Rated R

Generally unheralded at the time, the early 1980s hardcore punk rock scene gave birth to much of the rock music and culture that followed. Hardcore was more than music -- it was a social movement created by Reagan-era misfit kids. The participants constituted a tribe unto themselves -- some finding a voiced, others an escape in the hard-edged music. Ans while some sought a better world, others were just angry and wanted to raise hell. American Hardcore traces this lost subculture, from its early roots in 1980 to its initial flameout in 1986. (Sony Pictures Classics)

461. Togo

Dec 20, 2019 • Rated PG

Togo is the untold true story set in the winter of 1925 that takes you across the treacherous terrain of the Alaskan tundra for an exhilarating and uplifting adventure that will test the strength, courage and determination of one man, Leonhard Seppala, and his lead sled dog, Togo.

462. The Last September

Apr 21, 2000 • Rated R

An elderly couple reside over a country estate in 1920s Ireland. They have living with them a niece, a nephew and a couple who are homeless and trying to hide this fact. All of these individuals are thrown into turmoil when one more guest arrives.

463. Leto

Jun 7, 2019 • Rated Not Rated

Avant-garde Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov (The Student) returns to the big-screen with a tribute to the early years of Russian rock. Leningrad, in the summer, early eighties. Smuggling LP’s by Lou Reed and David Bowie, the underground rock scene is boiling ahead of the Perestroika. Mike and his beautiful wife Natasha meet with young Viktor Tsoï. Together with friends, they will change the trajectory of rock n’roll music in the Soviet Union. [Gunpowder & Sky]

464. Kings of Pastry

Sep 15, 2010 • Rated Not Rated

Imagine a scene never before witnessed: Sixteen French pastry chefs gathered in Lyon for three intense days of mixing, piping and sculpting everything from delicate chocolates to six-foot sugar sculptures in hopes of being declared by President Nicolas Sarkozy one of the best. This is the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition (Best Craftsmen in France). The blue, white and red striped collar worn on the jackets of the winners is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef – it is a dream and an obsession. The finalists, France’s culinary elite, risk their reputations as well as sacrifice family and finances in pursuit of this lifelong distinction of excellence. Similar to the Olympics, the three-day contest takes place every four years and it requires that the chefs not only have extraordinary skill and nerves of steel, but also a lot of luck. [First Run Features]

465. The Princess

The Princess tells the story of Princess Diana exclusively through contemporaneous archival footage creating a bold and immersive narrative of her life and death. Turning the camera back on ourselves, the film illuminates the profound impact she had and how the public’s attitude to the monarchy was, and still is, shaped by these events.

466. Talk to Me

Jul 13, 2007 • Rated R

In the mid-to-late 1960's, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. to fully express himself - sometimes to outrageous effect - and "tell it like it is." With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell, the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk and Sunny Jim. Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in Amercian History. Based on the true story. [Focus Features]

467. The Birth of a Nation

Oct 7, 2016 • Rated R

In the antebellum South, Nat Turner (Nate Parker) is a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.

468. Even the Rain (Tambien la Lluvia)

Feb 11, 2011 • Rated Not Rated

Even the Rain sets up an intriguing dialogue about Spanish imperialism through incidents taking place some 500 years apart, while examining the personal belief systems of the members of a film crew headed by director Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his producer Costa (Luis Tosar) who arrive in Bolivia to make a revisionist film about the conquest of Latin America. (Vitagraph Films)

469. The Seven Five

May 7, 2015 • Rated R

Meet the dirtiest cop in New York City history. In the 1980s, Michael Dowd patrolled the mean streets of one of the toughest precincts in Brooklyn. He also headed a ruthless criminal network that stole money and drugs, ultimately resulting in the city’s biggest ever corruption scandal. In this explosive true crime saga, Dowd tells all as he relives his days as a mobster with a badge. [IFC Films]

470. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

Apr 4, 2014 • Rated Not Rated

Darwin meets Hitchcock in this true-crime tale of paradise found and lost. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came To Eden is a fascinating documentary portrait of a 1930s murder mystery as strange and alluring as the famous archipelago itself. Fleeing conventional society, a Berlin doctor and his mistress start a new life on uninhabited Floreana Island. But after the international press sensationalizes the exploits of the Galapagos’ “Adam and Eve”, others flock there—including a self-styled Swiss Family Robinson and a gun-toting Viennese Baroness and her two lovers. Clashing personalities are aggravated by the island community’s lusty free-love ethos, and when some of the islanders disappear, suspicions of murder hang in the air leaving an unsolved mystery which remains the subject of local lore today.

471. Patriots Day

Dec 21, 2016 • Rated R

In the aftermath of an unspeakable act of terror, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they strike again. Weaving together the stories of Special Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon), Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K. Simmons) and nurse Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan) this visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of the most sophisticated manhunt in law enforcement history and the strength of the people of Boston.

472. A Taxi Driver

Aug 11, 2017 • Rated Not Rated

In this true story set in 1980, a down-on-his-luck taxi driver from Seoul is hired by a foreign journalist who wants to go to the town of Gwangju for the day. They arrive to find a city under siege by the military government, with the citizens, led by a determined group of college students, rising up to demand freedom. What began as an easy fare becomes a life-or-death struggle in the midst of the Gwangju Uprising, a critical event in modern South Korea. [Well Go USA]

473. Chicago 10

Feb 29, 2008 • Rated R

Chicago 10 tells the story of the buildup and unraveling of the Chicago Conspiracy trial--not as history but as an electrifying experience felt with up-to-the-moment immediacy. Interweaving footage of the brutal clashes between police and demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic convention with 3D animated reenactments of the outrageous trial that followed it, the audience becomes eyewitnesses of violent turmoil, as well as absurdist spectacle. Set to a blazing soundtrack that ranges from Black Sabbath and Steppenwolf to the Beastie Boys and Eminem, "Chicago 10" is a stirring account of young Americans taking a stand in the face of an oppressive government--a story that resonates deeply in our world today. (Roadside Attractions)

474. Salvador

Apr 23, 1986 • Rated R

An American photojournalist gets caught in a political struggle at El Salvador in 1980.

475. One Life

Mar 15, 2024 • Rated PG

Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton (Johnny Flynn) is a young London broker, who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 children from the Nazis. Nicky visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. He immediately realised it was a race against time. How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed? Fifty years later, it’s 1988 and Nicky (Anthony Hopkins) lives haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC television show, ‘That’s Life!’, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children – now adults – that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades. Based on the book If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton.

476. Above and Beyond

Jan 30, 2015 • Rated Not Rated

In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal - "volunteers from abroad" - this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.

477. Eva Hesse

Apr 27, 2016 • Rated PG-13

Documentary feature film focusing on the life and times of Eva Hesse, a ground-breaking artist who was active in New York and Germany in the 1960's.

478. 22 July

Oct 10, 2018 • Rated R

In Norway on 22 July 2011, right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. A three-part story. About the survivors of the attacks, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.

479. Hitler's Children

Nov 16, 2012 • Rated Not Rated

Chanoch Ze'evi's documentary examines the lives of the descendants of the top Nazi high commanders who worked under Hitler's command.

480. Compliance

Aug 17, 2012 • Rated R

Becky and Sandra aren’t the best of friends. Sandra is a middle-aged manager at a fast-food restaurant; Becky is a teenaged counter girl who really needs the job. One stressful day (too many customers and too little bacon), a police officer calls, accusing Becky of stealing money from a customer’s purse, which she vehemently denies. Sandra, overwhelmed by her managerial responsibilities, complies with the officer’s orders to detain Becky. This choice begins a nightmare that tragically blurs the lines between expedience and prudence, legality and reason. (Magnolia Pictures)

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