History is fascinating. Knowing about who and what preceded us in time, intrigues many people like nothing else. Historical literature and media are loved across the masses, be it based on reality or a work of fiction. Historical fantasy is a popular genre in cinema too. A fine example of it is the 2000 movie, Gladiator.
Gladiator is a historical drama written by David Franzoni, John Logan, & William Nicholson and directed by Ridley Scott. The premise of the movie is set in AD 180 around ancient fighting warriors called gladiators. Russell Crowe stars as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the lead protagonist of the movie.
Maximus is a general of the Roman army but his life goes down a hole after the king is murdered. His son Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, becomes the new king whom Maximum refuses to bow down to. As a result, he gets captured by the king. Once he manages to escape his confinement, he finds his family murdered upon being able to free.
Maximus is rendered unconscious by the injuries he received in attempts of freeing himself. He is found by slavers and gets sold to Antonius Proximo. Proximo, played by Oliver Reed, is a trainer who trains gladiators for battles. That’s where Maximus’ new life begins, as a gladiator.
The rest of the movie follows Maximus making his way up the gladiator legacy while seeking revenge on the evil king Commodus. Gladiator is considered one of the finest historical dramas to ever exist. Gladiator was the second-highest-grossing movie of the year 2000 and won five Academy Awards that year too.
Here are The Best Movies like Gladiators :
1. 300 :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
300 is arguably the best and the most popular period flick ever created. Based on comic series of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 300 was released in 2006, directed by the great Zack Snyder. The movie is an alternate, fictional interpretation of the ancient Battle Of Thermopylae.
The story follows King Leonides of Sparta, played by Gerard Butler going at a war against Persian King Xerxes, played by Rodrigo Santoro. The movie depicts the events of Leonidas’ from his childhood to his final battle.
The roots of the war are laid when the Spartans refuse to submit to Xerxes.
Seeing war on the brink, Leonidas proposes war strategies to the Spartan army that could defeat the Persian Army. However, he is denied permission to mobilize the army.
Disappointed but determined, Leonidas gathers a small army of his own of 300 Spartan soldiers. The movie shows the bravery and prowess of these 300 soldiers as they battle in a handicapped war.
300 was a huge success, commercially and critically. It broke various records on box office and garnered positive reviews. It was also widely praised for its cinematography as well, which gave it a comic-like look and feel.
2. Ben-Hur (1959) :
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Ben-Hur, an American historical drama film based on the novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” of General Lew Wallace, is undoubtedly one of the best biblical epics ever made in Hollywood.
The story revolves around the character “Judah Ben-Hur”, played by Charlton Heston, who is a Jewish prince living in Judea with his family.
The film is set during the time when Jesus Christ was famous for his radical teachings. At the beginning of the film, the prince reunites with his old friend Esther, played by Haya Harareet, who fall love while reminiscing about their childhood.
He also meets another friend of his; Messala, played by Stephen Boyd. Messala is now a commander of the Roman army and his beliefs contradict those of Judah. Messala imprisons Judah’ mother and sister and enslaves Judah as well After finding out that his sister and mother are imprisoned, he regains his freedom and seeks revenge upon who did this to them.
The movie was released on November 18, 1959, and became a box office hit. Directed by William Wyler and produced by Sam Zimbalist, this epic blockbuster set a record to be the first film to bag 11 Oscars from 12 nominations.
3. Spartacus (1960) :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
The 1951 novel “Spartacus” of Howard Fast has received multiple adaptations over the years. Arguably the best out of the bunch is the 1960 epic directed by the genius Stanley Kubrick.
Like the novel, the movie is based on a real-life figure Spartacus who was a leader of the slave rebellion. The movie is set in the Roman Republic of 1st century BC where corruption and slavery are at its peaks.
One of those slaves is Spartacus, played by Kirk Douglas. Spartacus’ fighting skills lead to him getting inducted as a gladiator under trainer Marcellus, played by Charles McGraw.
Spartacus develops a connection in his captivity with one of the serving women named Varinia, played by Jean Simmons.
Later, during a duel, a riot breaks out leading to the gladiators escape the captivity. Spartacus becomes the leader of the escapees, resolute to take all of the slaves back to their homes.
Spartacus is a cult classic and is considered to be one of the best movies ever, not just in the historical genre.
4. Braveheart :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical fiction war film based on an epic poem “The Acres and Deidis of the illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace” by Blind Harry.
It was directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson who also stars as the lead William Wallace. The movie kicks off with King Edward “Longshanks” attacking and capturing Scotland in 1280. A young Wallace witness the destruction of the country and death of his father and brother, all brought by King Edward.
As Wallace grows up, he and her childhood friend Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack) fall in love. However, the dream turns into a nightmare when two English soldiers attempt to rape Murron.
Wallace fights them off but Murron is later publicly executed, which reignites Wallace’s heat of vengeance. Fuming with revenge, Wallace unifies his nation against English oppressors and leads his clan to attack the English Garrison in Scotland.
The movie was released on May 18, 1995, with a budget of $65-70 million and became a box office hit. The film proved to be a huge success and managed to bag 5 Oscars from 10 nominations, despite its historical inaccuracies. The movie received positive reviews and critical acclaim. It is still rated 8.3/10 on IMDb at present.
5. 300: Rise Of An Empire :
Available on Netflix
Rise of an Empire is a sequel to the 2007 movie 300, both directed by Zack Snyder. Like its prequel, it is also based on Frank Miller’s comics and portrays a fictionalized version of another ancient battle. 300: Rise Of An Empire is based on the Battle Of Artemisium and the Battle Of Salamis.
The movie stars Sullivan Stapleton and Eva Green in the lead roles. Sullivan is in as Themistokles, the General of Athens army. Eva stars as Artemisia, the naval commander of the Persian army. Rodrigo Santoro reprises his role as Xerxes as the movie also reveals his backstory.
Both Xerxes and Artemisia seek revenge on the Greeks as Themistokles looks to win an outnumbered war. While the movie was not as acclaimed as the prequel, it managed to be a box office success.
6. Troy :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
Troy is an epic war drama directed by Wolfgang Petersen that was released in 2004. The movie is loosely based on Homer’s Iliad and depicts the events of the war between Troy and Sparta.
In the beginning, Troy’s Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and his younger kin Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) visit the king of Sparta Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) to negotiate a peace treaty. Everything falls out, however, when Paris falls for Menelaus’ wife Helen (Diana Kruger) and smuggles her back to Troy.
With peace treaty gone out of the question, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon declare war on Troy. They recruit Achilles (Brad Pitt) as their ally in their war who joins reluctantly despite his dislike for Agamemnon. Soon, Troy gets attacked and some of its territories sacked, thanks to Achilles and his army.
The rest of the movie follows the events of the historic war along with the Trojan Horse story.
Troy was one of the most expensive movies ever created but it paid off as it became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time too.
7. Centurion :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
Centurion is a British war epic, directed by Neil Marshall and released in 2010. The movie is set around the events of the Roman Empire’s Ninth Legion’s disappearance in the 2nd century AD.
Michael Fassbender stars as a centurion of Roman army named Quintus Dias. Quintus is the only survivor of Glenblocker forts battle between the Picts and the Romans.
Quintus is taken prisoner and interrogated but manages to escape the captivity. He is rescued by the Ninth Legion who are in the pursuit of the leader of the Picts. Quintus joins them in their crusade. However, the Legion is betrayed by a man of kf their own which results in more than half of the squad getting slain.
Virilus, a wounded member of the Legion, played by Dominic West, is captured and the rest of the survivors set out to rescue him.
Other members of the cast include Olga Kurylenko, Liam Cunningham, David Morrissey, JJ Feild, Noel Clarke and Riz Ahmed amongst others.
8. Kingdom Of Heaven :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
Released in 2005, Kingdom Of Heaven is a historical epic directed and produced by Ridley Scott, who also directed Gladiator. Kingdom Of Heaven is set in the 12th century revolving around the real-life Battle Of Hattin.
Orlando Bloom stars as the lead protagonist Balian, a French blacksmith coping from his wife’s suicide. Soon, Balian is given a visit by a Crusader who reveals himself as his father Baron Godfrey, played by Liam Neeson. Godfrey asks Balian to join him but he declines.
Soon Balian is forced to flee his village after he murders the priest who beheaded his wife’s corpse. With nowhere left to go, Balian finally joins his father. The talented Eva Green stars as Princess Sibylla, sister of the king of Jerusalem. Other cast members are Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Edward Norton, Michael Sheen etc.
9. King Arthur :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
King Arthur is a historical drama directed by Antoine Fuqua, released in 2004. The movie is based around Artorius Castus, known as Arthur, but chooses a different path away from the original story.
Clive Owen stars as the titular Arthur, who is a Roman officer here instead of a knight as stated by historians. Arthur and his squad are asked to complete one final mission while on their way home. The mission is to rescue an Italian family from Hadrian’s Wall which is to be attacked by an army of Saxons soon.
King Arthur received some flak for its interpretation of Arthur but it was quite well received by fans. Made over a budget of $120 million, King Arthur managed to make over $200 million worldwide.
10. Last Knights :
Available on Netflix | Amazon Prime
Last Knights is a historical action drama based on the Forty Seven Ronin legend. It was written by Michael Konyves and Dove Sussman while Kazuaki Kiriya served as the director. It was released in 2015 under a joint production of UK, Czech Republic and South Korea.
Last Knights stars Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen in lead roles. Morgan plays the role of Bartok, an old nobleman. Clive acts as Commander Raiden, who is sworn to protect Bartok and his estate. An evil minister of the empire Geza Mott goades Bartok into attacking him which results in Bartok being apprehended. Later, Bartok gets executed, his clan is disbanded and Raiden turns into a drunkard.
The rest of the movies revolves around Raiden’s saga of redemption and vengeance.
Aksel Hennie stars as Geza Mott along with Cliff Curtis, Dave Legeno, Ayelet Zurer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Tsuyoshi Ihara in supporting roles
Gladiator is set in a glorious age of empires and warriors. There are many movies based on fantasy and reality based on characters or figures from that ers. These were some of the finest movies out of that bunch that depicted history on the big screen successfully.
Conclusion
Some of these are completely fictional, some are inspired by true events but all of them are worth the time of avid movie watchers. If you love bloody battles, epic soundtracks and memorable dialogues, look forward to nowhere else but these movies.