Highest-Rated Movies about 'History', Sort by Popularity

What Is Democracy? (2018), The Salt of the Earth (2014), Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies (2019), Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003), Digimon Adventure tri. -- Chapter 1: Reunion (2015), Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019), The First Film (2015), Song for a Raggy Boy (2003) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best History movies.

#16. Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007)

Storyline: A unique documentary about troops' experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, based on writings by soldiers, Marines, and air men. Some writings were published in the New Yorker in summer 2006. A larger assortment was published as a book by Random House last September. The film drew upon the submissions by soldiers for the book. It's a remarkable portrait of troops at war - the complexities, doubts, and fears - written with honesty. The 81-minute version of the film (which will be in theatres) includes 11 pieces of writing, with different visual strategies, along with interviews with the writers, and with more established American writers who are also veterans. In the latter group are Tim O'Brien, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff, Joe Haldeman, James Salter, Anthony Swofford, Richard Currey, and Paul Fussell. The visual approaches range from poet Brian Turner reading directly to camera, to archival footage, to an animated "graphic novel," to a still photo sequence shot by photographer Antonin Kratochvil. It's rooted in a program by the NEA that created a series of writing workshops at military bases. After those workshops, the writers submitted pieces for consideration in the book, edited by Andy Carroll. From those writings were selected 11 for inclusion in the film. There is also a 53-minute version of this film which will be airing on PBS as part of the series "America at a Crossroads" in April, 2007. Both of these are different from the other film 'Operation Homecoming" from 2007, directed by Lawrence Bridges. That piece was produced by the NEA as a documentary about their writing workshops.—Adam Hyman, co-producer

Plot Keywords: interviewee, historian, professor, soldier, marine, military officer, inspiring ...

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#17. And Everything Is Going Fine (2010)

Storyline: From the first time he performed Swimming to Cambodia - the one-man account of his experience of making the 1984 film The Killing Fields - Spalding Gray made the art of the monologue his own. Drawing unstintingly on the most intimate aspects of his own life, his shows were vibrant, hilarious and moving. His death came tragically early, in 2004; this compilation of interview and performance footage nails his idiosyncratic and irreplaceable brilliance.—Edinburgh International Film Festival

Plot Keywords: actor, writer, profound, disheartening, witty, engaging, stage ...

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#19. Is Paris Burning? (1966)

Storyline: In this sprawling, star-laden film, we see the struggles of various French resistance factions to regain control of Paris near the end of World War II. The Nazi general in charge of Paris, Dietrich von Cholitz (Fröbe), is under orders from Hitler himself to burn the city if he cannot control it or if the Allies get too close. Much of the drama centers around the moral deliberations of the general, the Swedish ambassador (Welles), and the eager but desperate leaders of the resistance.—Carl J. Youngdahl <zomno@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>

Plot Keywords: adolf hitler, soldier, resistance leader, german soldier, nazi, brooding, intense ...

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#20. History of the World: Part I (1981)

Storyline: From the dawn of man to the distant future, mankind's evolution (or lack thereof) is traced. Often ridiculous but never serious, we learn the truth behind the Roman Emperor, we learn what really happened at the Last Supper, the circumstances that surrounded the French Revolution, how to test eunuchs, and what kind of shoes the Spanish Inquisitor wore.

Plot Keywords: moses, caveman, jesus, philosopher, emperor nero, madcap, outlandish ...

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#21. Night Train to Lisbon (2013)

Storyline: This movie is about aging Swiss Professor Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons) of classical languages who, after a chance encounter with a Portuguese woman, quits his job and travels to Lisbon in the hope of discovering the fate of a certain author, a doctor and poet who fought against Portuguese Dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.

Plot Keywords: college professor, mysterious woman, doctor, optician, resistance fighter, priest, brooding ...

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#22. A Ghost Story (2017)

Storyline: Resonating with vibrant memories and silent echoes of a shared life, the old house is somehow connected to "C", a sensitive composer who is hesitant of leaving it, while his loving wife "M", on the other hand, is keen on moving out, having an indecipherable but grim premonition of danger. Sadly, disaster soon strikes, and C's untethered spectre which detaches from the lifeless body, rises from the mortician's table, and in a swift decision, decides to linger in this dimension to faithfully follow the grieving M back to the old house. As silent as a shadow and as invisible as the air, C's unappeasable phantom observes M's denial and depression gradually turn to acceptance and even hope, as time unravels, moving forward through the decades. In this earth, man struggles to leave his legacy behind. Is this the way to immortality?

Plot Keywords: ghost, wife, emotional, inspiring, creative, heartwarming, house ...

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#23. Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)

Storyline: Mr. Peabody is a business titan, inventor, scientist, gourmand, two-time Olympic medalist and genius...who also happens to be a dog. Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time. But when Sherman breaks the rules of time travel, our two heroes find themselves in a race to repair history and save the future, while Mr. Peabody may face his biggest challenge yet - being a parent.

Plot Keywords: dog, boy, girl, friend, amusing, fascinating, lighthearted ...

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#24. Apt Pupil (1998)

Storyline: Neighborhood boy Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) discovers that an old man living on his block named Arthur Denker (Sir Ian Mackellan) is a Nazi war criminal. Bowden confronts Denker and offers him a deal: Bowden will not go to the authorities if Denker tells him stories of the concentration camps in World War II. Denker agrees and Bowden starts visiting him regularly. The more stories Bowden hears, the more it affects his personality.

Plot Keywords: schoolboy, holocaust survivor, old man, teacher, intense, disturbing, melodramatic ...

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#26. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

Storyline: While Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is presenting new information about John Wilkes Booth and the eighteen pages missing from Booth's diary, a man by the name of Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) stands up and presents a missing page of John Wilkes Booth's diary. Thomas Gates, Ben's great-grandfather, is mentioned on the page. It shows that Ben's great-grandfather was a co-conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's murder. When doing more research, the conspiracy takes Ben, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) to Buckingham Palace (into which they break). They discover a plank that has early Native American writing on it. The plank has only one symbol that Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) can identify. The symbol is Cibola (see-bowl-uh), meaning the City of Gold. In order to define the rest they have to go to Ben's mother, Patrick's divorced wife, Emily Appleton (Dame Helen Mirren). After thirty-two years, it brings back old arguments. After that, the other clue is in the ...

Plot Keywords: treasure hunter, girlfriend, friend, mother, father, president, suspenseful ...

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#27. Terror in the Aisles (1984)

Storyline: Donald Pleasance and Nancy Allen take us through some of Hollywood's most terrifying moments in horror history in this anthology, which features many of the finest science fiction, crime drama and horror films of the 1930s through 1980s. Included are Night of the Living Dead (1968), Psycho (1960), Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), The Fog (1980), Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981), as well as countless others. Furthermore, legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock discusses his visionary ideas on creating suspense. Blood and gore abound making this movie not very much for the squeamish audiences.—medic249a2

Plot Keywords: film fan, actress, actor, filmmaker, creepy, gory, frightening ...

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