Highest-Rated Movies about 'American Civil War'

The Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind (1989), The Horse Soldiers (1959), Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), Santa Fe Trail (1940), The General (1926), Gone with the Wind (1939), Western Union (1941) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best American Civil War movies.

#16. Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

Storyline: Lieutenant Tom Cantrell is sent to defend Sergeant Braxton Rutledge, a black cavalry soldier, on a charge of rape and murder. The story begins in a courtroom and it is told through flashbacks. This is a story of how a black soldier in the face of danger from the Indians can be so easily mistaken as a criminal.—Christopher D. Ryan <cryan@direct.ca>

Plot Keywords: western, race, american civil war, african american, injustice, honor, prejudice ...

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#17. Friendly Persuasion (1956)

Storyline: The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religous sect is strongly opposed to violence and war. It's not easy for them to meet the rules of their religion in everyday life but when Southern troops pass the area they are in real trouble. Should they fight, despite their peaceful attitide?—Olaf Mertens <olafbahg@w210zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de>

Plot Keywords: war, family, religion, pacifism, moral dilemma, american civil war, faith ...

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#18. The Iron Horse (1924)

Storyline: Springfield, Illinois. Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west, but Marsh, a contractor, is sceptical. Abraham Lincoln looks on as their children, Davy Brandon and Miriam Marsh, play together. Brandon sets off with Davy to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy buries his father... Years pass. It is 1862 and Lincoln signs the bill authorizing construction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways. Marsh is principal contractor and Miriam is engaged to Jesson, the chief engineer... Crews of Chinese, Italians, and Irish work to build the railway while resisting Indian attack. When the pay train is delayed by Indian ambush, the Italians go on strike. Miriam persuades them to return to work... Marsh needs to find a shortcut through the Black Hills. To finish on time, he needs to shorten the route by 200 miles. Bauman, the biggest land owner, wants the route to stay the same - through his land. Marsh has entrusted Jesson with finding the new route. Bauman has Ruby, a saloon girl, persuade Jesson to do otherwise... Davy, now a pony express rider, recalls his father's discovery. He sets off to find the pass. He goes alone, except for Jesson...—David Steele

Plot Keywords: western, silent film, american history, epic, black and white, 1920s, american west ...

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#19. Cold Mountain (2003)

Storyline: This Civil War saga addresses romance, friendship, and the ravages of war--both in the field and on the home front. Captures the horrors of war for both those fighting it, and for those left behind. This is a tale of hope, longing, redemption, second chances, and faith.

Plot Keywords: war, romance, historical, drama, american civil war, epic, adventure ...

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#20. Django (1966)

Storyline: In the opening scene a lone man walks, behind him he drags a coffin. That man is Django. He rescues a woman from bandits and, later, arrives in a town ravaged by the same bandits. The scene for confrontation is set. But why does he drag that coffin everywhere and who, or what, is in it?

Plot Keywords: western, spaghetti western, revenge, bounty hunter, gunfight, violence, desert ...

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#21. The Beguiled (1971)

Storyline: As the costly American Civil War still rages on, a twelve-year-old student of the forgotten Miss Martha Farnsworth's Seminary for Young Ladies in warm and humid Mississippi stumbles upon a gravely wounded Union soldier, Corporal John McBurney (Clint Eastwood). Taken in to recover from his injuries, McBurney is imprisoned in a small room inside the mansion. However, before long, the seductive and unwanted guest will manage to take advantage of the female inhabitants' wartime-subdued desires. But is McBurney really in control over the situation?

Plot Keywords: drama, thriller, war, historical, psychological, suspense, female perspective ...

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#22. Rio Grande (1950)

Storyline: Rio Grande takes place after the Civil War when the Union turned their attention towards the Apaches. Union officer Kirby Yorke is in charge of an outpost on the Rio Grande in which he is in charge of training of new recruits one of which is his son whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. He whips him into shape to take on the Apaches but not before his mother shows up to take him out of there.The decision to leave is left up to Trooper Yorke who decides to stay and fight. Through it all Kirby and Kathleen though separated for years fall back into love and decide that it's time to give it another try. But Yorke faces his toughest battle when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to possible court- martial. Locked in a bloody Indian war, he must fight to redeem his honor and save the love and lives of his broken family

Plot Keywords: western, american civil war, military, father-son relationship, revenge, texas, war ...

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#23. Vera Cruz (1954)

Storyline: After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz. Ben and Erin find that the stagecoach is transporting three million U.S. dollars in gold hidden below the seat, and they scheme to steal it. Along their journey, betrayals and incidents happen changing their initial intentions.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: western, adventure, action, historical, war, mexico, american civil war ...

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#24. Union Pacific (1939)

Storyline: One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Keywords: western, historical drama, adventure, romance, action, american history, 19th century ...

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#25. The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)

Storyline: This is based on a true story. During the Civil War, a Union spy, Andrews, is asked to lead a band of Union soldiers into the South so that they could destroy the railway system. However, things don't go as planned when the conductor of the train that they stole is on to them and is doing everything he can to stop them.—<rcs0411@yahoo.com>

Plot Keywords: action, adventure, war, history, american civil war, chase, military ...

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#26. Free State of Jones (2016)

Storyline: Set during the Civil War, Free State of Jones tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.

Plot Keywords: history, war, american civil war, slavery, rebellion, race, freedom ...

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#27. The Conspirator (2010)

Storyline: In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, the Vice-President, and the Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt, 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken, a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. As the trial unfolds, Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt, her own son.

Plot Keywords: history, drama, american civil war, courtroom, legal, conspiracy, based on true story ...

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#28. Rocky Mountain (1950)

Storyline: A Confederate troop, led by Captain Lafe Barstow, is prowling the far ranges of California and Nevada in a last desperate attempt to build up an army in the West for the faltering Confederacy. Because the patrol saves a stagecoach, with Johanna Carter as one of the passengers, from an Indian attack, and is marooned on a rocky mountain, it fails in its mission but the honor of the Old South is upheld.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: western, adventure, drama, war, history, action, american civil war ...

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#29. The Proud Rebel (1958)

Storyline: With his home burned to the ground, his wife killed, and his 10-year-old son, David, rendered mute after witnessing the traumatizing incident, the former Confederate soldier, John Chandler, arrives in a small, post-Civil War Illinois community. Eager to move on with his life, and desperate to find an effective treatment for the boy, instead, John finds himself drawn into a fight with the two sons of the ruthless and unscrupulous sheep-farmer, Harry Burleigh, facing a severe $30 fine or thirty days of incarceration. As the strong, kind, and compassionate rancher, Linnett Moore, decides to intervene for the sake of David, providing food and shelter, before long, John will find himself involved in a long-standing feud. Now, faced with a cruel dilemma, John must choose between running away or putting down roots. But, can a proud Rebel find peace and love in Yankee territory?—Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords: western, family drama, historical drama, american civil war, father-son relationship, revenge, rural life ...

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#30. Rio Lobo (1970)

Storyline: Bent on unearthing the cynical traitor who sold information to the enemy and caused the death of a dear brother-in-arms, the battle-tested former Union cavalry officer, Colonel Cord McNally, teams up with a pair of ex-Confederates after the Civil War. Now, as honest friends, the three companions ride into Rio Lobo--a dusty town in the middle of the desert overcome by corruption--to bring to justice the one who sold McNally out; however, the town is rife with the betrayer's murderous cut-throats. Can McNally avenge his bosom buddy and clean up Rio Lobo?—Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords: western, action, adventure, american civil war, revenge, gold, mexico ...

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