The 40 most popular 1970s history movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


The Devils
1971 · 1h 52m · UK
In 1634 France, charismatic Father Urbain Grandier becomes the target of sexually depraved Sister Jeanne's accusations of witchcraft, which corrupt officials of church and state are all too happy to exploit.


Caligula
1979 · 2h 36m · IT
After the death of the paranoid emperor Tiberius, Caligula, his heir, seizes power and plunges the empire into a bloody spiral of madness and depravity.


Barry Lyndon
1975 · 3h 8m · UK
An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.


The Tin Drum
1979 · 2h 42m · FR
In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.


Midway
1976 · 2h 12m · US
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.


Mirror
1975 · 1h 47m · SU
A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.


Patton
1970 · 2h 52m · US
"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.


A Bridge Too Far
1977 · 2h 55m · US
The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure.


Prêtres interdits
1973 · 1h 30m · FR
No overview available


Portable Country
1979 · 1h 42m · VE
Portable Country is a classical Venezuelan film about the urban guerrilla. Based on the novel of the same name, written by Adriano González León, the film centers on Andrés Barazarte, a disillusioned man from a wealthy landowning family, who grapples with his personal and political identity in the midst of Venezuela's tumultuous social changes and engages in the guerrilla. He reflects on his life, his family's decline, and the broader struggle for power in a country torn between tradition and revolution.The story unfolds as Andrés is tasked with transporting a mysterious package. This journey becomes a metaphor for his search for meaning and a confrontation with his family’s, and his country's, violent past. His recollections weave together with present events, creating a complex tapestry of memory and history.


Aguirre, the Wrath of God
1972 · 1h 35m · DE
A few decades after the destruction of the Inca Empire, a Spanish expedition led by the infamous Aguirre leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon River in search of the lost city of El Dorado. When great difficulties arise, Aguirre’s men start to wonder whether their quest will lead them to prosperity or certain death.


Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973 · 1h 46m · US
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.


Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970 · 2h 24m · JP
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.


The Last Train
1973 · 1h 35m · FR
Two people, a Frenchman and a Jewish German woman, meet on a train while escaping the German army entering France.


Salon Kitty
1976 · 2h 10m · DE
In Nazi Germany, Kitty runs a brothel where the soldiers come to 'relax'. Recording devices have been installed by a power-hungry official who plans to use the information to blackmail and usurp Hitler. One of the girls discovers the ploy and, with the madam's help, takes on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.


Holy Pafnucio
1977 · 1h 40m · MX
Controversial, sexy and surreal tale of a messenger, his journey and encounters with many historical events and people such as Auschwitz, the Ku Klux Klan, Frida Kahlo, Cortés and Emiliano Zapata (as a beautiful woman!)


Sokolovo
1975 · 2h 9m
The plot begins in the Soviet Union showing first efforts to establish the Czechoslovak legion in 1942. The film also shows the assassination of Heydrich and the subsequent annihilation of Lidice. The main topis of the film is battles with German troops for Sokolovo.


The Canterbury Tales
1972 · 1h 51m · FR
Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.


Le Retour
1979 · DZ
In the early 1970s, Lakhdar, an Algerian peasant, is forced to leave his desert land and his family for France, but immigration weighs on him and he dreams of returning. This day arrives, he walks in Paris, events decide otherwise.


Jesus Christ Superstar
1973 · 1h 48m · US
As played out by a theatre troupe, the last days of Jesus Christ are depicted from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus' following increases, Judas begins to worry that Jesus is falling for his own hype, forgetting the principles of his teachings and growing too close to the prostitute Mary Magdalene.


The Beguiled
1971 · 1h 45m · US
Offbeat Civil War drama in which a wounded Yankee soldier, after finding refuge in an isolated girls' school in the South towards the end of the war, becomes the object of the young women's sexual fantasies. The soldier manipulates the situation for his own gratification, but when he refuses to completely comply with the girls' wishes, they make it very difficult for him to leave.


Mandingo
1975 · 2h 7m · US
Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.


Mesozoic Story
1976 · 1h 6m · SU
After the novelette of the same name of Magsud Ibrahimbeyov.


1900
1976 · 5h 17m · FR
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.


The Decameron
1971 · 1h 51m · FR
A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.


Waterloo
1970 · 2h 14m · IT
After defeating France and imprisoning Napoleon on Elba, ending two decades of war, Europe is shocked to find Napoleon has escaped and has caused the French Army to defect from the King back to him. The best of the British generals, the Duke of Wellington, beat Napolean's best generals in Spain and Portugal, but now must beat Napoleon himself with an Anglo Allied army.


Difunta Correa
1975 · AR
No overview available


Cross of Iron
1977 · 2h 13m · DE
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.


The Devil
1972 · 2h 5m · PL
Young Polish nobleman Jakub is saved from imprisonment by a stranger. In return, the stranger wants to obtain a list of Jakub’s fellow conspirators. As he follows his mysterious savior across the country, Jakub is affected by the overall chaos and moral corruption; he goes insane and becomes a mass murderer.


Güemes, la tierra en armas
1971 · 1h 40m · AR
The story of the wars of independence in Northern Argentina during the 19th Century.


The Old Gun
1975 · 1h 43m · FR
In Montauban in 1944, Julien Dandieu is a surgeon in the local hospital. Frightened by the German army entering Montauban, he asks his friend Francois to drive his wife and his daughter in the back country village where Julien has an old castle. One week later, Julien decides to meet them for the week end, but the Germans are already occupying the village.


Operation Ogre
1979 · 1h 41m · IT
Spain, 1973. Dictator Francisco Franco has ruled the country since 1939 with an iron fist; but he is now a very old and sick man. The future of the weakened regime is in danger. Admiral Carrero Blanco is his natural successor. The Basque terrorist gang ETA decides that he must die to prevent the dictatorship from continuing.


The Battle of the Eagles
1979 · 2h 10m
The first Yugoslav Partisan air force unit. Loosely based on historical facts.


Nasimi
1974 · 1h 36m · SU
The film is a biographical true story about life of Imadaddin Nasimi, well known throughout the East for his school of philosophy and thought, poems and promotion of moral values in a feudal society. During the 14th-15th centuries, when Azerbaijan was a stage for warring powers and civil wars, Nasimi was the only poet committed to promotion of humanism and moral values inflicting criticism on the ruling system and the society itself. For his intruding role in feudal regimes, Nasimi lived a complex and tragic life.


The Message
1976 · 2h 58m
In sixth-century Mecca, Prophet Muhammad receives his first revelation from God as a messenger. Three years later, he's not alone in his quest and publicly declares his prophecy. Muhammad is fought by Abu Sufian and his wife Hind, rulers of Mecca. Muhammad's followers are hunted and tortured but he continues his calling.


Delusions of Grandeur
1971 · 1h 48m · FR
Don Sallust is the minister of the King of Spain. Being disingenuous, hypocritical, greedy and collecting the taxes for himself, he is hated by the people he oppresses. Accused by The Queen, a beautiful princess Bavarian, of having an illegitimate child to one of her maids of honor, he was stripped of his duties and ordered to retire to a monastery.


Zakhar Berkut
1972 · 1h 33m · SU
This film is based on the classic novel of the same name by writer Ivan Franko, one of the most famous figures of Ukrainian literature. It is set during the 1200s and the invasion of the medieval Ukrainian-Russian state of Rus' by Chengis Khan's Golden Horde. Due to its having been produced during the Soviet era, the story's aspect of class-conflict between the "heroic" peasantry and the "decadent" noble particularly emphasized here.


The Stone Host
1971 · 1h 34m · SU
TV adaptation of Lesya Ukrainka's drama, which interprets the plot of Don Juan from a feminist point of view.


Julia
1977 · 1h 57m · US
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.


Stavisky...
1974 · 2h · FR
Biarritz, 1933. Charm and talent assist small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French politics. But when his great scam involving millions is exposed, he brings the government to the verge of collapse and the country to the brink of civil war.
The 1970s are widely considered American cinema's strongest decade, when the studio system's collapse handed a generation of young directors unusual freedom. It ended with Jaws and Star Wars inventing the modern blockbuster.
Historical films reconstruct the past, whether faithfully or as deliberate myth-making. The genre attracts big budgets and big performances, and it reveals as much about the era that produced the film as the one on screen.