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


Sense and Sensibility
2026 · 2h 12m · UK
A charming, witty, and deeply relatable story of love and sisterhood.


Oppenheimer
2023 · 3h 1m · UK
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.


Tenzing
2026 · 2h 6m · AU
A determined man embarks on a high-stakes quest—and defies seemingly impossible odds—to fulfill his dream of being the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.


The Uprising
2026 · 2h 8m · DE
As war and plague devastate 14th-century England, a humble peasant ignites a rebellion, uniting an army of commoners to defy the King’s might in a desperate fight for justice and survival.


Schindler's List
1993 · 3h 15m · US
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.


The Imitation Game
2014 · 1h 53m · US
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.


By Any Means
2026 · 1h 47m · US
In 1960s Mississippi, a young Black FBI agent is forced to partner with a notorious mafia hitman to investigate a wave of brutal civil rights murders.


Hacksaw Ridge
2016 · 2h 19m · AU
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.


Kingdom of Heaven
2005 · 2h 24m · US
After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.


Saving Private Ryan
1998 · 2h 49m · US
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.


Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 · 3h 26m · US
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.


De Gaulle: Liberté
2026 · 2h 39m · FR
Part two of a two-part biopic following French army officer Charles De Gaulle's life and political commitment between 1940 and 1945, and trace his development towards a political career.


Braveheart
1995 · 2h 58m · US
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.


1917
2019 · 1h 59m · US
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.


Fatherland
2026 · 1h 22m · PL
In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.


“Wuthering Heights”
2026 · 2h 16m · US
Tragedy strikes when Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine Earnshaw, a woman from a wealthy family in 18th-century England.


I Swear
2025 · 2h 1m · UK
Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.


Ford v Ferrari
2019 · 2h 33m · US
American car designer Carroll Shelby and the British-born driver Ken Miles work together to battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.


Green Book
2018 · 2h 10m · US
Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.


De Gaulle: Résistance
2026 · 2h 40m · FR
June, 1940. France collapses and signs the armistice. In the midst of the chaos, one man refuses to give up. Alone against the odds, this unknown general flees to London to save what remains of freedom.


Hero
2002 · 1h 39m · HK
During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.


Black Hawk Down
2001 · 2h 25m · UK
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.


The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
2008 · 1h 34m · UK
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.


Harakiri
1962 · 2h 15m · JP
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.


Ran
1985 · 2h 40m · JP
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.


Ben-Hur
1959 · 3h 32m · US
In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.


Apocalypto
2006 · 2h 18m · UK
Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.


Dunkirk
2017 · 1h 47m · UK
The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.


Pressure
2026 · 1h 41m · UK
In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, and the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice—launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.


Hidden Figures
2016 · 2h 7m · US
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.


I Play Rocky
2026 · 2h 8m · US
The electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn't just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told "no" at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds.


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.


Nuremberg
2025 · 2h 29m · US
In postwar Germany, an American psychiatrist must determine whether Nazi prisoners are fit to go on trial for war crimes, and finds himself in a complex battle of intellect and ethics with Hermann Göring, Hitler's right-hand man.


Come and See
1985 · 2h 22m · SU
The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Flyora into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Flyora finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.


Gangs of New York
2002 · 2h 48m · US
In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father's killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting's inner circle. Vallon's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people.


RRR
2022 · 3h 7m · IN
A fictional history of two legendary revolutionaries' journey away from home before they began fighting for their country in the 1920s.


The Irishman
2019 · 3h 29m · US
Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.


The Ten Commandments
1956 · 3h 40m · US
Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, Moses embarks on a personal quest to reclaim his destiny as the leader and liberator of the Hebrew people.


The Last Duel
2021 · 2h 33m · US
King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire, Jacques Le Gris, by challenging him to a duel.


Ranabaali
2026 · 2h 59m · IN
Set in 19th-century British India, a fierce leader rises from a drought-stricken land to fight colonial oppression and atrocities.
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.