Best ancient and medieval battles.
Not the longest, but my favorite list. Only real world battles starting with the dawn of the world, which means no 300 since it's Fantasy for IMDb, so it's on another list. No particular order. No fantasy, this is on another list. Feel free to make suggestion.
Check out the other lists too.
Best battles since 1900 in films.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281092
Best ancient and medieval battles.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281160/
Best Fantasy battles:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281486/
Best "modern" (XVth to XIXth century) era battles.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281222
Best Sci Fi Battles
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068287536
Check out the other lists too.
Best battles since 1900 in films.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281092
Best ancient and medieval battles.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281160/
Best Fantasy battles:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281486/
Best "modern" (XVth to XIXth century) era battles.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068281222
Best Sci Fi Battles
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls068287536
List activity
2K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
28 titles
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsMel GibsonSophie MarceauPatrick McGoohanScottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.Braveheart has Falkirk and it's still not the best battle of the film. The Battle Stirling Bridge. Period. Yeah, I know, there's no bridge on the film (though there's a car parked). It rapes history in a whole new level. But we cannot deny it has some of the greatest battles of all time.
They can take our lives, but they will never take our freeeeeedom!
One of the coolest lines ever. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsOrlando BloomEva GreenLiam NeesonBalian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.The Extended cut is a masterpiece. Greatest extended cut of all time IMO tied with Blade Runner, Once Upon a Time in America and LoTR (if you consider Das Boot and Fanny and Alexander a film and not a mini-series, them too).
So many great battles on this one, but the Siege of Jerusalem is the best. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsRussell CroweJoaquin PhoenixConnie NielsenA former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.Battle for Germania. Almost a massacre, but masterly executed, and by a wide margin the best part of the film IMO.
At My Signal, Unleash Hell!
This line is even cooler than the Braveheart one. - DirectorSergei EisensteinDmitriy VasilevStarsNikolay CherkasovNikolai OkhlopkovAndrei AbrikosovThe story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.This old Soviet film has a 30 minuts long battle, probably the best of its time and Braveheart borrows a lot from them. Did it age well? I think so. It lacks some special effects, but it's still very well shot, with an amazing cinematography and one of the best scores of all time, by Sergei Prokofiev.
In fact, I think the first films to challenge it were Spartacus and Zulu, more than 20 years after. - DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.The large battle of this film was the first serious threat of Alexander Nevsky.
Could be even better if they let Kubrick add some more gore, but it's still fantastic.
There's also the rebel uprising, very good. - DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen BoydAfter a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.This juggernaut is mostly remember for the chariot race, but it has many other fantastic moments during its 3:40 hours. One of them is the sea battle.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsCharlton HestonSophia LorenRaf ValloneThe fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.Battle of Seville.
Ben-Hur meets Braveheart. Another beautiful underrated film. Watch in a big TV. - DirectorPeter FlinthStarsJoakim NätterqvistSofia HelinStellan SkarsgårdArn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman, is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsClive OwenStephen DillaneKeira KnightleyA demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczRouben MamoulianStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonRex HarrisonQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAnatoliy SolonitsynIvan LapikovNikolay GrinkoThe life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.Tartar Raid. Not actually a battle, but one of the most amazing shots of the genius Andrei Tarkovsky.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsBrad PittEric BanaOrlando BloomAn adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.The first battle, at the beach, and the second, at the gates, are the best. My main problem with the many battles in Troy is the fact that they focus too much on the heroes and not enough on the crowds, but they are still a highlight of the film.
Troy itself is a pretty mediocre film saved from being a total trainwreck because its huge budgets let it have good action sequences and other technical aspects, like OST, cinematography, costumes, visual effects, etc. - DirectorOliver StoneStarsColin FarrellAnthony HopkinsRosario DawsonAlexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.This could be the best historical epic of this century, but something went really, really, really wrong. Unlike Troy, the budget didn't save this one from being a total trainwreck, but the battles and OST, SFX, etc. are also the high point of Alexander.
The Battle of Gaugamela and the Battle of the Hydaspes are good. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsRussell CroweCate BlanchettMatthew MacfadyenIn twelfth-century England, Robin Longstride and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power.Very few directors are so capable of making great battles as Ridley Scott, and even less have delivered so many. Even when he's far from his best, like in Robin Hood, he could give us two good ones: the one in the castle, at the beginning, and the one in the end, at the beach.
I still think a sequel would be good. - DirectorJohn McTiernanMichael CrichtonStarsAntonio BanderasDiane VenoraDennis StorhøiA man, having fallen in love with the wrong woman, is sent by the sultan himself on a diplomatic mission to a distant land as an ambassador. Stopping at a Viking village port to restock on supplies, he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a quest to banish a mysterious threat in a distant Viking land.The battle at during the night is the best. The ending battle, however, is quite anticlimactic.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
- DirectorJonathan EnglishStarsPaul GiamattiJason FlemyngBrian CoxIn thirteenth-century England, a Knights Templar and a few of the Barons men fight to defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsSophia LorenStephen BoydAlec GuinnessThe death of Marcus Aurelius leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor's son, Commodus, demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire.If you liked Gladiator you need to watch this one. Fantastic.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.The Battle of Agincourt
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsMilla JovovichJohn MalkovichRab AffleckA young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.Just like Troy and Alexander. Could be better. A waay better.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangThe first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).
- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangSecond and final part of epic tale about a legendary battle that changed the course of China history.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsKatheryn WinnickGustaf SkarsgårdAlexander LudwigVikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.Another TV series. The battles are not huge, but are good.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.If you want a film with battles that will make you happy, that's a great choice. This is probably the best Robin Hood film, even though doesn't have the best battles.
- DirectorDaniel LeeStarsAndy LauSammo Kam-Bo HungMaggie QBased on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guangzhong. It ranks as one of China's four most important pieces of literature.
- DirectorAleksander FordStarsUrszula ModrzynskaGrazyna StaniszewskaAndrzej SzalawskiIn the 15th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is facing a hard struggle against the neighboring Teutonic Order.Frequent clashes between the two powers finally culminate in 1410 with the Battle of Grunwald.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsRichard EganRalph RichardsonDiane BakerA small Army of Greeks spearheaded by three hundred Spartans do battle with the whole invading Persian Army.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.