Best Historical Movies of All Time

Last Updated on 12 June 2024

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 500 best historical movies of all time.

I found 34 different ranked lists online of “best history/historical movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 34 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

Greatest-Historical-Movies-Viewing-Checklist Download

Schindler’s List (1993)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Gladiator (2000)
Braveheart (1995)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The King’s Speech (2010)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Dunkirk (2017)
Lincoln (2012)
1917 (2019)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Spartacus (1960)
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
Hidden Figures (2016)
Titanic (1997)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Pianist (2002)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Glory (1989)
300 (2006)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Troy (2004)
The Queen (2006)
Carol (2015)
The Last Samurai (2003)
Frida (2002)
Little Women (1994)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Elizabeth (1998)
Gandhi (1982)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Belfast (2021)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
Das Boot (1981)
Argo (2012)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
The Patriot (2000)
Selma (2014)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Downfall (2004)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Favourite (2018)
Tombstone (1993)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
The Irishman (2019)
A Night to Remember (1958)
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Suffragette (2015)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Joyeux Noel (2005)
Malcolm X (1992)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
The Leopard (1963)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
The Post (2017)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
The Iron Lady (2011)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Hamilton (2020)
Gettysburg (1993)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Jackie (2016)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Darkest Hour (2017)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
Becket (1964)
The Great Escape (1963)
Patton (1970)
The Revenant (2015)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
A Room With a View (1985)
An Education (2009)
Brooklyn (2015)
Spotlight (2015)
Oppenheimer (2023)
Zulu (1964)
JFK (1991)
The Imitation Game (2014)
The King (2019)
The Great Debaters (2007)
Milk (2008)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)
The Longest Day (1962)
Green Book (2018)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Witch (2015)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Intolerance (1916)
The Sound of Music (1965)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Amadeus (1984)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Blonde (2022)
The Legend of Maula Jatt (2022)
Just Mercy (2019)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Unbroken (2014)
Apocalypto (2006)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Stalingrad (1993)
Zodiac (2007)
United 93 (2006)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The Big Short (2015)
Trumbo (2015)
Cold Mountain (2003)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Robin Hood (2010)
Kagemusha (1980)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996)
The Zone of Interest (2023)
Greyhound (2020)
Ip Man (2008)
Dark Waters (2019)
42 (2013)
Loving (2016)
Goodfellas (1990)
Fury (2014)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Outlaw King (2018)
The Impossible (2012)
The Normal Heart (2014)
The Last Duel (2021)
Agora (2009)
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Reds (1981)
Hero (2002)
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Ran (1985)
The Lighthouse (2019)
RRR (2022)
Sardar Udham (2021)
The Rider (2017)
Amistad (1997)
The Mission (1986)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
The Death of Stalin (2017)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Elvis (2022)
The Untouchables (1987)
The Young Victoria (2009)
Moneyball (2011)
The Founder (2016)
Munich (2005)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Silence (2016)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Harriet (2019)
Black Friday (2004)
Furious (2017)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Judy (2019)
Life of Brian (1979)
Sergeant York (1941)
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Platoon (1986)
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
Public Enemies (2009)
Richard III (1955)
The Courier (2020)
First Man (2018)
The Duchess (2008)
Anastasia (1956)
Julius Caesar (1970)
It (2017)
The King’s Man (2021)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Frost/Nixon (2008)
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Waterloo (1970)
A League of Their Own (1992)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Get on Up (2014)
Henry V (1989)
The Northman (2022)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Changeling (2008)
Noah (2014)
American History X (1998)
84C MoPic (1989)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
The Lost City of Z (2016)
Exodus (1960)
The Devils (1971)
The Message (1976)
Ray (2004)
The New World (2005)
Rocketman (2019)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
The Woman King (2022)
Ayla: The Daughter of War (2017)
Full River Red (2023)
Come and See (1985)
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
The English Patient (1996)
The Green Mile (1999)
Macbeth (2015)
Miracle (2004)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Billy the Kid (1941)
Life of Pi (2012)
Blood Diamond (2006)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Thirteen Days (2000)
Till (2022)
Breaker Morant (1980)
Midway (1976)
Benedetta (2021)
Erin Brockovich (2000)
The Social Network (2010)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
The Physician (2013)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)
War Horse (2011)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
Capote (2005)
The Mask of Zorro (1998)
El Cid (1961)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
The Eagle (2011)
Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019)
The Outpost (2019)
King Arthur (2004)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Atonement (2007)
Woodstock (1970)
Centurion (2010)
The Butler (2013)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Downton Abbey (2019)
I, Tonya (2017)
BlackBerry (2023)
Quo Vadis (1951)
In the Name of the Father (1993)
Stan & Ollie (2018)
The Madness of King George (1994)
Bloody Sunday (2002)
Black Death (2010)
The Lion of the Desert (1980)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Quiz Show (1994)
Brigham Young (1940)
First They Killed My Father (2017)
Montevideo: Taste of a Dream (2010)
My People, My Country (2019)
Pope Joan (2009)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Hotel Mumbai (2018)
Newsies (1992)
The Wind Rises (2013)
A Royal Affair (2012)
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Sound of Freedom (2023)
The Buccaneer (1938)
City of Life and Death (2009)
Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)
Kesari (2019)
Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
Queen Christina (1933)
Suez (1938)
Against the Ice (2022)
Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)
Hustlers (2019)
Mr. Turner (2014)
Z (1969)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
The Book Thief (2013)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Julius Caesar (1953)
The Black Swan (1942)
Black Robe (1991)
No (2012)
Vice (2018)
Midway (2019)
Raging Bull (1980)
American Sniper (2014)
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Redeeming Love (2022)
Henry V (1944)
Colette (2018)
Carlos (2010)
Django Unchained (2012)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Lloyd’s of London (1936)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
The Promise (2016)
Togo (2019)
Spencer (2021)
Cleopatra (1963)
Z (2019)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Tarzan (1999)
The Four Sisters (2018)
The Handmaiden (2016)
Captain Blood (1935)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Conspiracy (2001)
Pride (2014)
Cool Runnings (1993)
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Les Misérables (2012)
Nomadland (2020)
Prince of Foxes (1949)
Tess (1979)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
’83 (2021)
Captain Phillips (2013)
Day of Wrath (1943)
Free State of Jones (2016)
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
Across the Universe (2007)
Phoenix (2014)
Australia (2008)
Anna Karenina (2012)
Casino (1995)
Rang De Basanti (2006)
The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)
The Mummy (2017)
10,000 BC (2008)
Dear Comrades! (2020)
Valkyrie (2008)
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Destination Tokyo (1943)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Michael the Brave (1971)
Tower (2016)
Patriots Day (2016)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Son of Saul (2015)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Red Cliff (2008)
Red Cliff II (2009)
Lust, Caution (2007)
Queen Margot (1994)
Missing (1982)
The Way Back (2010)
Häxan (1922)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)
Emma (2020)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
13 Hours (2016)
Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Elisa & Marcela (2019)
Grease (1978)
Alexander (2004)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
Seabiscuit (2003)
Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Queen of Katwe (2016)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
Sunshine (1999)
Persepolis (2007)
The Flintstones (1994)
Cleopatra (1934)
The Crucible (1996)
Amazing Grace (2006)
My Grandfather’s People (2011)
Solomon and Sheba (1959)
The Girls in the Band (2011)
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Detroit (2017)
Casablanca (1942)
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Woman in Gold (2015)
The Auschwitz Report (2021)
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Effie Gray (2014)
I Called Him Morgan (2016)
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession (1973)
Lion (2016)
The Battle of Britain (1969)
My Friend Dahmer (2017)
Race (2016)
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Invictus (2009)
Pocahontas (1995)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
127 Hours (2010)
A Single Man (2009)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)
City of God (2002)
My Perestroika (2010)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Egyptian (1954)
The Great Wall (2016)
Black Rain (1989)
Child 44 (2015)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Rush (2013)
A Passage to India (1984)
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
Mary of Scotland (1936)
A Taxi Driver (2017)
Alexander the Great (1956)
Amelia (2009)
Dangal (2016)
Simon of the Desert (1965)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Call Northside 777 (1948)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
National Gallery (2014)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
The Monuments Men (2014)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Salome (1953)
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Airlift (2016)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Rustom (2016)
The Robe (1953)
Chicago (2002)
Hey Ram (2000)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
A Very Long Engagement (2004)
Border (1997)
Lansky (2021)
The Mirror (1975)
Van Helsing (2004)
Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988)
Shutter Island (2010)
Chernobyl: Abyss (2021)
Dreamgirls (2006)
Sodom and Gomorrah (1962)
The Insider (1999)
Cadillac Records (2008)
If I Were King (1938)
Roma (2018)
The Winter War (1989)
The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)
Howards End (1992)
Mansfield Park (1999)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)
The Young Rebel (1967)
4 Little Girls (1997)
Almost Famous (2000)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
The Finest Hours (2016)