Last Updated on 12 June 2024
The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 180 best medieval movies of all time.
I found 25 different ranked lists online of “best medieval movies of all time” or “best movies set in the Middle Ages” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. This includes historical movies, medieval fantasy movies, and some earlier time periods. The lists I was able to find sometimes included fantasy, sometimes just history, sometimes mythology, and even sometimes back to Roman times, so it was easiest to include them all. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 25 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.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- Braveheart (1995)
- The Seventh Seal (1957)
- The Lion in Winter (1968)
- Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
- The Name of the Rose (1986)
- Excalibur (1981)
- Gladiator (2000)
- Ran (1985)
- Henry V (1989)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
- A Knight’s Tale (2001)
- Marketa Lazarová (1967)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- El Cid (1961)
- The Northman (2022)
- The Last Duel (2021)
- Becket (1964)
- Andrei Rublev (1966)
- The King (2019)
- Richard III (1955)
- Hamlet (1948)
- How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- King Arthur (2004)
- Troy (2004)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- Robin Hood (2010)
- The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
- Valhalla Rising (2009)
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
- Black Death (2010)
- The Green Knight (2021)
- The Lion in Winter (2003)
- King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
- Highlander (1986)
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- Shrek (2001)
- Brave (2012)
- Chimes at Midnight (1965)
- Tristan + Isolde (2006)
- Willow (1988)
- Macbeth (1948)
- Elizabeth (1998)
- Macbeth (2015)
- 300 (2006)
- Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007)
- The 13th Warrior (1999)
- Ivanhoe (1952)
- Romeo and Juliet (1968)
- Outlaw King (2018)
- The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)
- Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)
- Warrior’s End (2009)
- Northern Crusades (1972)
- The Vikings (1958)
- Ironclad (2011)
- Hamlet (1990)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Kagemusha (1980)
- DragonHeart (1996)
- Ladyhawke (1985)
- Medieval (2022)
- Beowulf (2007)
- Macbeth (1971)
- Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (2009)
- The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
- First Knight (1995)
- The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
- Season of the Witch (2011)
- Pathfinder (1987)
- Alexander Nevsky (1938)
- Conan the Barbarian (1982)
- The Decameron (1971)
- Heaven and Earth (1990)
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
- Alexander (2004)
- Henry V (1944)
- Macbeth (2015)
- Robin Hood (2018)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- Robin and Marian (1976)
- Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)
- Joan of Arc (1999)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (2003–2017)
- Flesh+Blood (1985)
- The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
- The Eagle (2011)
- Last Knights (2015)
- A Man for All Seasons (1966)
- Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars’ Plot (1958)
- The Merchant of Venice (2004)
- Rob Roy (1995)
- The Message (1976)
- 13 Assassins (2010)
- King Lear (1970)
- The Chronicles of Narnia (2005–2010)
- The Valley of the Bees (Údolí vcel) (1968)
- Onibaba (1964)
- The Virgin Spring (1960)
- The Black Cauldron (1985)
- The Last Samurai (2003)
- Sleeping Beauty (1959)
- Solomon Kane (2009)
- Blanche (1971)
- The Court Jester (1955)
- Robert the Bruce (2019)
- Sword of the Valiant (1984)
- Camelot (1967)
- Knights of the Round Table (1953)
- The War Lord (1965)
- The NeverEnding Story (1984)
- Lancelot of the Lake (1974)
- Hamlet (1996)
- Häxan (1922)
- Vlad Tepes (1979)
- Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960)
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
- Joan of Arc (1948)
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
- The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
- Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
- Beowulf & Grendel (2005)
- Quest for Camelot (1998)
- Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017)
- Merlin (1998)
- The Last Legion (2007)
- Arn – The Kingdom at the End of the Road (2008)
- Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
- Dragonslayer (1981)
- Tangled (2010)
- Timeline (2003)
- House of Flying Daggers (2004)
- The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (2007)
- Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)
- Ophelia (2018)
- Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
- Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (2013)
- Joan of Arc (2019)
- Quasi (2023)
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
- Cromwell (1970)
- The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Eye of the Eagle (Ørnens øje) (1997)
- Maleficent (2014)
- Prince Vladimir (2006)
- Kristin Lavransdatter (1995)
- Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli (1981)
- Shakespeare in Love (1998)
- Legend (1985)
- Beowulf (1999)
- 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
- The Canterbury Tales (1972)
- Erik the Viking (1989)
- Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)
- Arthur & Merlin (2015)
- Pilgrimage (2017)
- Prince Valiant (1954)
- The Black Knight (1954)
- Alfred the Great (1969)
- Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot (2020)
- A Viking Saga: Son of Thor (2008)
- The Song of Roland (1978)
- Man of La Mancha (1972)
- The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)
- Romeo and Juliet (1936)
- Your Highness (2011)
- The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
- Merlin: The Return (2000)
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
- King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)
- Marco Polo (2007)
- Black Knight (2001)
- The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe (1983)