Films set in Medieval Times 476-1453
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- 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.One of the better Arthurian movie, in my opinion. And doesn't Helen Mirren look sleek and oozing with sex appeal as Arthur's sister Morgana. Watched it again, and it still looks good. Loved the the look of the production and the knights with shiney, almost glittery like armour. ***SPOILER*** I like the way Arthur discovers Guenevere and Lancelot's deception and leaves a message for them both as they both lie asleep in each other's arms. They wake up to discover Excalibur placed between their bodies and they realise Arthur knows the truth.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter O'TooleKatharine HepburnAnthony Hopkins1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.
- StarsGilles BéhatHélène DucJean-Luc MoreauSet during the reigns of the last five kings of the Capetian dynasty and the first two kings of the House of Valois, the series begins as the French King Philip the Fair, already surrounded by scandal and intrigue, brings a curse upon his family when he persecutes the Knights Templar. The succession of monarchs that follows leads France and England to the Hundred Years' War.Date set 1307 before the 100 years war
Reigining Monarch: King Philippe IV of France
Backdrop: build up to, what is termed "Hundred Years War" (a series of wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet) - 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.
- DirectorSergei BodrovStarsTadanobu AsanoAmadu MamadakovKhulan ChuluunThe story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world in 1206.Why on Earth is it here? Well considering it's set rough 1161–1206, well it could be said it's in the Middle Ages. Best Foreign film I've seen in 2007. wish there was more it it though. The way he loved his wife, and their children (even thought they were not his) is astonishing. This movie gives you a greater understanding of the legend of this remarkable man
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAnatoliy SolonitsynIvan LapikovNikolay GrinkoThe life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
- 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.
- DirectorPeter GlenvilleStarsRichard BurtonPeter O'TooleJohn GielgudKing Henry II of England comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant Thomas Becket, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the King's.Date Set:1166 (roughly)
Reigning Monach: King Henry II
On my must watch soon list - StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.Date set: 1135 and 1153 (aka as The Anarchy)
Reigning Monach: Due to the civil war in England when King Henry I died; the sucession of the crown was a contest between Stephen of Blois and Matilda of Boulogne (Empress Matilda)
I have read Ken Follets's "The Pillars Of The Earth", and it took me 2 days to complete. The movie production is a fine piece...that is if you have not read the book. By reading the book it kind of ruined the entertainment value of this film; so any critic I write is tainted.
So I won't bother going into details here. The only things I do have to write is this:
1. Eddie Redmayne as Jack Jackson is a strange choice for the main lead. But there you go.
2. David Oakes as William Hamleigh good casting...He also played Juan Borgia in the 2011/2012 production of The Borgias. But he really needs a role that expends his acting abilities.
3. Alison Pill as Princess Maude (aka Empress Matilda) again good casting and an unusual one. Would never have picked her as an medievil princess but there you go. She is brilliant in this TV production.
4. Finally costume; well done and very authentic. - DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsSean ConneryChristian SlaterHelmut QualtingerAn intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.Date Set: 1323
Reigning Monach: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (House of Wittelsbach)
Set: Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy
I rather liked this movie, part mystery/part detective/part christianity. I actually read the book and the production does follow it, with in reason. ***SPOILER*** during the ending it rather regretabe, to know all that knowledge stored in the library, gathering dust, destroyed by fire. - DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMel GibsonGlenn CloseAlan BatesHamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.I found this movie hard to digest. Not because this version of Shakespeare interpretation, but because of the casting of Mel Gibson in the lead role, which is pivotal to the play. The Danish prince Hamlet is young, intelligent and smart, but also there is a method to his madness. It's a challenging role and I am on the fence, whether Mel Gibson was right to play this lead character. Would it work with another actor? who knows. As for the supporting cast, they were fabulous. Glenn Close as Gertrude, always good in anything.
- 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.
- DirectorTerry GilliamTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseEric IdleKing Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
- DirectorFrantisek VlácilStarsPetr CepekJan KacerVera GalatíkováOndrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air and then gives out a shriek, as she discovers several bats in the bottom of the bowl. In a rage, Ondrej's father picks the boy up and hurls him against the wall. As the boy lays on the ground paralyzed the father promises the Holy Virgin to dedicate the boy to her if she spares his life. Ondrej survives and is raised in a strict Knightly Order, where he is mentored by a devout monk, Armin. But one day, an extraordinary event makes him doubt the Order and remember where he came from.
- DirectorKonstantin ErshovGeorgiy KropachyovAleksandr PtushkoStarsLeonid KuravlyovNatalya VarleyAleksey GlazyrinA young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.
- DirectorJack GoldStarsBrenda BruceEileen WayAnne DysonMacbeth and his wife murder Duncan in order to gain his crown, but the bloodbath doesn't stop there, and things supernatural combine to bring the Macbeths down.
- DirectorPaul McGuiganStarsWillem DafoePaul BettanyMarián AguileraA priest on the lam takes up with a traveling band of actors, who then discover a murder has occurred and try to solve it by recreating the crime in a play.Date Set: 1380
Reigning Monach: King Richard II, House of Plantagenet - DirectorLuc BessonStarsMilla JovovichJohn MalkovichRab AffleckA young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.Date set:1412 -1431.
Reigning Monarch:King Charles VII of France - DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsJames FrancoSophia MylesRufus SewellAn affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers.Date set: roughly after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century.
Where do I start with this film.
Still this production is not bad but why cast James Franco as Tristan? His face has too much modern characteristics; though he does try his best in the awkard role. Sophie Myles is excellently cast as Isolde however the main stand out is Rufus Sewell (another actor that is often overlooked) as Lord Marke of Cornwall.
The only thing that I can say is the director Kevin Reynolds, may have had his hands tied or was restricted in the things he wanted in the production i.e. budget
***Spoiler*** the death scene at the end is the biggest let down of the film. I won't go into details, only to say it was too drawn out and it felt like the director wanted to wring out every last emotion in human kind. Alas sadly for me, call me a cynic but any great love story like Tristan & Isolde or Lancelot & Guinevere is free advertising for adultery and basic betrayal. - StarsCiarán HindsSusan LynchVictoria SmurfitAfter returning from the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, Ivanhoe discovers that England is under the rule of the corrupt Prince John.Saw this only once on TV, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've never read the book, but I've read this is as close as it can get to the book. ***SPOILER***Sian Phillips as Queen Eleanor, on a cold desolate beach side giving a thorough verbal 'kick up the backside' to her adult sons King Richard and Prince John. Talk about parental disapproval.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsRutger HauerJennifer Jason LeighTom BurlinsonIn medieval Europe, a young girl from a noble family is obsessed with her captors - commoners.Saw this years and years ago. The only thing I remember is the siege of the castle by a group of wayward mercenaries. No one can get in to the castle to save Jennifer Jason Leight until someone found a dead dog riddled that died of plague. They chopped the dog up and catapulted the chopped up dog flesh into the castle. One of the flesh fell into a well. And ofcourse people drunk from the well. I think they all died of the plague but I really can't remember that far
- 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.Date set: 1177AD
Reigning Monach: Saladin, first Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Backdrop:Battle of Montgisard
Some critics have been unkind to this production. I, on the other hand, found it to be engaging, interesting, great acting, beautiful scenery and costume design. Lighting was one of the things I've noticed in this movie. Ridley Scott has done a great job in directing, one again. Sure it starts of slow, but it is when Balian is in the middle east, things move along. The most stand out actor is Edward Norton, who played a minor role as the leper king, Baldwin (historically Baldwin was a 16 year old teenage boy who was seriously afflicted by leprosy). For whatever reason, the make up crew went a bit too heavy on the eye liner on Eva Green. - DirectorArthur LubinStarsMaureen O'HaraGeorge NaderVictor McLaglenAn 11th-century noblewoman opens her Saxon husband's eyes by riding bareback through town.
- DirectorJerry ZuckerStarsSean ConneryRichard GereJulia OrmondLancelot falls in love with Guinevere, who is due to be married to King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.bad movie, but would not see it again...ever
- StarsSam NeillHelena Bonham CarterJohn GielgudLegendary wizard Merlin tells his story of his war against Queen Mab of the Sidhe and his creation of Camelot.