Top 5 Historical War Films

We all like historical figures, even if their characters get lost in translation or their feats exasperated for Hollywood taste but give me a movie with historical figures that I can relate to and I am a sucker for parking my ass in front of the t.v and enjoying a moving autobiography of truly remarkable historical times.

Rank 5: Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depict the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944. Afterwards, it follows Tom Hanks as Captain John H. Miller and several men (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for paratrooper Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last surviving brother of three fallen servicemen.

Rank 4: Red Cliff
Red Cliff is a Chinese epic-war film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208-209 AD) and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. The film was directed by John Woo, and stars Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling and Zhao Wei.

Within Asia, Red Cliff was released in two parts, totaling over four hours in length. The first part was released in July 2008 and the second in January 2009. Outside of Asia, a single 2½ hour film was released in 2009, though the two-part version was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK. With an estimated budget of US$80 million, Red Cliff is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date. The first part of the film grossed US$124 million in Asia and broke the box office record previously held by Titanic in mainland China.

Rank 3: 300
300 is a 2007 American film adapted from a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. It was filmed mostly with a super-imposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the imagery of the original comic book.

King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads 300 Spartans into battle against Persian “god-King” Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his army of more than one million soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.

Rank 2: Mongol

The movie is an epic story of the young Temüjin (Genghis Khan) and how events in his early life led him to become a legendary conqueror.

Rank 1: Braveheart

The film tells the tale of Sir William Wallace, a 13th century Scottish knight who gained recognition when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing King Edward I of England, also known as “Longshanks” Directed and starred in by Mel Gibson, the movie tells of love, war and even has some humorous tones especially, the “mad” Irishman Stephen, brilliantly portrayed by David O Hara. Everything connected to the movie worked, the location, soundtrack, costume design, actors, everything fell into place and was the result is, a fantastic movie that will have you on the edge of your seat.