British History/Historical Fiction
A list of historical films set in Britain in roughly chronological order
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- CreatorJez ButterworthTom ButterworthJames RichardsonStarsDavid MorrisseyEleanor Worthington-CoxMackenzie CrookIn 43 AD, the Roman Army returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia.
- DirectorBill AndersonStarsAlex KingstonSteven WaddingtonEmily BluntBoudica, the Warrior Queen on Britain, leads her tribe into rebellion against the Roman Empire and the mad Emperor of Rome Nero.
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsDon MurrayCaritaDonald HoustonSaline inherits the kingdom of England on the eve of the signing of the treaty sharing power with the Roman Empire. However, revolt was brewing, threatening the fragile peace.
- DirectorJesse V. JohnsonStarsOlga KurylenkoTim BarberAndy BeckwithThe eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband, Prasutagus. The King dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, leaving Boudica's kingdom without a male heir, and the Romans seize her land and property.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsMichael FassbenderDominic WestOlga KurylenkoA splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is devastated in a guerrilla attack.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsChanning TatumJamie BellDonald SutherlandIn Roman-ruled Britain, a young Roman soldier endeavors to honor his father's memory by finding his lost legion's golden emblem.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsClive OwenStephen DillaneKeira KnightleyA demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
- StarsIain De CaesteckerStuart CampbellValene KaneA former warrior, now turned monk, tells the story of how Arthur became the lord of war despite the illegitimacy of his throne.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsCameron MitchellAlice KesslerEllen KesslerTwo estranged brothers confront each other as rivals when war breaks out between Britain and the Vikings for control of England.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsKirk DouglasTony CurtisErnest BorgnineA slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.
- DirectorPhilip ToddStarsAlasdair BlairSimon DeSilvaPeter CosgroveSet in war-torn 800AD Scotland, The Gaelic King tells the story of warrior-king Alpin mac Eachdach. When his young brother is captured, Alpin must hunt the kidnappers though a dark forest that hides an ancient power.
- DirectorClive DonnerStarsDavid HemmingsMichael YorkPrunella RansomeWhile Old England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the ninth century, Alfred is planning to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his land, he puts away his religious vows, to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their country. Alfred soundly defeats the Danes and becomes a hero. Although Alfred still longs for the priesthood, he is torn between his passion for God and his lust for blood.
- StarsAlexander DreymonEliza ButterworthArnas FedaraviciusAs Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred--born a Saxon but raised by Vikings--seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.
- DirectorPhilipp StölzlStarsTom PayneStellan SkarsgårdOlivier MartinezIn 11th-century Persia, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsMichael FassbenderMarion CotillardJack MadiganMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
- DirectorGilles GrangierSergiu NicolaescuStarsHervé BellonJohn TerryMircea AlbulescuWilliam's government blended elements of the English and Norman systems into a new one that laid the foundations of the later medieval English kingdom.[141] How abrupt and far-reaching the changes were is still a matter of debate among historians, with some such as Richard Southern claiming that the Conquest was the single most radical change in European history between the Fall of Rome and the 20th century.
- StarsIan HolmMike BaileyFrancis MageeDespite earlier promises to pass his crown to one of his Flemish, Viking, or Norman relatives, English King Edward the Confessor dies in 1066, leaving his crown to Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwinson, causing a bloody succession war.
- StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
- DirectorGeorge HoelleringStarsJohn GroserDonald BissetClement McCallinThe tape version, if one exists, may be 114 minutes but the film, on original release, ran the same 140 minutes in the USA as it did in England. It is an experimental transposition of the Eliot play to the screen and, as such, and Eliot a poet, the film deals more with sound and meaning than it does film movement, i.e., static shots with voice overs. It is the story of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his struggles against temptation and personal vanity prior to his murder in the great Cathedral.
- 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.
- 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.
- StarsJane LapotaireJohn DuttineChristopher GableHenry Plantagenet (later King Henry II), sees his opportunity to seize the crown of England and create a kingdom of law and order.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsRobert TaylorElizabeth TaylorJoan FontaineA knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsKevin CostnerMorgan FreemanMary Elizabeth MastrantonioRobin Hood decides to fight back as an outlaw when faced with the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCary ElwesRichard LewisRoger ReesA spoof of Robin Hood in general, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) in particular.