Favorite period film?

[Shiloh]

There are some excellent period films showcasing ancient Kingdoms out there. I just watched "The 300 Spartans" about the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. It was the original from 1962 that was later redone in 2006 and named "300."

It was a really good film and I enjoyed it from start to finish. The depicted terrain seemed accurate (high cliff on one side and water on the other), at least according to what I've heard about the battle. Leonidas and Xerxes were both cast well and this really helped the film immensely.

I'm not sure how accurate the battle was to the original but it depicted the clever tactics and fighting prowess of the Spartans well. I would highly recommend it.

What are some of your favorite period films?

[Maximinus Thrax]

Cleopatra - decent period drama
The Fall of Roman Empire - Marcus Aurelius/Commodus reign - pretty good movie
Asterix and Obelix series
Alexander the Great - decent enough, with Richard burton

[Dave Strider]

Alexander, Troy, 300(as you said), Gladiator, Spartacus

[Parzival2211]

I've been trying to get copies of the good old movies about Rome, but haven't succeeded yet. Does anybody know whether there is something like a Rome movie collection available?

[Shiloh]

It's worth looking into to see if a Rome movie collection exists. HBO had the series "Rome" which I really liked but skyrocketing production costs shut it down.

Another movie worth a look is El Cid made in 1961 starring Charlton Heston and Sofia Loren. An epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz (known as El Cid). In 11th century Spain he attempts to unify Spain, train a future king and push the Moors out. The final scene is among the cheesiest I've seen but nonetheless, this is a good movie.

[HanatielHawk]

Cleopatra, Alexander, Troy, and just as Maximinus the Asterix and Obelix series and ofcourse Meet the Spartans :sparta:

[mattgoby]

Arthur its a film about the sarmation knights who fight in britain when the romans oull out in short they fight with the wodes to kill the saxons

awesome awesome film if u ignore arthur becoming king arthur altho they do say that this actually happened

[Cornelius Plautus]

Did they ever make a film about Boudacia?

Anyways, Ben Hur is my favorite classic, and while I'm not that big a fan of Spartacus, the battle scene towards the end is fantastic. The Fall of the Roman Empire, though dubiously titled in my opinion, was also great (specifically the recreation of the Roman Forum), but whatever you do, stay away from The Druids, a 'film' about Vercingetorix.

[Hound of Ulster]

Rome (TV show from HBO/BBC)

Spartacus

I, Claudius

Ben Hur

[Cornelius Plautus]

I, Claudius

Is there no man in this room who has not slept with my daughter!?


Has anybody mentioned Quo Vadis yet?

[Maximinus Thrax]

Did they ever make a film about Boudacia?

You mean Boudica? It's bad though. Also there's another one coming out this year so they say.

I see nobody mentions Caligula...

[Joar]

Did they ever make a film about Boudacia?

Yes, I think it's called "Warrior Queen" or something like that. I saw it a few years ago and must say it was one of the worst movies I have suffered through. I don't want to spoil anything if you're going to see it, but let me just say that the ending is... well, very, very silly. But then again it is a very silly movie...

Really bad movies about antiquity could a be genre of its own.

[Frederich Barbarossa]

Cleopatra is awseome, umm Moises???, Gladiator is nice very cool, ummm, I ddont know

[josephstepp]

The HBO series Rome has to be my favorite. It surpassed Gladiator as my favorite, because of the intense story lines and time spent on each character. Its a shame that they stopped filming after only 2 seasons! However Gladiator as well did a great job in depicting Rome and its corruption. Of course this wasnt always the case, and I'm sure that for every corrupt person there was atleast one other person who was loyal and honest...in a perfect world anyway. But we must be careful with these movies, as they may tend to over-glorify characters and transform them into would be superheros. Because as you know, history is written by the winner, and our depiction of the victors may very well be incorrect in some cases.

[Satapatiš]

Yes, i agree. Original "The 300 Spartans" is far better than "300" remake.

Absolute favourites:
I, Claudius
Rome

Not always historical accurate, but good movies:
Ben Hur
Spartacus
Cleopatra
Caesar
Alexander the Great - this one may be really old and barely accurate, but is better than "Alexander" at depicting Alexander`s charisma, and tension between Greeks and Macedonians.
Imho Olivier Stone version doesn`t offer much except nice armour, clothes, and macedonian phalanx syntagma at work.

Mythology:
Jason and the Argonauts
Odyssey

[Legionary Jezza]

Passion of the christ Well it has Roman soldiers in it

-Evil

[General Nuisance esq]

Best film
Hannibal rome's worst nightmare
Other goodies
Murder in Rome - (cicero trial story
Empire - (Dutch mini series about early life of Augustus)
Ancient Rome the rise and fall of an empire (BBC series)
Imperium Rome films about Nero & Augustus
Gladiator

a good place to look for films is ebay

[MortenJessen]

Hi there.
I do not think Troy has been mentioned yet. Fantastic movie, great battlescenes and very good story (I am a great fan of Homer).
Y.S.
M. Jessen

[Shiloh]

Hi there.
I do not think Troy has been mentioned yet. Fantastic movie, great battlescenes and very good story (I am a great fan of Homer).
Y.S.
M. Jessen

I agree this was a good epic film with nice battle scenes.

Best film
Hannibal rome's worst nightmare
Other goodies
Murder in Rome - (cicero trial story
Empire - (Dutch mini series about early life of Augustus)
Ancient Rome the rise and fall of an empire (BBC series)
Imperium Rome films about Nero & Augustus
Gladiator

a good place to look for films is ebay

I'll have to check out that BBC series on Ancient Rome...they generally do a very good job with mini-series.


After having watched The 300 Spartans last week I finally gave 300 a look and I can't say I liked it as much. Why in the heck did they not wear the bronze body armour? That really bothered me and I thought that at times, they looked more like Chippendales dancers than Spartan Warriors.

[gaius_caesar]

if you compare "The 300 Spartans" to "300", I rather watch the former. I mean really, large elephants are scared of men and their shields? Hannibal's elephants were smaller but they aren't afraid of Romans and their shields...