Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
2001 · TMDB 7.3/10 · 655 votes
The year is 1893 and India is under British occupation. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Curated by SceneIt · United States
History Movies
Discover popular and highly rated history movies. This page focuses on useful, popular choices for viewers in the United States.
Updated 2026-08-04 · Ratings from TMDB
How we chose these titles
Eligible titles are ranked using TMDB popularity, audience rating, and vote count. Streaming availability and ratings can change over time.
Cabrini
2024 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 169 votes
Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini arrives in 1889 New York City and is greeted by disease, crime, and impoverished children. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
W.
2008 · TMDB 6.1/10 · 699 votes
The story of the eventful life of George W. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Sunshine
1999 · TMDB 6.5/10 · 153 votes
The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Operation Chromite
2016 · TMDB 5.8/10 · 228 votes
A squad of soldiers fight in the Korean War's crucial Battle of Incheon. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
1951 · TMDB 7.0/10 · 146 votes
Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
The World Will Tremble
2025 · TMDB 7.4/10 · 106 votes
The incredible, untold true story of how a group of prisoners attempt a seemingly impossible escape from the first Nazi death camp in order to provide the first eyewitness account of the Holocaust. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
My Best Friend Anne Frank
2021 · TMDB 6.8/10 · 279 votes
Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot
2020 · TMDB 5.3/10 · 137 votes
King Arthur returns home after fighting the Roman Empire. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
M. Butterfly
1993 · TMDB 6.6/10 · 246 votes
In 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with opera singer Song Liling – but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951 · TMDB 6.7/10 · 116 votes
The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Army of Shadows
1969 · TMDB 7.9/10 · 761 votes
Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Mrs Brown
1997 · TMDB 6.8/10 · 190 votes
When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Angelique
1964 · TMDB 6.7/10 · 190 votes
In 17th-century France, beautiful country maiden Angélique marries wealthy neighbor Jeoffray de Peyrac out of convenience, but eventually, she falls in love with him. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
Worth
2021 · TMDB 6.7/10 · 383 votes
Kenneth Feinberg, a powerful D.C. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
In Cold Blood
1967 · TMDB 7.5/10 · 440 votes
After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
The Red Baron
2008 · TMDB 6.7/10 · 283 votes
Richthofen goes off to war like thousands of other men. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
City of Life and Death
2009 · TMDB 7.4/10 · 242 votes
In 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Imperial Japanese Army has just captured Nanjing, then-capital of the Republic of China. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
A Passage to India
1984 · TMDB 6.8/10 · 333 votes
Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
The Age of Shadows
2016 · TMDB 7.2/10 · 379 votes
Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.