5 Best Historical Epic Movies to Watch Before Gladiator 2 Hits the Screens
The great stories based on real historical figures.
Unfortunately, we cannot travel to the past or the future. But one of our guides to the worlds of past eras is cinema. We tell you about worthy projects that will help you visit the past hundreds of years ago.
1. The Last Emperor, 1987
A biography of Puyi, the last emperor of China. In prison he remembers his childhood and youth. This is the first feature film that the Chinese authorities allowed to be filmed inside the Forbidden City in Beijing.
The visual splendor of the movie was partly due to the location: Bernardo Bertolucci successfully complemented the Chinese palace architecture with authentic costumes and a desire to romanticize the era. At the end of the movie, Puyi, a gardener, comes to the Forbidden City, to his former throne.
2. Agora, 2009
This historical film explores the life of Hypatia of Alexandria during the rise of the Christian faith. Hypatia, the daughter of the keeper of the Library of Alexandria, devotes herself to philosophy and mathematics, studying the shortcomings of Ptolemy's geocentric system.
She tries to distance herself from the religious struggle in the city. But in the end, she finds herself at the center of the confrontation between science and fundamentalism.
The movie tells the story of Hypatia's life and death without sentimentality, without intrusive morality, trying to be honest with the viewer. Rachel Weisz plays the main character in a thoughtful way: to get used to the role of a scientist, she took science lessons.
3. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, 1999
One of the versions of the world-famous story of Joan of Arc, the French national heroine and martyr. Young Joan witnesses the atrocities of the English. Soon, supernatural visions inspire her to lead the French into battle.
The scene in which the main character sees her sister murdered by English soldiers is entirely fictional. However, many lines during the trial scenes are taken verbatim from real transcripts.
4. Ben-Hur, 1959
In 26 A.D., Judah Ben-Hur, a member of a noble Jewish family, meets his childhood friend Messala, who has returned to Jerusalem as a Roman tribune. The representative of the Roman Empire asks Judah to help deal with dissident Jews who have fallen under the influence of a preacher of a new religion from Nazareth.
Ben-Hur refuses to betray his people, incurring the wrath of Messala. After an ideological dispute, Ben-Hur is sent to the galleys, and his mother and sister are imprisoned.
5. Cleopatra, 1963
In 48 B.C., Gnaeus Pompey is defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus and flees to Egypt. He seeks allies in the young ruler Ptolemy XIII and his sister Cleopatra. Gaius Julius Caesar arrives in Alexandria to finally deal with Pompey.
Cleopatra enters Caesar's chambers, captivates him with her beauty, and becomes his favorite. After the death of the Roman emperor, Cleopatra is forced to look for new support. She finds it in the person of Mark Antony.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra is a striking example of the peplum genre that would become a rare guest on the screen in the years to come. Large-scale sets and costumes, accurate in every detail, help immerse the viewer in the historical atmosphere.