Favourite historical film?

Started by Leon, 09 March 2010, 01:09:19 AM

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d_Guy

fsn you were doing extremely well until you began to diverge (from an American POV) at 1607 - not too bad however.  ;)

Leman - we did not get to ancient history until Junior High School (now called Middle School), IIRC. Until then any formal education in ancient history was handled by the churches.  :)

The major courses through our secondary education at that time were Ancient and Medieval (often lumped together unless you were doing honors), Renaissance and Reformation, Modern European, and United States and State history. I am ignorate as to when ancient history ended, currently it seems to be around 1992.
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mollinary

Does no one like The Last of the Mohicans? I remember seeing it in London immediately on release and being blown away by it. Gladiator probably also deserves a mention, if only for the 'Zulu' tribute, and its ancient predecessor, 'The Fall of the Roman Empire' with Alec Guinness as Marcus Aurelius, and Christopher Plummer as a magnificently bizarre Commodus,
had a certain je ne sai quoi. Even Anthony Quayle, James Mason and Omar Sharif got bit parts, not to mention Sophia Loren!
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Leman

Talking of sword and sandals movies, does anyone remember Anthony Quinn in  Barabbas. It came out not long after Spartacus. I was taken to see it as a boy and was really frightened by the scene in the mines.

Re. ancient above, in a fair number of American films it is used simply to mean a bit old. I always imagine Dead Sea Scrolls when someone in the film says, "We found it in these ancient writings;" and it turns out to be a book from 1807!  ;D ;D ;D

I remember another occasion when a friend of mine was looking after an American visitor and suggested he visit Chester, only about 40 minutes on the local train from Liverpool.
"What's so special about Chester?" he asked.
"It has a lot of shops older than your country," was the reply.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

fsn

Quote from: mollinary on 19 June 2018, 08:46:59 PM
Does no one like The Last of the Mohicans?

I remember the TV series in the 1970s in which that very Welsh actor Philip Madoc played Magua.

In a line that has passed into family myth, Magua, disgruntled by something uttered the immortal line "I spit on your wigwam."

And he did.


In answer to the question, can't abide Daniel Day Lewis, so never watched that variant.

How about "Northwest Passage" with Spencer Tracy leading Roger's Rangers? Can't remember the name of the character he played.


Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

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fsn

Quote from: d_Guy on 19 June 2018, 07:41:15 PM
(from an American POV)
The who?  :P

I think I have opined on American history programs. "long time ago the Chinese invented something then king Arthur Probably used it so we can show some c15 armour, and the French did something really cool. Then on the 29th August 1874 in Bumkiss Missouri , Abe Abeson painted one blue and the history of the world changed forever."
Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

d_Guy

It's true, Leman, unless Washington slept in it or a battle was fought on it, we tend to bulldoze things every twenty years or so.  :D

There is not twenty miles from where I write a large Hopewell burial mound that is at least a thousand years old (and likely much older). The various mound building cultures have left mounds and artifacts strewn all over the landscape some dating back to 3500 BC. Of course we didn't build them do we generally ignore them.


I also like the last of "The Last of the Mohicans" which followed the book well and whose uniforms, costumes and weapons use met re-enactment standards (at the minimum). I had forgotten "The Fall of the Roman Empire", saw it when it was released but can now recall little. Did it have a chariot chase on a mountain road?

Quote from: fsn on 19 June 2018, 10:34:35 PM
How about "Northwest Passage" with Spencer Tracy leading Roger's Rangers? Can't remember the name of the character he played.

=)  :)

The rangers looked like Interwar US marines with fringe.
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fsn

I enjoy "Time Team" which is an archaeological program fronted by Baldrick from Black Adder.

In Britain the trick seemed to be "hmmm ... bit of discoloured grass ... send in the digger!" In the US it was "bit of discoloured grass ... let's remove the top layer by hand and then used trowels to dig down the next 3 feet." *

Shows how aware the US is of its historical legacy.


*One of the things the US does right is to retain the Imperial system of measurement.
Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

Leman

As a kid I loved the old black and white TV series of Hawkeye. It was not until I was a teenager and saw Northwest Passage that I realised the burning of the fort in the opening titles of Hawkeye was lifted directly from Northwest Passage. Given how tense the situation could be in the Eastern woodlands at that time, the ferocity of the Iroquois and the sheer frontier feel of the period, I'm surprised the FIW is not used more frequently as a setting for feature films.
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Wulf

Quote from: Leman on 19 June 2018, 10:14:23 PM
I remember another occasion when a friend of mine was looking after an American visitor and suggested he visit Chester, only about 40 minutes on the local train from Liverpool.
"What's so special about Chester?" he asked.
"It has a lot of shops older than your country," was the reply.
I once told an American tourist in Edinburgh "We have public toilets older than your Constitution". Not sure it's true, mind you, but it made him think a bit.

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Public toilets - IN SCOTLAND !!!!!  ;)
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d_Guy

Quote from: Wulf on 20 June 2018, 11:16:03 AM
I once told an American tourist in Edinburgh "We have public toilets older than your Constitution". Not sure it's true, mind you, but it made him think a bit.

So that was you!
Sleep with clean hands ...

d_Guy

Quote from: fsn on 20 June 2018, 08:00:37 AM
*One of the things the US does right is to retain the Imperial system of measurement.

Thanks, but truthfully it is a bit of a pain. Still like F for C (if not working in a lab), however :)
One problem is this
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,17453.0.html
Simple calculations are difficult - pick a peck of pickled peppers - we can do that (once converted to metric and back again)
But the bigger problem is most of us need two sets of tools!

I do honestly appreciate a positive comment about the States - gold star!  ;)
Sleep with clean hands ...

Leman

I've seen a Scottish public toilet in Trainspotting  :-& X_X
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

FierceKitty

Quote from: d_Guy on 20 June 2018, 03:23:15 PM
Thanks, but truthfully it is a bit of a pain. Still like F for C (if not working in a lab), however :)
One problem is this
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,17453.0.html
Simple calculations are difficult - pick a peck of pickled peppers - we can do that (once converted to metric and back again)
But the bigger problem is most of us need two sets of tools!

I do honestly appreciate a positive comment about the States - gold star!  ;)

Kubrick, Fitzgerald, Altman, Wilbur, Wyeth, Steinbeck, Wright, jazz, contract bridge, Manhattan clam chowder, rather good ice cream, easy women...I can easily think of quite a lot of things I've learned to enjoy and admire about the US, despite an odd attitude to the present perfect and to the meaning of "I could care".
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steve_holmes_11

Quote from: Leman on 20 June 2018, 04:32:39 PM
I've seen a Scottish public toilet in Trainspotting  :-& X_X

That wasn't public, it was in the bookies.
I understand Renton holds the record for the world's least pleasant McShite*.


* In which the hero/protagonist goes into McDonalds, avails himself of the conveniences, and leaves without making a purchase.