"Top Medieval/Renaissance Movies?" Topic

Liked this thread when devoted to westerns, but I like the Middle Ages more. What medieval-set movies are in your top 5? I exclude Samurai films because there are too many of them and they deserve their own topic. Here's my list

The Warlord
Joan of Arc (uncut, Ingrid Bergman)
Braveheart
Prince of Foxes
Excalibur

Honorable mention:

Kingdom of Heaven (only for the battle scenes)
Cromwell

Flesh+Blood (aka The Rose and the Sword)

Allen

The Name of the Rose is probably my favorite Medieval movie.

Don't forget Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Army of Darkness.
The Last Valley.

Liking Pachinko's choices

Henry V : with either Laurence Olivier or Brian Blessed

The Agony and the Ecstasy starring Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II and Charlton Heston as Michelangelo.

Great movie!

FM

The hour of the pig
(the full version not the heavily chopped up US version)

Warlord
The Adventures of Quentin Durward
Chimes at Midnight (the Battle of Shrewsbury is a very bloody & muddy affair).
El Cid
The Court Jester

Honorable mention for the TV series Robin of Sherwood.

Henry V (Brian Blessed one)
Braveheart
Joan of Arc
Kingdom of Heaven
Templar (That Swedish one that came out recently)

The Vikings (but I realy like the end scene of the castle attack)

The Name of the Rose
Henry V
Excalibur

There's a film where Brian Blessed plays Henry V?

He is in the 1989 one.

Well Branagh is Henry V really, Blessed is Exeter, but naturally steals the Agincourt scene

The Seventh Seal.

Templar? Is that based on the books by Jan Guillou? Good series of books those…

Henry V
Warlord
adventures of robin hood.

I didn't think he stole the show to the extent that folks would call it "the Brian Blessed Henry V."

What an odd (and confusing) way to refer to it.

Henry V (Brannaugh)
A Knight's Tale
Macbeth (Polanski)
El Cid
The Vikings

Honourable Mention:
By The Sword Divided (BBC series set in the ECW, wish they'd release that on DVD!)

Yes, definitely the Brannagh Henry V.

Maybe I was thinking of Blackadder 1, whatever

The Warlord
Richard III (Olivier)
El Cid (purely for the duel to the death scene)
The Lion In Winter (Hepburn, O'Toole)
Alexander Nevsky

The return of Martin Gere

There was a film about lawyers in 15th Century France a decade or so back. The opening scene involved a peasant who had been caught having sex with a goat. Both he and the nannygoat were about to be hanged and the goat was "pardoned" and led away from the scaffold. The peasant however…..

… It was about corruption and weird superstitions in medieval times.

Blessed didn't steal anything, he's just amazing!! Where as Brannagh has a way of making Henry V seem slightly girly. And I'm not sure if the Templar film is based on the books but it was cool.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, maybe.

I was always rather fond of Robin and Marian, too. Great performances by the leads, all in all a rather sad and touching picture. I liked how Robin and the Sheriff were practically buddies.

But if that is Nottinghamshire then I'm a Dutchman.

Great choices stated; I like Flesh + Blood, but they really upped the time that the plague takes effect. I mean the scene when the flayed dog parts go in the well and soon after drinking the water the folks start dying off. Great costumes and characters though.

I prefer the Olivier Henry V and Richard III – love the Shakespearing over-the-top lines and think most of the the armor is closer to how I imagine it – barring the French being hoisted onto horses in Henry V. Also do love Bergman's Joan over the rest. Lion in Winter is good; don't forget the less martial-flavored ones: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, etc.

Oh, and although based on an earlier period (Attila et al), Die Nibelungen was (is) inspirational for an Early-HRE army I'm currently working on.

I can't be doing with Olivier's Shakespeare films. His stage acting style doesn't work on screen for my money. It just comes over as hammy.

I'd much rather watch him in A Bridge Too Far or Marathon Man, where he leaves all his theatre baggage behind.

I don't care if the armor is brutal, I like the 13th Warrior. I watch it at least once a month. I also like Ivanhoe with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Taylor. "How long can a Saxon fight? All day and through the night!!!"

Yeah, I think he figured out that audience of a film has a more variable relationship with the acting than the audience of a play so that he didn't have to be in bullhorn mode all the time. But then he made Clash of the Titans.

There was a film about lawyers in 15th Century France a decade or so back.

The Hour of the Pig perhaps?

YouTube link

I personally liked The Messenger with Milia Jojovich. Besides the lead, I liked the interpretation of Joan (which was open ended, and allowed either a religious interpretation, or a mental illness interpretation). That being said, there has yet to be a medieval era movie I've seen that I haven't been at least a little disappointed with. I tried to like Branagh's Henry V, but why does Henry, at Agincourt, not wear a stitch of armor?

Also really enjoy O'toole/Hepburn's A Lion in Winter, if for no other reason than the dialouge.

Damon.

"[W]hy does Henry, at Agincourt, not wear a stitch of armor?"

Because he thinks he's Chuck Norris.

I like the messenger too. There's also the interpretation that she had a mental illness and received miracles -- maybe one played off the other?

Has anybody seen the "With Sword and Flame" Polish movies? Are they any good?

Polanski's 'Macbeth' rocks. 'How to obtain new footwear, using blunt force trauma'. Heh.

'Arthur & the Britons', with it's cracking Elmer Bernsien theme music, was essential Saturday morning viewing.

And I really enjoyed 'Tristan & Isolde', which I realise puts me in a minority…

Edited to add… and that Viking movie with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier chasing after some treasure. That was fun.

The Longships, YES. And how could I forget Robin and Marian? Excellent. Ivanhoe, all of them, are fun each in its own way. My favorite version is the made for TV mini-series imdb.com/title/tt0118354 simply for the armor and fightin'. The character of Ivanhoe himself is dull as dishwater; he always is, even in the book. I was impressed as a kid with Robert Taylor's jousting in the 50s version; and Liz Taylor started my interest in black-haired, narrow-waisted, busty women; I loved the wicked witch in Disney's Sleeping Beauty too (the singular area where Woody Allen and I concur….)

The Hour of the Pig perhaps?

Yes, Hour of the Pig. Thanks for the help.

Sounded vaguely familiar.

HotP:

Best

Room Service

EVER.

Cant believe no one's mentioned The Last Valley, with Michael Caine and Omar Sharif. (And, yes i mean the one with Brian Blessed as well)

Set in TYW, Caine's troop of mercenaries find this untouched village and decide to stay for the winter.

Captain Caine: 'There is no Hell. Don't you understand? Because there is no God. There never was. Don't you understand? There is no God! It's a legend!'

Ivanhoe, Knights of the Round table, Quentin Durward. Not the best but still fun to watch :)

The Black Shield of Falworth only for Tony Curtis saying "Yondah lies da cassle of my fadduh".

Prince Valiant for the worst wig worn by Robert Wagner until the rugs he wears now.

Ladyhawke for its realistic representation of not very much.

Joan of Arc with Leelee Sobieski, who believed that St.Joan actually would have said "okay" while planning battles.

I've always enjoyed 'The Adventures of Quentin Durward'with Robert Taylor

Thanks for mentioning it NormanD! I loved tristan and isolde as well but was too shy to admit it amongst burly wargames types!

Micheal York play Alfred the Great or was it David Hemming, can't remember only saw it once and it doesn't appear on television, was it that bad?

Olcbob,

Is that one I remember watching on kerosene-powered TV? Saxons fighting invading bad guys, something about a ransom?

oldbob:

AtG was played by David Hemmings… fighting the climactic battle in purple loon pants and a carnaby-street sheepskin vest!
Michael York was the Viking leader: more English than the English!

Decent enough movie… it telescopes the events of Alfred's life somewhat – his falling under the influence of Bishop Asser and considering taking Holy orders happens during his campaign against the Danes, rather than a decade after.
(Cornwell does the same, IIRC.)

He also meets and marries Ealhswith at the same time, whereas they were already married with two children before the start of Guthrum's campaign. (And it concocts a love triangle between Alfred, Ealhswith, & Guthrum.)

Historical howlers apart, it's a good movie for the look and feel of Anglo-Saxon England, and it avoids Hollywood castles and costumes.

projectmayhem:

Do pay attention old chap… Last Valley was mentioned two days ago, in the fourth post!

Warlord, then The Messenger with Milia Jojovich!
VR
James Mattes

>tried to like Branagh's Henry V, but why does Henry,
>at Agincourt, not wear a stitch of armor?

Its not that the depicted battle has anything to do with the events as reported – but the speech was good, and the music afterwards is moving.

Are there any real Renaissance movies around? (I do not count TYW or ECW as Renaissance). Alatriste belongs into that "not Renaissance" categorie, though the battlescene at the end resembles a Italian wars battle far better then anything that probably happened ar Rocroi.

Flesh and Iron is not bad.
Luther and The Medici warrior are set in the Renaissance – though the latter fails on so many levels to be a good movie that its astonishing, and Luther dwells too heavy on the religious aspects while neglecting much of the political background.

There aren't many Renaissance films, but I recommend "Il Mestiere delle Armi" / "The Profession of Arms"

It's an Italian film about the death of Giovanni de'Medici. The battle scenes aren't huge, but it's beautifully shot and has some lovely atmospheric scenes of renaissance armies marching in winter.

Trailer: YouTube link

I agree with most of the above choices; since you're asking about Middle Ages & Renaissance, I put forward Zefferelli's Romeo & Juliet, Fishburne's Othello, Pacino's Merchant of Venice & Taras Bulba with Yul Brynner & Tony Curtis. For Norse silliness there's Erik the Viking.