The best Ancient and Medieval movies that have never been made

Muhammed would never happen imo unless it was done as an independent film; you can imagine the firestorm just by having a movie on him.

A movie on Leo of Tripoli would be pretty badass.
 

Zioneer

Banned
I think a movie about Charlemagne would be interesting. Clovis for that matter might be fun. Or one about Justinian. That way holds much drama.

Cortes would be a good topic (if a bit insensitive) to cover in a movie.

A good movie about Basil I or II would be amazing. In fact, any movies about most of the Byzantines would be awesome; they've got violence, intrigue, violence, controversy, violence, deacadence, violence (okay this joke is getting old), and even heroism. Heck, look at Constantine the Great for an excellent example of movie-worthy antics. Or Justinian II, for that matter.

How about a movie featuring Gustavus Adolphus? Or was he too "larger then life" for Hollywood? I bet BRIAN BLESSED would be excellent for that role.

A trilogy featuring England from Alfred the Great to Canute would be interesting as well.
 
The Hapsburg Trilogy (2013, 2015, 2018): A BBC series of movies based on the Hapsburg family during the time of Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain and his successors. It is critically acclaimed by critics and viewers alike, calling it the successor to the Tudors and the Borgias and perfect for the big screen.

Wow. Just Wow.

You almost had me going there for this one. Sounds really believable. My gullibility seems to be getting the better of me.

...

Monarchy: The Dynasty of England (2012-2018): A TV series depicting the continued rise and fall of the English royal family and all it's intrigues since 1066. Although not a movie, it includes several made-for-TV movies and two theatrical releases, including Hastings: 1066 (2012) and Bosworth (2016)
 
There are tons of medieval topics that need a good film but one of the most needed subjects are the crusades, to date you must have either Richard or Saladin and preferably both to get made into a movie, this leaves out so many great possibilities like:
1) The First Crusade, I mean its a no brainer, if I made it I'd focus heavily on Antioch and the Lance and the struggle between the leaders
2) The Fourth Crusade, the drama, intrigue and scheming alone make this a must watch, not to mention the epic siege battle scenes.
3) The Children's Crusade, I mean that could be the best anti-climax ever, the "kids" get to the sea and expect the ocean to part and then it doesn't
4) A view of the Seventh Crusade through the life of Joinville would be awesome
5) Siege of Acre, the last holdout of the crusades would be awesome
6) A Trial of the Templars would make an epic movie and work great with all the popular attention they've grabbed.
 
Just have it all a POV film through his eyes and avoid reflective surfaces. That should do it right?

Believe it or not, but somebody already did it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Message_(1976_film)

They got around the prohibition on portrayals by using two of his relatives (his uncle and adopted son) as viewpoint characters, occasionally switching to his POV. In order to signal he was present at a scene, "light organ music" was played.
 
Dihya al-Kahina ? Or it would sound too much as propaganda for the Zionist entity? :D
Or, well, what about the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine?
Isn't there something about the Minamoto-Taira war ?
 

archaeogeek

Banned
Oh, for a second I thought it was in the vein of "take an OTL movie title, present it as something of a medieval movie" - I was about to propose "City of God", a satirical movie about life in the poorer parts of Rome as the conflicts between the emperor and the pope tear the city apart, focusing on a group of youths who become part of Colonna's private army :p
 
A movie called "Washington"

Based upon the life, times and struggles of George Washington in the American Revolution and beyond.
 
A movie about Yi Sun Shin. Defeated the Japanese in every naval battle, lost few men (I don't think he lost a single ship). Was falsely imprisoned due to Japanese spies and the inter-court fighting in the Joseon court. Only to be reinstated when Korea lost a major battle and had only 13 ships left. Defeated a major Japanese fleet of around 133 ships with those 13 ships, destroying at least 31 and disabling a further 92 ships, with only 5 casualties (2 killed, 3 wounded) while the Japanese suffered over 12,000 casualties in the battle.

I know there's a big Korean drama about him, but it'd be nice to see a movie, about even just one or two of his battles would be sufficient.

Hopefully one that isn't butchered by the directors/writes/film makers. Every movie that the OP posted except for Genghis Khan, I would consider that the makers DNDTR. Except for the movie of Alexander the great, which i have only seen snippets of and therefore cannot judge it's historical faithfulness until I have seen it. Literally cringed when I saw movies about the Trojan war and 300. Kingdom of Heaven was ok, but should be considered loosely historical at best. Gladiator was just a good movie, so long as you ignored the inaccuracy and watched it as a guy trying to get revenge against the big bad evil emperor.
 
Muhammed would never happen imo unless it was done as an independent film; you can imagine the firestorm just by having a movie on him.

Actually, it did happen. A pretty big budget production, too, and rather well made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Message_(film)

Other than that, I think a movie or TV series about the rise and fall of Burgundy would be interesting, if rather expensive. I love them mainly for the fact that they had 'grand bastard' as an official title.

What I would like to see done is a movie that follows some grand events (or also not-so-grand events) from the perspective of someone other than the great leaders. Maybe a film about the Judaean War from the POV of an artilleryman in X Fretensis. Or the Cyrenaican or Bar Kokhba revolt (that probably won't be made, because it makes the Jews look bad, or be made very badly).

Some other things that would lend themselves to filming on the grand scale are

- the rise of the Sui and Tang dynasties (I'd prefer seeing the Liang and Wei wars, but who knows about those)

- the conquest of Sicily (each of them, really, but especially the Altavilla one)

- Reformation! (Part I: The Lollard Dawn; Part II: Bohemian Thunder; Part III: Showdown at Wittenberg; Part IV: Battle for an Empire; Part V: From Geneva to the World)

- And why isn't there a good movie yet about the Dutch war of independence, and their colonial Empire?
 
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a biopic about saladin or at least his campaigns during the crusades would be cool.

Maybe something about the battle of gravelines, not the silly scenes we got in Elizabeth: the golden age where they make it look like clive owen set the Spanish armada ablaze simply by staring at it.

Also, one of the crusades would be cool maybe a historical fiction from the point of view of some young squire who goes expecting glory but winds up being a jaded veteran by the end of the movie. You could maybe even make it a prequel to Kingdom of Heaven.
 
A movie about Yi Sun Shin. Defeated the Japanese in every naval battle, lost few men (I don't think he lost a single ship). Was falsely imprisoned due to Japanese spies and the inter-court fighting in the Joseon court. Only to be reinstated when Korea lost a major battle and had only 13 ships left. Defeated a major Japanese fleet of around 133 ships with those 13 ships, destroying at least 31 and disabling a further 92 ships, with only 5 casualties (2 killed, 3 wounded) while the Japanese suffered over 12,000 casualties in the battle.

I know there's a big Korean drama about him, but it'd be nice to see a movie, about even just one or two of his battles would be sufficient.

Hopefully one that isn't butchered by the directors/writes/film makers. Every movie that the OP posted except for Genghis Khan, I would consider that the makers DNDTR. Except for the movie of Alexander the great, which i have only seen snippets of and therefore cannot judge it's historical faithfulness until I have seen it. Literally cringed when I saw movies about the Trojan war and 300. Kingdom of Heaven was ok, but should be considered loosely historical at best. Gladiator was just a good movie, so long as you ignored the inaccuracy and watched it as a guy trying to get revenge against the big bad evil emperor.

Wasn't 300 based on a source that didn't really care about historical accuracy in the first place?
 
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