Best Medieval Movies and Series
In my humble opinion, these are the best movies and series based on the Medieval Era (encompassing the Feudal Age and early Renaissance.) This list includes foreign heritage as well, but does not include Fantasy.
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- StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsMel GibsonSophie MarceauPatrick McGoohanScottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter O'TooleKatharine HepburnAnthony Hopkins1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsOrlando BloomEva GreenLiam NeesonBalian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsRhys IfansVanessa RedgraveDavid ThewlisThe theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her.
- CreatorJohn FuscoStarsLorenzo RichelmyBenedict WongJoan ChenIn a world replete with greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, "Marco Polo" is based on the famed explorer's adventures in Kublai Khan's court in 13th century Mongolia.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
- StarsBen ChaplinCharlotte RileyNora WaldstättenThe English town of Kingsbridge works to survive as the King leads the nation into the Hundred Years' War with France while Europe deals with the outbreak of the Black Death.
- DirectorPeter FlinthStarsJoakim NätterqvistSofia HelinStellan SkarsgårdArn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman, is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsClive OwenStephen DillaneKeira KnightleyA demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
- DirectorChristopher SmithStarsEddie RedmayneSean BeanCarice van HoutenSet during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsJonathan Rhys MeyersHenry CavillAnthony BrophyEpic series reveals the scandalous life of a young king whose affairs and obsession with producing a male heir changed marriage, the church, and the world.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsKevin CostnerMorgan FreemanMary Elizabeth MastrantonioRobin Hood decides to fight back as an outlaw when faced with the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsMilla JovovichJohn MalkovichRab AffleckA young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
- StarsJane LapotaireJohn DuttineChristopher GableHenry Plantagenet (later King Henry II), sees his opportunity to seize the crown of England and create a kingdom of law and order.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghJulie ChristieDerek JacobiHamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
- CreatorRichard CurtisStarsRowan AtkinsonBrian BlessedElspet GrayIn the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.
- DirectorTerry GilliamTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseEric IdleKing Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
- StarsIan HolmMike BaileyFrancis MageeDespite earlier promises to pass his crown to one of his Flemish, Viking, or Norman relatives, English King Edward the Confessor dies in 1066, leaving his crown to Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwinson, causing a bloody succession war.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsKatheryn WinnickGustaf SkarsgårdAlexander LudwigVikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsSharon MaughanAndrew MacLachlanRob EdwardsStory of the English Civil War as seen through the eyes of two families; the Laceys, loyal to King Charles I, and the Fletchers, loyal to Oliver Cromwell.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsMads MikkelsenMaarten StevensonAlexander MortonForced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.
- DirectorJonathan EnglishStarsPaul GiamattiJason FlemyngBrian CoxIn thirteenth-century England, a Knights Templar and a few of the Barons men fight to defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsCharlton HestonSophia LorenRaf ValloneThe fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
- DirectorDominique Othenin-GirardStarsAlessandro GassmannJohannes BrandrupThure RiefensteinTowards the end of the 11th century, three friends - bell founder Peter, baron's son Richard and shepherd Andrew - set off to join The Crusades, after watching soldiers returning from Jerusalem.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsTim RobbinsJohn CleeseMickey RooneyErik the Viking and his men travel across the sea to find Valhalla to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.
- DirectorRenzo MartinelliStarsRutger HauerRaz DeganF. Murray AbrahamGerman Emperor Barbarossa will stop at nothing to conquer and build his empire. But a young man from Milan, along with his army of 900 men known as the Company of Death, is prepared to challenge the Emperor.
- DirectorAndrey ProshkinStarsMaksim SukhanovRoza KhayrullinaInnokenti DakaiarovIn the 14th century, a Russian bishop is forced to go on a journey inside the Horde.
- DirectorBjorn AndersonStarsWayne BastrupMindy ByramRicco DiStefanoThe film Warrior's End is a story of a young prince who has to come to terms with his destiny and grow up quickly in the face of war. While on a forced tour of the northwest border of his country of Midea, Prince Andreas and his escort are set upon by invading soldiers from the neighboring country of Kilea. After escaping, Andreas, his friend Johan, and bodyguard Kael realize that there is an entire army marching over the passes into the unsuspecting, undefended, Midea. Not only are the Kileans marching over the passes in the northwest, they are attacking from the southern plains and western passes as well. In order for his country to survive the onslaught, Prince Andreas must assume the mantle of leadership and create a resistance from the burnt out villages in the north to hold the line until relief and reinforcements arrive, if at all.
- DirectorRenzo MartinelliStarsF. Murray AbrahamAndrea IaiaEnrico Lo VersoIn the summer of 1683, 300,000 warriors of the Ottoman Empire began the siege of Vienna. The fall of the city would have opened the way to conquer Europe. On September 11. was the main battle between the Polish cavalry and the Turks.Yes, this one is a bit later than the Medieval Era, but it still has Medieval Ties, with the tactical siege warfare and sword fighting.