War movies set in the ancient past are some of the most spectacular entries in the genre, with plenty of historically-accurate films dedicated to various exciting battles. When thinking of war movies, images of great World War II films frequently come to mind, with other “modern” combat encounters soon to follow. But it’s important to remember that war is one of the oldest human traditions around, and some films exemplify this fact by going far back in time to cover notable battles and time periods of human antiquity.
Several things go into making an exciting ancient war movie. First and foremost, the combat choreography has to be top-notch, with no amount of CGI ever making up for massive armies of extras moving in deliberate synchronization. While many excellent films aren’t necessarily historically accurate, it always helps to stay true to the time period as much as possible. With jaw-dropping action setpieces, memorable lines, and elaborate set design reflecting an age gone by, some ancient war movies truly stand out in their field.
10 Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World
2003
It’s important to remember that some of the most important battles in the world were fought on the open sea. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World emphasizes this idea, centering on the naval engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The film follows Russel Crowe’s Captain Jack Aubrey, the commander of the British vessel the HMS Surprise, who undergoes a lengthy high-seas duel with the French privateer ship, the Acheron. Aubrey has to struggle to keep his men in-line while fending off the probing attacks of the enemy ship.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a highly-decorated film, bearing several well-deserved Academy Awards. The fact that the film was actually shot on the open sea shines through in the epic scale of its wood-splintering battles, all the while never losing sight of the grounding humanity of the characters that truly keep the story worth investing in. Few films have portrayed naval battles as feverishly well as Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
9 The Northman
2022
The most recent offering from the twisted mind of horror director Robert Eggers, The Northman is a dramatic tale from the viking age that represents a stark contrast from Eggers other work. Adapting the ancient legend of Amleth, which was the original inspiration behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The film focuses on Amleth, a young noble whose father is murdered by his treacherous uncle. Growing up to become a fierce Viking warrior, Amleth eventually comes back to seek his revenge against the man who tore his life apart.
True to his horror director sensibilities, some of Robert Eggers’ scariest scenes take place in The Northman, which doesn’t shy away from the horrors of real-life viking raids. Though a familiar story, the poignant drama of Amleth’s relentless and unnecessary pursuit of revenge is a twisted curse of fate carried by some thoughtful performances. The pseudo-fantasy elements added by Amleth’s hallucination sequences are also a nice bit of flavor, the entire project being almost absurdly faithful to the actual culture of the time period, as expected by Eggers’ work.
8 Troy
2004
Ancient Greece is frequently a favorite setting of historical filmmakers, as evidenced by the great early 2000s epics like Troy. Based off of Homer’s Illiad, one of the oldest surviving works of fiction still commonly enjoyed by modern people, the film posits Brad Pitt as the mythical hero Achilles, detailing his time spent at war following the seduction of Queen Helen of Troy by Orlando Bloom’s Paris. Blurring the lines between legend and history, Troy is a beautiful piece of historical fiction even if it does stray from the traditional narrative of the Illiad.
Troy is an epic in the true sense of the word, winning over audiences of its time through the sheer-spectacle of its elaborate battle sequences. Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt shine as brightly as Greek gods as they clash with one another in a tragedy that envelops the entire nation, even if the emotional depth of their characters doesn’t dig too deep. The director’s cut in particular offers a less commercialized vision that truly indicates why Troy deserves to be a more venerated ancient war film.
7 The Last Samurai
2003
As far as Tom Cruise movies go, The Last Samurai is a very important entry in his filmography, for good reason. Loosely inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion and the following Western cultural colonization of Japan, the film posits Cruise as Nathan Algren, an American cavalry Captain commissioned to train the nascent Imperial Japanese army against an uprising of samurai. Before long, Algren finds himself captured by the rebels, only to gain sympathy for them and lead them into battle against the enemies he was meant to aid.
For a fish-out-of-water story of cultural osmosis, it’s hard to beat The Last Samurai, which presents an interesting emotional crux of both Algren and the stoic Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, played brilliantly by Ken Watanabe, help each other overcome each other’s self-doubt and fears. The battle scenes are eye-poppingly spectacular, meeting at an interesting crossing point between tradition and modernity in terms of tactics and weaponry. Another highly-decorated Oscar-winner, The Last Samurai is a rock-solid piece of historical combat storytelling.
6 Braveheart
1995
Still the crowning jewel of Mel Gibson’s filmography, Braveheart needs little introduction as an all-time cinematic classic. Taking place in Scotland in the late 13th century, Braveheart loosely adapts the real story of William Wallace, a highlander freedom fighter who led the Scottish in rebellion against the cruel tyranny of King Edward I of England’s rule. The rebellion is incited by the death of Wallace’s late wife, sparking a flame of rebellion that spreads across the highlands until his untimely and gruesome demise.
The winner of the Academy Awards’ coveted Best Picture, there’s a lot to appreciate about Braveheart. The film does a clever job tying the personal relationships of Wallace to the idea of rebellion, explaining to the layperson how and why such desires to be free from occupation arise. It helps that the battle scenes are also tremendous, proper carnage that coveys the fierce desperation in each Scottish soldier’s heart. Even if it isn’t the most historically accurate film in the world, Braveheart is so highly regarded for a good reason.
5 Kingdom Of Heaven
2005
Another epic historical drama to feature Orlando Bloom, Kingdom of Heaven does for the crusades what films like Ben-Hur do for ancient Rome. Bloom stars in the film as Balian of Ibelin, which tells the story of various Christian monarchs’ real-life attempt to seize the holy land of Jerusalem in the 1100s. Soon, Balian comes into conflict with the famed Ayyubid Sultan and general Saladin across his long and contentious journeys in the third crusade.
Orlando Bloom is absolutely stellar as the tortured Balian of Ibelin, but is far from the only standout of the film’s stacked cast. Edward Norton is a particularly fierce scenery-chewing threat as King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. Beyond the performances, Kingdom of Heaven also boasts some hypnotically impressive visuals that turn the bloody crusades into a whirlwind of color and motion. Once again, the director’s cut is the most sought-after incarnation of the film, with the end result being some of Ridley Scott’s best action scenes.
4 Centurion
2010
As great as thoughtfully-documented historical events can be made as dedicated movie adaptations, sometimes attempting to explain a famous historical mystery can be just as captivating. Centurion plays with this idea, being a loose imagining of what happened to the real Roman Empire’s Ninth Legion, which vanished under mysterious circumstances according to record-keepers of antiquity. Centurion proposes that the disappearance was the result of a campaign in Northern Britain gone horribly wrong, seen through the perspective of Michael Fassbender’s titular soldier.
Centurion does a good job of enforcing the horrors of war into an ancient setting, penning harrowing battles and guerilla tactics from the Britons that register among the most shell-shocking sequences of any modern war movie. The hack-and-slash violence goes to great lengths to convey the horrors of melee combat, told through the weary eyes of Fassbender’s character. While the entire film is a grueling slog through the swamps of Britain, the oddly happy ending Fassbender’s Dias gets is makes the journey worth it, emphasizing how peace can be just as detrimental to an army’s efforts as death.
3 300
2006
Ancient warfare movies don’t necessarily need historical accuracy to be great, and no individual film serves as better proof of that thesis than 300. Like many films in Zack Snyder’s catalog, 300 is based on a graphic novel, which was in turn originally based on the supposedly real final stand of hopelessly outnumbered Spartan warriors in the Greco-Persian Wars’ Battle of Thermopylae. Gerard Butler leads the picture as King Leonidas, the stern but fair leader of the warlike Spartans who is summoned to personally lead his army against the Persians.
Admittedly, historical accuracy is completely out of the question for 300, which even incorporates fantasy elements into the battle. However, Zack Snyder’s undeniable flair for style and action scenes completely carries the film, making much ado about the noble sacrifice of King Leonidas and his soldiers. Though it may be somewhat simple-minded, it’s hard to find a better outlet for thrilling ancient warfare than Snyder’s magnum opus.
2 War And Peace
1966
Starkly contrasting popcorn flicks like 300 and Centurion, War and Peace is a chilling, philosophical gaze at antiquated warfare through the lense of long-form drama. In the Herculean undertaking of adapting Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel of the same name, War and Peace is a monstrously long four-part movie series that condenses into a single massive tome, produced at the behest of the Soviet Union. The decade-spanning story details the Napoleonic wars in Russia through the lens of various characters with different stakes in the conflict.
The Soviet Army spared no expense with War and Peace’s battle scenes, which remain some of the most impressively-choreographed and largest scale war sequences ever put to film even decades later. The epic scope of the film is outdone only by the characters who anchor it, reminding the viewer that each expansive shot of the Russian countryside is pocked with individual people containing their own lives, hopes, and dreams. It’s hard to name any movie more spectacular, let alone as far as historical war films go.
1 Gladiator
2000
Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook
Another period epic by Ridley Scott, Gladiator is an untouchable name in the ancient war movie space for a good reason. As the title suggests, the film takes place in ancient Rome, where Russel Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius fights as a gladiator while secretly harboring vengeance for Emperor Commodus after he slew the previous administration and his family along with them. In his bid to get close enough to the emperor to strike, Maximus has to rise to fame in the Colosseum in a series of brutal fights.
Obviously featuring some of the best Colosseum fight scenes ever put to screen, Gladiator’s success as a thrilling exploration of ancient warfare needs little explanation. As a poignant political drama and satisfying revenge story, however, the film is made all the brighter. It’s no wonder Ridley Scott was able to commission a sequel over two decades later, as Gladiator’s cultural staying power far outshines the average ancient war movie.