Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: 2-Genre Table :: Biography :: History


(text-only version)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

tt2024544
Alexander (2004)

Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest military leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.

tt0346491+
Andrei Rublev (1966)

Andreiv Rublev charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history...

tt0060107
Argo (2012)

A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.

tt1024648
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.

tt0443680
Becket (1964)

An English king comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the king's.

tt0057877
Braveheart (1995)

William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule.

tt0112573
Bugsy (1991)

The story of how Bugsy Siegel started Las Vegas.

tt0101516+
Cadillac Records (2008)

Chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists.

tt1042877
Carlos (2010)

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.

tt1321865
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.

tt0472062
Che: Part 1 (2008)

In 1956, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and a band of Castro-led Cuban exiles mobilize an army to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

tt0892255+
Che: Part 2 (2008)

In 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara leads a small partisan army to fight an ill-fated revolutionary guerrilla war in Bolivia.

tt0374569
Cinderella Man (2005)

The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.

tt0352248+
Cleopatra (1963)

Historical epic. The triumphs and tragedy of the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.

tt0056937
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)

A collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

tt0097099
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.

tt0790636
Danton (1983)

Action opens in November of 1793, with Danton returning to Paris from his country retreat upon learning that the Committee for Public Safety, under Robespierre's incitement, has begun a ...

tt0083789+
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

Harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

tt0052738+
Downfall (2004)

Traudl Junge (Lara), the final secretary for Adolf Hitler (Ganz), tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.

tt0363163+
El Cid (1961)

Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz (''El Cid'' to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour...

tt0054847
Elizabeth (1998)

A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.

tt0127536
Evita (1996)

The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.

tt0116250
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)

The film dramatizes about a dozen vignettes from the life of St. Francis and his early followers - starting...

tt0042477
Freud (1984)

The life and times of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.

tt0135093
The Frozen Ground (2013)

An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.

tt2005374
Gandhi (1982)

Biography of Mahatma Gandhi , the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest.

tt0083987
Henry V (1989)

The gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France.

tt0097499
Henry V (1944)

In the inspired Olivier concept, Shakespeare's play begins as a performance in the Globe Theatre, shifting in broad cinematic terms to an epic narrative of Henry V...

tt0036910
Holy Rollers (2010)

In Brooklyn, a youth from an Orthodox Jewish community is lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by his pal who has ties to an Israel drug cartel.

tt1143896
Hotel Rwanda (2004)

The true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.

tt0395169
Hunger (2008)

Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.

tt0986233
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

The story of the love affair between FDR and his distant cousin Margaret ''Daisy'' Suckley, centered around the weekend in 1939 when the King and Queen of the United Kingdom visited upstate New York.

tt1477855
Invictus (2009)

Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

tt1057500
Ip Man (2008)

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

tt1220719
The Iron Lady (2011)

An elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.

tt1007029
Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)

During the early part of his reign, Ivan the Terrible faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people.

tt0037824
Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1958)

As Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate their Tsar.

tt0051790
J. Edgar (2011)

As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.

tt1616195
Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007)

A chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.''

tt0913958
John Adams (2008)

A miniseries on the life of John Adams and the first 50 years of the United States.

tt0472027
The King's Speech (2010)

The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

tt1504320+
Kundun (1997)

From childhood until adulthood, Tibet's 14th dalai lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.

tt0119485
The Last Emperor (1987)

The story of the final Emperor of China.

tt0093389+
The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s

tt0455590
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service.

tt0056172
Lincoln (2012)

As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

tt0443272
Lion of the Desert (1981)

In the Fascist Italy Pre-World War II of Benito Mussolini, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Il Dulce to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab ...

tt0081059
Malcolm X (1992)

The biopic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader.

tt0104797+
A Man for All Seasons (1966)

The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage.

tt0060665
Mary Queen of Scots (1971)

Mary Stuart, who was named Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old, is the last Roman Catholic ruler of Scotland...

tt0067402
The Message (1977)

Handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the

tt0074896+
A Mighty Heart (2007)

Mariane Pearl embarks on a frantic search to locate her journalist husband, Daniel, when he goes missing in Pakistan.

tt0829459
Milk (2008)

The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

tt1013753
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007)

The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world including Russia in 1206.

tt0416044
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

Czar Nicholas II, the inept monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.

tt0067483
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.

tt0467200
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.

tt0019254
Patton (1970)

The World War II phase of the controversial American general's career is depicted.

tt0066206
The Pianist (2002)

A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

tt0253474+
Public Enemies (2009)

The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

tt1152836
Queen Christina (1933)

Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.

tt0024481
Reds (1981)

A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.

tt0082979+
Richard III (1955)

Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed king and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.

tt0049674+
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto...

tt0048579
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)

A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun...

tt0049710
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Author P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney , who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.

tt2140373
Schindler's List (1993)

Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them.

tt0108052+
Sergeant York (1941)

True story of a hillbilly sharpshooter drafted in WW1 despite his claim to be a pacifist, who ends up becoming a war hero.

tt0034167+
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet.

tt0120102
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.

tt0426578+
Spartacus (1960)

The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman empire.

tt0054331+
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)

Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.

tt0051003
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966)

1661: Cardinal Mazarin dies. In the power vacuum, the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule...

tt0060860
Talk to Me (2007)

The story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph ''Petey'' Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.

tt0796368
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay councilor.

tt0088275+
W. (2008)

A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush .

tt1175491
The Young Victoria (2009)

A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.

tt0962736