movies to go along with the ancients

[melissaL]

hi. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions of movies to go along with the Ancients.:001_smile: year 9 WTM history.
so far I have on my list;
The 10 Commandments.
Clash of the Titans.
Troy.
Jason and the Argonauts.

any more ??

thank you

[Laura K (NC)]

Here are the movies I gleaned from that thread. If I remember correctly, Netflix was recommended as a good source of ancient history movies. I can tell you that I am currently teaching a middle school co-op class on ancient history generals/battles, and I just showed a Netflix movie (somewhat edited by me) about Qin Shi Huangdi that I thought was well done, but that was a documentary instead of historical fiction. My list includes Christian movies:

Ancient History: movies

*Helen of Troy (1956) VHS
Dir. Robert Wise, With Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Brigitte Bardot
The Trojan war from the Trojan viewpoint.

*The 300 Spartans (1962) VHS
Dir. Rudolph Maté. With Diane Baker, Robert Brown 
Based on the history of Spartan king Leonidis and 300 soldiers holding off Xerxes attack at Thermopylae.
*Socrates (TV)(1970) in Italian VHS
Dir. Roberto Rossellini
#Barefoot in Athens (TV) (1966) 76 mins. VHS
Dir. George Schaefer
The last days of Socrates, including his trial.

*The Odyssey (1997) [TV Miniseries] 2 hours 49 mins VHS
Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky, With Armand Assante (Odysseus), Greta Scacchi (Penelope), Isabella Rossellini (Athene), Bernadette Peters (Circe), Eric Roberts, Irene Papas, Vanessa L. Williams (Calypso)

Oedipus Rex (Theban Plays) 45 mins.
With Anthony Quayle, James Mason, Claire Bloom, Ian Richardson.
A presentation of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, performed in the authentic setting of a fifth-century Greek theater, with the use of masks made after ancient models. [At UC Berkeley]
Oedipus the King (1968) 97 mins
Dir. Philip Saville, With Christopher Plummer and Orson Welles.

*Alexander the Great (1956) 143 mins VHS
Dir. Michael Forlong and Robert Rossen. With Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Peter Cushing, Michael Hordern
Currently the main Hollywood-made Alexander movie.
The Ptolemies
BBC TV series.

*A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) VHS
Dir. Richard Lester, With Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers.
Based on Plautus' play Miles Gloriosus.

Julius Caesar (1953) VHS Marlon Brando

I, Claudius DVD ~ Robert Graves (II)


21. Constantine and The Cross DVD ~ Cornel Wilde

*Ben-Hur (1959)
US, Religious/Historical, 212, No rating, Color 
Director: William Wyler: Cast includes: Charleton Heston, Stephen Boyd
-Based on Lew Wallace's book. The story of Judah Ben-Hur and his boyhood friend Messala. Ben Hur is a love story between two men: Heston was not let into the secret (he has made a career of unacknowledged homoeroticism -- see The Agony and the Ecstasy or Planet of the Apes], but Boyd knew what role he was to play. The Arena sequences are among the best put on film.

Quo Vadis? (1951)
US, Historical, 171, No rating, Color 
Director: Mervyn LeRoy; Cast includes: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov
-Story of St. Peter. Among other things.
*The Robe (1953)
US, Religious, 135, No rating, Color 
Director: Henry Koster; Cast includes: Richard Burton, Victor Mature, Jean Simmons
-Based on Lloyd C. Douglas' novel about Roman centurion who presides over Christ's crucifixion. The first movie in CinemaScope.

*Constantino Il Grande (1961)[Alt: Constantine The Great \Constantine And The Cross] 
Italy, Drama, 120, No Rating, Color
Director: Lionello de Felice; Star; Cornel Wilde,Belinda Lee. 
-The story of the founder of Byzantium in the center of which is the scene of the flaming cross which the Emperor sees in the sky just before the big battle. The movie gives a conventionally pious view of Constantine. Leonard Maltin rates it as "intelligent".

Agostino d'Ippona [aka Augustine of Hippo] (1972)
Italy, 121 mins. 
Directory: Roberto Rossellin
The life of St, Augustine of Hippo by one of the masters of Italian Cinema.

*Simón del desierto (1965) [Alt: Simon of the Desert]
Mexico, historical religious, 44 1965 Black and White, In Spanish 
Director: Luis Buñuel; Cast includes: Claudio Brook (Simon), Silvia Pinal
- Buñuel's version of the story of St. Simon Stylites, who stood on a pillar for forty years. This is one of the best accounts of Early Christian Asceticism ever put on screen.

[melissaL]

thank you very much.
I don't have Netfix here in Australia, but I am a member of the acmi lending library that have lots of lovely older movies. ( no new ones)they have some of the movies you listed.
thank you

[Rhondabee]

Wow, Laura! Thanks!!

And thanks for asking, Melissa! =)

[Lori D.]

hi. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions of movies to go along with the Ancients.:001_smile: year 9 WTM history.
so far I have on my list;
The 10 Commandments.
Clash of the Titans.
Troy.
Jason and the Argonauts.

any more ??

thank you



ANCIENT CHINA
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(CAUTION: there are 1-2 scenes of lovers, clothed but getting intimate, which we fast forward over for our 2 teen boys.)


ANCIENT GREECE
- The Odyssey (1997 made for TV movie with Armand Assante)
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963 film with Ray Harryhausen special effects)


ANCIENT ROME
- Spartacus (1960 film with Kirk Douglas)
- Quo Vadis (1951 film with Peter Ustinov)


ANCIENT PALESTINE
- Ben Hur (1959 film with Charleston Heston)
- The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965 film with Max Von Sydow)
- The Gospel of John (the entire Bible book of John enacted; we found this to be unexpectedly moving in its simplicity)

I haven't personally seen it, but I heard that The Nativity (2005 film) was fairly good, focusing on Mary and Joseph and birth of Jesus in ancient Palestine.

[MamaT]

This link has movies (some reviewed) for every time period:

http://www.vernonjohns.org/snuffy1186/movies.html

[laughing lioness]

You guys are amazing! These are great lists. I'm printing them for next year- thank-you!:001_smile:

[Laura K (NC)]

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13608&highlight=ancient+history+movies

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17455&highlight=ancient+history+movies

[Julie in MN]

We watched Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. They were helpful, I thought, and fun (wasn't Elizabeth Taylor in one?).