This page serves as an index for the films I’ve reviewed. If you want to read the posts for a film listed on this page, use the search feature.
Most of these films and shows have more than a single post devoted to them. The links here are to the first post.
Movies
13th Warrior, The
300
300 2: Rise of an Empire
300 Spartans, The
1492: The Conquest of Paradise
1776
Admiral, The (aka Michiel de Ruyter)
Advocate, The (Aka The Hour of the Pig)
Agony and the Ecstasy, The
Agora
Alexander
Amadeus
Amistad
Arn The Knight Templar
Barbarossa
Becket
Ben Hur (2016 version)
Beowulf
Boudica
Braveheart
Bruce, The
Centurion
Chi-raq
Day of the Siege (aka September Eleven, 1683)
Dracula Untold
Dragon Knight
Disney’s Robin Hood
Duchess, The
Eagle, The
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: the Golden Age
Evita
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Girl King, The
Gladiator
Gods of Egypt
Hail, Caesar!
Headsman, The (Aka Shadow of the Sword)
Henry V (Lawrence Olivier version)
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version)
Hercules (Dwayne Johnson version)
Hidden Figures
Hugo
I Am Henry
Imitation Game, The
Ironclad
Ironclad: Battle for Blood
King Arthur
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Last King, The
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Lion in Winter, The
Little Chaos, A
Little Hours, The
Madness of King George, The
Mohenjo Daro
Mrs Brown (aka Her Majesty, Mrs Brown)
Mummy, The
Nina
Normal Heart, The
Omar Khayyam
Out of Africa
Physician, The
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
Quills
Red Baron, The
Restoration
Robe, The
Robin Hood (Russell Crowe version)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Royal Affair, A
Russian Ark
Start the Revolution Without Me
Stealing Heaven
Stonewall
Suffragette
Sword of Vengeance
Thessalus and Medea
Tulip Fever
Vatel
Vision: From the Life of Hildgegarde von Bingen
War Lord, The
Wonder Woman
Witch, The
TV Shows
Almighty Johnsons, The
Confederate
Daredevil
Downton Abbey
Empire
Fall of Eagles
Game of Thrones
Gotham
Heartless
I, Claudius
Last Kingdom, The
Marco Polo
Penny Dreadful
Pose
Reign
Salem
Troy: Fall of a City
Turn: Washington’s Spies
Versailles
Vikings, The
Westworld
White Queen, The
Brie Montgomery said:
I am sooo excited to find this page! I too am always interested in the historical accuracy of movies. I insist that there should be a flashing green light of to the side to indicate, “Yes, this is accurate!” LOL
Thank you!
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aelarsen said:
Maybe movies could come with an accuracy rating, to go along with the normal rating. “This movie is rated B, for total bullshit.”
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MrPopularSentiment said:
I found your blog through Kathryn Warner’s Edward II page on Facebook and read your post about Braveheart’s overtones. I came here to see what else you’ve written about. I hope you don’t mind me making a suggestion. If it’s unwanted, please ignore me!
To curate your posts a little better, you can use WordPress’s “Category” feature. Make a category for each movie, then assign every post to the relevant movie. Once you’ve done that, you can hyperlink the movie titles on this page so that they link to the relevant category, bringing up all the posts you’ve written about that movie.
I hope this explanation doesn’t make things even more confusing. Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
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aelarsen said:
I started thinking about using Categories over the weekend, but I haven’t had time to sit down and figure out how it works (despite being a blogger, I’m not very tech-savvy). If I can find the time this week (or if my tech-slave/husband has time) I’ll see if I can get it done. Thanks for the advice!
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Kimberly said:
I am surprised you have not given a review on the Tudors or The White Queen.
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aelarsen said:
I can only review so many. They’re on my list. TV shows are more work than films, because there’s more to watch. So I do fewer shows.
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Eric said:
My friends and family give me a hard time because I complain about historical inaccuracies in movies. They say, “it’s a movie, get over it”. I say if they’re not going to make it accurate, why use real people and places? I’m glad I found your site and can’t wait to read more of your reviews. Carry on the fight for truth in film!
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aelarsen said:
I’m actually planning on doing a post about Its Just A Movie at some point.
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Eric said:
Apparently, today is “Hug your medievalist day”. So here’s a cyber-hug for you, and thank you for this very interesting and informative blog. 🙂
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aelarsen said:
Thank you. It is indeed Hug a Medievalist Day. It’s not yet a Federal holiday, but I’m sure it will be eventually, due to overwhelming popular demand
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Johnny said:
Not sure if this is something you would review or not, but I love the documentary series “Monarchy”, and would like an expert’s view on how accurate it is. Being a documentary, I would assume it was much more accurate than any movie, but I have seen a few documentaries that use assumptions and theories instead of facts. My favorite sections are the ones leading up to and including the Tudors.
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aelarsen said:
I have thought about doing a documentary, because some of them are very problematic. But there are so many that I’m not sure that the audience will be likely to have seen any specific one.
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Anna said:
I found your blog through Frock Flicks. I’m very glad I did, as you’ve been a source of great entertainment and information. I wondered if you’d encountered a 1993 film called “Anchoress”, directed by Chris Newby. I stumbled over it in college. It’s supposed to be based on accounts of a 14th century English anchorite named Christine Carpenter. I wasn’t a fan of the pacing, but it’s an interesting, small film. I admit complete ignorance as to its period accuracy.
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aelarsen said:
I’ve heard of it, but don’t know a lot about it. I’ll see if I can locate a copy to review
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L.C said:
Have you reviewed Outlander the TV show?
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aelarsen said:
I haven’t yet. I need to get access to it–I don’t have Starz.
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Kate Frohrib said:
The first few seasons of Outlander are on Netflix now, a second for that review for sure!
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Johnny said:
I know you’ve said you don’t want to review documentaries, but I just finished “Code breaker” on Netflix, about Alan Turning. He was a genius who is credited with coming up with the very idea of computers, binary code, biological mathematics, and was a key member of the team that cracked the enigma machine in World War II. He should be as known to everyone as Einstein and Newton, but because he was homosexual, he was treated like total crap by Britain and never given the respect he deserved. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, and to know how accurate the documentary was. If it was accurate, then it truly breaks my heart that such a great man was treated in such a shameful way.
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aelarsen said:
Have you read my columns on the Imitation Game? If not, you should.
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Johnny said:
Just read your column on “Imitation Game”, which I have never seen and knew little about. From everything you said, I’d say “Code Breaker” on Netflix has it pretty spot-on. I like Benedict Cumberbach, mostly as Sherlock Holmes, but I don’t think I’ll be seeing Imitation Game. I’d rather see Alan Turning’s story told accurately. As for his pardon, I guess it means something to some people, but 60 years after his death is pretty meaningless to me. Hope it atleast makes his living relatives happy.
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aelarsen said:
Yeah, his pardon is more about symbolism and an admission that the government was wrong.
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Katie L Hunter said:
Hi, I’m rooting through ‘Brave’ (the Merida Brave) and I’m putting a 5 week resource together for my classes of 12 year olds. Can I run it passed you?
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aelarsen said:
I haven’t actually seen Brave, so I might not be the best person to ask. But if I can answer a question about Scotland, I’ll be glad to.
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PeachyPerson said:
Your blog is awesome and very insightful!! Are you going to review the film Kingdom of Heaven (2005; directed by Ridley Scot and stars Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson)?
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aelarsen said:
Yes, I’ll get to it at some point
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Mahesh said:
Have you watched ‘Lion of the desert’, depicting the life of Omar Mukhtar?
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aelarsen said:
I have not. Good cast.
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Nancy Kay Eddy said:
My maiden name is Cummins which we are ancestors of John Comyn….I have trouble with John Comyn having rightful heir to the throne and Robert Bruce not ….although I love seeing anything on the subject…I feel like the Comyn’s got robbed because of John the Red being slain at the altar of Greyfriers church…Why wasn’t anything done to him for murdering someone in the church…I know they were all ruthless but don’t like seeing Robert the Bruce being a hero of Scotland when he played both sides…. just my thinking….
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aelarsen said:
The issue, as I understand it, was the complete breakdown of central government in Scotland. There wasn’t anyone strong enough to punish Bruce for the crime.
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Canadian Admirer said:
Thanks for your terrific contribution. Request: could you please review the 2006 biopic about William Wilberforce, ‘Amazing Grace?’ It would help me in my work, as I refer students to your reviews. Keep up the fantastic work!
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aelarsen said:
I’ve been really busy with work this semester, so my reviewing has sharply slowed down. If I can find time, I hope to get back to it soon. If you’d care to make a donation to my Paypal
account, I’ll be glad to put the film at the top of my list (assuming I can get access to it).
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Luanna801 said:
Your blog is absolutely incredible! Thank you so much for the thorough, balanced, thoughtful analysis.
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Harsha LulzSec said:
any future articles about Apocalypto,The Last of the Mohicans
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lieara said:
I’ve just stumbled over you blogposts about Braveheart: totally brillliant. Especially since I’ve just watched it with a friend of mine, whi was rather unimpressed my my rambeling on about its mistakes, so its fascinating to read another perspective frome someone who points out things I didn’t even notice.
Just out of curiosity, are you planning to do a blogpost about Hamilton, since you’ve already done 1776?
I’m looking forward to reading more from you
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aelarsen said:
I haven’t seen it, so I can’t review it.
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Katie said:
What’s your name? I’m trying to find your name for the article you wrote about The Mummy (1999).
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aelarsen said:
Andrew E. Larsen
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Mercédès Meyer said:
Hi
I’ve been reading through your
Blog all throughout the Easter weekend
And I’m so happy to have found some
Place that reflects my thoughts and
Feelings when watching historical
Movies , and being informed about so
Many more faults that I never noticed as
Obviously I’m not a professional.
Finally I’m not alona any more
Screaming internally when Marcus Aurelius and Gaius and Gracchus wants to ‘restore the republic’ or watching Spartans or sarmatians in battle and (god have mercy) every little bit of that King Arthur movie,
does anyone in Hollywood understand the purpose and duties of members of the Catholic Church or any knowledge of geography ?
I am not alone anymore, there are others like me, thank you for this.
Have you ever thought of reviewing
‘The messenger: story of Joan of Arc’
With mila Jovivich ? As you’re an expert in medieval England and heresy.
Or ‘a knights tale’ with heath ledger?
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aelarsen said:
I have considered both. I’ve just been too busy the past year to actually do any posting on this blog, sadly. Covid roughly tripled my workload
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Kate Frohrib said:
Would like to add Gentleman Jack to the review list when you’re able to resume reviews.
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Pingback: Historians Go to the Movies – Teaching History's Slender Threads, Including 'What Ifs', Almosts, Alternatives and Turning Points
Amy said:
Just discovered your page when I was looking for a historical viewpoint on Robin Hood (2010), and now I am going through reading all the movie reviews for those I’ve watched. My one criticism is that there is an ad for “Best Walkie Talkie” that obscures a good portion of the 2nd section on each page. For example, I cannot read any movie titles on the Index of Movies page between Amadeus and Chi-raq. I can’t find any way to remove it either.
Anyway, hoping to see more reviews in the future–is there a way to subscribe to your blog?
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