The best history movies of all time

TOPICAL scores 508 films listed as history; here are the top 250, best first. The top three are Schindler's List (1993), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), 12 Years a Slave (2013). A film can be in more than one genre. The last column is each film's rank among all 6,624 films.

Rank	Film	Year	Score	All-time rank
1	Schindler's List	1993	98.3	5
2	Lawrence of Arabia	1962	97.7	8
3	12 Years a Slave	2013	95.8	22
4	The Bridge on the River Kwai	1957	95.2	28
5	Oppenheimer	2023	94.6	34
6	Saving Private Ryan	1998	94.5	35
7	Raging Bull	1980	93.6	46
8	Amadeus	1984	92.5	61
9	The King's Speech	2010	92.3	64
10	Ben-Hur	1959	92.2	65
11	Spartacus	1960	91.1	82
12	Apollo 13	1995	89.6	110
13	Spotlight	2015	88.4	133
14	The Elephant Man	1980	87.4	154
15	The Irishman	2019	87.3	156
16	Patton	1970	87.1	161
17	Barry Lyndon	1975	86.4	178
18	The Battle of Algiers	1966	86.2	182
19	The Favourite	2018	86.0	186
20	Gandhi	1982	84.6	223
21	Dallas Buyers Club	2013	84.1	235
22	The Imitation Game	2014	83.9	240
23	Hacksaw Ridge	2016	83.8	243
24	The Right Stuff	1983	83.7	246
25	Green Book	2018	83.5	252
26	Ford v Ferrari	2019	83.3	256
27	1917	2019	83.3	257
28	The Ten Commandments	1956	83.0	265
29	Glory	1989	82.9	269
30	Shakespeare in Love	1998	82.8	271
31	The Last Emperor	1987	82.2	288
32	Judgment at Nuremberg	1961	81.7	303
33	Ran	1985	81.5	309
34	Das Boot	1981	81.4	311
35	The Untouchables	1987	81.4	312
36	The Heiress	1949	80.5	339
37	The Queen	2006	80.5	341
38	The Longest Day	1962	79.5	371
39	Braveheart	1995	79.1	386
40	Lincoln	2012	78.9	393
41	Pather Panchali	1955	78.6	402
42	Milk	2008	78.0	424
43	Out of Africa	1985	77.3	447
44	Quo Vadis, Aida?	2020	77.1	455
45	The Zone of Interest	2023	77.1	456
46	JFK	1991	76.9	462
47	I'm Still Here	2024	76.9	464
48	Hidden Figures	2016	76.7	471
49	The Thin Red Line	1998	76.6	473
50	The Killing Fields	1984	76.3	484
51	Harakiri	1962	76.2	487
52	Battleship Potemkin	1925	76.2	489
53	Gangs of New York	2002	75.3	522
54	The Lion in Winter	1968	75.2	525
55	Ed Wood	1994	75.2	526
56	Malcolm X	1992	75.0	533
57	Downfall	2004	74.9	539
58	The Wind Rises	2013	74.6	550
59	Mutiny on the Bounty	1935	74.5	552
60	Reds	1981	74.4	558
61	The Miracle Worker	1962	74.3	562
62	Brooklyn	2015	74.0	573
63	Grand Illusion	1937	73.9	576
64	Killers of the Flower Moon	2023	72.8	622
65	War and Peace	1965	72.2	646
66	Cinderella Man	2005	72.0	655
67	A Man for All Seasons	1966	71.9	660
68	Good Night, and Good Luck.	2005	70.9	705
69	Hotel Rwanda	2004	70.5	719
70	Chariots of Fire	1981	70.5	722
71	The Mission	1986	70.4	725
72	Kagemusha	1980	70.4	726
73	Les Misérables	2012	70.2	733
74	Serpico	1973	70.1	737
75	Coal Miner's Daughter	1980	69.9	748
76	Mirror	1975	69.6	759
77	The Act of Killing	2012	69.4	769
78	Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages	1916	69.4	771
79	O.J.: Made in America	2016	69.1	785
80	United 93	2006	69.0	789
81	The Post	2017	68.9	792
82	Come and See	1985	68.9	793
83	Aguirre, the Wrath of God	1972	68.8	797
84	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly	2007	68.8	798
85	The Trial of the Chicago 7	2020	68.7	804
86	Empire of the Sun	1987	68.6	807
87	Paris Is Burning	1990	68.6	808
88	The Passion of Joan of Arc	1928	68.5	810
89	Judas and the Black Messiah	2021	68.5	813
90	Quiz Show	1994	68.3	820
91	BlacKkKlansman	2018	68.2	825
92	Throne of Blood	1957	68.0	835
93	The Life of Emile Zola	1937	67.9	839
94	The King and I	1956	67.7	850
95	Darkest Hour	2017	67.6	855
96	Hero	2002	67.4	866
97	Munich	2005	67.3	869
98	Saving Mr. Banks	2013	67.2	876
99	The Virgin Spring	1960	67.0	884
100	Sergeant York	1941	67.0	885
101	No Man's Land	2001	66.6	902
102	The Voice of Hind Rajab	2025	66.6	904
103	Andrei Rublev	1966	66.0	932
104	Black Hawk Down	2001	65.8	941
105	Cyrano de Bergerac	1990	65.8	942
106	Young Mr. Lincoln	1939	65.7	948
107	Babette's Feast	1987	65.7	949
108	Society of the Snow	2023	65.6	951
109	Julius Caesar	1953	65.1	980
110	Silence	2016	64.9	989
111	Hiroshima Mon Amour	1959	64.8	995
112	War Horse	2011	64.7	999
113	Elizabeth	1998	64.5	1,011
114	The Madness of King George	1994	62.8	1,098
115	The Emigrants	1971	62.1	1,137
116	Frost/Nixon	2008	61.6	1,165
117	Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India	2001	61.5	1,169
118	Straight Outta Compton	2015	61.5	1,171
119	Julia	1977	61.4	1,174
120	The Impossible	2012	61.4	1,176
121	Henry V	1989	61.3	1,180
122	October Sky	1999	61.1	1,189
123	Becket	1964	61.0	1,194
124	The Look of Silence	2014	61.0	1,195
125	Loving Vincent	2017	60.9	1,202
126	Cold Mountain	2003	60.7	1,215
127	The Tin Drum	1979	60.6	1,218
128	First Man	2018	60.5	1,222
129	Rabbit-Proof Fence	2002	60.5	1,225
130	Vice	2018	60.1	1,248
131	Apocalypto	2006	60.0	1,255
132	RRR	2022	59.7	1,268
133	The Last of the Mohicans	1992	59.7	1,271
134	Invictus	2009	59.6	1,275
135	Amistad	1997	59.4	1,286
136	Elvis	2022	59.4	1,288
137	Land of Mine	2015	59.2	1,297
138	Ip Man	2008	58.8	1,323
139	Birdman of Alcatraz	1962	58.7	1,328
140	Tom Jones	1963	58.6	1,336
141	Lust for Life	1956	58.5	1,341
142	The Diary of Anne Frank	1959	58.4	1,348
143	A Passage to India	1984	58.1	1,364
144	The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser	1974	58.0	1,372
145	King Richard	2021	57.9	1,373
146	Seabiscuit	2003	57.8	1,381
147	Henry V	1944	57.3	1,411
148	The Two Popes	2019	57.1	1,424
149	Selma	2014	56.8	1,439
150	Charlie Wilson's War	2007	56.8	1,441
151	The Bridge	1959	56.7	1,450
152	Steve Jobs	2015	56.3	1,472
153	The Last Duel	2021	56.0	1,489
154	Cleopatra	1963	56.0	1,491
155	Quo Vadis	1951	55.8	1,504
156	Sully	2016	55.7	1,511
157	The Garden of the Finzi-Continis	1970	55.6	1,514
158	The Official Story	1985	55.6	1,516
159	Man on the Moon	1999	55.5	1,523
160	Coach Carter	2005	55.4	1,526
161	The French Lieutenant's Woman	1981	55.1	1,543
162	Richard Jewell	2019	54.9	1,557
163	Camille Claudel	1988	54.9	1,560
164	Gallipoli	1981	54.7	1,571
165	Hunger	2008	54.7	1,572
166	Of Gods and Men	2010	54.1	1,611
167	The Girl with the Needle	2024	53.8	1,631
168	Nixon	1995	53.7	1,636
169	Topsy-Turvy	1999	53.5	1,645
170	For Whom the Bell Tolls	1942	53.4	1,652
171	Finding Forrester	2000	52.6	1,704
172	The Death of Stalin	2017	52.5	1,712
173	The King	2019	52.5	1,715
174	Patriots Day	2016	52.4	1,717
175	Red Sorghum	1988	52.2	1,729
176	Air	2023	52.2	1,733
177	Hotel Mumbai	2018	52.2	1,735
178	The Last Command	1928	51.9	1,750
179	Tora! Tora! Tora!	1970	51.8	1,757
180	Mutiny on the Bounty	1962	51.8	1,761
181	Memoirs of a Geisha	2005	51.7	1,763
182	Gorillas in the Mist	1988	51.5	1,778
183	Enemy at the Gates	2001	51.4	1,783
184	Rang De Basanti	2006	51.4	1,785
185	America America	1963	51.3	1,791
186	The Count of Monte Cristo	2002	51.1	1,808
187	The Patriot	1928	51.0	1,813
188	The Patriot	2000	50.9	1,819
189	Pollock	2000	50.8	1,827
190	1900	1976	50.5	1,846
191	A Royal Affair	2012	50.4	1,854
192	The New Land	1972	50.3	1,857
193	Michael Collins	1996	50.1	1,871
194	Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan	2007	49.9	1,888
195	The Story of Louis Pasteur	1936	49.8	1,892
196	Judy	2019	49.8	1,894
197	Sophie Scholl: The Final Days	2005	49.7	1,897
198	A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood	2019	49.6	1,905
199	Anna Karenina	2012	49.6	1,908
200	Mank	2020	49.4	1,919
201	What's Love Got to Do with It	1993	49.2	1,934
202	The Iron Lady	2011	49.0	1,945
203	Joyeux Noel	2005	48.9	1,958
204	Matewan	1987	48.7	1,969
205	Rob Roy	1995	48.6	1,975
206	Gate of Hell	1953	48.6	1,976
207	The Duchess	2008	48.4	1,989
208	Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt	1989	48.3	1,996
209	Russian Ark	2002	48.1	2,011
210	The Private Life of Henry VIII	1933	47.9	2,025
211	Casualties of War	1989	47.8	2,029
212	The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas	2008	47.5	2,056
213	The Young Victoria	2009	47.4	2,062
214	Ragtime	1981	47.1	2,083
215	Mr. Turner	2014	47.0	2,090
216	Public Enemies	2009	47.0	2,091
217	The Good Earth	1937	46.7	2,108
218	Kingdom of Heaven	2005	46.4	2,132
219	Character	1997	46.2	2,144
220	Selena	1997	46.0	2,162
221	The Crucible	1996	45.9	2,166
222	Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams	2006	45.9	2,171
223	The Birth of a Nation	1915	45.8	2,178
224	Agora	2009	45.7	2,184
225	In the Valley of Elah	2007	45.7	2,187
226	The Grandmaster	2013	45.4	2,209
227	All the Money in the World	2017	45.1	2,228
228	Gunga Din	1939	45.0	2,235
229	Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport	2000	44.8	2,248
230	Belfast	2021	44.8	2,252
231	Never Look Away	2018	44.7	2,254
232	The Fall of the Roman Empire	1964	44.7	2,255
233	Breaker Morant	1980	44.7	2,259
234	Man of Iron	1981	44.6	2,263
235	Richard III	1955	44.2	2,298
236	Ivanhoe	1952	43.8	2,328
237	The Alamo	1960	43.6	2,336
238	Camille	1936	43.6	2,337
239	Europa Europa	1990	43.5	2,345
240	Katyn	2007	43.4	2,351
241	Alexander Nevsky	1938	43.2	2,372
242	Cabiria	1914	43.1	2,376
243	A Bridge Too Far	1977	43.1	2,379
244	No	2012	42.6	2,412
245	The Baader Meinhof Complex	2008	42.6	2,417
246	Confessions of a Dangerous Mind	2002	42.5	2,426
247	The Decameron	1971	42.4	2,428
248	The New World	2006	42.3	2,440
249	The Way Back	2010	42.2	2,443
250	Robin Hood	2010	41.9	2,471