I was on the ask a Canadian sub, and was reminiscing about the movies filmed in Alberta. It got me thinking about Little Big Man in particular – some of the scenes were filmed near my home town, and I think that movie takes the cake for me. Even though it’s old as fuck. Dances With Wolves is my second place.

Figured I’d ask the crowd. What is your favorite movie about American history? It can be non-fiction, or fictional based on real events (like Little Big Man).

33 comments

  4. This is a little expansive of a topic so I’ll list my favorite war movies/series involving America –

    Last of the Mohicans

    Glory

    Saving Private Ryan

    Band of Brothers

    We Were Soldiers

    Platoon

    Full Metal Jacket

    Generation Kill

  8. What a tough question. It’s funny, at the end of the day the only movie I can think of that’s really about American history (as opposed to a movie that just takes place in the past, like a western or The Godfather something) that I’ve watched multiple times in recent years is *Cannibal! The Musical*.

    Unless we can count Colin Quinn’s *New York Story* special? Because if so, it’s that.

  9. The Patriot! And The Last of the Mohicans!

    Naw but besides those Remember The Titans, Forest Gump and The Color Purple.

  10. Man, as a historical drama fan who has sought out nearly every historical drama based on American history, this is a hard question

    I’ve watched Lincoln a million times. Daniel Day Lewis and really the entire cast just makes it such an amazing movie. It’s probably in my top 10 movies. Glory was the first movie to make me cry

    The Wind is a phycological horror based on the loneliness/isolation of living on prairie, the impact of legends/stories on some ones metal health and the trauma people had to just…live with. It’s a fictional story, but when you read diaries of those who lived alone and isolated from others on on the prairie, a lot of those fears and mental health issues can be seen.

    Thirteen Days is a solid movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Good night, and Good Luck was a good watch. I thought Bridge of Spies was good, but haven’t watched it in a bit. Hasn’t come out yet, but The Janes seems like its well made and I’m interested in watching it

  13. Gangs of New York. It’s a larger than life, mythologized view of some of the events that formed the country we know today.

  14. A League of Their Own. First, it’s a great baseball movie, but it’s also a really good view into American life “back home” during WWII and the beginnings of women shifting from traditional homemaking.

  15. The Malcom X film is a bit dated but I think it’s a good perspective on the civil rights era. I feel they strawmanned Malcom and the Nation of Islam a bit though

  17. I have a soft spot for the movie Gettysburg because I grew up only 45 minutes from the town, and it always has been and always will be one of my favorite places to visit.

    Really good movie though, personal bias aside! It’s very long but also very accurate for a history movie (it’s based on a very well researched historical fiction novel).

  19. Band of brothers. 200%. I watch at least once a year. Prepare to ugly cry. True story and the series is done exceptionally well.

  20. “The Master” is not about American history per se, but it is set on a particular moment in American history in the 1940s and 50s and to me seems so evocative of a certain type of people in the period that it feels like a historical event.

    There are a few films that really feel that way, through some trick of set design or costuming or something. I don’t know what it is, because it’s certainly not every film set in the past. But some films just make it click. Other movies that come to mind are “Carol” and “Doubt.” Both of those are also set in the post-war period so maybe I’m just susceptible to that era for some reason.

    Then there are movies that are time capsules and particularly capture a moment in history when they were made. Robert Altman’s “Nashville” was self-consciously a panorama of America in the bicentennial year and makes me feel like I understand something of that era.

  29. Honestly, that 2012 Lincoln movie got me right in the feels.

    Of course I decided at like 8 years old that Lincoln looked like my dad so like… yeah watching your dad get shot brings up feelings. Genuinely good movie but it probably hits me harder than most. Doesn’t help that the actor gave Lincoln a fair few of my dad’s mannerisms. I dunno, might be an interesting twist to watch it knowing that someone out there sees Lincoln as a genuine father figure.

  31. Saving private Ryan, hidden figures, the butler, Oppenheimer will probably take the number 1 next year

  32. “Sweet Land”. A bit of an obscure independent film from 2005 based on the short story “A Gravestone Made of Wheat”. It’s a really modest film about the struggle of a German orphan struggling to integrate into a small rural village in Post-World War I Minnesota considering the rampant anti-German sentiment. Admittedly, the film is a very slow burn but it’s simple and to the point.

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