There’s a strong desire for clashing swords, chainmail-clad men, and horseback posturing. Thrones and Rings are full fantasy, removed from the Middle Ages, but many outstanding films are set in what we’d call “the real” Middle Ages. So we decided to calculate a list of the top 8 best medieval movies ever made.
A list of true medieval films that portray the period and its associated stories. They are rooted in reality, even if they may not always adhere to it. From A Knight’s Tale to Henry V, the finest medieval films are must-sees for any cinema enthusiast. So without further ado, let’s look at the list of some of the best medieval movies.
Outline and Ratings of Medieval Movies
| Movie Name | Release Date | IMDb Rating | Rotten Tomatoes |
| Seven Samurai | April 26, 1954 | 8.6/10 | 100% |
| Monty Python and the Holy Grail | May 25, 1975 | 8.2/10 | 98% |
| Ran | June 1, 1985 | 8.2/10 | 96% |
| The Passion of Joan of Arc | October 25, 1928 | 8.2/10 | 98% |
| The Seventh Seal | February 16, 1957 | 8.1/10 | 93% |
| Andrei Rublev | December 16, 1966 | 8.1/10 | 95% |
| The Adventures of Robin Hood | May 14, 1938 | 7.9/10 | 100% |
| Kagemusha | April 26, 1980 | 7.9/10 | 88% |
1. Seven Samurai
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Cast:
- Toshiro Mifune
- Takashi Shimura
- Keiko Tsushima
- Isao Kimura
- Daisuke Katō
- Seiji Miyaguchi
- Yoshio Inaba
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 207 minutes long.
Seven Samurai is a fine wine of a movie. It is one of the best medieval movies ever filmed. The plot around in 1586, a bandit group considered invading a mountain community, but their leader postponed the raid until after the harvest.
When the villagers hear this, they resort to Gisaku, the local elder and miller, who advises them to recruit samurai to defend them. Katsushir, a young samurai, approaches Kambei and requests to be his apprentice.
Kambei equips the villagers with bamboo spears and splits them into teams to plan defences. The samurai are enraged when Kikuchiyo gives them armour and weapons obtained by murdering other samurai who were injured or fleeing the fight. In a pre-emptive strike, the samurai burn down the bandits’ camp.
Rikichi, a disturbed peasant assisting the samurai, gets down when he notices his wife, who was abducted and forced to become a concubine after a previous raid. When she sees him, she flees inside a burning cottage, where she dies; while trying to rescue him, her husband is murdered.
Many are killed as the defenders repel every attack, including cavalry charges allowed through a breach to be ambushed. Kyz goes out on his own and rescues one, while an envious Kikuchiyo abandons his group to bring back another.
Kyz’s bandit chief, armed with a musket, hides in the women’s house and shoots Kyz dead. Kikuchiyo infuriated, charges in and is shot but murders the chief before dying. The defenders allow the remaining bandits to enter the settlement and ambush them the next morning. Those peasants have won the victory. Not with us.
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Director: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
Cast:
- Graham Chapman
- John Cleese
- Terry Gilliam
- Eric Idle
- Terry Jones
- Michael Palin
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 92 minutes long.
This movie is arguably one of the best medieval movies of all time. The plot revolves around King Arthur and his knights touring Britain in 932 in quest of recruits to join the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot are recruited.
Arthur brings the knights to Camelot but, after a musical number, changes his mind, calling it “a stupid place” Arthur resolves that the knights should go their own ways to find the Holy Grail.
Arthur and his knights reassemble, and three new knights, as well as Brother Maynard and his monk colleagues, join them. They encounter Tim the Enchanter, who leads them to a cave where the Grail’s whereabouts are claimed to be written. They discover an inscription from Joseph of Arimathea within the cave, guiding them to Castle Aarrgh.
The knights reach the Bridge of Death, where the bridge-keeper demands three answers, or they will be flung into the Gorge of Eternal Peril. When Arthur inquires about an intricate subject regarding swallows, the bridge keeper cannot respond and is pushed down the abyss.
After being repulsed by manure rains, they gather an army of knights and plan to attack the fortress. Police arrive as the army charges, arrest Arthur andBedevere for the murder of the historian, and destroy the camera.
3. Ran
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: War, Action, Drama
Cast:
- Tatsuya Nakadai
- Akira Terao
- Jinpachi Nezu
- Daisuke Ryu
- Mieko Harada
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 162 minutes long.
Ran is a movie that everyone should watch. Arguably one of the best medieval movies of all time. The plot follows Hidetora Ichimonji, a strong but ageing warlord who chooses to split his empire among his three sons.
The eldest Taro will be awarded the famous First Castle and become the clan’s head. Jiro and Saburo will be given the Second and Third Castles, respectively. The youngest son, Saburo, is exiled after questioning his father’s unification sermon.
His father’s servant, Tango, is also exiled for supporting Saburo. Lady Kaede, enraged by her husband’s murder of her family and seizing their property, takes control of the clan.
Kyoami and Tango, who are still devoted to Hidetora, track him down and stay to help. Jiro ascends to the position of Great Lord of the Ichimonji clan and settles into the First Castle. Lady Kaede dupes Jiro into having an affair with her and then demands that he murder Lady Sue and marries her instead.
After a ceasefire, Saburo learns about Hidetora’s possible location via Kyoami. Tsurumaru and Sue arrive to the remains of a castle, but they leave the flute that Sue gave him when he was banished behind. While she gives him a picture of Amida Buddha for protection, she never returns.
Kurogane kills Sue when she admits her aim is to get revenge on the Ichimonji clan. Jiro, Kurogane, and all of Jiro’s troops are killed in combat. Saburo and Hidetora’s funeral procession is held. Meanwhile, Tsurumaru stumbles while alone amid the castle ruins, dropping the Amida Buddha figure Sue had given him.
4. The Passion of Joan of Arc
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Genre: Indie film, War, Historical Fiction
Cast:
- Renée Jeanne Falconetti
- Eugène Silvain
- André Berley
- Maurice Schutz
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 110 minutes, restored version is 82 minutes long.
The plot of the movie follows Joan of Arc who is arrested in Compiegne after leading the French in multiple battles against the English during the Hundred Years’ War.
Her judges, who are on the side of the Burgundian-English alliance and opposed to the King of France, try to get her to say something that will invalidate her claim. One or two of them believe she is a saint and support her.
After seeing the torture chamber, she retracts her confession and requests the judges’ release from her jail. According to the subtitle, the flames protect her soul as it ascends to Heaven. As the flames devour Joan, the army and the mob clash, resulting in several deaths.
5. The Seventh Seal
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Cast:
- Gunnar Björnstrand
- Bengt Ekerot
- Nils Poppe
- Max von Sydow
- Bibi Andersson
- Inga Landgré
- Åke Fridell
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 96 minutes long.
The Swedish historical fantasy film The Seventh Seal, written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, was released in 1957. It chronicles the journey of a medieval knight and a chess game he plays with Death, who has come to take his life, set in Sweden during the Black Death. It was known as one of the best medieval movies ever made.
The narrative follows a disillusioned knight, Antonius Block, and his cynical squire, Jöns, who has returned from the Crusades. The knight encounters Death and dares him to a game of chess, believing that he can survive as long as the game continues.
In confession, Block expresses his desire to perform “one meaningful deed” after what he believes to be a pointless existence. Plog and the performers have been asked by Block to escape his castle in the event of an outbreak.
Skat approaches a tree to spend the night, but Death appears beneath it and cuts it down. Jof’s second sight allows him to see the knight and his companions being dragged down the mountainside in the frantic Dance of Death.
6. Andrei Rublev
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Genre: History, Drama
Cast:
- Anatoly Solonitsyn
- Ivan Lapikov
- Nikolai Grinko
- Nikolai Sergeyev
- Irma Raush
- Nikolai Burlyayev
Official Trailer:
Running Time: Tarkovsky’s first cut is 205 minutes and Tarkovsky final cut is 183 minutes long.
Andrei Rublev is a Soviet biographical historical drama film directed and co-written by Andrei Tarkovsky and Andrei Konchalovsky.
The film was re-edited from Tarkovsky’s 1966 film The Passion According to Andrei, which was prohibited during the first decade of the Soviet Union’s Brezhnev period. It is a bit controversial but also one of the best medieval movies ever produced.
The film is partially based on the biography of Andrei Rublev, a Russian icon painter from the 15th century. Andrei Rublev is broken into eight episodes, with a prologue and epilogue that are only tangentially linked to the main story.
The primary film follows the legendary icon painter’s life via seven segments that either mirror or illustrate episodic shifts in his life. The setting is 15th-century Russia, during a violent time marked by conflict between competing rulers and Tatar invasions.
Themes in the film include artistic freedom, religion, political ambiguity, autodidacticism, and the creation of art in the face of repression. As a result, it was not distributed domestically in the officially atheist Soviet Union for years after it was completed, with the exception of a solitary showing in Moscow in 1966.
7. The Adventures of Robin Hood
Director: Michael Curtiz
Genre: Action, Adventure
Cast:
- Errol Flynn
- Olivia de Havilland
- Basil Rathbone
- Claude Rains
- Una O’Connor
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 102 minutes long.
The film is made on the true story of Robin Hood, who fought for the Saxons against the Normans during King Richard the Lionheart’s absence in the Holy Land during the Crusades. No doubt it is one of the best medieval movies ever filmed. Much effort is expended in recruiting males to join Robin’s band.
One of Robin Hood’s Merry Men is captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham, Gisbourne, and King Richard’s ward Lady Marian. The Sheriff proposes holding an archery contest with Lady Marian awarding the golden arrow prize to catch Robin.
Robin competes in the competition, is recognized for his unrivalled archery ability, and is sentenced to death. Marian assists the Merry Men in their plan to save Robin, and the two vow their love for one another.
King Richard and his soldiers disguise themselves as Norman monks, proceed through Sherwood, and are halted by Robin. Richard accepts Robin’s offer of hospitality and his rejection of the Crusades.
Marian overhears and writes to Robin, but Gisbourne discovers her and sentences her to death. Dickon Malbete is sent by John to assassinate Richard in exchange for Dickon Robin’s title and estates.
They disguise themselves as monks and infiltrate the Black Canons’ fortress. Once inside, Richard declares his presence, and a massive melee ensues. The king raises Robin to the position of Baron of Locksley and Earl of Sherwood and Nottingham.
8. Kagemusha
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Action, Historical Fiction, Adventure
Cast:
- Tatsuya Nakadai
- Tsutomu Yamazaki
- Kenichi Hagiwara
- Jinpachi Nezu
Official Trailer:
Running Time: 180 minutes long.
Akira Kurosawa directed the jidaigeki (Japanese theatrical) film Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior). It is set in Japanese history during the Sengoku period and follows the narrative of a lower-class criminal who is instructed to imitate the dying daimyo Takeda Shingen.
In order to deter competing lords from assaulting the suddenly vulnerable clan. Kagemusha, literally “shadow warrior,” is the Japanese name for a political decoy. It is arguably one of the best medieval movies ever made.
In 1571, a daimy of the Takeda clan is shot while witnessing his army’s siege of Ieyasu’s castle. He orders the withdrawal of his armies and instructs his generals to keep his death a secret for three years. The generals then determine that they cannot trust the thief and decide to free him. Later, the jar is dumped into Lake Suwa, which is witnessed by spies working for the Tokugawa and Oda troops.
When the kagemusha is called upon to preside over a clan gathering, he convincingly evades the generals’ attempts to persuade him otherwise. Soon after, Nobunaga mobilizes his soldiers to fight Azai Nagamasa, extending his war in central Honshu to preserve his rule over Kyoto.
Katsuyori Takeda is the son of Shingen, a kagemusha who was forced to lead reinforcements in the Battle of Takatenjin after his father fell off his horse and lost his war scars.
Katsuyori takes over the clan’s military affairs and leads a counter-offensive against Nobunaga at Nagashino. The Oda and Tokugawa armies feel emboldened to launch a full-scale invasion against the Takeda territory after sensing weakness in their leadership.
Despite their valor, many waves of Takedas are killed by volleys of gunfire from Oda arquebusiers stationed behind wooden stockades.
Conclusion
Here we have it, The eight best medieval movies ever produced. It is not an easy task to pick just eight from so many great medieval firms out there. But we do sincerely hope that our list will help you to get an idea regarding what to watch if you crave some medieval actions.
Medieval films exist in a variety of styles, some good, some awful, some historical, and others more fantasy than historical. Hopefully, this article will provide information about all-time favorite medieval films.
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