'Tis truly rare that a lad such as I might become engrossed in such thrilling tales of olden days. Aye that this may be true, but whence I become enthralled, indeed yon films tend to linger in mine head! Travel with me now, to days of old, as we review my top 5 movies set in the distant past:
Red Cliff (2008)When it was released, Red Cliff quickly became the highest grossing movie in China of all time. Produced by legendary action star John Woo, it tells the story of the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history (one of my favorite time periods to study, so again kinda biased but who cares). This is a long movie, and even had to be cut down for the American version by several hours, and expanded into two parts, so I'll try to give a brief description of the plot:
After the fall of the Han dynasty, one of China's most prosperous times, the land was divided and left without central leadership. This led into the Three Kingdoms period, in which China was brutally battled over between three warlords, and several other smaller armies vying for power. Red Cliff takes place during one of the pivotal battles of this era, the battle of Red Cliff. There are a lot of characters to follow, but thats the gist.
Okay okay, so I kinda geeked out there, but for Pete's sake, I love this time period so much I almost studied Chinese history in college just so I could learn more! There have been a lot of movies set during the Three Kingdoms era within the past few years, (Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, Red Cliff pt. 1 and 2, The Lost Bladesman, The Assassins, Little Big Soldier) but Red Cliff is by far the best. Just...go watch it. It's on Netflix, okay? GO!
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany take the lead in what I would easily consider my favorite historic movie. Set during the Napoleonic wars, the film follows Captain Jack Aubrey (Crowe), a British naval captain as he pursues a French ship containing sensitive information that could cost many lives if not stopped. Aside from the fantastic naval combat, every actor in the movie plays their part extraordinarily convincingly, leading to some wonderful, and some heart-breaking moments, surprisingly none of which involve any romance. Paul Bettany co-stars as Aubrey's long-time friend and the ships surgeon, Dr. Matruin. The back-and-forth between Crowe and Bettany progresses the story very well, even when cannonballs aren't flying.
The movie is fairly long, but I'd definitely call it a must-see, whether you're looking for drama, action, or story.
Gangs of New York (2002)Set during the Civil War, the story revolves around the Five Points district of New York, during an ongoing dispute between U.S.-born Americans, and the rising swell of immigrants, being primarily Irish. Leonardo DiCaprio gives, what I feel is one of his strongest performances as Amsterdam Vallon, the son of the Irish immigrant's leader. After his father is killed by their rival gang's leader, Bill Cutting, a.k.a. The Butcher (played amazingly by Daniel Day Lewis) when he is a child, he seeks revenge by siding with The Butcher when he grows up. Cameron Diaz also stars, but honestly in my opinion she does a forgettable job.
Another fairly long, and dialogue heavy movie, but the constant stream of tense moments between Amsterdam and Bill lead up to a satisfying climax.
The Last Samurai (2003)Tom Cruise movies are pretty iffy to me, but when he has a good movie, its fantastic! This is one of those times. The movie takes place during the initial Westernization of Japan, and follows U.S. military commander Nathan Algren as he is sent to instruct the Japanese armies on western military tactics. As the title hints, the time period also takes place during the end of the samurai era. Algren is captured during an initial battle with the samurai, and eventually comes to embrace their ways after meeting Katsumoto (played by Ken Watanabe, a phenomenal eastern actor), a high-ranking Samurai warrior.
The plot may be a little "Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas/Avatar/etc...", but its still a great ride. I'm kind of a sucker for Asian cinema, and this strikes a perfect balance between East/West, making it easy to follow whether or not you know anything about the time period.
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)Musical, yes. Gory, yes. But great story and acting, most definitely! Rounding out my period-movies is Sweeny Todd. If you know Tim Burton, you know what this movie will look like, and who it'll star. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, it follows the story of Sweeny Todd, a man recently released from wrongful imprisonment in Industrial-age London. He seeks revenge on the man who wrongfully convicted him, and kills lots of people on the way, but that's not why he does it. He's just jaded and misunderstood. Great acting, good music, way on the gory side, so if you're squeamish, beware. All-in-all though, worth at least one watch!
Pretty soon, they'll beam it into your brain...
Now that we've successfully re-lived the past through some fantastic cinematic experiences, let's take a look at what the future holds! Whether travelling to far-off galaxies and meeting three-boobed alien prostitutes, or even here on the nuclear wasteland that is earth, the future holds some interesting potential. Let's take a look!
Equilibrium (2002)Starring Christian Bale (before he was just the Batman guy) and Sean Bean (before he was the Game of Thrones guy), Equilibrium takes place in a dystopian future where all traces of emotion have been eliminated from life, leading to perfection and order. But, as there always is, there is resistance in the form of an underground movement who decides not to take their emotion-regulating pills. What follows is a predictable action movie, but with some spectacular visuals, and some of the coolest gun-play scenes I've seen in any movie. The main characters practice a form of gun-fu, basically just total ass-kickery, while wielding two pistols. Solid acting all around, definitely a fun movie. Its on Netflix, so no excuses!
The Fifth Element (1997)Directed by Luc Besson (director of Leon: The Professional, and the upcoming film Lucy), and starring Bruce Willis (Die Hard) and Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil), this is one of my all-time favorites. Every 5,000 years, an ancient evil awakens to destroy humanity. And in futuristic New York, its up to former soldier, and current cab driver Korben Dallas (Willis) to save the day.
This movie is a pop culture gem, and nowadays has a huge pop culture following. Check it out (again, on Netflix) of you like comedy, action, romance, y'know what...just watch it. You'll like it, I promise.
Idiocracy (2006)This is not your typical futuristic movie, but by far I find its the most accurate portrayal that I can imagine of the future. When an oafish army-man (Luke Wilson) is used in an experiment to freeze soldiers to be un-thawed in the future, he is accidentally frozen for hundreds of years. While he's frozen, the planet takes its natural course, and becomes filled with inbred, uneducated, beer chugging, Jackass-watching morons. The formerly not-so-bright soldier wakes up as the smartest person on the planet, which isn't saying much!
This movie has no small chunk of political commentary in it's quirky, dumb humor, but either way its very fun to watch the potential future where all water is replaced by energy drinks, the president is a former professional wrestler, and the popular restaurant Fuddrucker's has changed its name to....well, I'll let you find out. Its not hard.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)This may not be the typical flying cars, aliens and space-travel movie, but this near-future dark comedy is definitely worth checking out. Society is largely the same, except that everyone can get a procedure done that allows you to wipe your memory clean of certain events, or in this case, people. Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb & Dumber) stars, and goes through the process of having his ex-girlfriend wiped from his mind.
Visually, this is a movie you're going to want to pay attention for. There's a lot happening, but the way it all fits together is very interesting and unique. Very engrossing characters and a solid story equal a somewhat overlooked gem. Once again, its on Netflix.
Starship Troopers (1997)Finally we have another cult classic space action movie. Known for the ironic and terrible acting, and based on a book that the movie plot has damn near nothing to do with, it follows Rico (Casper Van Dien) and his friends as they join the army to fight off a race of gigantic bug aliens. Its hard to describe this movie in a serious light, so I'm honestly going to just suggest you check it out (EHEM....ON NETFLIX, they should really be paying me for mentioning them so much).
NOTE: At least 7 of the 10 movies I discussed are on Netflix instant stream, so check them out. You don't even have to get up to buy/rent them!
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