Dan Snow Rates the Best Historical Films of All Time
Historian Dan Snow reviews the top five historical movies of all time, as voted for by the public in a History Hit poll.
First up, he reviews famous scenes from the Ridley Scott masterpiece Gladiator (2000), starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Is it the greatest Hollywood movie set in the ancient world? You certainly thought so.
Next, it's one of the greatest Hollywood movies about space exploration, Apollo 13 (1995). According to the astronauts who really took part in the ill-fated mission to the moon, this film is particularly faithful to the true story.
Third, Dan reviews scenes from one of his own favourite films, Last of the Mohicans (1992). This movie brilliantly depicts combat between Native Americans and European colonial soldiers during the 1750s, and features an incredible lead performance from Daniel Day Lewis.
In second place is one of the most moving films of the last century, Schindler's List (1993), in which Liam Neeson plays the leading role. Oskar Schindler really did save the lives of thousands of Jews during the Second World War, but Dan believes the movie is kind to the real historic figure.
And finally, its Steven Spielberg's World War Two epic, Saving Private Ryan (1998). The film follows a group of US soldiers who go behind enemy lines in Normandy to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
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00:00 Introduction
00:21 Gladiator (2000)
05:43 Apollo 13 (1995)
09:29 The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
15:35 Schindler's List (1993)
20:54 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the video! 😀 Do you agree with the Top 5 films? You can see the full Top 50 from the public poll here 👉 www.historyhit.com/culture/top-historical-films/
The paint scheme of the saturn 5 in apollo 13 was completely wrong which is pretty staggering they didn't get that right since there are thousands of photos of the real saturn 5 launches.
My Grandfather was a medic in the invasion of Italy, he took himself off to see Saving Private Ryan when it came out. Said it was incredibly accurate as an experience, remember him saying the only thing missing was the smell.
A bit surprised that Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven didn't make the top 50 list, especially the Director's Cut. Even though it's not flawless (of course), I believe it belongs up there. Lawrence of Arabia starring Peter O'Toole should really be up there, as should i.e. Ben Hur. That said, there are so many historical films that are **not** made in the USA that should be up there, more than I can think of off the top of my head... But "Libertarias" (about the spanish civil war), "Ridicule" (about the french upper class in Versailles before the first revolution), "Dien Bien Phû" (about the famous battle that sealed the french indochinese colonial rule's demise), "Battleship Potemkin" (about the mutiny in Russia in 1905), and many, many more non- american films. Another film that comes to mind, that made a schocking impression on me, was the brazilian film "Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco" from 1980. The film is credibly depicting the life of a poor 10-year old boy from São Paulo and his life in misery trying to survive on his own. Even though the film is fictional, it gives a realistic view of the unforgiving life in the favelas. Fernando Ramos da Silva, playing Pixote, was tragically killed at the age of 19 by Brazilian police in São Paulo.
Definitely worth reviewing "Conspiracy" from 2001, staring Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, showing the 'conference' where the Nazi elite agreed the plan for the final solution. All taking place in a board room, over one afternoon, it's a horrific depiction of how "common sense" and "compromise" can lead to genocide.
could easily do another 5: Braveheart, Master & Commander, We Were Soldiers, Tombstone/Wyatt Earp, Black Hawk Down
Ralph Fiennes said that Goeth was a psychopath first, nazi second. He was relieved of his duties for excessive cruelty in a concentration camp, which shows how sick and sadistic he was.
What a load of rubbish.....fairy stories all made up..as all it was...you have fallen for the narrative bs..
You know you're sick when the Nazis fire you for bring cruel.
If you've not heard of him,check out an SS psycho office called Oskar Dirlewanger. He REALLY was a nasty,sadistic piece of work.
Amon Göth was not relieved of his duties, sued and imprisoned due to his sadistic behaviour, but rather because of private gain, black market deals and corruption in general
@C Z you aren't entirely incorrect, but a primary reason for his relief was due to violation of standards in prisoner care (ironic, i know) and failure to provide food to prisoners. Remember, his camp was primarily a LABOR camp, not a kill camp. They didn't care about the Jewish/minority prisoners but they did care about meeting their industrial needs. It wasn't a morality based punishment for violation of treatment standards, but a punishment because the efficiency of the labor was being stilted by Goth's actions.
The Mission Control Center in Apollo 13 was so accurate that astronaut Dave Scott, who acted as a technical consultant on the film, would turn in the wrong direction to find the men's room, because it was in a different place at the film studio. He kept subconsciously thinking that he was in Houston.
The only inaccuracy in the replication of Mission Control was the number of panes of glass they needed to put into the VIP viewing area. Because it was a lightweight studio construction, they needed more panes than in the original.
@@EricIrl I laugh at those details
Fantastic anecdote!
Did he show the sandpit where they pretended to land on the moon?
@@alexandros8361 It was from a documentary. I've never met the man.
The thing I'll always remember about Saving Private Ryan is the older Ryan breaking down at the end, asking his wife "have I lived a good life"? Even though he's only a film character, the scene makes me want to cry, for all the young men who had to come back from that war and go on with life wondering why they got to survive, but their buddy didn't.
Nathan Fillion plays a blinder as another Private Ryan, mistaken for the Private Ryan they're looking for, who is told that his brothers are dead and immediately thinks of his brothers who are still at school back home, and bursts into tears.
When Swiger radioed that famous line to Houston, he was utterly calm and professional. So were all subsequent communications from the crew. There was no panic in their voices. Listening to the recordings, you would never guess that something serious had happened. They were such highly trained, seasoned professionals. But that wouldn't convey the seriousness in a movie.
People would have trouble believing you could be that calm in a situation like that. Most of us aren't taught how to maintain when things go south because of the liability culture we have on the ground.
iirc, Lovell is the person who spent the most time in space, so it really tracks.
Actually, he had this record until one of the skylab missions, my apologies.
The original call of ‘Houston, we have a problem,' is possibly the greatest understatement there has ever been.
I am old enough to remember it
He's right about Oscar Schindler. In reality he was a lot worse than depicted in the movie. Which is why it's even more amazing that he did a complete 180 and did the good things that he did.
What did he do? He helped the Nazis kill Americans and so did everyone who worked for him. None of them are heroes.
Even the worst of humanity still have a heart beating inside of them, some of them at least
I feel that the film presents him quite ambiguously; you can never be sure if he is motivated by morality or opportunism, even at the end, his list could be viewed as an insurance policy to protect him from potential prosecution following the defeat of the Nazis. The only scene that presents his actions as genuinely humanist is when he breaks down at the realisation of what he had done and how much more he could have.
He's basically the living embodiment of the question 'Is it better to be born good, or overcome evil with great effort?' I don't think anyone has an answer, and we can only appreciate that Schindler saved many lives.
A lot worse, exactly how? Because he was a member of the Nazi party? Ridiculous. Being a member of the party was not only for the true believers but a means to advancement and success, just as being a member of the communist party did the same. He was worse because he sought to get rich via the war? That is depicted in the film. So, what did he do that was much worse than in the film?
I love how Dan can recognize great filmmaking and balance historical accuracy. A simple example with Gladiator's thumbs up/down was intentionally catered to our modern understanding. Is it wrongly used? Yes. Is it worth confusing a massive audience? No.
It might have been confusing, but could've made this knowledge commonplace. No complaints though. Its an amazing movie.
Dan Snow is not making that distinction. His writers and research staff are.Gladiator is a HORRIBLE movie from a historical perspective.
@@HAbarneyWK But this knowledge, here isnt knowledge. Its basically guess work. We have references of a hand gesture but dont know what that hand gesture was.
@@georgehollingsworth2428 ...He literally said "Rome didn't look like this", "this is basically word salad", "Commodus didn't die this way", "there isn't any evidence that he killed his father", "Marcus Aurelius raised his son to be the next Emperor, not to reform the Republic"... Were you not listening, or? Like he says it's an entertaining take on looking into the life of a gladiator, that's pretty much all he *actually* praised about it.
It IS worth confusing people, if their current situation is 'ignorant'.
The scene with the little girl in the red coat in Schindler’s List is so gut wrenching. The whole movie is gut wrenching but that scene just really hits different.
Yes. Schindler sees her on the street below. Only color in the film. Then we see her hiding under a bed. Later you see the red coat on a heap in a cart. Powerful scenes.
Its a great movie that I never want to watch again.
So incredibly powerful. It's Spielberg's masterpiece
I feel like he missed a great story in not explaining the reference of the Sullivan brothers made at about 23:00. It’s a truly heart wrenching story of 5 brothers who enlisted in the US navy and served aboard the same ship. USS Juneau was sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and all 5 brothers died. Since then, the military generally tried to keep family members separated to avoid similar issues.
Their story was made into a 1944 movie, 'The Fighting Sullivans'. I haven't seen that in many years.
My dad was the youngest of five brothers. He was so afraid the war would be over that he dropped out of high school on his 18th birthday to join the navy. He was shipped to Honolulu and never got to go into active combat. They kept explaining that he had four brothers fighting in the Pacific and because of the Sullivan law, he couldn't be sent into active duty. He never forgave the Navy for that. I still have the banner that my grandmother displayed in her window that showed she had five sons serving. Happily they all survived.
I like Dan's way of doing this as he isn't being dismissive of things that are in accurate. He's saying the truth but also giving his opinion of whether the scene is good. Much better than the normal 'it's not accurate so is rubbish' when it is a work of fiction
seriously, Dan communicates well to a wider audience :)
I agree that he is a likeable guy. But I think when it comes to history the miseducation people get from Hollywood is not benign. The reinterpretation or deliberate obfuscation of history for the sake of modern people's politics and ideology is a dangerous thing. Sometimes the inaccuracies in histrorical movies reinforce the base assumption that upheld those misinterpretation of history
@@liamsmith4018 i don't necessarily disagree on some films, particularly modern films. However I do believe in creative freedom. But my point is more about being able to make a high quality film with a bit of artistic licence and creativity. Often on these reviews the historian equates something in fiction not being realistic to not being good which is just wrong and shows a lack of imagination.
@@samuelloification2749 I mean it depends on what you mean by not realistic. Did it sort of tweak how specific things happened for narrative purposes to save time or communicate to the audience without a narrator? Sure that's fine. Does it take creative liberties to show dramatizations? Fine. For example when history doesn't record the specifics of these characters being in this room saying these words. But you know that x person and his advisors or whatever did come to that decision so you show it that way. Or like if the Romans come up against celts in a movie, you would have to fill in gaps with speculation because a lot isn't known about them. My problem is things like The Patriot where the movie goes out of the way to teach you myths and dumb misconceptions about the period. It's not just not historical, it's not just imagining a fictional story in a historical setting, it is counterfactual. It essentially lies to you about the history not just by omission or simplification but demonstrably false claims.
@@liamsmith4018 Never trust Mel Gibson ;)
My favourite genre of youtube video is experts complaining about film inaccuracies. Please bring Dan back for more.
Nah, the best are historians talking about their favourite films and what's good about them. I believe Dan has done one of those.
He's an expert on nepotism. Nothing else.
@@Futureshucks go on...
He's got his own series on KZhead
@Futureshucks Is he Jon Snow, of C4's son? Nepotism is all around us I'm afraid.
Last of the Mohicans is just absolutely an amazing film. It differs from the book somewhat but I feel the most important parts, the atmosphere of the colonial super power tensions and the indigenous culture were done wonderfully. I absolutely love it. The film score is legendary, the acting, all of it. One of my all-time favorites.
Me too it’s in my top favourite of all time.
All that, and a great love story! The way they conveyed the complexity of the situation was superb. To me, many recent historical films dumb things down too much.
It is different from the book. I tried to read it but fell asleep. Not so much with the movie!!
@@chuckbrandon627 The book has a lot in common with wading through oatmeal. Loved the movie:)
@@Jamakaya1 Two great love stories. In fact, I've argued the love story between Uncas and Alice is, while more subtle, the more impactful of the two. Even early in the movie they show Uncas playing with the settlers' children, and mention how he wants to be a father. After he dies trying to save Alice, all she can do is throw herself off the cliff as well. His death leading to the elderly father being the Last of the Mohicans.
To me, having Hanks' character in SPR as a middle aged teacher was genius. It was the father figure that all the young men/boys needed and given all he had gone through and survived, made the ending where he dies as more heartbreaking. Spielberg really is one of the greatest story tellers of our time.
I still can't believe that Ralph Fiennes didn't win the Oscar for Schindler's List. When I saw the movie, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was mesmorizing.
I always thought both him and Ben Kingsley were nominated which split the vote but then I recently found out Kingsley wasn't even nominated which is just as shocking. 😮
A human portrait of psychopathy. The ideal fit for an SS officer.
It's because the Oscar would often go to those who would lobby the academy more... Harvey Weinstein had a system with them (as an example).. not that Miramax films sucked, some were really great, but didn't always deserve to necessarily win..
Can’t let a nazi win the Oscar!
I was shocked at the time, if memory serves Tommy Lee Jones won for the fugitive.
I watched Schindler's List in Leicester University Students' Union after it was released. Most of the students watching it were Israeli, some were descendants of the Schindler Jews. When the movie finished nobody moved or spoke, the only sounds were sobbing. It is the most moving and unforgettable experience of my life.
@@guyincognito8440 #EuropaTheLastBattleDocumentary
What a coincidence
Choo choo 🇮🇱🚂
I’m crying again as the mother of sons this film is unbearable
That's how I felt when I saw Arthur 2 On the Rocks
Master and Commander is still woefully unknown and underappreciated. People watching this video are more likely to know it. One of the truly great historical movies.
I agree, it is a fantastic film. Deserved more Oscars than it got, but unfortunately was up against Return of the King. What a great time for epic movies!
I really like Master and Commander, it's a shame it didn't get a sequel.
The most realistic of the lot 💯
I wanted a sequel so badly.
Omg and it has one of the best battle scenes ever!! Definitely one for my fave and so completely underrated! But definitely couldn’t hold up to Return of the King 😬😬.
I saw Apollo 13 with a friend and his father. The Father use to work for NASA . He was part of the group that figured out how to put the different shape Filters in the Lander and is listed as one of the people interviewed for the book Lost Moon. Toward the end of the movie , I saw the father gripping the seat .
I remember watching Saving Private Ryan with my Grandfather many years ago. A veteran of the African and Italian campaigns. When I asked him was it really that bad? He just responded "much worse" never cried so much before or since thinking of my hero having to go through that hell. Since that day I've never forgotten what that generation did for the freedom of Europe and indeed the world. The real super heroes of the world.
Now we have Putin. (Hitler 2023)
@@Crashed131963 in before putin sends another regiment into the bakmut meatgrinder.
And then, in more recent history, there have been many who couldn't even be chuffed to don a mask to save the life of grandma.
Amen. Whenever I'm going through anything difficult in life I tell myself, "if those men could make it through the Bastogne, I can make it through this."
@@Crashed131963 Stalin 2023 (and to make matters worse he truly believes he is another Prince Potempkin)
My favorite bit about the Apollo 13 movie is that, when it released, NASA apparently went to the studio and asked them where they found the launch footage because it was so accurate that NASA thought it was real footage they'd lost track of.
Buzz Aldrin asked this same question.
Its a cracker of a film so uplifting and spirited and a great visual dramatised document of history
I couldn't find anything through google that corroborates this... Got a link?
definitely not true lmfaoo
When I went to see Apollo 11 even though The audience all knew the ending, we all burst out in applause at the end ,terrific movie!
My grandfather was in eastern france, and slipped and tripped in the rain and mud on his rain slicker. Just as he tripped he heard a shot from a panther tank and basically vaporized four of his squad mates. He never really got over it. Same as my dad in Vietnam. They tried to kinda sugar coat the experience, but i could tell.
I just can’t even believe what our men have gone through. I think about my pilot grandfather in wwii and Korea. He never talked much about it. All the pilots around him that died…the guilt he felt about surviving.
My dad left high school to fight in the pacific. He served 3 years. Then he came back and went back to high school to finish. In later years he never talked about his experiences. But he always said he was proud to have served in the Navy. I have found various black and white pictures of him and others..He is gone many years now. Whatever he saw went with him to the grave.
Grandads a hero, dads a BK.
@@agricolaregsyeah .. ww2 was lots bit different. But Vietnam and such… basically all government lies in bull crap. They even admit it now. No one really cares. Martin Luther King Jr killed by the FBI. JFK who do you think? Communism a threat? Really worth sending our men to die.?? They ended up communist are they a threat?? Gulf of Tonkin is a lie. They even said we won’t send American boys thousands of miles to go do a job Asian boys oughta be doing for themselves… they plan to drugs in minorities and then the war on drugs is retarded we all know prohibition doesn’t work. The CIA funds them the enemies they claim to be. It’s all accessible and there is leaks that they didn’t want out that are legit. I’m not talking about conspiracy crap I’m talking about just straight facts that are now common knowledge. But no one cares. It seems people die in vain. And no one cares people suffering no one cares.
These are some of the most moving films of all times it’s so wild. Even with the inaccuracies. The 90’s were good to us through filmmaking.
Stephen Spielberg and Robin Williams were very good friends. Whilst Spielberg was filming Schindler's List, Williams would phone him at least once a week and help him to just laugh and escape the sheer weight of what he was working to produce.
Steven
He was working on Jurassic park at the same time, there’s a great mini documentary here on KZhead about it. kzhead.info/sun/l81-g5ebfXR9aYk/bejne.html
Robin Williams is a treasure; they world is a sadder place with him gone.
The gravity of all of the dead Jews is probably what killed him years after all the phone calls. It’s like green mile when John Coffey is sucking out the black stuff.
Like it wasn't funny enough.
They actually had to tone down the sheer cruelty of Amon Goth in Schindler's List because they thought it would be too unbelievable and unrealistic of how brutally cruel of a person Goth was. Yes. Goth was such a horrible human being in real life that they had to tone down his characterization in the movie to make it more realistic.
When you consider that the Nazis had him institutionalized for being insane... yeah, that's bad.
ⁿd76
ⁿd76
Nah that‘s bs
@@lNeVaR No, they really toned his cruelty down in the movie. The real man was literally removed from duty and charged of crimes BY THE SS for how he treated the prisoners at his camp (among other charges). The main issue is that he was supposed to supervize a labor camp, but he handled it like it was an extermination camp.
When will they release the Schindler's List blooper reel?
Amon Göth in the movie was reportedly made tamer than the real one b/c the latter was so monstrous that he came off as almost unbelievable. The modern trend in writing villains is to make their motivations understandable. You'll hear lots of film enthusiasts preach that making a one-dimensional antagonist who's just evil for the sake of evil and only cares for money is the wrong way to go. It's almost as if the film is trying to give Amon a character arc regarding power & attraction, as well as attempting to provide answers on why he is the way he is. Only for him to reject that exploration and immediately go back to the pleasure of violence. A reminder that monsters do exist in real life no matter if they're human. '93 was the most competitive year for supporting actor performances on the big screen. The 66th Oscar nominees for that category were Ralph Fiennes (Schindler's List), Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive), John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire), Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape), & Pete Postlethwaite (In the Name of the Father). The snubs include Ben Kingsley (Schindler's List), Val Kilmer (Tombstone), Sean Penn (Carlito's Way), certain actors in True Romance, etc...
I'd heard that, apparently, one of the Schindler jews that were on the set had a brief panic attack when seeing Fiennes in costume because they thought it was actually Goethe. He always made sure to change into his regular clothing after that.
@@liamfitzgerald7217 The survivors of course knew that it was just Fiennes in costume, but he resembled Amon too well.
I would love to see a video like this with Dan covering: Dunkirk, Master and Commander, The King, Narvik, Ip Man, Defiance, and The Last Samurai. I know some have been covered as scenes in other videos, but it'd be awesome to see a video like this on the full movies.
He already did master and commander and describes it as one of the most accurate depictions on navel warfare in the napoleonic era
YES YES YES!
Dunkirk was dumb, Uniforms too , clean , buildings, streets in mint shape , the beach was clean as a resort and not many soldiers on the beach or ships and boats.
The King is famously inaccurate. It's a weird hybrid of Shakespeare's works and history and some fantasy that makes a good movie but poor history. The Last Samurai deserves the analysis though, as does Dunkirk. IF you want a good medieval film, I'd have him review The Outlaw King. It's not perfect, but it does a pretty good job all around.
@@theogoltzman5372 Dunkirk? One ship on the empty groomed resort beach ,not a broken window ,or litter on the streets and 400 soldiers with clean pressed uniforms. The 2007 Romance film "Atonement" had a much more realistic Dunkirk short scene.
I saw this movie during the initial release in Palm Springs, CA. That area has many WWII veterans. At the end of the movie, no one moved. The credits rolled, the lights in the theater came up... and then we heard the muffled sobbing and watched their wives, children, friends help these men deal with their memories.
I saw Saving Pvt Ryan on opening day in a packed theater. During the beginning storming of the beaches there was a old man in the audience crying....still get's to me, his experience in that theater.
What movie are you talking about?
@@Madmun357 Saving Private Ryan
@@wanderinghumu I'm a veteran, but never saw combat. That opening scene was so tough to watch, I imagine it was especially difficult for combat veterans.
@@Madmun357 Same - Infantry Marine stationed at 29 Palms - so beach landings were a thought. Grateful my friends and I didn't have to face that.
I agree, the film-along with the book, even- is very kind to Schindler in the portrayal of him. But, what I always found the most interesting in his history, is that this was the only time in his life he was a successful businessman. And it made him the money, connections and clout to save all those people. Instances like this throughout history have always fascinated me.
I think it was because Schindler knew failure was not an option. It was greater than himself…
It's always nice to have Michael Bolton teaching some history
I don't think it gets any better than when he sings When A Man Loves A Woman
🤣😂 I kept thinking he reminded me of someone thanks for that
It's important to remember that the surviving members of the mission were consulted for Apollo 13. The Lovells actually did a commentary for the DVD.
Lovell also cameoed in the film, as the captain of the ship that picks the astronauts up. He insisted on appearing as a captain, even though Ron Howard wanted him to be a more accurate admiral.
@VideoMask93 The incredible respect that Ron Howard paid to that mission is one of the reasons I consider him one of our greatest historical film makers. Did he get everything correct? No. You can't in a movie designed to be a money maker. But I feel very strongly that he did real justice to the story.
@@ericthompson3982 He's just a really good filmmaker who knows when artistic license benefits the film most, such as in Cinderella Man or A Beautiful Mind. He's in a similar category to Spielberg as a terrific craftsman without being an overt auteur. Love it. I really need to see Willow at some point; that reminds me.
@VideoMask93 I cannot recommend it highly enough.
@@ericthompson3982for me, it is one of the greatest films because even though I have seen it many, many times, I am still on the edge of my seat hoping they make it. Every. Single. Time.
One of the most impressive and devastating things about Saving Private Ryan and its historical accuracy is that, when the film came out in 1998, the Department of Veterans Affairs set up a hotline for veterans and their families traumatized by the scenes depicting the horrors of war too realistically.
And not just for the WWII veterans, Vietnam and Desert Storm veterans felt the pains. The scene of mother receiving the news and imagining my mom when I was in Desert Storm.
Another fun fact about the US: military recruitment plummeted after the release of Saving Private Ryan and never recovered, even after 9/11. That's how much impact the film had and it's a fucking crime it lost to Shakespeare in Love for Best Picture.
Wow, these snowflakes are out here having breakdowns over a movie. We used to be a real country. (this is a JOKE. Relax.)
@@nekrataali I wouldn't go that far. A lot of movies released in that month when saving private Ryan released. You wouldn't say they brought down the militaries' recruitment
I remember watching Omaha Beach scene and my jaw dropped the brutality of it. I’d never seen war depicted like that before that I was aware of. It’s confronting and that’s a good thing. I also remember seeing comments from D-Day vets saying the only major thing they didn’t capture in the movie was the smell.
Would love to see Dan review Band of Brothers!
Fun fact, Matt Damon received very minimal training, if at all - I’m sure he had to be shown how the weaponry worked but he was spared the boot camp the other members of Miller’s squad had to go thru for at least a week under the command of Dale Dye, who was VERY rough on all of them. The reason Damon didn’t go thru it was to increase the resentment the other characters had for Ryan himself among the actors.
I appreciate Dan Snow because he doesn't need to tear down these films for their story telling.
Dan Snow is just brilliant at this stuff. I could listen to him passionately talk about history all day.
Yes! I discovered him last year during the Endurance search. He makes any subject interesting!
I am a huge history buff (and hustory hit subscriber) and thus love the these reviews and all things Dan Snow. I do LOVE historical dramas and have come to expect inaccuracies for the sake of drama and furthering of the plot line. I do think they are a powerful tool, in that they usually create a flurry of online research by movie goers. And I feel that is never a bad thing.
I saw it coming years ago when Dan Carlin started blowing up with Hardcore History- there was a demand for historical podcasts and Dan Snow has neatly filled that niche with History Hit. Well done.
I cannot watch Schindlers List after one time.. it tears my heart out.The Last of the Mohicans is indeed a superb feast for the viewer, and I agree with Dan, Daniel Day Lewis’s performance was one of the very best in movie history. All of these films have something to teach and inspire and spark am interest in further learning on the periods and subjects.The scene of D-Day beach in Saving Private Ryan is a most gut wrenching moments of film ever shot- however much the horror of war is portrayed , its always in your mind that this happened for real, and was probably 100 times more horrific as it actually happened. The soldiers and their profound bravery just blows your mind and makes one so proud… my grandfather was just one of the many , dying in a German POW camp… never having seen his baby daughter- my mother.
The only movie about WW2 that has hit me harder than Schindler's List (and that's as someone who read the book it was based off first so I knew it was going to be bad) to date was Grave of the Fireflies, beautiful and incredibly depressingly real.
Allied families went through so much, with extraordinary courage. May your grandparents both Rest In Peace.
@@marydonohoe8200 not just the allied families, everybody who was unlucky enough to be alive back then in the conflict zone suffered. Both sides of the battlefront and everybody caught in between. War is hell.
@@marydonohoe8200 Axis families went through just as much or even more, you act like they had a choice
@@aj897 And you are acting as if thousands of those Axis families hadn't empowered dictators like Hitler and Mussolini, applauded their laws against their own neighbours and the annexation of other countries. What you do is the common false equivalence, like Auschwitz = Dresden. No, its no the same. The bully is not in the same moral position as the bullied. But many secret (or not so secret) fascism fans use this kind of phallacies.
Regarding Last of the Mohicans, as Dan says it’s set against the French Indian wars, but more of it is based on events than he says. Sachem was a historical character. There was a massacre at Fort William Henry, where Col Monro surrendered to Montcalm and the French native allies fell upon the British and their camp followers. As in Fennimore Cooper’s book, though, Monro survived the massacre.
Is that the one where the Indians wound up getting smallpox? I saw a program about one massacre. The Indians and French has surrounded a British fort. The French negotiated a surrender and ensured the safety of everyone inside. Afterwards they were invited inside for a dinner. The Indians were furious. They'd been promised scalps and now no scalps and were being treated like the help. The fort gates were open and they attacked and killed all the British subjects inside. They even dug up recently dead bodies to scalp them as well. Everyone was furious the British were furious their people were massacred, the French were furious because they had giving their word that the inhabitants would be safe, and the Indians were made because I thought the French had treated them badly. However the Indians didn't realize that people inside the fort had smallpox including some of the people that have died they took it back to their tribe which was pretty much wiped out by smallpox.
“Sachem” and its variants across several northeastern North American indigenous languages is a generic term roughly translated as “chief.” It does not refer to any single individual.
Feinnes gives hands down the best performance of an antagonist ever put to film....bar none, the absolute best. his portrayal of a real historical figure is breath taking in how effective it is and is so powerful you hate that you're even watching it, but can't look away either.
I remember reading somewhere that one of the survivors was on the set of Schindler's list and ended up having a panic attack when she saw Fiennes because he looked & reminded her so much of Goeth
It was that dark menace lurking under the surface..... just the portrayal made me feel nauseous with the fear and hopelessness people must have felt in his presence.
I have just discovered your site. I am enjoying it greatly. Thank you sir. God Bless you.
The 1st time I saw "Saving Private Ryan" I was in the front row of the cinema and the 1st 20 minutes were absolutely the most horrific thing I had ever seen on screen. Spielberg is a master artist and it is not coincidence that 3 of these movies are his and that 2 of them star a great actor like Tom Hanks. Great job Dan.
nearly went to see this in the cinema with my dad but our plans changed last minute and we didn't go.. but i'm very glad we didn't i think it would've upset him so much.. i know it upset me! those opening minutes..
apollo 13 is not a speilberg movie. Thats a ron howard movie.
additionally i remember seeing SPR in theatres too, at only 15 yrs old, and it remains the most visceral movie experience of my life. the movie stayed with me for weeks. my mom thought i was too young to see this movie. but i think i was exactly the right age. it gave me at the exact right moment all of the appreciation and perspective i needed.
I went with a friend and we must have been 17. I’d watched plenty of war movies and had a general interest in WWII history, but she had no clue. When she called her folks from a pay phone after, for a ride home, she was sobbing so uncontrollably they thought someone had died.
I saw it once, half asleep (high school overnight movie marathon) and I still remember the one soldier stumbling around, holding his own severed arm
Seeing Dan Snow review more movies just made my day, love you Mr. Snow, please never stop making these types of videos!!
Lovely break down, they are all fantastic films! dan snow is a really good talker, i love listening to his knowledge and insight
Actually, in Saint-Mère-Église, one paratrooper managed to get his parachute entangled in the church tower and he spent around 2 days up there, before he could be rescued. It's a miracle that he didn't die while the troops were fighting some 30 Meters below him. Visited that place a while ago, absolutely beautiful little city
I recall that from the Longest Day. I always thought it was made up, for dramatic effect. So it actually happened?
I heard that he played dead while the battle went on to as to avoid drawing attention.
@@lonewolf5238 Apparently so, Red Buttons effectively played Pvt. John Marvin Steele, a mortarman in the 82nd Airborne. Unlike the film Steele was captured though he escaped some days later and rejoined his unit. There's a statue of him on the church steeple today, as he was in 1944.
@michaelmclachlan1650 every day I learn something new is a good day. Thanks!
to me the pianist is one of the best and heart wrenching movies ive ever seen , to me it is a must watch for all of humanity
I know what you mean. I think in some ways The Pianist is the best movie about the Holocaust, because it shows how much CHANCE had to do with anyone surviving it. It's a great film, and yes, everyone should see it!
One movie that should be considered, but is less well known, is another Spielberg production called "Amistad," about an illegal slave ship that created a storm of legal intrigue. Spielberg is indeed a brilliant storyteller.
Yeah I've seen that. It's good. Wonder why it's not more well-known
This was a very good and interesting video. I especially agree with Dan's finally comments on saving private Ryan, thank you can brilliant.
Thank you for this Video/Series. I must say that I saw Dan in other reviews, and one thing that boggles me, is that, "This Dan, knows so much about different areas of history, country, time frame, innovation, Native Indians, War, English history....What doesn't he know?" Having a dinner with him would be amazing!
Just love how Dan explains what is accurate as well as not, and gives references to why, what it’s based on. Spielberg obviously does a lot of research to get his films right to feature here twice. I’d love to hear Dan review other history films. He’s so informed it is great to hear him explain what the filmmakers got right, but also not diss them for using creative licence to make the films work.
My father is a historian, & a college professor. It's saddens me to say, he recently passed at 75. His most popular class was "History in Film". In which he would show various movies, & his students would write papers comparing the reality vs Hollywood. There are only 3 times in his 40 year teaching career, that students truly struggled to finish a film. The 3 in question are Schindler's List, the 9th episode of Band of Brothers (why we fight), & a few years back Saving Private Ryan. He told me after showing Saving Private Ryan, two female students approached almost in tears & asked, "how could you show something so horrible". He answered "Because you need to always remember the sacrifice of these individuals. Your grandfather's, or great grandfather's sacrificed more then most will ever know. We must never forgot their courage, sacrifice, & bravery. I show this movie, so students can see what these words truly mean". At her graduation one of the students said that after that day, my father had become her favorite teacher, & she switched he major to history. We are living in an age where people have forgotten the horrors of war. The true evils the man can inflict. As well as the meanings of words such as "Terror, Fascist, Nazi, Genocide, & Violence." We must fight this historical fiction with reality. Because forgetting our past, failures & all. Dooms us to repeat them.
The words fascist and nazi have been so bastardized that they're beginning to lose their true meaning of horror. People today call everyone they dismiss politically a nazi, and by that they're destroying the sense of the word. A shame, really.
I used to tell my students not to look away. They were watching in a classroom. The people being depicted were real just like them; but, those people were not safe. It is a disservice to those that suffered and those that died to look away. The distress should inspire them to stand up for injustice.
No one has forgotten any of that. You know what else dooms us to repeating those things? Not calling a spade a spade and then only realizing how wrong we were only after the fact. You don't have to agree with the way that those people are using those terms (given the way you're stating all of this, I can guess what you're talking about) but that doesn't mean they're wrong.
@Mechanomics Given the way you phrased your statement, you seem to not understand. Your very statement contradicts itself. How can people fight against something, if the definition of thatbvery thing they want to fight against is unknown? For example, Bernie Sanders is not a Communist. He's just an old fool who doesn't understand economics, or business. By contrast, Donald Trump is not a Fascist. He's just a narcissistic windbag, with a dirty mouth. Most terrible instances throughout history have occurred because people didn't understand definitions, & where lied to. Do you think the German people wanted a Fascist government that would devastate the country, butcher 6 million jews, & cost the lives of millions more? No they where lied to, & didn't understand the definition of "Fascism". Sadly these dictators often use younger people to start these violent overthrows. Definitions matter, because they make it hard for dictators to lie to the masses
He was of the right age to be a young man during the Viet Nam war. There are some films about that, including those in our heads.
I interviewed a Holocaust survivor and he said that THE MOST accurate Holocaust movie is The Pianist (he also survived living in the Warsaw ghetto) and said it got it down to the tee. He wasn’t a fan of Schindlers list because of the type of person Schindler actually was and that he was doing it much more for the money rather than actually caring about the peoples he saved
& I just fell in love with this Historian. Could listen to him talk for hours!
Hans Zimmer's music during Proximo's speech to Maximus has haunted me in the best way possible since I first saw the movie in 2000. It's fantastic
You're not alone. Hans Zimmer and his ghost composed industry farmed music have been ruining standards for musical scores for ages now... and somehow, it's still getting worse...
The actor who played Proximo died during the filming. He went out and got drunk apparently and had a heart attack or something. Such a shame because he was amazing in the role and it was his first huge break I think.
@@snowbear163 Oliver reed was already a very famous actor, it certainly wasn't his big break but it was probably his most famous work afterwards, unfortunately a life of drugs and alcohol took its toll on him.
Couldn't agree more. It's so brilliant.
This was a fun watch. Iove how he can appreciate these films in spite of a bit of inaccuracies now and then
This is fabulous! I’d love it if you would please, in future, mention the literary sources for all the films, including James Fenimore Cooper’s work as a source for LOTM. Thank you! 😊
Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest movies ever made. When I was in AIS, we watched unreleased footage of D-Day. The movie did an amazing job when compared to actual war footage. I used to show the opening scene to my classes when we discussed D-Day. To this day, I cannot make it through that movie without sobbing a few times.
It's great but I think it isn't cohesive between the first half and second half to put it mildly and the Omaha Beach landings were more horrific than shown.
Loved this. I like how he is both commending and critical of the films while also showing understanding on why the filmmakers made some of the scenes the way they did.
Thanks for your critique of these movies
I love this video. I studied Latin for four years, and everything you say is true! It’s awesome.
I live in Canada, and this also happened to a woman in the city I live in....she lost all 3 of her sons in the second world war. The sad part was, she only had those three boys. She was left childless and her husband had died already.
I have seen the original control center set in Florida and it was amazing to think of what they were able to do with such crude equipment. I also was able to see a night launch and the sound and light spreading over Florida was one of the most amazing wonders I will never forget.
Liam Neeson was phenomenal as Schindler. It's an incredibly complicated character to portray: at one time an opportunist, at another time just barely tolerating the Nazis around him, then developing a complex friendship w/ Ben Kingsley's character, and then being a partier/womanizer. All of his other films are basically B-movies, but he was BORN to play Schindler! Given everything else going on in the film it's easy to forget how great he was in it.
So you haven't seen "Rob Roy" (1995) then, a much better historical film than "Braveheart", IMO, with Neeson leading a terrific cast.
@@paintedjaguar I remember it, but haven't seen it a long time--you're right that this not a B-movie, so he deserves credit for that one also!
B-movies? Maybe you should do a quick google before being incredibly wrong
@@Oracle0315 Can't I just be "wrong", and not be "incredibly wrong"? How would you describe the "Taken" film series?
This and Rob Roy are Neeson's best roles. Taken and its sequels and similar films are what are called "paycheque films". Almost all actors have such projects they've done just for the money, and which are milked to the Nth degree if they are any sort of success.
The thing I remember about Apollo 13 was watching its reentry back to Earth. All of the classes were in the IMC (Instructional Materials Center, aka the library) watching on the “big” TV on the cart. It was just a couple of weeks after my birthday. I remember many of the teachers actually crying when radio contact was reestablished and the crew told Houston they were safe. We all cheered. That scene fully resonates with me.
Same but different situation. Every elementary school had kids watching the Challenger launch, because a teacher was on board. We all saw the Challenger destroyed. Later that evening the news would report that the fumes suffocated the astronauts. Americans were told this to hide the fact they burned alive. Everyone was so thankful at the time that the astronauts "suffocated" instead of burned. Much later I learned that Mission control could hear the screams of the astronauts, but could do nothing to save them. I think that probably messed up a lot of people.
I've been binge watching everything I could find on YT where an expert breaks down movies - I think it's one of the best, most fun, most efficient ways to learn things and I've been enjoying that for some time. And the very first video I came across that started my interest with these was Dan's video on movies portraying 17th/18th century warfare, with movies like The Patriot, Last Mohican, or Master and Commander. I really enjoy Dan's way of talking about these and he's been a highlight of such content for me ever since
I always have great respect for people who don't allow their expertise in a subject to wholly detract from the craft and enjoyments of good filmmaking. How Dan uses his knowledge is how I wish more people did. Instead of railing against a film for being inaccurate, he uses those inaccuracies to actually teach, and also acknowledge when a movie gets things correct
I'd love to see him break down In the Name of the Father, another great Daniel Day-Lewis film and one of my personal favorites
These poll results are definitely respectable, but there are so many other excellent historical movies, some of which I don't think Dan has reacted to on this channel yet. Keep 'em coming, please!
For a further review i would suggest: Master and Commander, Kingdom of Heaven, Outlaw King (much better than the King), Last Samurai and Das Boot.
I have never seen this type of video with Dan snow and I love love love this.
One of the reason's I like Dan Snow's videos is that he's actually *seen* most of the movies and knows the context of the scenes. So many of the "expert reacts to movies" videos have someone looking at an isolated clip and their comments show the expert has no idea what the context of the clip is, which definitely impacts my enjoyment of the KZhead video.
Yeah, that's so annoying. The least you can do is have the expert watch the entire movie.
@@monmothma3358 I mean, I get why they don't. Most professionals aren't going to have 15 or 20 hours available to watch a whole bunch of movies in exchange for a couple hundred dollars of consulting fee - at best! Asking folks to give up their evenings for an entire week to watch movies they don't care about is a pretty big ask, unless that's their actual paid job. But that's why I applaud the channels that find people who *are* interested in the movies and have seen them *before* they do the interview. The WWI guy, who'se name I've forgotten, is another good example.
I sat and watched Saving Private Ryan with my late Dad on video one Christmas, he was a corporal in 48 Royal Marine Commando who landed on Nan Red sector of Juno Beach on D Day. He was badly wounded and evacuated to England. His response when my wife said to him, I don't know how you can bear to watch this, was, it was a very long time ago!
I appreciate so much that he respects the movies as good movies even with inaccuracies. Some experts are too harsh with criticisms and lose enthusiasm for the film.
Dan is brilliant, have been following him for years. My degree was in English Literature,which has its own historical context. I really wish I had done history though. He's so knowledgeable and clued in on the historical commentary of course, but what I love about his input is his sympathy and reflection. You can tell he is at times genuinely moved by these events in history. Could watch Dan all day :)
Would love to hear Dan reviewing some parts of The Death of Stalin, one of my favourite films and I'd love to hear what his thoughts on it are.
When I watched "Saving Private Ryan" in theater I was kinda shocked how brutal & intense this was. One of the best, one of my favorites, one of the best war-action/character-drama/horror-movies ever. "Schindlers List" comes pretty close as well, though no war-action, but more horror.
And they had to limit the horror to stay in an R rating.
Keep the Dan Snow content comin'!
I love these reviews, thank you for posting them. Last of the Mohichans is one of my favorite movies and I have seen it referenced in this and another video of yours on battle scenes. When I see that ambush scene, I can't help but also think of a similar scene in the Patriot, I understand that the movie is lacking in historical accuracy, but similar battle tactics were used in both. I also think The Longest Day compliments Saving Private Ryan and would love to see a review comparing the two in term of context and cultural attitides when each was produced.
another great video! Thanks Dan
The way Dan pronounces Houston makes me chuckle. I've heard HOUSE-tin and HEEYOU-stin, but never HOOS-tin.
There's a Houston in Georgia that's pronounced HOUSE-tin. Wikipedia says there's one in Scotland pronounced HOOS-tin.
@@richardhollander323Houston in NYC is HOUSE-tin as well. It felt weird saying that as a Texan who had only said "HUE-stin" my entire life.
See Superman II. Dan is clearly Kryptonian.
I haven't seen this video yet but Master and Commander has to be in the list.
No doubt
@Bergamo Probably since its historical fiction though. Yet, its more accurate than actual historical movies
Dan Snow reviewed Master and Commander in a previous video, actually.
I *love* 'Master and Commander'. It is catnip to history nerds.
WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR DAMNED HOBBIES, SIR!
Dan is great, very knowledgeable and engaging! Love to see more videos with him
Dan Snow is my favourite current historian, and is the reason I became a historian, perhaps you could review the infamous film "The Patriot".
Mel Gibson’s character is based on a man called Melvyn Gibson, who did indeed kill every British Soldier single handedly just like in the film. Also just like in the film the British Soldiers were unable to kill him due to an invisible forcefield that surrounded him. Melvyn was also a veteran of numerous battles against the English 600 years earlier in Scotland. But where the film is inaccurate is that Melvyn wasn’t an Anti-British, Anti-Semite. And he didn’t actually know what women want, however he did have a scar on his arse from Vietnam.
Dan Snow - #1 in whatever he undertakes!
Really enjoyed this... thanks
Enjoyed thoughtful learned commentary on Schindler's List. Have to watch remainder. Will you watch and talk about the new Golda? This seems to be a history films account. Great work
What made Saving Private Ryan even more powerful for me, and those who watched it with me, was we were shown the movie a few weeks before it came out as we were on a military base. (I saw both this film and Gladiator this way). I had just finished a long mission and came back just in time to get in to see the film. But, during the storming the beach scene, an older gentleman in the theatre had a heart attack, and the movie had to be paused. Fortunately one of the base doctors was in the theatre as well, and helped to save the man (and the hospital was very close by as well.) It was a very real reminder that what we were watching had been experienced by real people, and had the possibility of being experienced by all of us as well. Thanks for the reviews!
Hey Dan, If ya could, do a clip on Das Boot. I watch that movie and I get claustrophobia. FYI, the five you've chosen are all fav's of mine. :-)
Very well done critiques. Just the right amount of technical knowledge for this format. Very conversational, like he’s commenting on real time as he sits beside us watching the film. And not like some boring historical pedant standing at a lectern in a dark lecture hall.
As a side note, Frederick Niland was removed from service by the Sole Survivor Policy. Written up after the death of the Sullivan and Borgstrom brothers (A long with others). As mentioned in the film; the loss of Juneau and the 20 or 30 something other sets of brother on board also prompted the US Navy, followed promptly by the Army and Air Corps to enact administrative regulations. Restricting the service and station of relatives on ships, units and emplacements. In attempt to avoid future similar examples of wiping out a family's male heirs. The Sage brothers are another example. They were the first brothers to be permitted to serve on the same USN ship since WW2.
In Apollo 13, the engineers who made a square filter fit in a round hole were nearly all British. In Andrew Smith’s book, he talks to some of them. And yeah, Schindler does come out of the film well
I live near where plaszow camp was. You can feel it in the air even today
Yeah Stevan Spielberg didn’t want to actually film it in Krakow, due to it being a bit disrespectful but they filmed right outside of it though..
Absolutely these 5 movies are good choices for the 5 greatest. There are two more recent productions which I would like to see critiqued by Dan Snow: The new All Quiet on the Western Front movie. And 1883. IMHO, 1883 is to the Oregon Trail what Band of Brothers is to WWII. Incidentally, they both are 10-part miniseries, and they both had bootcamps to make the actors intimately familiar with what they were about to portray.
We need MORE Dan Snow please!!!!
Great review. I visited. St mere Eglise. Beautiful village. Brought it home the terrible battle
I remember watching Saving Private Ryan with my great-grandma (born in 1915 I think) and her crying at the opening scene. Must've been horrifying to see what it was like and knowing people who were in the war, her own family, and finally seeing the chaos and brutality of it.
Saving Private Ryan: the scene where the priest gets out of the staff car to tell the mother the bad news.... My God. Gets me every time.
She was expecting to be told that one of her sons had been killed but not three
I'm sitting here crying just thinking about her first reaction to seeing the car approaching the house. I have three older brothers and I keep thinking about what my mom would be like if she got the same news. About the only time I cry is when I think about the sacrifice of those that gave their all for their brothers in arms.
My grandfather was alive when Saving Private Ryan came out. He had no interest in seeing it. He was one of 4 brothers who served in WWII and it was the youngest who never came home.
Really like that Dan seems to appreciate the old saying "art lies its way to the truth". A lot of these movies are totally fictional portrayals of real-ish events but do seem to accurately capture the "truth" of the situation anyway