"When's it set?" A Chronological Timeline of (Pre) Historic movies
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 13 Oct 2022 | updated - 6 days ago | PublicFrom the Dawn of man, to the early 1800s, in order of the era when the movie is set (basically stops just before the 'Western' genre starts)
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1. Missing Link (1988)
PG | 91 min | Adventure
A million years ago in Africa, the last of the Australopithecines is on flight from the humans, who killed the rest of his clan. Alone, seeking others of his kind, he traverses steppes, ... See full summary »
Directors: Carol Hughes, David Hughes | Stars: Peter Elliott, Michael Gambon, Brian Abrahams, Clive Ashley
Votes: 425
~1,000,000 BC
2. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,129 | Gross: $20.96M
~78,000 BC
3. The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
R | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young Cro-Magnon woman is raised by Neanderthals.
Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Daryl Hannah, Pamela Reed, James Remar, Thomas G. Waites
Votes: 6,964 | Gross: $1.95M
~28,000 BC
4. Alpha (II) (2018)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the prehistoric past, a young man struggles to return home after being separated from his tribe during a buffalo hunt. He finds a similarly lost wolf companion and starts a friendship that would change humanity.
Director: Albert Hughes | Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Marcin Kowalczyk, Jens Hultén
Votes: 66,552 | Gross: $35.85M
~18,000 BC
5. 10,000 BC (2008)
PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the prehistoric past, D'Leh is a mammoth hunter who bonds with the beautiful Evolet. When warriors on horseback capture Evolet and the tribesmen, D'Leh must embark on an odyssey to save his true love.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Camilla Belle, Steven Strait, Marco Khan, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 135,489 | Gross: $94.78M
10,000 BC, I guess?
6. Iceman (2017)
Not Rated | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
The Ötztal Alps, more than 5300 years ago. A Neolithic clan has settled near a creek. It is their leader Kelab's responsibility to be the keeper of the group's holy shrine Tineka. While Kelab is hunting, the settlement is attacked.
Director: Felix Randau | Stars: Jürgen Vogel, André Hennicke, Susanne Wuest, Sabin Tambrea
Votes: 2,936 | Gross: $0.00M
~3,300 BC
7. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 77,871 | Gross: $93.74M
~1,400 BC
8. 300 (2006)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama
In the ancient battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. They face insurmountable odds when they are betrayed by a Spartan reject.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
Votes: 864,330 | Gross: $210.61M
480 BC
9. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 187,654 | Gross: $53.71M
227 BC
10. Spartacus (1960)
PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
Votes: 143,208 | Gross: $30.00M
73 BC
11. Life of Brian (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 421,858 | Gross: $20.05M
0 BC
12. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,672 | Gross: $74.70M
26 AD
13. Cleopatra (1963)
G | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown
Votes: 37,406 | Gross: $57.78M
48 AD
14. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,620,289 | Gross: $187.71M
180 AD
15. Mulan (1998)
G | 87 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroines in the process.
Directors: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook | Stars: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer
Votes: 316,516 | Gross: $120.62M
~400 AD
16. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 67,169 | Gross: $34.97M
~500 AD
17. House of Flying Daggers (2004)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Dandan Song
Votes: 116,263 | Gross: $11.05M
859 AD
18. The Northman (2022)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Viking prince is on a quest to avenge his father's murder.
Director: Robert Eggers | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke
Votes: 253,624 | Gross: $34.23M
895 AD
19. The Viking Sagas (1995)
R | 83 min | Action, Adventure
A mythical warrior wanders the snow-capped landscapes of the North territories on an arduous quest for vengeance. Amid nobles and schemers, saints and brutes, and lovers and fools, this ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Ralf Moeller, Ingibjörg Stefánsdóttir, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Þórir Waagfjörð
Votes: 639
~900 AD
20. The 13th Warrior (1999)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, History
A man, having fallen in love with the wrong woman, is sent by the sultan himself on a diplomatic mission to a distant land as an ambassador. Stopping at a Viking village port to restock on supplies, he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a quest to banish a mysterious threat in a distant Viking land.
Directors: John McTiernan, Michael Crichton | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Dennis Storhøi, Vladimir Kulich
Votes: 132,110 | Gross: $32.70M
922 AD
21. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 570,304 | Gross: $1.23M
932 AD
22. The Vikings (1958)
Not Rated | 116 min | Action, Adventure, History
A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh
Votes: 15,690 | Gross: $7.00M
1002 AD
23. Becket (1964)
PG-13 | 148 min | Biography, Drama, History
King Henry II of England comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant Thomas Becket, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the King's.
Director: Peter Glenville | Stars: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Gino Cervi
Votes: 15,841
~1148 AD
24. Genghis Khan (1965)
Approved | 120 min | Adventure, Drama, History
During the thirteenth century, the shy Mongol boy Temujin becomes the fearless leader Genghis Khan, who unites all Mongol tribes and conquers most of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Director: Henry Levin | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Omar Sharif, James Mason, Eli Wallach
Votes: 2,534 | Gross: $0.00M
~1175 to 1220 AD
25. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
R | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Martin Hancock
Votes: 315,095 | Gross: $47.40M
1184 AD
26. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains
Votes: 54,494 | Gross: $3.98M
1191 AD
27. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, War
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 1,091,414 | Gross: $75.60M
1267 to 1314 AD
28. The Name of the Rose (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin
Votes: 117,261 | Gross: $7.15M
1327 AD
29. The King (I) (2019)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother's death.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley
Votes: 152,844
~1430 AD
30. Apocalypto (2006)
R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood
Votes: 331,332 | Gross: $50.87M
1502 AD
31. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro
Votes: 62,292
1560 AD
32. Pocahontas (I) (1995)
G | 81 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.
Directors: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg | Stars: Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Christian Bale, Joe Baker
Votes: 203,017 | Gross: $141.60M
1607 AD
33. The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
R | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
Director: Robert Eggers | Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings
Votes: 300,893 | Gross: $25.14M
~1630 AD
34. The Devils (1971)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian
Votes: 18,668 | Gross: $1.13M
1634 AD
35. Witchfinder General (1968)
Unrated | 86 min | Drama, Horror
A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
Director: Michael Reeves | Stars: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark
Votes: 12,222
1645 AD
36. Silence (I) (2016)
R | 161 min | Drama, History
In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano
Votes: 122,997 | Gross: $7.10M
~1650s AD
37. Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952)
Approved | 99 min | Adventure, Romance
Honest Edward Maynard finds himself serving as ship's surgeon under the infamous pirate Blackbeard.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes
Votes: 1,699
1674 AD
38. Shogun Assassin (1980)
R | 85 min | Action, Adventure
When the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.
Directors: Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi | Stars: Tomisaburô Wakayama, Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ôki, Shôgen Nitta
Votes: 11,239
~1700 AD (VERY rough date. +/- a century)
39. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Votes: 1,210,533 | Gross: $305.41M
~1730 AD
40. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 183,078
1750 to 1789
41. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig
Votes: 187,668 | Gross: $75.51M
1757 AD
42. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,696 | Gross: $17.22M
1758 AD
43. Treasure Island (1950)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Family
The treasure seeking adventures of young Jim Hawkins and pirate captain Long John Silver.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald
Votes: 9,466
1765 AD
44. The Patriot (2000)
R | 165 min | Action, Drama, History
Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs
Votes: 293,509 | Gross: $113.33M
1776 AD
45. Hamilton (2020)
PG-13 | 160 min | Biography, Drama, History
The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
Director: Thomas Kail | Stars: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry
Votes: 113,758
1776 AD
46. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 428,079 | Gross: $51.97M
1781 to 1823 AD
47. Windwalker (1980)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
In 1797 Utah, an aged Cheyenne patriarch helps his kin to fight off a raiding party of rival Crow warriors and he tells his grandchildren the story of their family.
Director: Kieth Merrill | Stars: Trevor Howard, Nick Ramus, James Remar, Serene Hedin
Votes: 1,225 | Gross: $18.64M
1797
48. The Legend (1993)
R | 100 min | Action, Comedy, History
This Hong Kong martial-arts extravaganza tells of evil emperors and true love. The secret Red Lotus Flower Society is committed to the overthrow of the evil Manchu Emperor and his minions. ... See full summary »
Director: Corey Yuen | Stars: Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Michelle Reis, Wenzhuo Zhao
Votes: 8,296
~1800 AD
49. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy
Votes: 237,951 | Gross: $93.93M
1805 AD
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