Genres:Biography | Drama | History Countries:Germany | Russia | UK Directors:Michael Hoffman Actors:Kerry Condon | John Sessions | Christian Gaul | Paul Giamatti | Maximilian Gärtner | Wolfgang Häntsch | Patrick Kennedy | Nenad Lucic | David Masterson | James McAvoy | Christopher Plummer | Tomas Spencer | Anne-Marie Duff | Helen Mirren
In 1910, acclaimed Russian novelist 'Leo Tolstoy' (qv), in the later stage of his life, works rather than a writer but as the leader of the Tolstoyan Movement, whose basic tenets are brotherly love and world peace through pacifism, and a denouncement of material wealth and physical love. His chief follower is Vladimir Chertkov, who does whatever he requires to advance the cause. Chertkov hires a young man named Valentin Bulgakov to be Tolstoy's personal secretary in carrying out this work. Once ensconced in the life on the estate where much of the work is taking place, Bulgakov quickly learns that many there take from the movement only what he/she wants/believes. Also chief amongst the movement's wants is the deeding of all Tolstoy's writings to the people so that after his death it will become public domain. Tolstoy's wife, the Countess Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy, believes that her husband's writings are rightfully hers after he passes, as she wants and believes she deserves the monetary benefits derived from such. This places a strain between those in the movement, especially Chertov and the Tolstoy's daughter Sasha, and the Countess. Bulgatov acts as the mediator between the parties, he who feels he needs to do what is truly in Tolstoy's heart regardless of what Tolstoy may say or do.
Genres:History Countries:UK | USA Directors:Robert Strange Actors:Corey Johnson
How could the planet that was once a simmering sea of radioactive, molten rock evolve to become the universe's greatest refuge for human life? This is the question asked by filmmaker Peter Chin as he descends deep into the volcanoes that formed the planet's crust and dives to the bottom of the ocean to explore the first evidence of life on Earth. Beginning in the distant past and stretching into the far-off future, this documentary utilizes cutting edge special effects and breathtaking footage from remote locations in order to find out not only where life came from, but where it could be heading as well.
Genres:Biography | Drama | History | War Countries:West Germany Directors:Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Actors:Helmut Käutner | Kristina Söderbaum | Käthe Gold | Attila Hörbiger | William Trenk | Mady Rahl | Lil Dagover | Rudolf Prack | Rainer von Artenfels | Leon Askin | Marquard Bohm | Wolfgang Büttner | Peter Chatel | Erwin Faber | Rudolf Fernau
This is a biographical movie about famous best selling German writer, noted mainly for books set in the American Old West, (best known for the characters of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand) and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East.
The film is structured as a kind of biography, and the long central scene of a courtroom battle marks the collapse of May's dreams as he gets more and more deeply embroiled in the realities of Prussian jurisprudence. The matter-of-fact historical framework acquires an added resonance from the fact that all the main parts are played by prominent figures from the Nazi cinema of the '30s. The mesh of fact, fiction, realism and expressionism is complex and fascinating.
Genres:Action | Drama | History | War Countries:China Directors:John Woo Actors:Tony Leung Chiu Wai | Takeshi Kaneshiro | Fengyi Zhang | Chen Chang | Wei Zhao | Jun Hu | Chiling Lin | Shido Nakamura | Yong You | Ba Sen Zha Bu | Yong Hou
Bitter over an unforeseen defeat to rival states Shu and Wu, Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) of the Wei Kingdom is confident that his million-man fleet will crush the under-manned alliance once and for all. An epidemic and seasickness cripple Cao Cao?s men, however, postponing D-day. Gen. Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) take the time to demoralize their enemy, and trick Cao Cao into practically giving them 100,000 arrows and even beheading his top generals.
Genres:Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War Countries:China Directors:John Woo Actors:Tony Leung Chiu Wai | Takeshi Kaneshiro | Fengyi Zhang | Chen Chang | Wei Zhao | Jun Hu | Chiling Lin | Shido Nakamura | Yong You | Ba Sen Zha Bu | Yong Hou | Tong Jiang | Jingwu Ma | Chun Sun | Dawei Tong
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.
Genres:Animation | Drama | Family | History | Musical | Romance Countries:USA Directors:Mike Gabriel | Eric Goldberg Actors:Irene Bedard | Judy Kuhn | Mel Gibson | David Ogden Stiers | John Kassir | Russell Means | Christian Bale | Linda Hunt | Danny Mann | Billy Connolly | Joe Baker | Frank Welker | Michelle St. John | James Apaumut Fall | Gordon Tootoosis
Capt. John Smith leads a rag-tag band of English sailors & soldiers to the New World to plunder its riches for England (or, more precisely, for Governor Ratcliffe, who comes along for the ride). Meanwhile, in this "New World," Chief Powhatan has pledged his daughter, Pocahontas, to be married to the village's greatest warrior. Pocahontas, however, has other ideas. She has seen a vision of a spinning arrow, a vision she believes tells her change is coming. Her life does indeed change when the English ship lands near her village. Between Ratcliffe, who believes the "savages" are hiding the gold he expected to be plentiful, and Powhatan, who believes these pale newcomers will destroy their land, Smith and Pocahontas have a difficult time preventing all-out war, and saving their love for each other.
Genres:Action | Drama | History | War Countries:USA Directors:Jack Smight Actors:Charlton Heston | Henry Fonda | James Coburn | Glenn Ford | Hal Holbrook | Toshirô Mifune | Robert Mitchum | Cliff Robertson | Robert Wagner | Robert Webber | Ed Nelson | James Shigeta | Christina Kokubo | Monte Markham | Biff McGuire
The 1942 battles of the Coral Sea and Midway island are retold through the points of view of both sides. When an audacious US air raid reaches Japan itself, Combined Fleet commander Isoroku Yamamoto orders seaborne invasions of Port Moresby in the southwestern Pacific and of Midway Island near Hawaii, invasions that Yamamoto hopes will smoke out the US Pacific Fleet for destruction before the full might of US war production can kick in. The Japanese are supremely confident of victory over the vastly outnumbered US fleet, but they are unaware that US Navy intelligence has cracked the Imperial Navy's codes, allowing the US to deploy aircraft carriers to maximum counteroffensive effect.
Genres: Drama | History | War
