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- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJudy DavisVictor BanerjeePeggy AshcroftCultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMark RylanceAlan AldaDuring the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsEverett McGillRon PerlmanNicholas KadiThis story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsBrad PittEric BanaOrlando BloomAn adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.1260 to 1180 BC - Greece
The Famous Trojan War.
decade-long Trojan War rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector's Trojan army. The end of the film (the sacking of Troy) is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Virgil's Aeneid as the Iliad concludes with Hector's death and funeral. - DirectorXiaowen ZhouStarsWen JiangYou GeQing XuEpic drama about China's first emperor (221 BC) who struggles to make his childhood best friend, now China's greatest composer, succumb to his will and compose a grand anthem to his exploits.221 BC - China
Times of China's first emperor. The great wall of China was built in the same year i.e. 221 BC
He conquered all other Warring States and united China in 221 BC. Rather than maintain the title of king borne by the Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty from 220 to 210 BC.
The Qin fought nomadic tribes to the north and northwest. The Xiongnu tribes were not defeated and subdued, thus the campaign was tiring and unsuccessful, and to prevent the Xiongnu from encroaching on the northern frontier any longer, the emperor ordered the construction of an immense defensive wall. This wall, for whose construction hundreds of thousands of men were mobilized, and an unknown number died, is a precursor to the current Great Wall of China. It connected numerous state walls which had been built during the previous four centuries, a network of small walls linking river defenses to impassable cliffs. - DirectorJayantha ChandrasiriStarsUddika PremarathnaJackson AnthonyKusum RenuDutugamunu also known as Dutthagamani and Gamani Abhaya ("fearless Gamini"), was a Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for defeating and overthrowing Elara, the usurping Tamil prince from the Chola Kingdom, who had invaded the Kingdom of Rajarata in 205 BC. Dutugamunu also expanded and beautified the city of Anuradhapura and projected the power of his native Rajarata region across the island of Sri Lanka.161 to 137 BC - Sri Lanka
Times of Sri Lankan King Gemunu, and his battle with Chola Kingdom.
He is renowned for defeating and overthrowing Elara, the usurping Tamil prince from the Chola Kingdom, who had invaded the Kingdom of Rajarata in 205 BC. Dutugamunu also expanded and beautified the city of Anuradhapura and projected the power of his native Rajarata region across the island of Sri Lanka. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsRussell CroweJoaquin PhoenixConnie NielsenA former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.161 to 192 AD
Times of Commodus. The Fall of the Roman Empire
His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded his father since Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79. He was also the first emperor to have both a father and grandfather (who had adopted his father) as the two preceding emperors. Commodus was the first (and until 337, the only) emperor "born in the purple", i.e., during his father's reign.
The first crisis of the reign came in 182, when Lucilla engineered a conspiracy against her brother. Her motive is alleged to have been envy of the Empress Crispina. Her husband, Pompeianus, was not involved, but two men alleged to have been her lovers, Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus (the consul of 167, who was also her first cousin) and Appius Claudius Quintianus, attempted to murder Commodus as he entered a theater. They bungled the job and were seized by the emperor's bodyguard.
Quadratus and Quintianus were executed. Lucilla was exiled to Capri and later killed. Pompeianus retired from public life. One of the two praetorian prefects, Tarrutenius Paternus, had actually been involved in the conspiracy but his involvement was not discovered until later on, and in the aftermath, he and his colleague, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, were able to arrange for the murder of Saoterus, the hated chamberlain.
War broke out in Dacia and it appears two future contenders for the throne, Clodius Albinus and Pescennius Niger, both distinguished themselves in the campaign. Also, in Britain in 184, the governor Ulpius Marcellus re-advanced the Roman frontier northward to the Antonine Wall, but the legionaries revolted against his harsh discipline and acclaimed another legate, Priscus, as emperor.
During 191, the city of Rome was extensively damaged by a fire that raged for several days, during which many public buildings including the Temple of Pax, the Temple of Vesta and parts of the imperial palace were destroyed.
On 31 December Marcia poisoned his food but he vomited up the poison; so the conspirators sent his wrestling partner Narcissus to strangle him in his bath. Upon his death, the Senate declared him a public enemy - DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTakeshi KaneshiroFengyi ZhangThe first chapter of a two-part story centered on a battle fought in China's Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).220 to 280 AD - China
China during the Three Kingdoms era. The film chronicles the Battle of Red Cliffs between the forces of Cao Cao and the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei
the period of the Three Kingdoms refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 AD and the conquest of the state of Wu by the Jin dynasty in 280. The middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu. The later part of the era was marked by the conquest of Shu by Wei (263), the overthrow of Wei by the Jin dynasty (265), and the conquest of Wu by the Jin (280).
The Three Kingdoms period is one of the bloodiest in Chinese history. In fact, it is considered the second deadliest period of warfare in history behind World War II. A nationwide census taken in AD 280, following the reunification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin shows a total of 2,459,840 households and 16,163,863 individuals which was only a fraction of the 10,677,960 households, and 56,486,856 individuals reported during the Han era. While the census may not have been particularly accurate due to a multitude of factors of the times, the Jin in AD 280 did make an attempt to account for all individuals where they could. - DirectorYuriy BataninYuri KulakovStarsSergey BezrukovAleksandr BarinovLev DurovThe film is about those times and events as a result of which the semi-military alliance of the heathen Slavic breeds have become Rus from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This transformation took place under the hand of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, from the clan of militant Rurik. Vladimir's father, Svyatoslav, sacked the khazars and on Equal talked to the powerful Byzantine emperor, Ioann Tsimishiy. Vladimir's grand mother, princess Olga, also was held in respect of the Konstantinople's court and the Patriarchy. With her iron hand she guided retinues from Kiev to Novgorod and in particular she forgot the chains of economic unity in Rus. But their son and grandson Prince Vladimir was at hand the more act: under his rule, the civilization was choice made - Orthodox Christianity became the state religion. This was a choice that made Rus a mighty power. Several hundred churches were built over a period of 10-15 years in Prince Vladimir's rule. None Chrisian power knew such paces of religious convertion. The reasons are returned: there is the richness of Rus throng and consent the people with their power and, it is astonishing, that Orthodox was after Russian people's hearts. But nobody can really know what internal struggle what spiritual efforts and sorrows were experienced by Price Vladimir, the heathen from birth, lived the greater part of his life in the heathenism.958 to 1015 AD - Russia, Ukrain, Belarus
The Times of Vladimir the Great
After the death of his father in 972, Vladimir, who was then prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help from his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk. By 980 Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern-day Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarian, Baltic, and Eastern nomads. - DirectorPhilipp StölzlStarsTom PayneStellan SkarsgårdOlivier MartinezIn 11th-century Persia, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.980 to 1053 AD - Persia, Turkey
Physician Ibn Sina in the times of Persian Samanid Empire and later Mahmud of Ghazni Empire. The Golden period of Islam.
His most famous works are The Book of Healing – a philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and The Canon of Medicine – a medical encyclopedia. which became a standard medical text at many medieval universities and remained in use as late as 1650. - DirectorGilles GrangierSergiu NicolaescuStarsHervé BellonJohn TerryMircea AlbulescuWilliam's government blended elements of the English and Norman systems into a new one that laid the foundations of the later medieval English kingdom.[141] How abrupt and far-reaching the changes were is still a matter of debate among historians, with some such as Richard Southern claiming that the Conquest was the single most radical change in European history between the Fall of Rome and the 20th century.1066 AD - Britain, France
William The conquerer captures Britain
The first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsOrlando BloomEva GreenLiam NeesonBalian 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.1137 to 1193 AD - Iraq, Syria, Israel
Times of Saladin and Crusades
Saladin was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of their Ayyubid dynasty, although it was named after his father.
Saladin led the Muslim opposition to the European Crusaders in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen and other parts of North Africa.
Under Saladin's personal leadership, the Ayyubid army defeated the Crusaders at the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, leading the way to the Muslims' re-capture of Palestine from the Crusaders who had conquered it 88 years earlier. Though the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem would continue to exist for an extended period, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslim powers of the region. - DirectorMel GibsonStarsGerardo TaracenaRaoul Max TrujilloDalia HernándezAs the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.1511 AD - USA, Mexico
First Contact of Spanish Sailors with Mayan Civilization.
The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador.
The Postclassic period of Mayan Civilization saw the rise of Chichen Itza in the north, and the expansion of the aggressive K'iche' kingdom in the Guatemalan Highlands. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire colonised the Mesoamerican region, and a lengthy series of campaigns saw the fall of the last Maya city in 1697.
As a part of their religion, the Maya practised human sacrifice. They developed the only known fully developed writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas. - DirectorAshutosh GowarikerStarsHrithik RoshanAishwarya Rai BachchanSonu SoodA sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha.1542 to 1605 AD - India, Afghanistan, Pakistan
Rise and Expansion of Mughal Empire under Akbar. Can Watch Mughle Aazam too, but that covers the later years of Akbar.
During his rule, the Mughal empire tripled in size and wealth. He created a powerful military system and instituted effective political and social reforms. By abolishing the sectarian tax on non-Muslims and appointing them to high civil and military posts, he was the first Mughal ruler to win the trust and loyalty of the native subjects. He had Sanskrit literature translated, participated in native festivals, realizing that a stable empire depended on the co-operation and good-will of his subjects. Thus, the foundations for a multicultural empire under Mughal rule was laid during his reign. Akbar was succeeded as emperor by his son, Jahangir.
Some of his major Military victories in India were against Sikander Shah Suri of Punjab, Hemu of Delhi, Malwa, Gondwana, Mewar, Ajmer, Gujrat, and Bengal.
In Central Asia his victories included Kabul. In 1586, Akbar negotiated a pact with Abdullah Khan in which the Mughals agreed to remain neutral during the Uzbek invasion of Safavid held Khorasan. Despite his pact with the Uzbeks, Akbar nurtured a secret hope of reconquering Central Asia from today's Afghanistan. However, Badakshan and Balkh remained firmly part of the Uzbek dominions. There was only a transient occupation of the two provinces by the Mughals under his grandson, Shah Jahan, in the mid-17th century. Nevertheless, Akbar's stay in the northern frontiers was highly fruitful. The last of the rebellious Afghan tribes were subdued by 1600. The Roshaniyya movement was firmly suppressed. The Afridi and Orakzai tribes, which had risen up under the Roshaniyyas, had been subjugated. The leaders of the movement were captured and driven into exile. Jalaluddin, the son of the Roshaniyya movement's founder, Bayazid, was killed in 1601 in a fight with Mughal troops near Ghazni. Mughal rule over today's Afghanistan was finally secure, particularly after the passing of the Uzbek threat with the death of Abdullah Khan in 1598. - DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.1876 to 1877 AD - Japan, USA
Times of the infamous Samurai Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Disgruntled Samurai at the end of their days in a world that no longer has a need for them. The movie best explores death of Old Japan and Birth of new Westernized Japan.