Best of History, a list by Chiggerz

9.0

/1568278/

88

/25430/

86

/16992/

4.5

/1253752/

98

/135/

97

/22910/

95

/30/

4.0

age 15+

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

92

8.9

/23674/

84

/313/

84

/253/

4.5

/48526/

100

/56/

98

/90/

4.0

age 15+

A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.

92

8.7

/11439/

81

/278/

82

/214/

4.5

/16063/

100

/37/

97

/117/

99

/4/

4.0

age 15+

Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.

89

8.6

/1617214/

85

/31989/

82

/16779/

4.2

/1300325/

94

/148/

95

/41367/

91

/38/

4.0

age 16+

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

89

8.4

/27371/

82

/460/

80

/592/

4.3

/17292/

94

/62/

98

/603/

89

/28/

4.0

After a fateful encounter in the summer of 1966, the lifepaths of two brothers from a middle-class Roman family diverge, intersecting with some of the most significant events of postwar Italian history in the following decades.

89

8.1

/74462/

78

/1181/

78

/850/

4.5

/113472/

99

/95/

95

/1191/

96

/22/

4.0

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

89

8.3

/337966/

80

/5383/

80

/3300/

4.4

/314134/

93

/132/

93

/5603/

100

/8/

4.0

age 13+

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

88

8.1

/19348/

78

/519/

75

/286/

4.2

/16640/

100

/26/

92

/580/

95

/9/

4.0

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

87

8.1

/246857/

78

/3975/

78

/2279/

4.2

/109378/

96

/103/

93

/2260/

88

/16/

4.0

age 11+

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

87

8.4

/285608/

82

/4641/

81

/2406/

4.3

/101514/

98

/55/

96

/2946/

85

/16/

age 15+

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

87

8.1

/28391/

81

/2682/

78

/679/

4.1

/43387/

99

/191/

90

/311/

88

/35/

4.0

age 5+

A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.

87

8.2

/40445/

81

/2362/

77

/637/

4.1

/57021/

99

/155/

91

/438/

91

/27/

4.0

age 16+

A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.

87

8.4

/463299/

81

/7930/

80

/4589/

4.3

/476825/

90

/159/

95

/7757/

87

/28/

4.0

age 15+

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

86

8.0

/41486/

78

/821/

76

/457/

4.2

/43021/

100

/82/

90

/45/

97

/16/

3.5

Bosnia, July 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. As an insider to the negotiations Aida has access to crucial information that she needs to interpret. What is at the horizon for her family and people – rescue or death? Which move should she take?

86

8.3

/27958/

82

/1781/

80

/574/

4.2

/84419/

97

/256/

94

/735/

85

/41/

3.5

age 10+

For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.

86

8.0

/26020/

79

/611/

77

/291/

4.0

/19000/

96

/141/

93

/1006/

87

/36/

4.0

Using archival footage, cabinet conversation recordings, and an interview of the 85-year-old Robert McNamara, The Fog of War depicts his life, from working as a WWII whiz-kid military officer, to being the Ford Motor Company's president, to managing the Vietnam War as defense secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

86

8.2

/39066/

81

/2471/

78

/773/

4.3

/116290/

97

/105/

90

/240/

81

/29/

4.0

age 16+

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

86

8.1

/530182/

79

/18239/

78

/8589/

4.1

/570169/

97

/378/

93

/2949/

93

/45/

3.5

age 15+

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

86

8.1

/779545/

80

/18759/

79

/11744/

4.2

/657927/

95

/376/

90

/6135/

96

/57/

3.5

age 15+

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

85

8.0

/729402/

79

/14778/

77

/9115/

3.8

/451979/

94

/301/

92

/14860/

88

/41/

4.0

age 14+

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

85

7.9

/24612/

79

/1229/

77

/502/

4.2

/63193/

99

/210/

83

/257/

95

/36/

3.5

age 13+

Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.

85

7.8

/3847/

76

/123/

72

/47/

4.0

/5623/

100

/25/

90

/116/

88

/16/

4.0

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

85

7.7

/11617/

79

/265/

74

/197/

4.0

/27530/

100

/13/

89

/128/

4.0

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1983. In the last and turbulent days of the military dictatorship, Alicia, a high school history teacher, begins to ask uncomfortable questions about the dark origins of Gaby, her adopted daughter.

85

8.0

/7092/

78

/336/

75

/111/

3.9

/1815/

95

/111/

91

/856/

84

/34/

4.0

age 9+

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.

85

8.4

/25094/

81

/704/

81

/655/

4.3

/31835/

94

/95/

90

/118/

83

/29/

3.5

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

85

8.2

/36115/

81

/1055/

78

/527/

3.8

/23680/

100

/30/

94

/824/

age 14+

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic American who has become one of the leading scientists in humane livestock handling.

85

7.8

/68519/

77

/1884/

74

/931/

4.0

/37019/

96

/53/

90

/1076/

91

/16/

4.0

age 12+

At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.

84

7.5

/818/

82

/55/

75

/24/

4.0

/2418/

97

/30/

78

/10/

87

/7/

4.0

Fifteen-year-old Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human show, Heidi resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

84

8.1

/35091/

79

/604/

76

/448/

4.0

/19157/

93

/28/

91

/649/

75

/8/

4.0

age 12+

Schoolteacher Bertram Cates is arrested for teaching his students Darwin's theory of evolution. The case receives national attention and one of the newspaper reporters, E.K. Hornbeck, arranges to bring in renowned defense attorney and atheist Henry Drummond to defend Cates. The prosecutor, Matthew Brady is a former presidential candidate, famous evangelist, and old adversary of Drummond.

84

7.9

/2036/

74

/33/

71

/27/

3.7

/1311/

100

/14/

92

/61/

4.0

Real-life letters written by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.

84

8.1

/389573/

79

/6290/

77

/3051/

3.9

/133034/

91

/188/

94

/12273/

79

/40/

4.0

age 15+

Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.

84

7.9

/113504/

77

/2296/

74

/1172/

3.9

/50142/

92

/51/

93

/2434/

86

/20/

4.0

age 14+

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.

84

7.9

/136241/

78

/3551/

77

/1989/

4.2

/203020/

94

/71/

92

/2244/

84

/18/

3.5

age 13+

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

84

7.6

/11016/

73

/241/

71

/236/

4.0

/18509/

96

/50/

85

/132/

94

/23/

4.0

Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.

84

8.2

/7087/

79

/166/

72

/115/

4.1

/11024/

96

/27/

94

/282/

3.5

age 14+

Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.

84

7.9

/5803/

78

/174/

75

/96/

3.9

/5977/

99

/74/

92

/310/

76

/23/

4.0

Doubling as a cartography of the ever-changing city, Bill Cunningham New York portrays the secluded pioneer of street fashion with grace and heart.

84

8.2

/7856/

81

/613/

77

/208/

4.0

/9677/

96

/23/

92

/52/

Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles while wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry's glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama. Allied with a team of unusual but brilliant people, they went on to create the longest running science fiction series ever made.

84

8.1

/201205/

79

/3574/

79

/3072/

4.4

/367921/

78

/152/

92

/2589/

89

/21/

3.5

age 12+

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

83

7.9

/20247/

77

/516/

75

/243/

4.1

/20959/

100

/50/

94

/466/

83

/21/

3.0

age 14+

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

83

7.8

/63104/

76

/1327/

74

/796/

3.9

/33452/

91

/45/

91

/1094/

76

/18/

4.0

age 16+

New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.

83

7.7

/109626/

77

/3062/

75

/1817/

4.3

/177843/

89

/83/

91

/2300/

73

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

83

8.1

/268946/

78

/4645/

78

/3007/

4.1

/119891/

87

/54/

89

/3850/

90

/9/

age 13+

In 26 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.

83

7.7

/661456/

76

/17081/

72

/8720/

3.7

/450410/

96

/360/

90

/10915/

86

/45/

4.0

age 16+

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

83

7.8

/466385/

75

/16658/

75

/7293/

3.9

/868918/

95

/468/

86

/325/

94

/55/

3.5

age 17+

Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.

83

7.8

/279140/

78

/10286/

78

/6656/

4.2

/2525674/

95

/441/

92

/3346/

91

/57/

3.0

age 10+

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

83

7.8

/284187/

82

/25384/

80

/10213/

3.9

/609771/

93

/323/

93

/2736/

74

/47/

3.5

age 10+

The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

83

7.5

/310193/

76

/16047/

74

/7912/

4.0

/1075708/

96

/448/

83

/1723/

83

/56/

4.0

age 15+

Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

83

7.7

/8658/

77

/435/

72

/156/

4.1

/33179/

100

/100/

90

/49/

86

/29/