List of war films and TV specials set between 1775 and 1914 explained

War depictions in film and television include documentaries, TV mini-series, and drama serials depicting aspects of historical wars, the films included here are films set in the period from 1775 or at the beginning of the Age of Revolution and until various Empires hit roadblock in 1914, after lengthy arms race for several years.

American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)

(Also see American Revolutionary War films, List of films about the American Revolution)

• Betsy Ross (1917)
• The Spirit of '76 (1917)
• America (1924)
• Alexander Hamilton (1931)
• The Pursuit of Happiness (1934)
• Daniel Boone (1936)
• Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
• The Howards of Virginia (1940)
• Where Do We Go from Here? (1945)
• The Time of Their Lives (1946)
• Sangaree (1953)
• The Scarlet Coat (1955)
• Johnny Tremain (1957)
• The Devil's Disciple (1959)
• John Paul Jones (1959)
• La Fayette (1961)
• 1776 (1972), from the musical of the same name
• Valley Forge (1975), made for TV
• The Bastard (1978), made for TV
• The Rebels (1979), made for TV
• The Seekers (1979), made for TV
• George Washington (1984)
• Revolution (1985)
• The Devil's Disciple (1987)
• The Broken Chain (1993)
• The Patriot (2000), depiction of fictional battles with elements similar to the Battle of Camden, Battle of Elizabeth town, Siege of Yorktown, Militia actions and Battle of Cowpens
• The Crossing (2000), A&E film depicting George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton in 1776
• (2002), A&E film
• John Adams (2008)
• (2014–2017)
• Sons of Liberty (2015)
• Beyond the Mask (2015)

French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802)

(also see List of films set during the French Revolution and French Revolutionary Wars)

• A Tale of Two Cities (1917)
• Orphans of the Storm (1921)
• Scaramouche (1923)
• Captain of the Guard (1930)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
• Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937)
• La Marseillaise (film) (1938)
• Marie Antoinette (1938)
• New Moon (1940)
• Reign of Terror (1949)
• The Elusive Pimpernel (1950)
• Scaramouche (1952)
• Dangerous Exile (1957)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1958)
• Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1980)
• History of the World, Part I (1981)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)
• Danton (1983)
• Adieu Bonaparte (1985)
• (1987) (TV miniseries), early segment of miniseries showing Napoleon's Egyptian campaign
• Chouans! (1988)
• (1994)
• Passion in the Desert (1997)
• War in the Highlands (1999)
• Hornblower (1998–2003 TV series) first six episodes (The Duel, The Fire Ships, The Duchess and the Devil, The Wrong War, Mutiny, Retribution)
• Napoleon (2002) (TV miniseries), early half of first episode showing Napoleon's first Italian campaign and the Battle of Arcole
• The War of the Vendee (2002) a children's movie with an all-youth cast about the 1793 royalist revolt and civil war in the Vendée
• Vaincre ou mourir (2023)
• Napoleon (2023)

First Barbary War (1801–1805)

• Old Ironsides (1926), about the USS Constitution
• Tripoli (1950), depiction of the Battle of Derne

Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)

(also see List of Napoleonic Wars films)

• War and Peace (1915,Russian Empire)
• A Royal Divorce (1926)
• Napoléon (1927), depiction of the Siege of Toulon
• The House of Rothschild (1934), about the rise of the Rothschild family
• The Iron Duke (1934), a biopic of the Duke of Wellington
• Lloyd's of London (1936)
• Conquest (1937)
• A Royal Divorce (1938)
• The Blue Bird (1940)
• Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
• The Rothschilds (1940), German film about the rise of the Rothschild family
• That Hamilton Woman (1941), a biopic of Admiral Horatio Nelson
• The Young Mr. Pitt (1942), a biopic about William Pitt the Younger
• Kolberg (1945), German film about the siege of Kolberg in 1807
• Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), naval warfare
• The Red and the Black (1954, France)
• Napoléon (1955 film)
• War and Peace (1956, USA)
• The Pride and the Passion (1957) napoleonic war film
• Sven Tuuva the Hero (1958) Finnish War 1808-1809
• Austerlitz (1960), depiction of the Battle of Austerlitz
• Madame Sans-Gêne (1961)
• Hussar Ballad (1962) ("Гусарская баллада" in Russia), musical comedy set in Napoleon's invasion of Russia
• War and Peace (1966–67, USSR) (Война и мир in Russia)
• The Last Battalion (1967) Prussian soldiers fight against rushing Frenchmen
• Waterloo (1970), depiction of the Battle of Waterloo
• The Guerrilla (1973)
• Napoleon and Love (1974) Napoleons relationships with his women as a backdrop to his rise and fall
• Love and Death (1975)
• Die Marquise von O... (1976)
• The Duellists (1977) Napoleonic war film
• Raffl (1984)
• Bagrationi (1985) USSR movie
• TV Series (1987)
• La Révolution Française (1989)
• Pan Tadeusz (1999)
• Sharpe (1993–2006) (TV series)
• Hornblower (1998–2003 TV series) – last two episodes (Loyalty, Duty)
• The Emperor's New Clothes, adaptation of the novel The Death of Napoleon. A what if tale of Napoleon's exile at St. Helena
• Napoleon (2002) (TV miniseries)
• War and Peace (2002)
• (2003), naval warfare
• Monsieur N (2003), depicts Napoleon's life while imprisoned on St Helena, an investigating British officer later begins to doubt the official story
• The Brothers Grimm (2004), fantasy film about the Brothers Grimm
• Napoleon and Me (2006)
• War and Peace (2007)
• The Ballad of Uhlans (2012)
• Lines of Wellington (2012)
• War & Peace (2016)
• Napoleon (2023)

• The Buccaneer (1938)
• Captain Caution (1940)
• Magnificent Doll (1946)
• Last of the Buccaneers (1950)
• Mutiny! (1952), depiction of naval warfare
• The President's Lady (1953)
• The Buccaneer (1958), depiction of the Battle of New Orleans

Arikara War (1823)

• The Revenant (2015)

Decembrist revolt (1825)

• Union of Salvation (2019)

Opium Wars: First Opium War (1839–1842) Second Opium War (1856–1860)

• Ahen senso (1943), First Opium War
• Eternity (1943), First Opium War
• Huo shao yuan ming yuan (The Burning of the Imperial Palace) (1983) (TV miniseries), Second Opium War
• The Opium War (1997), First Opium War

Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864)

• Noroshi wa Shanghai ni agaru (1944)
• The Warlords (2007)

First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)

• Dugo sa Kapirasong Lupa 血の土地のプロット (1930) – A pre-war Filipino film depicts the Japanese Campaign in Battle of Jiuliancheng, Battle of Lushunkou and the Battle of Pyongyang.
• Empress Myeongseong (2001)
• The Sword with No Name (2009)
• Saka no Ue no Kumo (2009)
• 1895 (2009)
• Deng Sichang: The Martyr (2012) – a Chinese film about the Battle between Beiyang Fleet and Imperial Japanese Navy.

Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901)

• The Marked Woman (D: O.A.C. Lund, USA 1914)
• Foreign Devils (D: W.S. Van Dyke, USA 1928)
• The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
• Alarm in Peking (1937)
• 55 Days at Peking (1963), depiction of the 1900 Battle of Peking
• Boxer Rebellion (1976)
• Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993)
• The Boxer Rebellion (Gefangen in Peking – Aufstand der Boxer, R: Tilman Remme, DEU 2009) (Doku)

Ottoman wars in Europe (1815-1922)

Second Serbian Uprising (1815–1817)

• Vuk Karadžić (1987) (TV series)

• Thundering Mountains (1963)

• Marko Miljanov (2000) (TV)

• Sve će to narod pozlatiti (1995) (TV)

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)

• Admiral Nakhimov (1947)
• Heroes of Shipka (1955)
• The Turkish Gambit (2005)

Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (1903)

• To the Hilt (2014)

Balkan Wars (1912–1913)

• Balkan Wars 1912–1913 (2016), Turkish documentary available on the official Youtube channel (with English subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteJz3zl-iw.
• Kumanovska bitka (2012), Serbian documentary about the Battle of Kumanovo available on Youtube (in Serbian) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idnORxHxu-o

Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

• Ateşten Gömlek (1923)
• You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
• 1922 (1978)
• Kurtulus (1994)
• Stone Mektep (2013)
• The Water Diviner (2014)

Italian unification (1815–1871)

• 1860 (1934)
• Red Shirts (1952)
• Senso (1954)
• Garibaldi (1961)
• The Italian Brigands (1962)
• The Leopard (1963)
• In the Name of the Sovereign People (1990)
• Noi credevamo (2010)

Caucasian War (1817–1864)

• The White Devil (1930)
• The White Warrior (1959)

Era of Hungarian Betyár (18–19th century)

• Hajdúk (1974)
• A trombitás (1979)
• Rózsa Sándor (1971)
• Talpuk alatt fütyül a szél (1976)
• Rosszemberek (1979)
• Sárga rózsa (1940)
• Sobri (2002)

Texas War of Independence (1835–1836)

• The Immortal Alamo (1911)
• Martyrs of the Alamo (1915)
• Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1925)
• The Alamo (1936)
• Heroes of the Alamo (1937)
• (1938)
• Man of Conquest (1939)
• The Man from the Alamo (1953)
• Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955)
• The Last Command (1955)
• The First Texan (1956)
• The Alamo (1960)
• (1987)
• Texas (1994), television film
• (1988), IMAX film
• Two for Texas (1998)
• The Alamo (2004), depiction of the siege of the Alamo and ensuing defeat of Santa Anna at Battle of San Jacinto
• Texas Rising (2015)

Mexican–American War (1846–1848)

• The Cemetery of the Eagles (1939) The battles of Churubusco and Chapultepec were recreated.
• North and South (TV miniseries, 1985–1986), depiction of the Battle of Churubusco
• One Man's Hero (1999), starring Tom Berenger and focusing on the Batallón de San Patricio (Saint Patrick's Battalion) during the American invasion of Mexico
• Ravenous (1999), fictional horror film set against the backdrop of the Mexican–American War.
• The Mexican American War (2006), Description and/or Narration of all Battles Of the Mexican–American War.

Revolutions of 1848 (1848–1849)

• 1848 (1949)
• The Sea Has Risen (1953)
• A kőszívű ember fiai (1965)
• 80 Hussars (1978)
• Flowers of Reverie (1984)
• A komáromi fiú (1987)

Passive Resistance (Hungary) (1849–1867)

• The Round-Up (1966)
• Élve vagy halva (1980)
• Mathias Sandorf (1963) French film

Crimean War (1853–1856)

• The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), American version directed by Michael Curtiz, depiction of the Battle of Balaclava
• Admiral Nakhimov (1946)
• The Lady with a Lamp (1951)
• Charge of the Lancers (1954)
• The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), British version directed by Tony Richardson, depiction of the Battle of Balaclava

Eureka Rebellion (1854)

• Eureka Stockade (1907)
• Eureka Stockade (1949)
• Eureka Stockade (1984), TV miniseries

Indian Rebellion of 1857 and subsequent colonial conflicts in India (1857)

• Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), about suppressing rebellious Indians towards the beginning of the 20th century
• Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
• Gunga Din (1939), suppression of the Thugees and local rebellions
• Anand Math (1952), about the revolt of sanyasis
• King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)
• Bengal Brigade (1954) (Rock Hudson), details the beginning of the mutiny, focusing on a disgraced English Captain and his sepoy troops
• Jhansi Ki Rani (1953) about the 1857 mutiny
• The Brigand of Kandahar (1965)
• Kranti, drama about the 1857 war of independence
• Junoon (1979) about the 1857 mutiny
• Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) about the 1857 mutiny
• Swaraj (1998) A DD TV Series on Indian struggle of independence
• (2005), about the 1857 mutiny
• Victoria & Abdul (2017)

American Civil War (1861–1865)

(Also see American Civil War films, Cinema and television about the American Civil War)

• The Birth of a Nation (1915), first English Language epic film
• The Copperhead (1920)
• The General (1926), a comedy starring Buster Keaton
• Abraham Lincoln (1930)
• The Littlest Rebel (1935)
• General Spanky (1936)
• Gone with the Wind (1939)
• Virginia City (1940)
• A Southern Yankee (1948)
• The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
• Friendly Persuasion (1956)
• Raintree County (1957)
• Band of Angels (1957)
• The Horse Soldiers (1959), depiction of Grierson's Raid
• How the West Was Won (1962) depiction of the Battle of Shiloh
• Major Dundee (1965)
• Shenandoah (1965)
• Alvarez Kelly (1966)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
• A Time for Killing (1967)
• Rio Lobo (1970)
• The Beguiled (1971)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Missouri guerilla goes on the run in 1865
• The Blue and the Gray (TV miniseries, 1982)
• North and South (TV miniseries, 1985–86) – Book II episodes, depictions of the battles of Bull Run I, Antietam, Wilderness and Petersburg III
• Lincoln (TV miniseries, 1988)
• Glory (1989), depictions of the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Grimball's Landing, and the Second Battle of Fort Wagner
• Dances with Wolves (1990)
• Ironclads (1991), made for TV
• Gettysburg (1993), depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg
• Class of '61 (1993), made for TV
• Pharaoh's Army (1995), a Union mounted infantry patrol in Kentucky
• Andersonville (1996), made for TV, Union POWs in Andersonville Prison Camp
• The Hunley (1999), made for TV, depiction of the Confederate submarine in Charleston Harbor
• Ride with the Devil (1999)
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• Gods and Generals (2003), depictions of the First Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville.
• Wicked Spring (2003), the Battle of the Wilderness
• Cold Mountain (2003), depiction of the Battle of the Crater
• (2012)
• Lincoln (2012)
• Saving Lincoln (2013)
• Army of Frankensteins (2014)^[1]
• Field of Lost Shoes (2014)
• Free State of Jones (2016)
• Emancipation (2022)

Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867)

(also see List of Second French intervention in Mexico)

• Juarez (1939)
• The Eagle and the Hawk (1950)
• Stronghold (1951)
• Vera Cruz (1954)
• Major Dundee (1965)
• The Undefeated (1969)
• Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
• Cinco de Mayo, La Batalla (2013)

January Uprising (1863–1864)

• Szwadron (1992)

Paraguayan War (1864–1870)

• Argentino hasta la muerte (1971)
• Cerro Cora (1978)
• Netto perde sua alma (2001)

Second Schleswig War (1864)

• Bismarck (1940)
• 1864 (2014), TV series

Boshin War (1868–1869)

(also see List of Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion films)

• Goryōkaku (1988) Battle of Hakodate
• When the Last Sword Is Drawn (2002) Shinsengumi
• Shinsengumi! (2004) TV series
• Byakkotai (2007) TV drama Battle of Toba–Fushimi, Battle of Aizu

Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)

(also see List of Franco-Prussian War films)

• Bismarck (1940)
• Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)
• A Day Will Come (1950)
• Die Gans von Sedan (1959)
• Field of Honor (1987) In French: Champ d'honneur

Satsuma Rebellion (1877)

(also see List of Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion films)

• The Last Samurai (2003)

Scramble for Africa (1879–1914)

Anglo-Zulu War (1879)

• Zulu (1964), depiction of the Battle of Rorke's Drift
• Zulu Dawn (1979), depiction of the Battle of Isandlwana
• Shaka Zulu (1986)

First Boer War (1880–1881)

• Majuba (a.k.a. Hill of Doves) (1968)

Colonial conflicts in Northern Africa (1880s–1931)

• Beau Geste (1926), starring Ronald Colman
• Beau Ideal (1931)
• Beau Geste (1939), featuring Gary Cooper
• Beau Geste (1966), with Guy Stockwell
• The Wind and the Lion (1975), Ion Perdicaris
• March or Die (1977), Rif War
• Lion of the Desert (1981), Italian attempt to colonialize southern Libya
• Legionnaire (1998), Rif War

Mahdist Sudanese War (1881–1899)

• The Four Feathers (1921)
• The Four Feathers (1929)
• The Four Feathers (1939)
• Storm Over the Nile (1955)
• Khartoum (1966), depiction of the Siege of Khartoum
• Young Winston (1972), depiction of the Battle of Omdurman
• The Four Feathers (1978)
• The Four Feathers (2002)

First Matabele War (1893–1894)

• Major Wilson's Last Stand (1899)
• Shangani Patrol (1970)

First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895–1896)

• Abuna Messias (1939)
• Adwa (1999)

Second Boer War (1899–1902)

• Cavalcade (1933)
• The Little Princess (1939)
• Ohm Kruger (1941)
• The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
• Untamed (1955)
• Strangers at Sunrise (1969)
• Young Winston (1972)
• Breaker Morant (1980)
• Torn Allegiance (1984)
• Blood & Glory (2016)

Herero and Namaqua genocide (1904–1908)

• Measures of Men (2023)

Timok Rebellion (1883)

• Timočka buna (1983)

Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885)

• Arms and the Man (1958)

Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898)

• Santiago (1956)

Philippine Revolution (1896–1898)

• Last Stand in the Philippines (1945)
• Dugo ng Katipunan (1949)
• Ang Buhay at Pag Ibig ni Dr. Jose Rizal (1956)
• Alyas Sakay (1961)
• El Filibusterismo (1962)
• (1963)
• Elias, Basilio at Sisa (1972)
• Dugo at Pag Ibig sa Kapirasong Lupa (1975)
• Aguila (1980)
• José Rizal (1998)
• Bayaning Pilipino (2000)
• Emilio Aguinaldo (2000)
• Diwa (2002)
• El Presidente (2012)
• Supremo (2012)
• (2014)
• A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016)
• (2016)

Spanish–American War (1898)

• I Loved a Woman (1933)
• The Bowery (1933)
• A Message to Garcia (1936)
• Texas Trail (1937)
• Yellow Jack (1938)
• Mother Carey's Chickens (1938)
• Teddy, the Rough Rider (1940)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• Pursued (1947)
• Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)
• The Rough Riders (1997)

Philippine–American War (1899–1902/1913)

• Philippino War Dance (1903)^[2]
• Sakay (1937)
• The Real Glory (1939)
• Hen. Gregorio del Pilar – Bayani sa Pasong Tirad (1949)
• Cavalry Command (1963)
• This Bloody Blundering Business (1975)
• Juramentado (1983)
• Sakay (1993)
• (1997)
• Diwa (2002)
• Amigo (2010), American troops occupy a Philippine village
• El Presidente (2012)
• Heneral Luna (2015)
• (2018)

Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)

• The Battle (1934)
• Jack London (1943)
• Cruiser 'Varyag' (1946)
• Nichiro sensô shôri no hishi: Tekichû ôdan sanbyaku-ri (1957)
• Meiji tennô to nichiro daisenso (1958)
• Battle of the Japan Sea (1969)
• The Battle of Tsushima (1975) [documentary], depiction of the naval Battle of Tsushima
• The Battle of Port Arthur (1980)
• Nihonkai daikaisen: Umi yukaba (1983)
• Lime-iro Senkitan (2003)
• Bogatstvo (2004)
• Saka no Ue no Kumo (2009) Japanese TV series
• The Prisoner of Sakura (2019)

Xinhai Revolution (1911–1912)

• The Battle for the Republic of China (1981)
• 1911 (2011)
• The Founding of a Party (2011) Depicts Chinese revolutionary violence and political intrigue leading to the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921

See also

• List of war films and TV specials

Notes and References

1. Web site: Army of Frankensteins (2013) - Ryan Bellgardt | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie.
2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422949/ Philippino War Dance (1903)