THE 50 BEST MEDIEVAL MOVIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The medieval films have been shown on the big screen throughout the entire history of cinema. They try to portray and illustrate the great epic feats of historical books or literature of the Middle Ages.

Today this film genre triumphs on the big screen with films that have been catapulted to fame, in part due to the great technical and cast work they have.

List of the 50 best medieval films

Lancelot The First Knight (1995)

Cast: Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond. Lancelot falls in love with Guinevere who will marry King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Brave Heart (1995)

Cast: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan. When his secret wife is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, William Wallace starts a revolt against King Edward I of England.

Excalibur (1981)

Cast: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger. Based on a novel by Umberto Eco about an intellectually nonconformist friar who investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.

The Seven Samurai (1954)

A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil boss.

The Miserables

Adaptation of the famous book by Victor Hugo. Its development centers on the life of an ex-convict who is chased by the police and who has to take care of a little girl named Cossete.

Conan the barbarian (2011)

Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Katheryn Winnick, Alexander Ludwig. The world of the Vikings comes to life through the journey of RagnarLothbrok, the first Viking to emerge from Norse legend and into the pages of history - a man on the brink of myth.

Joan of Arc (1999)

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Dennis Storhøi. A man, who falls 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 town port to restock supplies, he is unconsciously involved in a quest to banish a mysterious threat in a distant Viking land.

Dragon Heart (1996)

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery, Dina Meyer. The last dragon and a disillusioned knight must cooperate to stop an evil king who was given partial immortality.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Cast: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright. While a boy is sick in bed, his grandfather reads him a story called The Princess Bride.

King Arthur. The Legend of the Sword (2017)

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Hermione Corfield, Katie McGrath. Version of the classic story of King Arthur, one of the most famous kings in film fiction.

Henry V (1989)

Cast: RutgerHauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Burlinson, Jack Thompson. A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble lord who decides not to pay them by kidnapping the bride of the nobleman's son.

Robin Hood (1991)

Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Anne Crawford. The Court of King Arthur is threatened by the adulterous love between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, a relationship that the king's enemies hope to exploit.

The Knights of the Square Table (1975)

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam. King Arthur and his knights set out in search of the Grail, encountering many obstacles.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland. Film based on the legend of this English hero. It was the first version of Robin Hood and won three Oscars.

Merlin (1998)

Cast: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon. After the death of his master, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity as a knight.

Templar (2011)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennent. A young man must prevent the Lord of Darkness from destroying the light of day and marrying the woman he loves.

Folly in the Middle Ages (2001)

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert. A man is accidentally transported to 1300 AD, where he must fight an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

The CourtJester or the court jester (1955)

Cast: Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone. An unfortunate carnival performer disguises himself as a court jester as part of a plot against an evil ruler who has overthrown the rightful king.

Knights, Princesses and other beasts (2011)

Cast: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Damian Lewis, ZooeyDeschanel, Justin Theroux.

It is a comedy about the kidnapping of Prince Fabious's girlfriend, who is kidnapped, and the Prince goes on a quest to rescue her accompanied by his lazy and useless brother Thadeous.

Just visiting or two hanging in Chicago (2001)

Cast: Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, Christian Clavier. A knight and his servant are tormented by a witch, and they use the services of a wizard to repair the damage.

However, something goes wrong and they are transported from the 12th century to the year 2000. There the knight meets some of his family and little by little he learns what the new century is like. However, he still needs to go back to the 12th century to deal with the witch, so he starts looking for a wizard.

The Visitors (1993)

Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Díaz. After his swamp fills with magical creatures, Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona from a villain and thus take back his land.

Shrek 2 (2004)

Cast: Mike Myers, Cameron Díaz, Eddie Murphy. When his new father-in-law, King Harold falls ill, Shrek is seen as the heir and new King.