After routing the Swedes and the Tartars, Alexander Nevsky is called once more to the breach to give the Germans a hammering. Eisenstein's portrayal of the 13th Century Russian hero is a bold, patriotic epic that served as a stirring anti-Nazi propaganda film during World War Two. find out more...

A beautiful and elegantly simple film about the life and works of Francesco Di Assisi, founder of a religious order that expressed Christianity in a form devoid of materialism but rich in compassion; a faith that the orthodox church, by the time of Francesco's birth in the late 12th century, had long dispensed with. Neorealistic in style and obviously close to Rossellini's heart, this is now acknowledged as one of his greatest masterpieces. find out more...

Ironclad is a blood spattered period actioner, set after the signing of the magna carta, where a group of crusade hardened warriors must fight off an embittered and ruthless King john in order to maintain the new won rights of the lords of the land....Mmmmm. Good grim, historically dodgy, mayhem. find out more...

This lavishly photographed and costumed action-drama-epic sticks to what we know of Genghis's early years, although that's not much, telling the story of how a young tribal boy overcame many obstacles, including slavery, to become a legendary conqueror. The widescreen suits this 'big sky' country and there is something remarkably authentic about the yurts and the costumes. Chosen for marriage, at the age of nine, by a female child, Borte, while he thinks he's doing the chosing, she becomes one o find out more...

All the action is set prior to Robin becoming a renegade outlaw and leader of his Merry Men. Starting out as a common soldier in the Third Crusade he meets a dying Robert of Locksley, who he ends up impersonating. Voyaging to Nottinghamshire he finds himself fending off the evil traitor and all round bad guy, Godfrey, fighting for democratic rights, seeing off the dastardly French and rescuing Maid Marian from the surf.
The set pieces are top notch, the battle scenes good and the photogr find out more...

A big budget star-studded American production, which takes a few liberties with the original legend, but is nevertheless a highly enjoyable film. A clever combination of action and comedy made this Number One at the British Box Office in 1991 - Alan Rickman makes a first class Sheriff. find out more...

The middle part of Pasolini's trilogy of Life is a suitably bawdy adaption of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales', a series of stories that pretty much wanders through all the 'Seven Sins' and, in particular, the cast of characters sexual peccadillos. Lush and enjoyable. find out more...

From the BBC's exhaustive and typically exemplary adaptations of some of the great bard's best known plays and, like this, a number of his lesser known works, all filmed in the late 70s and early 80s and performed by pretty much the cream of British theatre. The five acts depict a dizzying change of alliances, a Papal excommunication and subsequent acceptance, and the play ends finally with King John's death at the hands of a monk. find out more...

From the best selling book by Umberto Eco comes this brilliant film adaptation. Father William of Baskerville arrives at a monastary to participate in a theological dispute. However murder and intrigue are afoot. William finds himself once again at odds with the Inquisition. Mediaeval whodunit! find out more...