English General Charles George Gordon, a devout Christian, is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by Prime Minister Gladstone. Ordered to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan, General Gordon stays on to protect the people of Khartoum, who are under threat of being conquered by Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi, "the Expected One," the head of the Muslim forces. An out-and-out action spectacle sealed with stunning cinematography. find out more...

Centred on the intrigues leading up to and following the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572, this historical drama begins with the arranged, loveless wedding of the Roman Catholic Marguerite de Valois, sister to the eccentric King Charles IX and daughter of the scheming Catherine de Medici, and the Huguenot Henri de Navarre. Despite Catherine's hope that the marriage may unite France, the mutual hatred felt by Catholics and Protestants soon degenerates into carnage and Margot, who has learned find out more...

Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells the story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption; a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit....but with over wrought songs. Ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, has been hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after he broke parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s young daughter, Cosette, the lives of all involved change forever. Another find out more...

An umpteenth adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, with Liam Neeson taking the lead as hard-done by hero Valjean, unjustly imprisoned for 20 years before making his escape, and living a virtuous life under an assumed identity, before it becomes apparent that his past will forever come back to haunt him. Uma Thurman plays the beautiful, impoverished Fantine, whom Valjean decides to save from a life of vice. A competent but somewhat sanitised reworking of the classic tale. find out more...

Sofia Coppola brings to the screen an undeniably sympathetic addressing of the short life and times of France's last queen, creating a ravishing picture of Marie's life. This visual feast is an entertaining slice of historical re-jigging, telling the tale of a naive and opulent monarch in a time of revolution, one who breathed in full the last gasp of a dying age of decadence. But historical accuracy or analysis - forget it. find out more...

Liam Neeson surpasses himself with his portrayal of the legendary Irish folk hero in this stirring historical drama. The controversial patriot's life, from his advent after the Easter Rising to his untimely death, is vividly depicted by a sterling cast in this passion-packed biopic. Excellent. find out more...

The story of the family of the last of the Czars - a man born to rule an empire and whose own isolated arrogance and sense of superiority reflected that of the collapsing class structure which engulfed him. But this is a reactionary movie that attempts to show the Romanoff Czar as an innocent caught up in events outside his own control!! find out more...

Manipulative English mercenary Sir William Walker is posted to a Portuguese colony in the Caribbean and, once there, he uses his skills to engineer a slave revolt as part of his calculated plans for the English to seize control. 'Queimada' is a fine example of Pontecorvo's unique filmmaking talent and Brando's portrayal of a man who is both a gentleman and a scoundrel, a revolutionary and a colonialist, ranks amongst his best performances. Ennio Morricone's haunting music underscores a very powe find out more...

Adapted from a Novokshenov novel this semi-ethnographic, semi-polemical epic follows a Mongol uprising against British occupiers not long after the communist revolution in Russia. When a young herdsman is captured by the British a twist of fate leads them to believe he is a descendant of Genghis Khan and, hoping that such a presence will pacify the people, he is dully installed as a puppet leader. This as you might expect turns out to be a terrible error of judgement on the part of the interlope find out more...

The film is entirely extracted from the diary of Grace Elliot, a doughty royalist residing in France during the turbulent and uncertain period of the Revolution. What makes it of historical interest is that her ex-lover and close friend, le Duc de Orleans, a cousin of the king, was of a different political hue, a revolutionary idealist who believed in parliamentary democracy, but who was swept aside in the violent class upheaval that marked the end of the feudalistic Bourbon court. A sumptuous c find out more...