Best History Movies of 1968

1183 AD: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. They and his wife variously plot to force him. An aging and conniving King Henry II of England and Ireland plans a reunion where he hopes to name his successor. He summons the following people for the holiday at his chateau and primary residence in Chinon, Anjou, within the Angevin Empire of medieval France: his scheming but imprisoned wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; his mistress, Princess Alais, whom he wishes to marry; his three sons, gay Richard the Lionheart , Geoffrey, and John, all of whom desire the throne; and the young, but crafty King Philip II of France, who is also Alais' half-brother.

England, 1645. The cruel civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians that is ravaging the country causes an era of chaos and legal arbitrariness that allows unscrupulous men to profit by exploiting the absurd superstitions of the peasants; like Matthew Hopkins, a monster disguised as a man who wanders from town to town offering his services as a witch hunter.

A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitudes on free love, debt, dress, and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.

A chronicle of events that led to the British involvement in the Crimean War against Russia and which led to the siege of Sevastopol and the fierce Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 which climaxed with the heroic, but near-disastrous calvary charge made by the British Light Brigade against a Russian artillery battery in a small valley which resulted in the near-destruction of the brigade due to error of judgement and rash planning on part by the inept British commanders.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.

War drama set in the closing stages of World War Two. As Allied Forces are nearing the defeat of the Japanese Army in Manila, the Japanese Empire's soldiers begin attacking innocent civilians. A brutal month-long battle ensues.

In defending his refusal to be conscripted into the Vietnam War, champion boxer Muhammed Ali defiantly declared: ‘No Vietcong ever called me a nigger, my enemies are white people, not the Vietcong.’ His rebuttal suggested the title of this documentary, which depicts an anti-Vietnam-War rally in New York in 1967.

Directed by Polish auteur Andrzej Wajda, the obscure gem unfolds as a sort of 13th century Road Trip, with youthful hormones and selfish impatience trumping nearly all of the (supposedly) pious preoccupations of their handsome leader Jacques (blonde heartthrob John Fordyce, constantly and comically running his fingers through his Beatlesque moptop).

The San Francisco scene in 1967-68. Documentary about hippies shot during the height of the movement . Viewpoints from many kinds of people. Music by Steve Miller Band, Mother Earth, Quicksilver Messenger Service and others.

Raja Bersiong, the Fanged King, is a cannibal monarch in the Kedah epic literature Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (HMM). A king with an intense appetite for human blood that over time he grew fangs and began attacking his own people to feast on them.

An historical film that follows the life of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that united all ancient Greek tribes and led them against the vast Persian Empire. Alexander conquered most of the then-known world and created a Greek empire that spanned all the way from the Balkans to India.

A 1968 collaboration between jazz musician Daniel Humair and beat author William S. Burroughs that recuts and reinterprets the 1922 silent film "Haxan" with a Burroughs' dark and wryly comic tone. Essentially the first "remix" film.

Anti-British Raj film.

An epic drama of the 16th Century Catholic monk Martin Luther who started the Reformation.

The story of Che Guevara's desperate attempt to escape the mountains of Bolivia. Pursued by an elite ranger unit of the army led by a determined CIA agent, Che is eventually trapped and his men are killed.