Best History Movies of 1993

When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican bobsled team.

Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.

In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the goal of marching through to Washington, D.C. The Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General George G. Meade, forms a defensive position to confront the rebel forces in what will prove to be the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.

This film is a glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhood of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer and begins a meteoric rise to fame and an all too short reign as one the most charismatic action heroes in cinema history.

Le Ly lives in a small Vietnamese village whose serenity is shattered when war breaks out. Caught between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese army, the village is all but destroyed. After being both brutalized and raped, Le Ly resolves to flee. She leaves for the city, surviving desperate situations, but surviving nonetheless. Eventually she meets a U.S. Marine named Steve Butler who treats her kindly and tells her he would like to be married -- maybe to her.

The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.

After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle. When the South Essex loses its colours (its regimental flag), Sharpe vows to save the honor of the regiment by capturing a French Imperial standard: an eagle.

During the Peninsular War in Spain against the French, Sergeant Richard Sharpe saves the life of Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington and is promoted to Lieutenant. In order to pay the troops Wellesley needs a money draft from the banker Rothschild, but fears he has been captured by the French and sends Sharpe behind enemy lines to find him. Sharpe is given command of a platoon of crack riflemen, led by the surly Irishman Harper and including Hagman and Harris, who resent Sharpe as not being a 'proper officer'.

Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.

Black comedy about 15th-century Paris lawyer Richard Courtois (Firth) who decides to apply his trade in the country, only to find things stranger than he can imagine. His first case turns out to be defending a pig that's accused of murdering a child. The pig is owned by the beautiful gypsy Samira (Annabi), who, the idealistic lawyer finds himself falling in love (or lust) with. A Gothic tale with religion, superstition, power struggles, and ignorance as a backdrop.

A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.

This engrossing dramatization of the life of Abraham, the most tested servant of God and the father of Judaism, spans from the patriarch's quest for the Promised Land to the sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

Academician and piano expert David Dubal narrates this absorbing documentary chronicling the instrument's history and featuring some of the 20th century's finest pianists via archival film clips. Among the keyboard virtuosos are Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, Van Cliburn and Glenn Gould. Extras include Arrau's 1983 performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 4, accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra under maestro Riccardo Muti.

Hosted by Charlton Heston, it explores the possibility that the Sphinx maybe older than expected. John Anthony West examines that water erosion on the Sphinx can pre-date it to 10,000 years old?. Other mysteries such as how they moved 200 ton stone blocks to build the pyramids, the secret chambers under the Sphinx and the links to the pyramids that are suggested on Mars.

The only dramatization using the actual scriptures...word for word from the New International Version (NIV). The Matthew video series broke new ground by offering the first-ever dramatic portrayal of events in the Bible, presented word for word from the best-selling New International Version® (NIV) translation. Now you can experience this thrilling epic in DVD format, which blends the superior digital surround sound of CDs with crisp, high-resolution digital images.

A portrayal of the early Latter-day Saints' joys, sacrifices, hopes, and trials; their epic journey to the Salt Lake Valley; and their legacy of faith in Jesus Christ.

It's 69AD in Rome and streetwise hustler Marcus Didius Falco gets caught up in the death of the son of a man close to the new emperor, Vespasian. Hired by the victim's sister to discover the truth, Falco and his newly acquired slave, the gladiator Justus, uncover plots involving a cult which reaches into the Imperial household.

Peru in the early 1980s… a time of difficulties.

The true story of Iroquois warrior Thayendanegea participating in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War.

A man calls into a radio station to try and win a prize.

Goin’ Back to T-Town tells the story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation. Torn apart in 1921 by one of the worst racially-motivated massacres in the nation’s history, the neighborhood rose from the ashes, and by 1936 boasted the largest concentration of Black-owned businesses in the U.S., known as “Black Wall Street.” Ironically, it could not survive the progressive policies of integration and urban renewal of the 1960s. Told through the memories of those who lived through the events, the film is a bittersweet celebration of small-town life and the resilience of a community’s spirit.

He went off to war an unknown soldier and returned a beloved national hero. Often dismissed as a "do-nothing" president and a good-natured bumbler, Dwight D. Eisenhower -- the last American president to be born in the 19th century -- was actually a skillful politician, a tough Cold War warrior, and one of America's most misunderstood and unappreciated presidents. Two-part documentary from American Experience.

Narrated by David McCullough, this program examines the infamous Entartete Kunst (degenerate art) exhibition mounted by the Nazis in Munich in 1937 and their far-reaching attacks on avant-garde art in Germany. Witness compelling footage of Nazi book burnings, and of the exhibition itself. Includes interviews with historians, art critics, and eyewitnesses to the events that dramatize this powerful story of the Nazis' assault on modern culture.

Thomas Edison opens up the laboratory of America’s most celebrated inventor and invites you to explore its secrets. Sprinkled with humor and packed with little-known details about the search for a working electric light bulb, this story will help you see for yourself why Edison quipped, “Genius is about one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Julius Caesar turned military victories into political power. His ambition created a colossal empire, and he gave his name to the rulers who succeeded him. From his strategic brilliance to the Ides of March this documentary examines the legendary ruler whose genius and determination forged an empire that would stand for centuries.

During America's Civil War, there came the evolution of pistols and rifles and artillery that would forever change the way in which humankind would fight its wars. Within the names that would forever establish themselves in the annals of weaponry - Colt, Winchester, Smith & Wesson - lies a different story of the Civil War.

Long before Columbus, the Maya established one of the most highly developed civilizations of their time in the jungles of Mexico and Central America. Yet this advanced society of priests, astronomers, artisans, and farmers suddenly and mysteriously collapsed more than a thousand years ago. Accompany archaeologists to Copan, Dos Pilas, and other spectacular Classic Maya ruins as they unearth artifacts and huge temples of incredible beauty. Recently deciphered hieroglyphics and other new discoveries offer astounding clues to the lives of these ancient people. You'll hear the startling story of one kingdom's downfall and its final desperate hours of violent warfare. Through spine-tingling recreations, witness ancient rituals reenacted on sites where they originally occured. And meet the enduring Maya who still maintain many of their ancestor's traditions. You'll hear the voices of a magnificent civilization as you uncover LOST KINGDOMS OF THE MAYA.

Spain held vast territories in its Mexican colony, areas which are now part of the American soutwest. For a long time, huge portions of these territories went unexplored. In this historical drama set in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Padre Kino (1645-1711), a Jesuit missionary, defies his superiors and explores the northern reaches of Baja California. In his journeys, he discovers (to everyone's surprise) that it is a penninsula connected to the rest of California. Padre Kino (Francisco Eusebio Kino) established many towns and villages along the way, and is an important figure in Mexico's colonial history.

In this true life murder mystery, we know early on "whodunnit" (the butler, actually), but the surprising charm in the story stems from the fact that the lawyer is honest and morally upright. The story of William Marsh Rice and his legacy, Rice University, where much of the film was shot.

While sick in the small town of Saldán, the General José de San Martín remembers his life and achievements

This hour-long documentary is a provocative look at a historical event of which few Americans are aware. In mid-January, 1893, armed troops from the U.S.S Boston landed at Honolulu in support of a treasonous coup d’état against the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Lili‘uokalani. The event was described by U.S. President Grover Cleveland as an "act of war."

This video describes the origin of the Bible and its survival to become the most widely circulated book on earth.

It began with the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861 and ended four years later with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and the eradication of slavery in America. Based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson, Images of the Civil War features the acclaimed artwork of Mort Ku?nstler and dramatic re-enactments that bring the infamous war between the States to life. Ku?nstler's work is known for its stunning attention to detail and its historical accuracy. Here, his paintings and illustrations offer a unique view of Civil War scenes that were not captured by the battlefield photographers and artists of the day, while stirring re-enactments portray the chaos and brutality of famous events like Pickett's charge and the Irish brigade's stand at Fredericksburg.

Recounts the 40-year history of building the Salt Lake Temple, shown as if recounted by Wilford Woodruff to a young reporter. It portrays the pioneers' dedication to temple worship.

Architecture in Beirut was the second greatest victim of the civil war, with pages of ancient and modern history erased by the end of the conflict. This documentary interviews citizens calling for a reconstruction plan that would preserve Beirut’s spirit of culture and openness.

As Ben Franklin watched the lightning in Philadelphia’s night sky, he came up with a brilliant discovery—one that would change the world forever. Now, through this remarkable story, you can join this remarkable scientist, inventor and statesman as he rewrites human history because of his experiments with electricity.

In 1969, a group of Egyptian frogmen target and destroy two Israeli vessels in the port of Eilat during the War of Attrition.