Pitch a historcal movie or drama!

[RickGrimes17]

Hey guys. With the release of Ben Hur to poor reviews and other historical car crashes in recent years, it would be awesome if we could discuss ideas about a historical movie or drama and see which era is the best for a historical movie and which famous or fictional figures you would put in. Now I know there are already awesome historical movies, like 300 and Lincoln, but the genre has so much potential!Looking forward to seeing your ideas!

[Arfguy]

The Best.

Imagine Tony Stark without superpowers that saves a beloved part of a city.

The biopic of Mario Lemieux, the great hockey player that saved the Pittsburgh Penguins. The movie would show the rise of an arrogant kid from the streets of Montreal, QC, Canada with legendary stories about how the doors of their small house would be wide open during winter and his parents pouring water all over the carpet to create a sheet of ice.

It would show the resistance to play for the Penguins because they would not give him what he felt he was owed, to him completely winning every single critic over with his very first appearance on the ice, to his rivalry with the Great One to him eventually playing side by side. It would chronicle his fight with cancer and eventual retirement. Then the triumphant return to the arena after three years to WOW the world.

There are not a lot of movies about hockey, but I think this is a story that is ripe for a drama with very slick and action oriented hockey sequences.

[BatGlamorous]

A Stonewall movie/mini-series that isn't white-washed bullshit.

The same for basically any period of Ancient Egypt. I have a particular interest in the Akhenaten "heretic king" dynasty. Could make a great drama, and he was the father of King Tut!

[Gray Lensman]

Hey guys. With the release of Ben Hur to poor reviews and other historical car crashes in recent years, it would be awesome if we could discuss ideas about a historical movie or drama and see which era is the best for a historical movie and which famous or fictional figures you would put in. Now I know there are already awesome historical movies, like 300 and Lincoln, but the genre has so much potential!Looking forward to seeing your ideas!

Any genre can make a good film, as long as you pay attention to the source material. Although I'd be careful about remaking films that are considered icons, such as....say....a film that pretty much owned the Oscars the year it was released.

I also can't consider 300 to be a historical film, considering the extreme liberties it took. Inspired by history, sure. But historical? Certainly not.

[Marvel/DC Fan]

John "Babbacombe" Lee, the story of the englishman who survived three attempts to hang him for murder. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and music by Fairport Convention.

[jeanvaljean]

Willem Arondeus was the gay Oscar Schindler - with bombs.

He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews.He was aided by lesbian muscian Frieda Belinfante and a group of courageous actors, musicians and artists who also used their skills in stage make-up and acting to fool the nazis.

Sadly, Arondeus and the rest of the group were caught and executed soon after his arrest.

His final request to his lawyers before facing the firing squad:
"Tell the people that gays are no cowards!"

[codystarbuck]

A black man, who rises from the son of a slave to a Marshal of Napoleon and one of his greatest generals. A swashbuckling figure who argued defiantly with his emperor, was recalled and dismissed more than once, and whose son would define the swashbuckling romance/adventure. I give you the Black Count, Thomas Alexandre-Dumas, inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo!

[alton]

The Best.

Imagine Tony Stark without superpowers that saves a beloved part of a city.

The biopic of Mario Lemieux, the great hockey player that saved the Pittsburgh Penguins. The movie would show the rise of an arrogant kid from the streets of Montreal, QC, Canada with legendary stories about how the doors of their small house would be wide open during winter and his parents pouring water all over the carpet to create a sheet of ice.

It would show the resistance to play for the Penguins because they would not give him what he felt he was owed, to him completely winning every single critic over with his very first appearance on the ice, to his rivalry with the Great One to him eventually playing side by side. It would chronicle his fight with cancer and eventual retirement. Then the triumphant return to the arena after three years to WOW the world.

There are not a lot of movies about hockey, but I think this is a story that is ripe for a drama with very slick and action oriented hockey sequences.

This would be perfect for the Coen brothers. I never knew any of this.

[alton]

A black man, who rises from the son of a slave to a Marshal of Napoleon and one of his greatest generals. A swashbuckling figure who argued defiantly with his emperor, was recalled and dismissed more than once, and whose son would define the swashbuckling romance/adventure. I give you the Black Count, Thomas Alexandre-Dumas, inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo!

This is so darn cool. I never knew this either. Count on you to know a lot of stuff.

[AndrewCrossett]

Has there ever been a really good biopic of George Washington? I can't remember any. Would probably make for a really good TV miniseries. Thomas Jefferson, too.

[Arfguy]

This would be perfect for the Coen brothers. I never knew any of this.

Thanks. It is a pretty astonishing story.

[Gray Lensman]

This is so darn cool. I never knew this either. Count on you to know a lot of stuff.

I mentioned the stuff about his son in my gaming group - all of them were shocked to learn that Mr. Swashbuckler himself was black, including our group's black member.

[Totoro Man]

A black man, who rises from the son of a slave to a Marshal of Napoleon and one of his greatest generals. A swashbuckling figure who argued defiantly with his emperor, was recalled and dismissed more than once, and whose son would define the swashbuckling romance/adventure. I give you the Black Count, Thomas Alexandre-Dumas, inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo!

and, on a less heroic detour, I've been thinking about a comic book based on the Haitian Revolution for a couple of years now. it's like, I want to root for Toussaint Louverture... but the whole massacring people is hard for me to overlook. it's a case study of how badly things can go wrong. even so, it's really interesting. (I know this was supposed to be for movies... but for something this complicated I think a TV mini-series would be better)

[codystarbuck]

I mentioned the stuff about his son in my gaming group - all of them were shocked to learn that Mr. Swashbuckler himself was black, including our group's black member.

Well, mixed-race. Thomas Alexandre was the son of a black slave and a white French nobleman. He then married a white French woman and they had Alexandre. It gets even better. Thomas-Alexandre's father took him from the Caribbean to France, by selling him, to pay for the passage, then bought him back when they arrived in France! The father, Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, owned the mother, Marie-Cessette Dumas, as a slave. Before leaving Haiti (then Saint-Dominique), Antoine sold Marie-Cessette, their other two children, and her daughter by another man to a baron from Nantes. Antoine was a real piece of work. Thomas-Alexandre was given a nobleman's education and lived a life of leisure, through his teen years. He eventually enlisted as a private, in the Queen's Dragoons. By birthright, he could have had a noble's officer commission; but, his mixed race and the laws of the time made it impossible. He rose through the ranks and was an intrusmental military figure, during the French Revolution. He was commissioned as a lieutenant-colonel and was made second-in-command of the Black legion, a unit of free men of color, led by the Chevalier de Sainte-George, also of mixed race, who had previously taught swordsmanship to the young Thomas-Alexandre. In reality, Dumas was frequently the commander of the Legion, which had a distinguished record, including defending the city of Lile from a military coup. He rose to the rank of brigadier general in 1793, and general-in-chief of the Army of the Western Pyraness and Army of the Alps. he was instrumental in Napoleon's Italian campaign, earning the nickname of the Schwarze Teuffell (Black Devil) from the Austrians. he single handedly repulsed a squadron of Austrian troops at a Bridge over the Eisack River. For this action, Napoleon named him commander of all cavalry forces in the region, during the campaign. he clashed with Napoleon over the policy of allowing troops to loot civilians on campaigns. He led cavalry troops on Napoleon's ill-fated Egyptian campaign and was captured while returning to France on a ship, and imprisoned in the Kingdom of Naples. He languished there for years, until Napoleon seized power in France and later defeated Naples. He was tortured and brutalized in prison, which broke his body (possibly poisoned, too),;b but survived with the help of a secret pro-French group. He was denied a pension or further military posts and soon died. His widow and young Alexandre lived in great poverty and blamed Napoleon for retaliating out of jealousy of Thomas-Alexandre's skills and exploits. Thomas-Alexandre was over 6 ft (very tall in that age) and physically impressive.

Tom Reiss wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning account of Thomas-Alexandre, which is screaming for a movie.

[codystarbuck]

Has there ever been a really good biopic of George Washington? I can't remember any. Would probably make for a really good TV miniseries. Thomas Jefferson, too.

There was a decent mini-series, starring Barry Bostwick, in the 80s. Jeff Daniels played a pretty good Washington in The Crossing, which revolves around the Battle of Trenton and the Crossing of the Delaware. The Bostwick mini-series covers George from the French & Indian War through the Revolution. There was a second mini-series, which went up through his presidency. Patty Duke played Martha Washington.