10 Historical Dramas to Watch if You’re Hyped for ‘Gladiator II’

Hard to believe it’s been 24 years since Russell Crowe uttered the iconic line “Are you not entertained?” in Ridley Scott’s 2000 historical drama Gladiator. The sequel, out November 22, will determine whether Paul Mescal’s beefy hamhocks and Pedro Pascal’s award-winning smile can capture lightning in a bottle for Scott again, following two box-office missteps, 2021’s The Last Duel and 2023’s Napoleon. 

Whether Gladiator II ultimately gets a thumbs up or a thumbs down at the box office, it’s the perfect time to experience the historical dramas you may have missed over the years. This list focuses on three things: melodrama, pitched battle, and swords. Most of these have all three, and a few only have one, but I’d stick by any of them. Here are 10 of our all-time favorites.

Sean Connery plays a 14th-century friar embroiled in a murder plot at an Italian abbey in this adaptation of the Umberto Eco novel. Connery plays his character almost like a Franciscan Sherlock Holmes, bantering with his young ward (played by Christian Slater) and using deductive reasoning and science where faith falls short. It’s a clever take on the detective genre, and the stakes only get higher when a diabolical Spanish inquisitor (F. Murray Abraham) arrives to put a stop to Connery’s investigation.

After canoodling with an influential noble’s wife, court poet Ahmad (Antonio Banderas) finds himself exiled to Eastern Europe. Here, he’s forced to help 12 Norsemen fight an army of cannibalistic bear-men in this adaptation of Michael Critchton’s Eaters of the Dead. Critics at the time dismissed this action-heavy movie as brainless, but it’s since garnered retrospective praise for its positive depiction of a Muslim hero (albeit one played by a Spaniard). Ahmad’s intellect, literacy, and faith are treated as strengths that garner him the respect of his allies and help carry the day.

Joel Coen’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy stars Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as his ambitious and bloodthirsty wife. This adaptation is notable both for its performances—including Brendan Gleeson as King Duncan—but also for its incredible cinematography and set design, which are only enhanced by the fact that the film is shot entirely in black-and-white. Even if you’ve seen Macbeth before, this version is absolutely essential.

Charting the rise and precipitous fall of Rome’s most charmingly nicknamed emperor (Caligula literally meant “little boots”), Malcolm McDowell stars in this Tinto Brass–directed historical drama. In a cast that includes both Dame Helen Mirren and Peter O’Toole, McDowell’s performance as Caligula is the clear standout. He plays the emperor with a wild-eyed frenzy you’d expect from someone raised from birth to assume the absolute power of Rome at its most decadent. Enhancing these performances are some seriously incredible set pieces, ones that have to be seen to be believed.

Rutger Hauer stars as a medieval mercenary lieutenant in this brutal Paul Verhoeven–directed siege film that pits his band of mercenaries against another in 16th-century Italy. When Hauer’s mercenary troop is expelled from a city they were promised looting rights to, they betray the local lord who hired them (Fernando Hilbeck) and eventually end up stuck in a castle that’s succumbing to the plague. In addition to its dark, brutal atmosphere, Verhoeven ups the ante with some psychosexual drama involving a local aristocrat’s daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who continually plays Hauer and her fiancé Steven (Tom Burlinson) against each other in the hopes of saving her own neck.

Stanley Kubrick directs this drama starring Ryan O’Neal as the titular gambler, duelist, and general blackguard who tries to scheme his way into high society. This epic historical drama unfolds over 20 years of the later 1700s, as O’Neal finds success in the British Army following a duel gone wrong and becomes gambling compatriots with a Prussian spy (Patrick Magee) before eventually marrying (and losing) the beautiful and rich Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), all with the arresting spectacle and shot composition you’d expect from a master director like Kubrick. Fittingly for the film’s cresting 50th anniversary, it was also recently repopularized on Twitter in a mashup with the 21 Savage song “a lot.”

It’s best to think of Nikolaj Arcel’s recent film as the worst argument you’ve ever seen between your father and his next door neighbor about property rights on steroids. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Ludvig Kahlen, a career officer in the German army who attempts to establish a settlement on a barren moor, which would give him a noble title, estate, and escape from a life of poverty. Opposing him is Frederik Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a cruel magistrate who seeks to drive Kahlen away to preserve his monopoly on the surrounding lands. The pair proceed to up the ante in shocking ways throughout the film’s runtime, all over an inhospitable piece of land.

Toshiro Mifune plays a nameless ronin who pits two greedy crime bosses against each other to free a town from their control in this Akira Kurosawa film. Toshiro Mifune plays the ronin with effortless panache—it’s as satisfying to watch him shake down the rival crime bosses as it is to see him effortlessly cut down anyone who stands in his way.

Revenge is a dish best served with extreme violence in this film from The Lighthouse director Robert Eggers. Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, an exiled Viking prince who plots revenge against his uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang) for murdering his father (Ethan Hawke) and marrying his mother (Nicole Kidman). It’s basically Icelandic Hamlet, but with more magical elements and an unforgettable naked fight to the death on the slopes of a volcano. The film even features a cameo from everyone’s favorite Icelandic chanteuse, Björk!

We weren’t getting out of this one without putting another Ridley Scott movie on the list. Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine star as two rival officers in Napoleon’s army who can’t seem to keep out of each other’s lives in Scott’s directorial debut. The film follows the series of duels they fight over the course of 20 years, neither one of them ever managing to dispatch the other. Keitel and Carradine’s captivating relationship forms the backbone of the film, and the outstanding cinematography and historical accuracy make for an immersive watch.