Best movies like Ivan the Terrible, Part I

As a young boy, future emperor Nero witnesses the mad Emperor Caligula kill his father and exile his mother. While in exile in the pontine islands, Agrippina, his mother, sees a vision telling her that her son can become emperor, but she will have to die first. She accepts the proposal. Back in Rome, Nero, now being raised by emperor Claudius after Caligula's death, Agrippina returns. She poisons Claudius' food and Nero becomes emperor. At first, Nero cuts taxes and introduces successful programs and invades Brittania. Soon he meets a beautiful slave named Claudia Acte, and marries her, throwing off his engagement with Claudius' daughter, Claudia Octavia, telling her she can marry someone she will be happy with. Heartbroken, she arrives at an island and kills herself. Nero enjoys being married to Claudia Acte, but soon he gradually goes mad with power and sets fire to Rome.

Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.

Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.

Forced into exile by the English after being crowned King of Scotland, legendary warrior Robert the Bruce fights to reclaim the throne.

England, 15th century. Hal, a capricious prince who lives among the populace far from court, is forced by circumstances to reluctantly accept the throne and become Henry V.

After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.

Russian monk Grigori Rasputin rises to power, which corrupts him along the way. His sexual perversions and madness ultimatly leads to his gruesome assasination.

When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of frozen Lake Chudskoe. While Alexander leads his outnumbered troops, two of their number, Vasili and Gavrilo, begin a contest of bravery to win the hand of a local maiden.

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.

Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour, still succeeds in taking the initiative and driving the Moors from Spain.

The life of the revered 18th-century Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova. Portraying events in the life of the artist from childhood up to his death, the movie addresses in particular his relationships with women, including his muse. The production tells Sayat-Nova's dramatic story by using both his poems and largely still camerawork, creating a work hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.

Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.

Gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France.

The story of the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.

In 1429 a teenage girl from a remote French village stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. Following her mission to reclaim god's diminished kingdom - through her amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.

This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.

Dr. Mabuse, criminal mastermind - returns in this epic steam punk thriller, in which six interwoven tales document the downfall of Dr. Mabuse and his city "Etiopomar".

Based on a famous fairy tale, in verse, by Alexander Pushkin, this ravishingly beautiful fantasy is about love, magic, betrayal and abandoned family. Driven from the Russian court by her sisters' scheming, the young Tsarina is thrown into the sea in a cask with her infant son. Surviving the storm-tossed voyage, the mother and her now magically-adult son land on a remote island where he falls in love with a Swan Princess in human form, and longs for reunion with his estranged father, Tsar Saltan. Merchants come to the island with news of the tsar, and the prince sends word back to him, but the sisters continue their campaign of lies and trickery to keep them apart.

Tale - this is what is everyone from childhood. Give yourself a chance to once again return to the magical world created by Alexander Pushkin. Adventures brave Tsarevich Guidon, beautiful Swan-Tsar Saltan reminded of that love, loyalty and the spirit always wins!

The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

The Venetian traveler Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan and foils a plotter with fireworks in medieval China.

In 1668 Polish colonel Michael Wolodyjowski, who recently retired to a monastery, is recalled to active duty and takes charge of Poland's eastern frontier defenses against invading Tatar hordes and Ottoman armies.

Early XI century. Envoys of Henry, King of France, arrive to Kiev and ask Prince Yaroslav for the hand of his youngest daughter Anna. Rich, young and beautiful Anna Yaroslavna, accompanied by the envoys and warriors, sets off to Paris to meet her groom the King of France. But the Byzantine diplomats would do anything to prevent the alliance from happening.

Rasputin, a crazed and debauched monk wreaks havoc at the local inn one night, chopping off the hand of one of the drinkers. As the bitter locals plan their revenge, the evil Rasputin works his satanic power over the beautiful women who serve at the Tsar's palace. Even the Tsarina herself is seduced by his evil ways and, as his influence begins to dominate government policy, there is only one course of action left... to destroy him before he destroys them all.

The Celtic queen who shook the Roman Empire. Boudica is one of history’s first and fiercest women warriors. Sickened by ceaseless war, the king of the Iceni accepts a treaty with the Romans in exchange for his tribe’s continued independence. But oppressively high taxes impoverish the tribe and soon the Romans want something more — slaves. Refusing to submit, the Romans, led by the greedy and psychotic Emperor Nero, move to crush the Iceni and control their lands. Drawing on the strength of her warriors, mystical druidic powers, and her own pain, Boudica unites the historically fractious tribes of Briton to unleash a stunning onslaught on the Roman colonial camps. The ferocity of Boudica’s attacks will shake the foundations of the Roman empire and make her a legend.

Late 17th century. With no access to the sea, Russia suffers great losses in foreign trade. Peter tries to capture the Turkish fortress of Azov, but with no success: he can win only if he has a fleet. Peter’s ukases provoke the Boyars’ indignation. Europe looks in amazement: the Russian tsar begins to work at a Dutch shipyard learning the subtleties of shipbuilding?! But his training is cut short. Peter has to return to Russia in order to brutally suppress the Streltsy rebellion organized by his sister Sophia.

Once upon a time there were the tsar with the tsaritsa also there was at them a son Ivan-Tsarevich. And everything would be good if Ivan parents didn't come one morning and didn't tell them about the Beloved Beauty about which to it nurses sang, and now every day dreams. Also he wants to go in this world to look for to Beloved Beauty. Ivan-Tsarevich went, and to him the robber Bulat who became a sworn brother on the way. They began to look for Beauty.

The years of the tsar’s adolescence and youth were permeated with deadly danger coming from some of the Boyars, the rebellious Streltsy and Tsarevna Sophia who aspired for power. But already at that early time Peter demonstrates a profound, bright intellect, a strong will and the sense of purpose, which help him disarm both his open and secret enemies.

Varvara Aksenkova - the great Russian actress of the first half of the XIX century. Her tragic creative fate and early death served as the basis for this film.

Praised for its fine photography and production design if not its narrative, Sergei Bondarchuk directed this adaptation of the tale by Alexander Pushkin. Boris Godunov came to the Czarist throne at the end of the 16th century, after the original heir to Ivan the Terrible had died. At first, things went well for Godunov (played by Bondarchuk), but when the Russian people began to believe he had killed Ivan the Terrible's son in order to gain the throne, an alliance sprang up against the new Czar. Events continued to spin out of control as a young monk was presented as the son Godunov had supposedly killed. Now he was openly accused of failing an assassination attempt, which seems to be even worse than succeeding. In addition to these woes, Boris Godunov began to suffer serious health problems. So much for the joys of kingship.

A mystery man brings together a group of dead, gay artists to investigate a police response to the dilema of wash-room sex in Toronto. The artists have seven days in which to report on the ethics of police tactics. The artists infiltrate the police only to discover that they themselves are under surveillance as a political subversive group. The artists explore and report on the evolution of toilets and wash-room behavior.

Unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931-32. This record only represents the 200,000-plus feet of unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931/32 for Mary and Upton Sinclair and three American co-financiers. It was Eisenstein's vision to end up with movie about Mexico in six parts called "Calavera", "Sandunga", "Maguey", "Fiesta", "Soldadera", and "Epilogue". The project was canceled before it was completed due to cost overruns and months-delayed completion, and the producers refused to let Eisenstein attempt to edit anything from the material he had finished after Iosif Stalin called him back to the USSR. From this footage the following pictures were subsequently edited by other hands: Thunder Over Mexico (1933), Eisenstein in Mexico (1933), Death Day (1934), Time in the Sun (1940), and Que Viva Mexico (1979).

Peter the Great takes a Russian man of African heritage - Ibrahim Petrovich Hannibal - under his wing as the tsar builds his grand navy. After having a disastrous affair in France, Ibrahim vows to never fall in love again, until he sees the daughter of a wealthy boyar. Peter the Great insists the two be married, but Ibrahim goes against the tsar's wishes, refusing to force her to marry him since she doesn't consent. When another man tries to marry her, however, Ibrahim's loyalties and generous nature are put to the test.