The 25 best medieval movies of all time, ranked
Entertainment Weekly goes back to the Dark Ages.
Everett (2); Eric Zachanowich / A24 Films
Medieval movies occupy a special place in cinema. It’s a time for which none of us were present and precious little hard evidence of daily life exists, stoking our curiosity about the era and allowing for filmmakers’ furtive imaginations to take hold, creating worlds as diverse as Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness and Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon.
There are almost too many medieval movies to count, and watching all of them would probably last you until the next Dark Age. Despite covering the same era, these works exist across many disparate genres, tones, and executions. There are, of course, a fair share of bloody battle pictures, but the period is also host to horror films and comedies. To parse down the myriad choices, we’ve selected the most unmissable medieval movies ever made.
Join Entertainment Weekly as we count down the 25 best medieval movies of all time, ranked.
25. Black Death (2010)
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Christopher Smith’s devious plague thriller stars Eddie Redmayne as a monk recruited by a knight (Sean Bean) to lead a group of soldiers to a village where rumor has it, someone is using witchcraft to raise plague victims from their graves.
Part pandemic horror story, part road movie, and part medieval adventure, this blood-and-pus-soaked epic makes gorgeous use of its limited color palette and its dirty, muddy authenticity. Smith is a director highly adept at switching genres, sometimes multiple times within a scene, and Black Death finds him performing at the height of those abilities. It’s an unexpected, stylishly rendered entry into the genre that delights in wrong-footing viewers.
Where to watch Black Death: Tubi
24. Doomsday (2008)
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Set in the near future decades after a zombie virus has decimated the U.K., a one-eyed military official (Rhona Mitra) leads a team of operatives into “the Hot Zone” (a.k.a. London) to find a cure for the virus. If you’re wondering what, exactly, is medieval about that premise — hoo boy, just wait and see. It’s one of the greatest surprises in a movie filled with jaw-droppers.
Doomsday is a terrifically authentic callback to the grindhouse genre, combining everything from zombies to punks to car chases to medieval swordsmen and pursuits on horseback. It’s a wild, untethered time at the movies, one which operates entirely on a streamlined internal logic that you either agree to instantly or spend 108 minutes butting relentlessly up against.
23. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
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Ridley Scott’s Crusades epic stars Orlando Bloom as a bereaved blacksmith who teams up with his specially skilled father (Liam Neeson) on the road to Jerusalem. After arriving, he finds himself in the court of King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton) and at the center of a war with the Muslims.
Scott’s film has several versions, all of which are worth watching in some capacity, though the Director’s Cut fleshes the story out best. Though not Scott’s finest historical epic (hey, it’s tough to top Gladiator), Norton is particularly fine here, and Bloom gives what is perhaps his best leading-man performance.
Where to watch Kingdom of Heaven: Hulu
22. The Northman (2022)
Robert Eggers’s brutal adventure basically boils down to “Hamlet, with Vikings!” It follows Alexander Skarsg?rd’s Amleth (get it?), a former prince and current plunderer, as he makes his way across an arid wasteland seeking to save his long-lost love mother (??Nicole Kidman??????) and get revenge against the uncle (Claes Bang) who murdered his father (Ethan Hawke).
Egger’s film is an impeccably mounted, occasionally humorous, brutal folk fairy tale. It feels like the sort of movie that in the old days would have been called “an old-fashioned epic,” except here there are added dashes of ludicrous perversity and outrageous splatter.
Where to watch The Northman: Starz
21. Masque of the Red Death (1964)
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Vincent Price stars in this Roger Corman riff on Edgar Allen Poe’s proto-slasher melodrama about a Satan-worshiping prince (Price) who engages in various perversions high atop his eerie castle whilst the Red Death fells his kingdom.
Corman’s film is lush and packed with delightful, era-appropriate details that nicely offset the modern anachronisms. This is one of the director’s most complete works, one which often plays as a genuinely sprawling and well-designed period piece adorned with a few sequences of shocking violence and genuine, macabre suspense.
Where to watch Masque of the Red Death: Pluto TV
20. Beowulf (2007)
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The best of Robert Zemeckis’s mo-cap experimentation/wilderness period, this epic — loosely based on the classic fable — follows Ray Winstone as the titular warrior, who seeks to rid a village of terror wrought by an evil demon known as Grendel (Crispin Glover, brilliantly). After defeating the beast, he incurs the wrath of its seductive, deadly mother (Angelina Jolie).
Horny and harrowing in equal measure, Zemeckis’ film is enchanting, ravishing, and occasionally puzzling. Indeed, Beowulf plays as if a sword-and-sorcery-obsessed 12-year-old got their hands on $150 million and their first issue of Playboy. It’s a complete blast featuring arresting visuals that still impress today.
19. Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
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Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) escapes prison and returns to Nottingham to battle the nefarious Prince John (the late Richard Lewis) and woo the gorgeous Maid Marion (Amy Yasbeck).
Mel Brooks’ parody of Prince of Thieves, released just two years before this, smartly casts Elwes in a subversion of his famous role in The Princess Bride (1987). It’s one of Brooks’ last classic send-ups, with the legendary comedian providing a sharp script and a righteous supporting performance. Also on hand are Brooks mainstays Gene Wilder and Dom DeLuise in well-timed cameo appearances.
Where to watch Robin Hood: Men in Tights: Hulu
18. Shrek (2001)
DreamWorks/courtesy Everett
An ogre (Mike Myers) and a sassy donkey (Eddie Murphy) venture across the postmodern fairy tale landscape of Far Far Away to rescue a princess with a secret (Cameron Diaz) from the evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow).
This amiable Dreamworks parody, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, kicked off the trend of self-referential, adult-skewing animated movies, for better or for worse. Three sequels and numerous straight-to-video specials have been largely unable to recapture the magic of the original Shrek. Its prime attributes are a deviously well-written screenplay and top-shelf vocal performances from the entire cast.
17. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
A roguish thief (Chris Pine) leads a group of ne’er-do-wells (including Michelle Rodriguez and Sophia Lillis) on an expedition to retrieve an ancient relic from a smarmy ruler (Hugh Grant, reliably brilliant).
Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley had the essential idea to take the long-gestating IP of the massively successful role-playing game and turn it into a crowd-satisfying heist comedy that, while remaining inextricably and loyally tied to the source material, doesn’t bog down unfamiliar viewers with nonsensical plot points. Honor Among Thieves is one of the better recent blockbusters, effortlessly evoking the halcyon days of summer popcorn movies when the heroes had an edge, the stakes were relatable, and the action set pieces focused on character arcs rather than errant spectacle.
Where to watch Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: Paramount+
16. The Black Cauldron (1985)
When the dastardly Horn King (John Hurt) makes off with a soothsaying pig, herder Taran (Grant Bardsley) embarks on a rescue mission while entertaining his dream of becoming a fabled knight in shining armor. Joining him on his quest are Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) and man-beast Gurgi (John Byner).
A nearly-forgotten classic, The Black Cauldron represents all of the best signatures from Disney’s hand-drawn era. It features the warm and often compelling character the studio is known for, along with the requisite doses of humor and pathos, but the film especially excels as a sword-and-sorcery adventure that pays honor to the genre’s most reliable tropes, offering a gateway into the genre for younger viewers without softening its edges or dulling the story’s impact.
Where to watch The Black Cauldron: Disney+
15. A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Brian Helgeland’s cheeky actioner follows a young peasant (Heath Ledger) who enters the competitive jousting field to woo a fair maiden (a note-perfect Shannyn Sossamon) but also to stick it to the stuck-up royals.
If you were to describe A Knight’s Tale, it would sound like a mess. A medieval romance that is, at its heart, a slobs-versus-snobs comedy with an anachronistic hard-rock soundtrack that gives it the feeling of a Bollywood epic. Yet, the movie unabashedly works as supreme entertainment. The cast is unmatched and the pace jocular, but its greatest trick is managing to maintain an element of uncertainty and suspense.
Where to watch A Knight’s Tale: Paramount+
14. The Last Duel (2021)
Ridley Scott’s hard-edged, brainy-and-brawny action-adventure is a lot better than its reputation belies. Matt Damon and Adam Driver star as longtime friends who are torn apart when the former’s wife (Jodie Comer) accuses the latter of assault. In a particularly medieval flourish, the authenticity of the woman’s statement — and indeed her fate — is to be determined by a duel between the two men.
Adopting a Rashomon-style device that plays the events from each of the three leads’ perspectives, Scott creates a tense drama with a lot to say about the medieval woman’s plight. As the movie moves into its central duel, Scott does nice work balancing the punishing violence on display with compelling character development.
Where to watch The Last Duel: Hulu
13. The Green Knight (2021)
David Lowery’s perfectly pitched mythological fairy tale, based on the ancient poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, stars Dev Patel as Gawain, a wastrel nobleman who fells the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) with a fatal sword blow and then must repeat the deed one year later. This sends the young man on a journey across the countryside, where he encounters various characters including a scavenger of dead bodies (Barry Keoghan).
Lowery uses the classic text to craft a rich and lyrical folk story that is at once a callback to early cinematic adventures and a completely modern spin on an old fable. Alicia Vikander is particularly good as Gawain’s put-upon love, and Sarita Choudhury stuns as sorceress Morgan le Fay.
Where to watch The Green Knight: Max
12. Braveheart (1995)
Director/star Mel Gibson’s masculine, blood-drenched passion project is a biopic following Scottish patriot William Wallace leading an assault against the British after his family is murdered.
Braveheart revived the medieval swashbuckling genre in a particularly brutal form with this rigorously detailed, if historically patchy, yarn. It heralded Gibson as an urgent filmmaker with a flair for spectacle and, most especially, carnage. As the lead, he also gives one of his finest performances as Wallace, modulating beautifully between portraying a real-life person who is also a folk hero.
Where to watch Braveheart: Paramount+
11. Throne of Blood (1957)
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Akira Kurosawa’s riveting take on Macbeth set in feudal Japan stars Toshir? Mifune as a samurai who is cajoled by his wife (Isuzu Yamada) to usurp the throne through murder and deceit.
Throne of Blood is one of Kurosawa’s most celebrated films and, to date, one of the most imaginative and fulfilled reimaginings of Shakespeare’s text. At the time of its release, this was one of the most expensive Japanese films. Every penny seemingly ended up on the screen in sumptuous detail, being a masterwork of technical artistry and perfectly calibrated performances.
Where to watch Throne of Blood: Max
10. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Disney’s seminal feature finds Princess Aurora (Mary Costa) cursed by the evil witch Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) to die on her 16th birthday. When the plan fails and Aurora only falls into a deep slumber, it’s up to the dashing Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley) and a trio of fairies to wake her and break the spell.
One of the most enduring animated films of all time, Sleeping Beauty is a sterling example of the genre in every fashion. With resplendent hand-painted scenery and a tight screenplay that incorporates dashes of horror and comedy into the romance with aplomb, Disney’s final animated effort of the 1950s closed out the decade with grace.
Where to watch Sleeping Beauty: Disney+
9. Henry V (1989)
Kenneth Branagh’s feature directorial debut is a lush, grandiose adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about the tormented king of England attempting to claim France’s land, culminating in the fateful battle of Agincourt.
Branagh came out of the gate swinging with this brawny film, a smart and gritty resurrection of one of Shakespeare’s darkest works. He stuns in the lead role, well-aided by a murderer’s row of British talent including Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, and Emma Thompson, who speak Elizabethan prose as if born to do so.
8. Macbeth (1971)
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Roman Polanski’s savage Shakespeare adaptation stars Jon Finch in the title role and Francesca Annis as his scheming bride, who encourages Macbeth to turn against his friends and court in a ruthless ascent to the throne.
Macbeth’s themes of deceit and dishonor sit squarely within the director's filmography while also crafting one of the most atmospheric and affecting Shakespeare works to date. In casting primarily younger actors in the roles and upping the story’s perversion and brutality, Polanski set the mold for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet and other, more post-modern adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You and O.
Where to watch Macbeth: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
7. Army of Darkness (1992)
Sam Raimi’s unexpected and supremely delightful Evil Dead third-quel finds Ash (Bruce Campbell) exiled to medieval times, where he must break out from under the thumb of sniveling Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) to recover the Book of the Dead and return home. Embeth Davidtz, playing a Maid Marian type, makes easy work of her status as the most resourceful, and memorable, final girl in the Evil Dead franchise.
Having essentially remade the first Evil Dead with Evil Dead 2, Raimi decided to do the farthest-flung, most unanticipated finale to round out the trilogy. The result is a gripping horror adventure that reminds us of the unfortunately low number of movies like this in existence.
Where to watch Army of Darkness: Amazon Prime Video
6. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s seminal silent film chronicles the persecution of the eponymous 15-year-old warrior (Renée Jeanne Falconetti) who claimed to have spoken to God and ultimately died at the hands of overzealous religious leaders (here embodied by André Berley and Eugène Silvain) for her beliefs.
Dreyer’s extraordinary picture, with a script informed by the actual court records in Jeanne d’Arc’s case, remains one of the earliest examples of flawless visual storytelling. So emphatic are the images that the interstitial dialogue cards are hardly necessary. Dreyer shoots his film in claustrophobic closeups, effectively trapping the audience within Joan’s plight. The result is one of the most suspenseful and haunting silent films ever made.
Where to watch The Passion of Joan of Arc: Max
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
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Graham Chapman stars as King Arthur in this merry send-up of medieval misfortunes. Along with his servant, Patsy (Terry Gilliam), horseman Lancelot (John Cleese), and Sir Robin (Eric Idle), the men embark on a quest to obtain the Holy Grail, facing giants, murderous shrubbery, and mincing sirens along the way.
Arguably the best Python content ever produced, this positively hysterical feature finds each actor at the height of their side-splitting powers. Many of this movie’s most famous sequences have been repeated ad nauseam, but they’re such sharply accomplished pieces of comedy that they still land solidly decades later.
Where to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Netflix
4. Rashomon (1950)
Courtesy Everett Collection
Kurosawa’s seminal work birthed an entire genre of imitators. Locals (Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda) investigate a ghastly crime in their village, leaving a samurai (Masayuki Mori) dead and his wife (Machiko Kyō) assaulted. In speaking to the men involved, the villagers find that each has a drastically different version of events.
Kurosawa’s searing drama is at once a multi-layered investigation of social dynamics in feudal Japan and an exploration of the era’s common belief in the paranormal. It’s a haunting film that manages to feel both expansive in ideas and terrifically claustrophobic in presentation, with the small budget and few locations lending the movie a feeling of a constantly looping nightmare.
3. Robin Hood (1938)
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William Keighley and Michael Curtiz’s seminal swashbuckler stars Errol Flynn, in perhaps his best-remembered role, as the eponymous hero of Sherwood Forest. With his merry gentlemen (including Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone), Robin Hood sets out to liberate the imprisoned King Richard (Ian Hunter) and win the hand of lovely Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland).
This is one of the first, and most successful, blockbusters ever made. Filmmakers continue to mine the tropes and signatures Keighley and Curtiz established here, with the assortment of well-known literary characters playing like something of a Marvel mash-up for 1938. The set pieces are wonderfully accomplished, with soaring practical effects and attention to detail that many current popcorn movies wish they possessed.
Where to watch Robin Hood: Tubi
2. The Princess Bride (1987)
Rob Reiner’s masterpiece is a majestic and heartfelt homage to fairy tales and their villains, monsters, heroes, and romance. A grandfather (Peter Falk) reads his sick grandson (Fred Savage) a story the young boy fears will be all about kissing but is instead a swashbuckling adventure through medieval times (with just a little kissing along the way).
Cary Elwes has never been better than he is here in three distinct roles, but most memorably as heroic prince Westley sent to rescue Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) from her captivity and avenge his father’s death at the hands of Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin). The Princess Bride is nothing short of a classic, the type that’s so objectively brilliant it’s a waste of time to decorate it with superlatives. Dazzling adult viewers and children in equal measure, it’s scary, exciting, romantic, and silly in spades.
Where to watch The Princess Bride: Disney+
1. The Seventh Seal (1957)
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Ingmar Bergman’s landmark feature stars Max von Sydow as a soldier who, upon returning home from the battlefields of the Crusades to find his village in the throes of the bubonic plague, sets out on a journey to evade death personified and, in one of cinema’s most famous sequences, try beating the entity in a chess match.
Certainly one of the most impactful films ever made, The Seventh Seal is a potent exploration of medieval ideology and man’s commitment to country and service. Bergman reportedly took cues from Akira Kurosawa’s medieval and samurai filmography to craft this opus; the relationships to the supernatural and questions regarding the usefulness of military endeavor are reminiscent of Rashomon and the director’s other notable post-World War II works.
As with any great creative worth their salt, Bergman takes those homages and winking nods and turns them into something entirely his own. The influences are visible, but how Bergman spins and twists them is specific to the Swedish auteur’s vision. Nearly 70 years after its release, The Seventh Seal remains one of the most thrilling additions to cinema’s canon.
Where to watch The Seventh Seal: Max
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