# Looking For Medieval/Renaissance TV/Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572 "2010-08-08T03:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/41 "2010-08-10T12:23:15Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > > [@salinqmind](#): > > > > Mists of Avalon? > > In my experience, even people who really like the book usually don’t like the adaptation. I found the book a bit preachy but they _really_ could have made a better mini-series from it. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/42 "2010-08-10T13:55:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > > [@salinqmind](#): > > > > My favorite, Merlin (mini-series) (Helena Bonham Carter, Martin Short, Miranda Richardson, and Sam Neill as a majesticallyi sexxxy young Merlin). > > I’d totally watch a show called _My Favourite Merlin_. 😛 good one! It might work! “Mrs. Brown, this is …my…Uncle Merle, come to stay with me. The robe and sword? Oh, he’s a RenFaire actor. Really gets into it…” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/43 "2010-08-10T16:42:46Z")
\*La Reine Margot \* with Isabelle Adjani, set during the Huguenot St Bart.s Massacre of 1572. The Joseph Fiennes \*Luther \*wasn’t as bad as I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/44 "2010-08-10T17:14:21Z")
Most of the best stuff (that I know of) has been covered - I’ve really been getting into Pillars and the Tudors (which is also on Netflix watch instantly, btw) lately. Great stuff. Some other thoughts, most of which are simply related to what you’re after: Thirteenth Warrior Master and Commander Spartacus (TV series) Doctor Who (no seriously, it’s a great way to see little bits of period pieces, with horror/fiction thrown in of course) Last Samurai The Seventh Seal (subtitles) I really liked Knight’s Tale, regardless of the camp. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/45 "2010-08-10T17:15:03Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > MEH > … > Chimes at Midnight > … Blasphemy! I’d say the Welles is actually better than any of the ones on your GOOD list. Also, I’m surprised nobody’s brought up Bergman’s _ **The Seventh Seal** _ or Tarkovsky’s _ **Andrei Rublev** _ (both masterpieces), so I will now. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/46 "2010-08-10T18:21:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Get the **good** version of _The Lion In Winter_. Then add the Errol Flynn version of _Robin Hood_, the Taylor/Taylor version of _Ivanhoe_, and _A Knight’s Tale_. I own all of those (except the Knight’s Tale thing). Good list. I would add: _Taming Of The Shrew_ w/Burton & Taylor. _Excaliber_, fun film. _Flesh And Blood_, w/Rutgaer Hauer, a guilty pleasure 9but not for the kids). ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/47 "2010-08-10T18:34:28Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Of course, there’s [Shakespeare in Love](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138097/). Throw in [Elizabeth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/) and ye have a fine olde double-feature. Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes are in both movies (if you happen to like them) and Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow are luminous. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/48 "2010-08-10T19:03:52Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > For 18th century stuff, I liked the 3 part A&E mini-series **The Scarlet Pimpernel**. Seconded! I loved that series; both Richard E. Grant (as the Pimpernel) and Martin Shaw (as Chauvelin) were great. From a comedy standpoint, I’d recommend the first two series of **Black Adder** …the first is set in the Middle Ages, the second in the Elizabethan era. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/49 "2010-08-10T19:24:04Z")
“The Black Shield of Falworth,” starring Tony “Yonda lies da castle of my foddah” Curtis. Yeah, I know, he doesn’t actually say those words, but he might as well. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/50 "2010-08-10T22:28:43Z")
Does Caligula count as a period piece? ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/51 "2010-08-10T22:58:52Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Does Caligula count as a period piece? Sure, except the OP was asking about Medieval/Renaissance and that was Roman. Actually, it started off as a “serious” piece (as attested to by John Gielgud and Peter O’Toole); the sex scenes were added later. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/52 "2010-08-11T11:49:48Z")
I just watched the real _Lion In Winter_ last night, due to this thread mostly. Incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/53 "2010-08-11T14:44:48Z")
This isn’t really a recommendation unless you like graphic, vicious, bloody historical pieces on the ugly side of human nature, but it’s kind of a funny story. If we’re edging over into the Renaissance period, Rutger Hauer’s _Flesh and Blood_ was an overdone take on a particularly brutal period of religious warfare in 1501. The violence of the movie is extreme and I found it off-putting; the ugliness of the characters and their motivations is also memorable. But the violence is contrasted against (equally brutal and dehumanizing) sex scenes, probably as a deliberate directorial technique. Unfortunately the unintentionally hilarious title of the movie is _Flesh and Blood_. So as the pattern became clear, the rapid shifts between leering rape and graphic murder soon led to those of us watching chanting “Flesh!” and “Blood!” at each shift of scene. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/54 "2010-08-11T16:36:12Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > > [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > > > Does Caligula count as a period piece? > > Sure, except the OP was asking about Medieval/Renaissance and that was Roman. > > Actually, it started off as a “serious” piece (as attested to by John Gielgud and Peter O’Toole); the sex scenes were added later. Well the OP did include Rome:The Miniseries in his list, and I’m almost positive that that was Roman as well. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/55 "2010-08-11T17:25:21Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I just watched the real _Lion In Winter_ last night, due to this thread mostly. > > Incredible. “Mother! He has a knife!” “Of course he has a knife. Richard always has a knife. We all have knives. It’s 1183, and we’re barbarians!” (Or something to that effect. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572/56 "2010-08-11T20:02:16Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > …Spartacus (TV series)… AAARGH! I haven’t dared watch it ever since it was described to me as “300, but without the plot”. Paul Verhoeven also directed a very nice little series for Dutch TV called Floris, starring Rutger Hauer. Unfortunately, it is in Dutch. There has been a dub at some point but that was never heard from again and no subtitles are available… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-medieval-renaissance-tv-movies/549572.md?page=2)