# The best movie set in every year... but not made in that year **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457 "2013-05-15T22:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/441 "2013-08-05T18:29:29Z")
Casablanca was already discussed in some detail in this thread. See page 3 especially. It was a 1942 movie set in 1941. In other words, a contemporary piece not in the spirit of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/442 "2013-08-05T21:22:07Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > I have issue with this. Not because Casablanca’s not a better movie. By all accounts it is. But Casablanca was made/released in 1942. Can it really be considered a period piece when set only one year previous? Granted, **Zero Dark Thirty** came out in less than two years after its setting but it’s (loosely) based on actual events. Casablanca is a work of fiction. I don’t think Casablanca over Tora! Tora! Tora! is in the spirit of the thread/OP. Correct me if I’m wrong; I’ve seen Casablanca, but am not well versed on the movie’s history. eh, I’m confused. Okay, I didn’t read the whole thread. After three pages it appeared to consist of just an ever expanding list. Jumped to the end, didn’t see it, so suggested it (Casablanca). Now, having searched the thread, then re-read the original rules, I only see it indicated that it has to be the year the movie was set in, not the year it was made. No stipulations about separation of the two. Also this quote… “In other words, all movies are period pieces – and not just the Merchant Ivory kind.” Also, nothing about fiction .vs. non-fiction. I think that Casablanca fits the original rules just fine, and in the history of moviedom wins out in many classes over Tora\*3) Anybody care to figure out what year it would be when you finished watching the entire list, in order? ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/443 "2015-01-20T18:06:41Z")
Yeah, I definitely have more pressing matters to attend to than reviving/updating this thread, but there were enough entries to make the list worth updating, so here goes. Longest consecutive stretch of years represented: 1853-2029 BC One Zillion BC (October 9th) Caveman BC 66 million Dinosaur BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 12,000 Conan the Barbarian BC 10,000 10,000 BC BC 4000 The Lord of the Rings BC 2528 Land of the Pharaohs BC 1340 Princess of the Sun BC 1336 The Egyptian BC 1300 Jason and the Argonauts BC 1213 The Ten Commandments BC 1200 Troy BC 1000 Solomon and Sheba BC 500 Sita Sings the Blues BC 500 Amrapali BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 326 Sikandar BC 316 The Warring States BC 261 Asoka BC 250 Mahindagamanaga BC 227 The Emperor and the Assassin BC 216 Hannibal BC 72 Spartacus BC 48 Caesar and Cleopatra BC 44 Julius Caesar BC 30 Cleopatra 26 Ben-Hur 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 68 Quo Vadis 70 The Last Days of Pompeii 140 The Eagle 180 Gladiator 208 Red Cliff 219 The Lost Bladesman 229 Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon 450 Attila 460 The Last Legion 467 King Arthur 473 The God King 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 568 Goliath and the Barbarians 629 Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 630 - The Message 660 Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield 700 Warriors of Heaven and Earth 709 Outlander 778 Orlando and the Knights of France 859 House of Flying Daggers 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 932 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 984 Dragonheart 986 Saving General Yang 1000 Valhalla Rising 1013 The Ceremony of Innocence 1043 Lady Godiva of Coventry 1057 Macbeth 1066 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth) 1083 Ambikapathy 1099 El Cid 1159 Gate of Hell 1170 Becket 1183 The Lion in Winter 1187 Kingdom of Heaven 1194 Ivanhoe 1199 Robin Hood (2010) / Robin and Marian 1210 Brother Sun Sister Moon 1215 Ironclad 1220 The Golden Horde 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1344 Season of the Witch 1348 Black Death 1349 The Seventh Seal 1370 A Knight’s Tale 1389 Battle of Kosovo 1401 12 Paces without a Head 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1442 Blood Letter 1448 The Divine Weapon 1453 The Conquest of 1453 1458 The Conclave 1480 Flavia the Heretic 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1485 Richard III 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1500 Prince of Foxes 1517 Apocalypto 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1536 Anne of the Thousand Days 1541 Highlander 1547 Crossed Swords 1548 The Legend of Suriyothai 1553 Lady Jane 1558 Elizabeth (1998) 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1575 Kagemusha 1588 Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) 1594 How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman 1596 The Merchant of Venice 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1600 Shogun 1601 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex 1607 The New World 1616 Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe / The Devils 1637 The Last Valley 1649 Cromwell 1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring 1667 The Scarlet Letter 1672 The Black Tulip 1685 Lorna Doone / Captain Blood 1692 The Crucible 1699 Captain Kidd 1709 The Sovereign’s Servant 1712 Rob Roy 1714 The Bridge of San Luis Rey 1718 Swashbuckler 1724 The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan **1727: Samurai Rebellion** 1728 The Beggar’s Opera 1744 Young Catherine 1745 The Master of Ballantrae 1748 Plunkett & Macleane 1753 Casanova (2005) 1756 The Mission 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1761 Bedlam (1946) 1762 The Rise of Catherine the Great 1765 Allegheny Uprising 1769 Seven Cities of Gold 1776 1776 / The Crossing 1779 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 1787 Robinson Crusoe 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty 1791 That Night in Varennes / **Amadeus** \* 1792 A Tale of Two Cities 1793 Marie Antoinette 1794 Danton 1797 Billy Budd 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1803 The Purple Mask 1804 The Far Horizons (story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 1806 The Terror (1963) 1808 The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade 1812 Old Ironsides 1813 Swiss Family Robinson 1814 1814 (2007) 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1817 Princess Caraboo 1827 Children of Paradise 1828 The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser 1829 The Count of Monte Cristo 1831 Under Capricorn 1832 Les Miserables 1836 The Alamo 1837 The Young Victoria 1838 Nicholas Nickleby 1841 Amistad 1843 The Tell-Tale Heart 1844 Brigham Young 1845 The Raven 1847 Jeremiah Johnson 1848 Cousin Bette / 1848 Sutter’s Gold (1936) / The Robin Hood of El Dorado 1849 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin 1850 The Legend of Zorro 1851 Edge of Madness 1853 Dimples / The Bushido Blade 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1855 The Great Train Robbery 1856 The Chess Players (Shatranj Ke Khilari) 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 The Song of Bernadette 1859 Creation / Seven Angry Men / Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1861 Gods and Generals / Gone With The Wind 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg / Glory / Her Majesty Mrs. Brown / Gangs of New York 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Cold Mountain 1865 Lincoln / The Outlaw Josey Wales 1866 Red River 1867 Juarez 1868 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1869 Union Pacific 1870 Mademoiselle Fifi 1871 In Old Chicago / La commune 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1873 Cowboys and Aliens 1874 Blazing Saddles / Disraeli 1875 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell 1876 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn / The Yearling 1879 Zulu / Zulu Dawn 1880 Stagecoach / True Grit (2012) 1881 Tombstone / My Darling Clementine 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1883 Krakatoa, East of Java 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III / The Oxbow Incident 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1887 Shanghai Knights 1888 From Hell / Murder by Decree 1889 Mayerling 1890 Hello, Dolly! 1891 Sherlock Holmes (2009) 1892 Heaven’s Gate 1893 Far and Away / Lagaan 1894 Princess Kaiulani / The Life of Emile Zola 1895 The Four Feathers 1896 The Far Country 1897 The Gold Rush 1898 A Message to Garcia 1899 The Prestige / Newsies 1900 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1901 The Shootist 1902 Breaker Morant 1903 Tom Horn 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1905 Battleship Potemkin 1906 Ragtime 1907 Viva Maria! / A Room with a View 1908 Take Me Out To The Ball Game / The Great Race 1909 Fanny and Alexander 1910 Mary Poppins / Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1911 1911 1912 Titanic / **The Music Man** 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse / All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby / Thoroughly Modern Millie 1923: The Hours 1924 Chariots of Fire 1925 Inherit the Wind 1926 The Sand Pebbles 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1928 The Artist\* / Bullets Over Broadway 1929 Some Like It Hot 1930 Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 1931 Cabaret / The Great Waldo Pepper 1932 They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven / Bonnie and Clyde / Victor Victoria 1935 The King’s Speech\* / To Kill a Mockingbird / The Green Mile 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown / Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade / Seabiscuit 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) / The Natural / Hyde Park on Hudson / Dunkirk / **The Sound of Music** 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive / The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe / Atonement / Dunkirk 1941 Tora! Tora! Tora! / From Here to Eternity / Pearl Harbor / **Casablanca** \*\* 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo / Summer of '42 1943 Come and See / A League of Their Own / The Guns of Navarone / A Canterbury Tale 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth / The Longest Day / Au Revoir Les Enfants / Inglorious Basterds 1945 Schindler’s List / Empire of Sun / Downfall / A Matter of Life and Death 1946 The Godfather / The Black Stallion 1947 42 / Tucker: A Man and His Dream / Judgement at Nuremburg 1948 Devil in a Blue Dress / Exodus 1949 The Man Who Wasn’t There 1950 Men in War / Snow Falling on Cedars 1951 The Last Picture Show / Mash 1952 Hoosiers 1953 L.A. Confidential 1954 My Favorite Year / Heavenly Creatures 1955 Back to the Future 1956 The Polar Express 1957 The Battle of Algiers / Far From Heaven 1958 The Godfather Part II / Lords of Flatbush 1959 Diner / Stand By Me / Dead Poets Society/Grease 1960 **Peggy Sue Got Married** 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House / Thirteen Days 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning / **That Thing You Do!** 1965 Moonrise Kingdom / The Outsiders / Year of Living Dangerously 1966 JFK / Casualties of War / The Hurricane 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being / A Bronx Tale 1969 Taking Woodstock / Awakenings / Four Days in September 1970 Apollo 13 / Apocalypse Now 1971 Remember the Titans / We Are Marshall 1972 All the President’s Men / Dog Day Afternoon / Bat\*21 1973 Ratcatcher / Almost Famous / The Lovely Bones / Secretariat / The Ice Storm 1974 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Dick 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men / Argo / Salvador 1981 Wet Hot American Summer / Let the Right One In 1982 Waltz with Bashir / Son of Rambow 1983 Stand and Deliver / This Is England 1984 1984 / Billy Elliot / The Hunt for Red October / The Lives of Others 1985 The Wedding Singer / SLC Punk! 1986 The Squid and the Whale / Hot Tube Time Machine 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko / For Queen and Country 1989 **The Perks of Being a Wallflower** / Buffalo Soldiers 1990 Rent 1991 The Big Lebowski / Courage Under Fire / Three Kings 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1994 Hotel Rwanda 1995 Invictus / The Insider 1996 Spinning Boris 1997 Amélie / **The Queen** 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Death Race 2000 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2002 Moneyball 2003 127 Hours 2004 The Hurt Locker 2005 Transformers: the Movie (1986) 2006 Slumdog Millionaire 2007 Double Dragon / Paycheck 2008 Game Change 2009 Freejack 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2012 I Am Legend 2013 The Postman 2014 Moon Child 2015 Back to the Future II / Robocop 2016 Stealth 2017 Barb Wire 2018 Rollerball (1975) 2019 Blade Runner / Daybreakers / The Island 2020 V for Vendetta 2021 Johnny Mnemonic 2022 Soylent Green / No Escape / The Purge 2023 Gunbuster 2024 .hack/The Movie 2025 Repo Men 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men / Nemesis 2028 Robocop (August 2013 release) 2029 Ghost In The Shell 2031 Frankenstein Unbound 2032 Demolition Man 2033 Tank Girl 2035 I, Robot / Twelve Monkeys / Doomsday 2037 Meet The Robinsons 2041 Time Chasers 2044 Looper 2046 Doom 2047 Event Horizon 2054 Minority Report 2056 Red Planet 2057 Sunshine 2059 Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century 2063 Star Trek: First Contact 2078 Screamers 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2093 Prometheus 2122 Alien 2139 Judge Dredd 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2151 Vanilla Sky 2154 Elysium 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2220 Forbidden Planet **2455 Jason X** **2258 Star Trek** 2259 Star Trek: Into Darkness 2274 Logan’s Run 2279 Star Trek: The Motion Picture 2285 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan / Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 2287 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 2293 Zardoz / Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 2371 Star Trek Generations 2373 Star Trek: First Contact 2375 Star Trek: Insurrection 2379 Star Trek: Nemesis 2415 Aeon Flux 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2500 Waterworld 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity **2578 Pitch Black** **2583 The Chronicles of Riddick** 2592 Riddick 2805 Wall-E **3000 Battlefield Eart** h / 3000 A.D. (aka Captive Women) 3013 In Time 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 10191 Dune 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) - occurs over a number of years, making it difficult to determine an exact year. \*\* Not really a period piece movie! Notes: Updated, per most recent posts – going back over a year now. I agree with **Rilchiam** , who states: > [@](#): > > I agree with an above poster that The King’s Speech covers too much ground to be pinned to a specific year. I would say the same about The Artist. Starts in 1928, but continues into the early 1930s, and the story turns on events of 1929. So, I’ve placed an asterisk (\*) next to those movies Rilchiam mentions that can’t really be pigeon-holed into any one year. I guess this potentially creates a shit storm with other movies… but (with the exception of applicable movies released in 2014) I’m probably not updating this list much more, so BFD. (And watch me go back on my word.) The appropriate year for **Grease** is debatable: considering the movie takes place in the span of a school year, the group graduated in 1960, so the movie opens up in the late summer of 1959 (Sandy & Danny on the beach). No real determination where the calendar turns to 1960 – and I just watched it to check – but it looks like around the Soda Shop / National Bandstand scenes (Cross Country is a first semester sport :p). And that’s basically the halfway point in the movie. And there’s no real pivotal part of the movie (except where Sandy comes out in spandex and smoking, giving me uncontrollable urges as a 13-year-old in 1978, but I digress). If IMDB & Wiki say 1959, I’ll go with it. Allows 1960 to be solely held Peggy Sue Got Married, which is a superior movie anyway (not counting ONJ’s – and my – climax). Finally, I’ve placed two asterisks (\*\*) next to the newly-added **Casablanca**. I believe it’s only minimally a period piece, being released only one year after the movie’s setting, but then, Zero Dark Thirty only has a two-year lag (2013-2011). That said, ZD30 is, ahem, a true story (a million details or so notwithstanding). And we sort of plugged it in because of the difficulty in finding such a recent period piece. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/444 "2015-01-20T19:26:55Z")
The \*anschluss \*(the union of Austria and the Third Reich) took place in 1938. Since that’s a pivotal moment in the climax of the film, I’d move **Sound of Music** from 1939 to 1938. And having just seen it yesterday, I’d nominate \*\*Selma \*\*for 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/445 "2015-01-20T21:42:28Z")
Given the film’s elaborate framing device(s), it’s hard to say for sure exactly when **The Grand Budapest Hotel** takes place, but it begins in (presumably) 2014, in which an un-named girl reads a book by a deceased author; the book was written in 1985 we are told. As she reads, the film flashes back to 1985, to depict the author narrating the story he is writing. The story is the author’s account of visiting a faded, decaying old hotel during the Soviet Iron Curtain era of 1968. As he narrates, the film flashes back again to the hotel in 1968, where the author as a young man meets the proprietor of the hotel, who relates to the author an incredible tale from his own early days working at that hotel in 1932. And you guessed it, the film flashes back _yet again_ to 1932…in which the bulk of the film takes place and the plot truly unfolds. Yet throughout the film, there are brief cutaway scenes to remind us that this is a film being told in recollected by one person, to an author, who decades later chose to wrote it down, only to be read by a girl several more decades later! (And if you haven’t seen the film rest assured these are not spoilers…and the film is a lot easier to follow then this synopsis might make it sound.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/446 "2015-01-20T21:58:49Z")
I’m finding it weird to see movies like _Escape from New York, Death Race 2000, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Freejack_, and _The Postman_ mixed in with movies like _The Queen, Moneyball, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire_, and _Zero Dark Thirty_. Dammit, I remember when the future was still in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/447 "2015-01-20T21:59:50Z")
I note there is a gap for 1852 - how about the movie “The Piano”? It is set in that year. [http://www.imdb.com/reviews/187/18792.html](http://www.imdb.com/reviews/187/18792.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/448 "2015-01-21T00:47:40Z")
Love this thread! Thanks for the update, **Moonchild**. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/449 "2015-01-21T01:58:49Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I note there is a gap for 1852 - how about the movie “The Piano”? It is set in that year. > > [http://www.imdb.com/reviews/187/18792.html](http://www.imdb.com/reviews/187/18792.html) Wow, nice call, **Malthus**. I really thought we had just about run out of films, but the Piano is certainly deserving. My pleasure, EH. Glad you’re enjoying it. 🙂 I’ll add an update once there are a few more entries. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/450 "2015-01-21T03:10:24Z")
1835 - **Seminole** (1953) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/451 "2015-01-21T03:37:54Z")
1846: Key events in the following movies take place in this year: [_The Donner Party_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219336/) became stranded in the snow in 1846, but the survivors were rescued the following year. [_One Man’s Hero_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Man%27s_Hero), about the Mexican War, begins in this year, but the climax takes place in 1848. [_Brigham Young_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_%28film%29) is already listed for 1844, when it begins, but depicts the Mormon migration west that began in 1846. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/452 "2015-01-21T04:26:42Z")
A few corrections should be made. _Shakespeare in Love_ is set in 1593, not 1597 (which is when Romeo & Juliet premiered). Replacement for 1597: _The Admiral:Roaring Currents_, which spends the large majority of its time on the Battle of Myeungnyang. _Sita Sings the Blues_ should be removed, as not only would it be wrong to claim a story is set when it was first written, but you have to go by the movie itself. It claims no particular date (and in fact jokes about the confusion over trying to assign one). It also has a parallel story set in the present day, further muddying the waters. No reason not to watch it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/453 "2015-01-21T14:30:44Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > Wow, nice call, **Malthus**. I really thought we had just about run out of films, but the Piano is certainly deserving. > > My pleasure, EH. Glad you’re enjoying it. 🙂 > > I’ll add an update once there are a few more entries. Glad to help - this is an awesome thread idea. Very much appreciate the effort you have put into it. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/454 "2015-01-21T16:34:18Z")
Fairly sure it says in the film that **Oblivion** is set in 2077. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/455 "2015-01-28T03:39:16Z")
Updating the… final(?) update: BC One Zillion BC (October 9th) Caveman BC 66 million Dinosaur BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 12,000 Conan the Barbarian BC 10,000 10,000 BC BC 4000 The Lord of the Rings BC 2528 Land of the Pharaohs BC 1340 Princess of the Sun BC 1336 The Egyptian BC 1300 Jason and the Argonauts BC 1213 The Ten Commandments BC 1200 Troy BC 1000 Solomon and Sheba BC 500 Amrapali BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 326 Sikandar BC 316 The Warring States BC 261 Asoka BC 250 Mahindagamanaga BC 227 The Emperor and the Assassin BC 216 Hannibal BC 72 Spartacus BC 48 Caesar and Cleopatra BC 44 Julius Caesar BC 30 Cleopatra 26 Ben-Hur 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 68 Quo Vadis 70 The Last Days of Pompeii 140 The Eagle 180 Gladiator 208 Red Cliff 219 The Lost Bladesman 229 Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon 450 Attila 460 The Last Legion 467 King Arthur 473 The God King 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 568 Goliath and the Barbarians 629 Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 630 - The Message 660 Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield 700 Warriors of Heaven and Earth 709 Outlander 778 Orlando and the Knights of France 859 House of Flying Daggers 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 932 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 984 Dragonheart 986 Saving General Yang 1000 Valhalla Rising 1013 The Ceremony of Innocence 1043 Lady Godiva of Coventry 1057 Macbeth 1066 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth) 1083 Ambikapathy 1099 El Cid 1159 Gate of Hell 1170 Becket 1183 The Lion in Winter 1187 Kingdom of Heaven 1194 Ivanhoe 1199 Robin Hood (2010) / Robin and Marian 1210 Brother Sun Sister Moon 1215 Ironclad 1220 The Golden Horde 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1344 Season of the Witch 1348 Black Death 1349 The Seventh Seal 1370 A Knight’s Tale 1389 Battle of Kosovo 1401 12 Paces without a Head 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1442 Blood Letter 1448 The Divine Weapon 1453 The Conquest of 1453 1458 The Conclave 1480 Flavia the Heretic 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1485 Richard III 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1500 Prince of Foxes 1517 Apocalypto 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1536 Anne of the Thousand Days 1541 Highlander 1547 Crossed Swords 1548 The Legend of Suriyothai 1553 Lady Jane 1558 Elizabeth (1998) 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1575 Kagemusha 1588 Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) 1593 Shakespeare in Love 1594 How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman 1596 The Merchant of Venice **1597 The Admiral: Roaring Currents** 1600 Shogun 1601 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex 1607 The New World 1616 Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe / The Devils 1637 The Last Valley 1649 Cromwell 1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring 1667 The Scarlet Letter 1672 The Black Tulip 1685 Lorna Doone / Captain Blood 1692 The Crucible 1699 Captain Kidd 1709 The Sovereign’s Servant 1712 Rob Roy 1714 The Bridge of San Luis Rey 1718 Swashbuckler 1724 The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan 1727: Samurai Rebellion 1728 The Beggar’s Opera 1744 Young Catherine 1745 The Master of Ballantrae 1748 Plunkett & Macleane 1753 Casanova (2005) 1756 The Mission 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1761 Bedlam (1946) 1762 The Rise of Catherine the Great 1765 Allegheny Uprising 1769 Seven Cities of Gold 1776 1776 / The Crossing 1779 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 1787 Robinson Crusoe 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty 1791 That Night in Varennes / Amadeus\* 1792 A Tale of Two Cities 1793 Marie Antoinette 1794 Danton 1797 Billy Budd 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1803 The Purple Mask 1804 The Far Horizons (story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 1806 The Terror (1963) 1808 The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade 1812 Old Ironsides 1813 Swiss Family Robinson 1814 1814 (2007) 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1817 Princess Caraboo 1827 Children of Paradise 1828 The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser 1829 The Count of Monte Cristo 1831 Under Capricorn 1832 Les Miserables **1835 Seminole** 1836 The Alamo 1837 The Young Victoria 1838 Nicholas Nickleby 1841 Amistad 1843 The Tell-Tale Heart 1845 The Raven 1846 Brigham Young 1847 Jeremiah Johnson 1848 Cousin Bette / 1848 Sutter’s Gold (1936) / The Robin Hood of El Dorado 1849 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin 1850 The Legend of Zorro 1851 Edge of Madness **1852 The Piano** 1853 Dimples / The Bushido Blade 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1855 The Great Train Robbery 1856 The Chess Players (Shatranj Ke Khilari) 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 The Song of Bernadette 1859 Creation / Seven Angry Men / Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1861 Gods and Generals / Gone With The Wind 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg / Glory / Her Majesty Mrs. Brown / Gangs of New York 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Cold Mountain 1865 Lincoln / The Outlaw Josey Wales 1866 Red River 1867 Juarez 1868 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1869 Union Pacific 1870 Mademoiselle Fifi 1871 In Old Chicago / La commune 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1873 Cowboys and Aliens 1874 Blazing Saddles / Disraeli 1875 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell 1876 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn / The Yearling 1879 Zulu / Zulu Dawn 1880 Stagecoach / True Grit (2012) 1881 Tombstone / My Darling Clementine 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1883 Krakatoa, East of Java 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III / The Oxbow Incident 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1887 Shanghai Knights 1888 From Hell / Murder by Decree 1889 Mayerling 1890 Hello, Dolly! 1891 Sherlock Holmes (2009) 1892 Heaven’s Gate 1893 Far and Away / Lagaan 1894 Princess Kaiulani / The Life of Emile Zola 1895 The Four Feathers 1896 The Far Country 1897 The Gold Rush 1898 A Message to Garcia 1899 The Prestige / Newsies 1900 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1901 The Shootist 1902 Breaker Morant 1903 Tom Horn 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1905 Battleship Potemkin 1906 Ragtime 1907 Viva Maria! / A Room with a View 1908 Take Me Out To The Ball Game / The Great Race 1909 Fanny and Alexander 1910 Mary Poppins / Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1911 1911 1912 Titanic / The Music Man 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse / All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby / Thoroughly Modern Millie 1923: The Hours 1924 Chariots of Fire 1925 Inherit the Wind 1926 The Sand Pebbles 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1928 The Artist\* / Bullets Over Broadway 1929 Some Like It Hot 1930 Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 1931 Cabaret / The Great Waldo Pepper 1932 **The Grand Budapest Hotel** / They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven / Bonnie and Clyde / Victor Victoria 1935 The King’s Speech\* / To Kill a Mockingbird / The Green Mile 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown / Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade / Seabiscuit 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) / The Natural / Hyde Park on Hudson / Dunkirk / The Sound of Music / **The Imitation Game** 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive / The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe / Atonement / Dunkirk 1941 Tora! Tora! Tora! / From Here to Eternity / Pearl Harbor / Casablanca\*\* 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo / Summer of '42 1943 Come and See / A League of Their Own / The Guns of Navarone / A Canterbury Tale 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth / The Longest Day / Au Revoir Les Enfants / Inglorious Basterds 1945 Schindler’s List / Empire of Sun / Downfall / A Matter of Life and Death 1946 The Godfather / The Black Stallion 1947 42 / Tucker: A Man and His Dream / Judgement at Nuremburg 1948 Devil in a Blue Dress / Exodus 1949 The Man Who Wasn’t There 1950 Men in War / Snow Falling on Cedars 1951 The Last Picture Show / Mash 1952 Hoosiers 1953 L.A. Confidential 1954 My Favorite Year / Heavenly Creatures 1955 Back to the Future 1956 The Polar Express 1957 The Battle of Algiers / Far From Heaven 1958 The Godfather Part II / Lords of Flatbush 1959 Diner / Stand By Me / Dead Poets Society/Grease 1960 Peggy Sue Got Married 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House / Thirteen Days 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning / That Thing You Do! 1965 **Selma** / Moonrise Kingdom / The Outsiders / Year of Living Dangerously 1966 JFK / Casualties of War / The Hurricane 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being / A Bronx Tale 1969 Taking Woodstock / Awakenings / Four Days in September 1970 Apollo 13 / Apocalypse Now 1971 Remember the Titans / We Are Marshall 1972 All the President’s Men / Dog Day Afternoon / Bat\*21 1973 Ratcatcher / Almost Famous / The Lovely Bones / Secretariat / The Ice Storm 1974 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Dick 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men / Argo / Salvador 1981 Wet Hot American Summer / Let the Right One In 1982 Waltz with Bashir / Son of Rambow 1983 Stand and Deliver / This Is England 1984 1984 / Billy Elliot / The Hunt for Red October / The Lives of Others 1985 The Wedding Singer / SLC Punk! 1986 The Squid and the Whale / Hot Tube Time Machine 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko / For Queen and Country / **Foxcatcher** 1989 The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Buffalo Soldiers 1990 Rent 1991 The Big Lebowski / Courage Under Fire / Three Kings 1992 Primary Colors / **Into the Wild** 1993 Black Hawk Down 1994 Hotel Rwanda 1995 Invictus / The Insider / **Wild** 1996 Spinning Boris 1997 Amélie / The Queen 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Death Race 2000 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2002 Moneyball 2003 127 Hours 2004 The Hurt Locker 2005 Transformers: the Movie (1986) 2006 Slumdog Millionaire 2007 Double Dragon / Paycheck 2008 Game Change 2009 Freejack 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2012 I Am Legend 2013 The Postman 2014 Moon Child 2015 Back to the Future II / Robocop 2016 Stealth 2017 Barb Wire 2018 Rollerball (1975) 2019 Blade Runner / Daybreakers / The Island 2020 V for Vendetta 2021 Johnny Mnemonic 2022 Soylent Green / No Escape / The Purge 2023 Gunbuster 2024 .hack/The Movie 2025 Repo Men 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men / Nemesis 2028 Robocop (August 2013 release) 2029 Ghost In The Shell 2031 Frankenstein Unbound 2032 Demolition Man 2033 Tank Girl 2035 I, Robot / Twelve Monkeys / Doomsday 2037 Meet The Robinsons 2041 Time Chasers 2044 Looper 2046 Doom 2047 Event Horizon 2054 Minority Report 2056 Red Planet 2057 Sunshine 2059 Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century 2063 Star Trek: First Contact **2077 Oblivion** 2078 Screamers 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2093 Prometheus 2122 Alien 2139 Judge Dredd 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2151 Vanilla Sky 2154 Elysium 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2220 Forbidden Planet 2455 Jason X 2258 Star Trek 2259 Star Trek: Into Darkness 2274 Logan’s Run 2279 Star Trek: The Motion Picture 2285 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan / Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 2287 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 2293 Zardoz / Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 2371 Star Trek Generations 2373 Star Trek: First Contact 2375 Star Trek: Insurrection 2379 Star Trek: Nemesis 2415 Aeon Flux 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2500 Waterworld 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity 2578 Pitch Black 2583 The Chronicles of Riddick 2592 Riddick 2805 Wall-E 3000 Battlefield Earth / 3000 A.D. (aka Captive Women) 3013 In Time 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 10191 Dune 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) - occurs over a number of years, making it difficult to determine an exact year. \*\* Not really a period piece movie! Contributions added in this post: Selma (1965) Grand Budapest Hotel (1932) The Imitation Game (1939)??? Foxcatcher (1988) Into the Wild (1992) Wild (1995) The Admiral: Roaring Currents (1597) Oblivion (2077) Per the suggestions made in recent posts: **Shakespeare in Love** has been moved to 1593, **Brigham Young** has been moved to 1846, leaving a vacated space in 1844. **Ergo, timeline is without any missing years from 1845 to 2029.** Interestingly, 2014 featured quite a few period piece movies, but some of them – **American Sniper, Theory of Everything, Boyhood** – are spread out over a number of years, so not quite applicable for our timeline. (I have not seen American Sniper or The Imitation Game, so I didn’t look all that closely at their Wiki pages to determine precise year.) Perhaps somewhat poignantly, it’s fitting that **Oblivion** be the final entry. After all, that is where this thread will ultimately end up. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/456 "2015-01-28T21:14:24Z")
Not that we need to add to a year that has a film listed, but **Frost/Nixon** was a heck of a good film set in 1977. And 1939 was picked as the year for **The Imitation Game**? hmm ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/457 "2015-01-28T23:54:54Z")
Thread must not die until 19th century has no gaps! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/458 "2015-01-30T02:37:29Z")
> [@kevja](#): > > Not that we need to add to a year that has a film listed, but **Frost/Nixon** was a heck of a good film set in 1977. > > And 1939 was picked as the year for **The Imitation Game**? > > hmm Again, _as I stated in the post above,_ I only skimmed its Wikipedia page looking for the date; I haven’t seen the movie and didn’t want to spoil it for myself. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/459 "2015-01-30T04:31:19Z")
Already have plenty 1943 but I love _Bridge on the River Kwai_. I’d like _Dolores Claiborne_ for the key action during the 1963 eclipse, but it is flashback action. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/460 "2015-01-30T05:35:35Z")
[_Lydia Bailey_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Bailey) (1952) was set in 1801. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457.md?page=24)