# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/121 "2013-05-16T20:27:20Z")
I think the first entry on this list should be : A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/122 "2013-05-16T20:30:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You missed these from my post #108: > > 1832 Les Miserables > 1860 The Pony Express > 1872 Around the World in 80 Days > 1879 Zulu > 1880 Stagecoach > 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend > 1897 The Gold Rush > 1921 Sunrise at Campobello My apologies, Colibri; I’ll fix it in a moment. And thank you for updating the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/123 "2013-05-16T20:36:46Z")
The latest: BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 1200 Troy BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 72 Spartacus BC 44 Julius Caesar 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 208 Red Cliff **528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court** 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 1183 The Lion in Winter 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1547 Crossed Swords 1558 Elizabeth 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1607 The New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe 1712 Rob Roy 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1788 The Madness of King George **1789 Mutiny on the Bounty** 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1827 Children of Paradise **1832 Les Miserables** 1836 The Alamo **1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade** 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 Django Unchained **1860 The Pony Express** 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1865 Lincoln **1872 Around the World in 80 Days** 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires **1877 The Last Samurai** 1878 Cheyenne Autumn **1879 Zulu 1880 Stagecoach** 1881 Tombstone 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III **1886 Geronimo: An American Legend** 1888 From Hell 1893 Lagaan 1893 Far and Away **1897 The Gold Rush** 1900 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1901 The Shootist 1902 Breaker Morant 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1905 Battleship Potemkin 1906 Ragtime 1910 Mary Poppins 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan **1921 Sunrise at Campobello** 1922 The Great Gatsby 1924 Chariots of Fire 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1931 Cabaret 1932 King Kong (2005) 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Tora, Tora, Tora 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth 1945 Downfall 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Men in War 1951 The Last Picture Show 1953 L.A. Confidential 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1958 The Godfather Part II 1959 Diner / Stand By Me 1960 Grease 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1969 Taking Woodstock 1970 Apollo 13 / Apocalypse Now 1972 All the President’s Men 1973 Ratcatcher 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Argo / Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men 1981 Wet Hot American Summer 1982 Waltz with Bashir 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko 1991 The Big Lebowski 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Escape from Los Angeles 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2004 The Hurt Locker 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2019 Blade Runner 2022 Soylent Green 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men 2032 Demolition Man 2057 Sunshine 2074 Looper 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2122 Alien 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2274 Logan’s Run 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) ---
**Author:** ![tbook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tbook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbook)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/124 "2013-05-16T20:43:10Z")
BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 72 Spartacus 33 Life of Brian 1183 The Lion in Winter 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1547 Crossed Swords 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1625 The Three Musketeers 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1799 The Marquise of O 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 1827 Children of Paradise 1862 The General 1865 Lincoln 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1893 Lagaan 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1922 The Great Gatsby 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1937 O Brother, Where Art Thou? 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Tora, Tora, Tora 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan and A Bridge Too Far and Pan’s Labyrinth 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Snow Falling on Cedars 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1959 Diner 1961 61\* 1962 (tie) American Graffiti and Animal House 1963 Mermaids 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1979 Argo 1980 No Country for Old Men 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1991 The Big Lebowski 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 2001 2001:A Space Odyssey 2019 Blade Runner 2027: Children of Men 2084: Total Recall (the original) ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/125 "2013-05-16T22:37:20Z")
\*\*1841 Amistad 2805 Wall-E\*\* ---
**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:** [May 16, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/126 "2013-05-16T23:27:59Z")
1199 Robin Hood (2010) 1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton 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 1898 A Message to Garcia ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/127 "2013-05-17T00:24:11Z")
BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 1200 Troy BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 72 Spartacus BC 44 Julius Caesar 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 208 Red Cliff 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 1183 The Lion in Winter **1199 Robin Hood (2010)** 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1547 Crossed Swords 1558 Elizabeth 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1607 The New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe 1712 Rob Roy 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty **1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton** 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World **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** 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1827 Children of Paradise 1832 Les Miserables 1836 The Alamo \*_1841 Amistad \*\* 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1865 Lincoln 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn 1879 Zulu 1880 Stagecoach 1881 Tombstone 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1888 From Hell 1893 Lagaan 1893 Far and Away 1897 The Gold Rush **1898 A Message to Garcia** 1900 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1901 The Shootist 1902 Breaker Morant 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1905 Battleship Potemkin 1906 Ragtime 1910 Mary Poppins 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby 1924 Chariots of Fire 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1931 Cabaret 1932 King Kong (2005) 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Tora, Tora, Tora 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth 1945 Downfall 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Men in War 1951 The Last Picture Show 1953 L.A. Confidential 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1958 The Godfather Part II 1959 Diner / Stand By Me 1960 Grease 1961 61_ 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1969 Taking Woodstock 1970 Apollo 13 1972 All the President’s Men 1973 Ratcatcher 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Argo / Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men 1981 Wet Hot American Summer 1982 Waltz with Bashir 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko 1991 The Big Lebowski 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Escape from Los Angeles 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2004 The Hurt Locker 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2019 Blade Runner 2022 Soylent Green 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men 2032 Demolition Man 2057 Sunshine 2074 Looper 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2122 Alien 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2274 Logan’s Run 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity **2805 Wall-E** 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/128 "2013-05-17T00:25:27Z")
BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 72 Spartacus 33 Life of Brian 1183 The Lion in Winter 1199 Robin Hood 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1547 Crossed Swords 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1625 The Three Musketeers 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton 1799 The Marquise of O 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 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 1827 Children of Paradise 1841 Amistad 1862 The General 1865 Lincoln 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1893 Lagaan 1898 A Message to Garcia 1904 Meet Me in St. Louis 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1922 The Great Gatsby 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1937 O Brother, Where Art Thou? 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Tora, Tora, Tora 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan and A Bridge Too Far and Pan’s Labyrinth **1945 Schindler’s List** 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Snow Falling on Cedars 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1959 Diner 1961 61\* 1962 (tie) American Graffiti and Animal House 1963 Mermaids 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1979 Argo 1980 No Country for Old Men 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1991 The Big Lebowski 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 2001 2001:A Space Odyssey 2019 Blade Runner 2027: Children of Men 2084: Total Recall (the original) 2805 Wall-E ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/129 "2013-05-17T00:43:21Z")
\*\*2500 Waterworld \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/130 "2013-05-17T02:51:19Z")
**1941 [del]Tora! Tora! Tora![/del] Casablanca** Reasons: **1. Academy Awards:** _Casablanca_ was nominated for 8 awards and won 3, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay; _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ was nominated for 5 awards, all technical, and only won 1 (Best Special Effects). **2. Later Honours:** _Casablanca_ has been included on several lists of significant movies: United States National Film Registry; TIME magazine’s list of best 100 films in the past 80 years; Writers Guild of America, west has named it the best film of all time. _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ has no equivalents. **3. Cultural Significance:** _Casablanca_ has entered into popular culture in a way unmatched by almost any other movie. For instance, the American Film Institute has compiled a list of the 100 best movie lines; _Casablanca_ has 6 entries, more than any other movie.\* _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ has none. **4. Rotten Tomatoes:** _Casablanca_: Tomatometer: 97% (Fresh: 62, Rotten 2); _Tora! Tora! Tora!_: Tomatometer: 59% (Fresh: 16, Rotten: 1). **5. Cast:** _Casablanca_: Bogart! Bergman! Rains! Greenstreet! Lorre! Wilson! _Tora! Tora! Tora!_: Who? - (For the curious, the lines are: • “Here’s looking at you, kid.” —5th • “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”—20th • “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’.”—28th • “Round up the usual suspects.”—32nd • “We’ll always have Paris.”—43rd • “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”—67th ---
**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:** [May 17, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/131 "2013-05-17T04:14:00Z")
2013 The Postman 2035 I, Robot 2293 Zardoz ---
**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:** [May 17, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/132 "2013-05-17T04:37:36Z")
1954 Snow Falling on Cedars ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/133 "2013-05-17T05:17:45Z")
Wow, that list is getting huge. Per the rules of the OP, you can’t use Back to the Future for 1985, but I don’t see why you can’t use Back to the Future II. Some of it takes place in a dystopian version of 1985 which was created when Marty bought the sports almanac in 2015 and Biff stole it and gave it to his younger self in 1955. So, 1985 - Back to the Future II. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/134 "2013-05-17T05:51:10Z")
BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 1200 Troy BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 72 Spartacus BC 44 Julius Caesar 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 208 Red Cliff **460 The Last Legion** 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 1183 The Lion in Winter 1199 Robin Hood (2010) 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1547 Crossed Swords 1558 Elizabeth 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1607 The New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe 1712 Rob Roy 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty 1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 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 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1827 Children of Paradise 1832 Les Miserables 1836 The Alamo 1841 Amistad 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1865 Lincoln 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn 1879 Zulu 1880 Stagecoach 1881 Tombstone 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1888 From Hell 1893 Lagaan 1893 Far and Away 1897 The Gold Rush 1898 A Message to Garcia 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 1910 Mary Poppins 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby 1924 Chariots of Fire 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1931 Cabaret 1932 King Kong (2005) 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Casablanca 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth 1945 Downfall 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Men in War 1951 The Last Picture Show 1953 L.A. Confidential 1954 Snow Falling on Cedars 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1958 The Godfather Part II 1959 Diner / Stand By Me 1960 Grease 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1969 Taking Woodstock 1970 Apollo 13 1972 All the President’s Men 1973 Ratcatcher 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Argo / Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men 1981 Wet Hot American Summer 1982 Waltz with Bashir 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1985 Back to the Future II 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko 1991 The Big Lebowski 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Escape from Los Angeles 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2004 The Hurt Locker 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2013 The Postman 2019 Blade Runner 2022 Soylent Green 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men 2032 Demolition Man 2035 I, Robot 2057 Sunshine 2074 Looper 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2122 Alien 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2274 Logan’s Run 2293 Zardoz 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2500 Waterworld 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity 2805 Wall-E 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/135 "2013-05-17T06:08:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Wow, that list is getting huge. Per the rules of the OP, you can’t use Back to the Future for 1985, but I don’t see why you can’t use Back to the Future II. Some of it takes place in a dystopian version of 1985 which was created when Marty bought the sports almanac in 2015 and Biff stole it and gave it to his younger self in 1955. > > So, > > 1985 - Back to the Future II. Well played. I kept thinking of pigeonholing into 2015, but that’s really the minority of the movie. A case could also be made for 1955, but I think you have something with '85. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/136 "2013-05-17T06:17:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > **1941 [del]Tora! Tora! Tora![/del] Casablanca** 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. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/137 "2013-05-17T06:24:57Z")
The list got goofed by the entry of an old one (missing movies), so updating. BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 1200 Troy BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 72 Spartacus BC 44 Julius Caesar 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 208 Red Cliff **460 The Last Legion** 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 1183 The Lion in Winter 1199 Robin Hood (2010) 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1547 Crossed Swords 1558 Elizabeth 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1607 The New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe 1712 Rob Roy 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty 1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 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 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1827 Children of Paradise 1832 Les Miserables 1836 The Alamo 1841 Amistad 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1865 Lincoln 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn 1879 Zulu 1880 Stagecoach 1881 Tombstone 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1888 From Hell 1893 Lagaan 1893 Far and Away 1897 The Gold Rush 1898 A Message to Garcia 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 1910 Mary Poppins 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby 1924 Chariots of Fire 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1931 Cabaret 1932 King Kong (2005) 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 **Casablanca vs. Tora! Tora! Tora!** 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1943 **Come and See** 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth 1945 Schindler’s List 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Men in War 1951 The Last Picture Show 1953 L.A. Confidential 1954 Snow Falling on Cedars 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1958 The Godfather Part II 1959 Diner / Stand By Me 1960 Grease 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1969 Taking Woodstock 1970 Apollo 13 1972 All the President’s Men 1973 Ratcatcher 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Argo / Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men 1981 Wet Hot American Summer 1982 Waltz with Bashir 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 **1985 Back to the Future II** 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko 1991 The Big Lebowski 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Escape from Los Angeles 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2004 The Hurt Locker 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2013 The Postman 2019 Blade Runner 2022 Soylent Green 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men 2032 Demolition Man 2035 I, Robot 2057 Sunshine 2074 Looper 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2122 Alien 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2274 Logan’s Run 2293 Zardoz 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2500 Waterworld 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity 2805 Wall-E 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) Anybody have an opinion on 1941: Casablanca vs. Tora! Tora! Tora!? Should Casablanca count as a period piece? (See the previous posts.)\*\* ---
**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:** [May 17, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/138 "2013-05-17T07:24:27Z")
BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman BC 1,000,000 One Million BC BC 1200 Troy BC 480 300 BC 326 Sikandar (1941) BC 72 Spartacus BC 44 Julius Caesar 33 Life of Brian / The Passion of the Christ 40 Caligula 208 Red Cliff 460 The Last Legion 528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 922 The Thirteenth Warrior 1183 The Lion in Winter 1199 Robin Hood (2010) 1242 Alexander Nevsky 1298 Braveheart 1327 The Name of the Rose 1415 Henry V 1424 Andrei Rublev 1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise 1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 1535 A Man for All Seasons 1547 Crossed Swords 1558 Elizabeth 1560 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1597 Shakespeare in Love 1607 The New World 1625 The Three Musketeers 1630 Hara-kiri 1634 Black Robe 1712 Rob Roy 1757 The Last of the Mohicans 1776 1776 1788 The Madness of King George 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty 1791 That Night in Varennes 1794 Danton 1798 The Wild Child 1799 The Marquise of O / Sleepy Hollow 1805 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 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 1815 Waterloo 1816 Gothic 1827 Children of Paradise 1832 Les Miserables 1836 The Alamo 1841 Amistad 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising 1858 Django Unchained 1860 The Pony Express 1862 The General 1863 Gettysburg 1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1865 Lincoln 1872 Around the World in 80 Days 1874 Blazing Saddles 1876 The Molly Maguires 1877 The Last Samurai 1878 Cheyenne Autumn 1879 Zulu 1880 Stagecoach 1881 Tombstone 1882 The Man Who Would Be King 1884 3:10 to Yuma 1885 Topsy Turvy / Back to the Future III 1886 Geronimo: An American Legend 1888 From Hell **1891 Sherlock Holmes** (2009) 1893 Lagaan 1893 Far and Away 1897 The Gold Rush 1898 A Message to Garcia 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 1910 Mary Poppins 1912 Titanic 1913 The Wild Bunch 1914 The African Queen 1915 Gallipoli 1916 Paths of Glory 1917 Lawrence of Arabia 1918 War Horse 1919 Eight Men Out 1920 Matewan 1921 Sunrise at Campobello 1922 The Great Gatsby 1924 Chariots of Fire 1927 Singin’ in the Rain 1929 Some Like It Hot 1931 Cabaret 1932 King Kong (2005) 1933 Sounder 1934 Pennies from Heaven 1935 The King’s Speech 1936 Raiders of the Lost Ark / The Sting 1937 Chinatown 1938 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1939 To Be or Not to Be (the original) 1940 The Spirit of the Beehive 1941 Tora! Tora! Tora! 1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1943 Come and See 1944 Saving Private Ryan / A Bridge Too Far / Pan’s Labyrinth 1945 Schindler’s List 1946 The Godfather 1947 42 1950 Men in War 1951 The Last Picture Show 1953 L.A. Confidential 1954 Snow Falling on Cedars 1955 Back to the Future 1957 The Battle of Algiers 1958 The Godfather Part II 1959 Diner / Stand By Me 1960 Grease 1961 61\* 1962 American Graffiti / Animal House 1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1964 Mississippi Burning 1965 Moonrise Kingdom 1966 JFK 1967 Platoon 1968 The Unbearable Lightness of Being 1969 Taking Woodstock 1970 Apollo 13 1972 All the President’s Men 1973 Ratcatcher 1975 The Deer Hunter 1976 Dazed and Confused 1977 Summer of Sam 1978 Lords of Dogtown 1979 Argo / Super 8 1980 No Country for Old Men 1981 Wet Hot American Summer 1982 Waltz with Bashir 1983 Heartbreak Ridge 1984 1984 1985 Back to the Future II 1986 The Squid and the Whale 1987 Fargo 1988 Donnie Darko 1991 The Big Lebowski 1992 Primary Colors 1993 Black Hawk Down 1997 Amélie 1998 Escape from New York 1999 Strange Days 2000 Escape from Los Angeles 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93 2004 The Hurt Locker 2010 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2011 Zero Dark Thirty 2013 The Postman 2019 Blade Runner 2022 Soylent Green 2026 Metropolis 2027 Children of Men 2032 Demolition Man 2035 I, Robot 2057 Sunshine 2074 Looper 2084 Total Recall (the original) 2122 Alien 2150 Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. 2160 Avatar 2173 Sleeper 2179 Aliens 2199 The Matrix 2214 The Fifth Element 2274 Logan’s Run 2293 Zardoz 2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 2500 Waterworld 2505 Idiocracy 2517 Serenity 2805 Wall-E 3978 Planet of the Apes (1968) 5021 Planet of the Apes (2001) 12090 Vampire Hunter D 40000 Barbarella 802,701 The Time Machine (2002) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/139 "2013-05-17T08:37:40Z")
Some additional nominees for years with existing nominations: 1863 – _Glory_ 1885 – _The Oxbow Incident_ 1944 – _The Longest Day_, _Anzio_ 1964 – _On the Beach_ Unclaimed years: 1925 – _Inherit the Wind_ 1926 – _The Sand Pebbles_ 1928 – _The Artist_ 1952 – _Hoosiers_ ---
**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:** [May 17, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457/140 "2013-05-17T11:55:31Z")
> [@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. I agree. **Tora! Tora! Tora!** , representing a real historical event at a specific time is much better suited to the OP than a than a contemporary love story/drama. Also, I know that **The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly** is set during the Civil War (it’s one of my favorite movies), but I don’t recall that 1864 was ever specifically identified. I’m not saying it wasn’t, I just don’t recall it and would be interested to know the scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-set-in-every-year-but-not-made-in-that-year/658457.md?page=8)