The best movie set in every year... but not made in that year

Cafe Society
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BC One Zillion BC, October 9th - Caveman
BC 66 million Dinosaur
BC 1,000,000 One Million BC
BC 10,000 10,000 BC
BC 4000 The Lord of the Rings
BC 1200 Troy
BC 480 300
BC 326 Sikandar (1941)
BC 261 Asoka
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
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
450 Attila
460 The Last Legion
467 King Arthur
528 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
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
1000 Valhalla Rising
1057 Macbeth
1099 El Cid
1170 Becket
1183 The Lion in Winter
1187 Kingdom of Heaven
1194 Ivanhoe
1199 Robin Hood (2010)
1210 Brother Sun Sister Moon
1215 Ironclad
1242 Alexander Nevsky
1298 Braveheart
1327 The Name of the Rose
1344 Season of the Witch
1348 Black Death
1349 The Seventh Seal
1389 Battle of Kosovo
1415 Henry V
1424 Andrei Rublev
1431 The Passion of Joan of Arc
1448 The Divine Weapon
1482 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1485 Richard III
1492 1492: Conquest of Paradise
1517 Apocalypto
1533 The Royal Hunt of the Sun
1535 A Man for All Seasons
1536 Anne of the Thousand Days
1547 Crossed Swords
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
1597 Shakespeare in Love
1601 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1607 The New World
1616 Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
1625 The Three Musketeers
1629 Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
1630 Hara-kiri
1634 Black Robe / The Devils
1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring
1667 The Scarlet Letter
1685 Lorna Doone / Captain Blood
1692 The Crucible
1699 Captain Kidd
1712 Rob Roy
1718 Swashbuckler
1756 The Mission
1757 The Last of the Mohicans
1776 1776
1779 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
1787 Robinson Crusoe
1788 The Madness of King George
1789 Mutiny on the Bounty
1791 That Night in Varennes
1792 A Tale of Two Cities
1793 Marie Antoinette
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
1813 Swiss Family Robinson
1815 Waterloo
1816 Gothic
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
1841 Amistad
1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade
1856 The Chess Players (Shatranj Ke Khilari)
1857 Mangal Pandey: The Rising
1858 Django Unchained
1860 The Pony Express
1861 Gods and Generals
1862 The General
1863 Gettysburg / Glory / Her Majesty Mrs. Brown
1864 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Cold Mountain
1865 Lincoln
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
1875 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1876 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Molly Maguires
1877 The Last Samurai
1878 Cheyenne Autumn
1879 Zulu
1880 Stagecoach / True Grit (2012)
1881 Tombstone
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
1889 Mayerling
1890 Hello, Dolly!
1891 Sherlock Holmes (2009)
1892 Heaven’s Gate
1893 Far and Away / Lagaan
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!
1908 Take Me Out To The Ball Game / The Great Race
1909 Fanny and Alexander
1910 Mary Poppins
1911 1911
1912 Titanic
1913 The Wild Bunch
1914 The African Queen
1915 Gallipoli
1916 Paths of Glory
1917 Lawrence of Arabia
1918 War Horse / 1918: 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
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
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
1940 The Spirit of the Beehive / The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe / Atonement
1941 Tora! Tora! Tora! / From Here to Eternity
1942 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo / Summer of '42
1943 Come and See / A League of Their Own / The Guns of Navarone
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
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 / Heavenly Creatures
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
1960 Grease
1961 61*
1962 American Graffiti / Animal House / Thirteen Days
1963 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
1964 Mississippi Burning
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
1970 Apollo 13 / Apocalypse Now
1971 Remember the Titans
1972 All the President’s Men / Dog Day Afternoon
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 Argo / Super 8
1980 No Country for Old Men
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
1985 The Wedding Singer / SLC Punk!
1986 The Squid and the Whale
1987 Fargo
1988 Donnie Darko / For Queen and Country
1989 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
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
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:dubious:
2015 Back to the Future II / Robocop
2016 Stealth
2017 Barb Wire
2018 Rollerball (1975)
2019 Blade Runner
2020 V for Vendetta
2021 Johnny Mnemonic
2022 Soylent Green
2024 .hack/The Movie
2025 Repo Men
2026 Metropolis
2027 Children of Men
2029 Ghost In The Shell
2031 Frankenstein Unbound
2032 Demolition Man
2033 Tank Girl
2035 I, Robot / Twelve Monkeys
2037 Meet The Robinsons
2044 Looper
2054 Minority Report
2056 Red Planet
2057 Sunshine
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
2160 Avatar
2173 Sleeper
2179 Aliens
2199 The Matrix
2214 The Fifth Element
2220 Forbidden Planet
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
2491 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
2500 Waterworld
2505 Idiocracy
2517 Serenity
2592 Riddick
2805 Wall-E
3000 3000 A.D. (aka Captive Women)
3978 Planet of the Apes (1968)
5021 Planet of the Apes (2001)
12090 Vampire Hunter D
40000 Barbarella
802,701 The Time Machine (2002)

Adding in also, We Are Marshall for 1971. Clearly a great year for football period pieces, that 1971.

We have a consistent timeline from 1860 to 2022… with the exception of 1894. :smack:

Other comments:
That’s too much work from GIGObuster not to put Journey to the West into the 1629 slot. Good stuff.

Not saying we’re starting to scrape the barrel or anything, but we not have not one, but two new entries that scored 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. But awfulness is not a criteria for making the list, so both are deserving. We have another movie with the same name after the OP’er. Good God. I am genuinely embarrassed.

Anyhow, I’ve been running through my mental chamber to come up with some sort of formula to determine the best – or perhaps I should say most fitting – movie in years that are represented by multiple entries. Certainly, the quality of the movie is a primary consideration, but maybe not the when it is viewed in contrast to how faithful it is to the year it’s been entered for.

And then there’s other criteria also. How popular was a movie??? Mostly in terms of box office, but some movies develop more interest after they’ve left theaters. But what if a crappy but popular movie is up against some arcane indie or foreign film that’s much better? I dunno.

An interesting study is 2035 with 12 Monkeys (88% on RT), perhaps one of the best time travel movies, ever (IMHO) versus a mostly forgettable sci-fi flick, I, Robot (58% on RT). But then, I, Robot is wholly and totally set in 2035, whereas 12 Monkeys is set in 1990, 1996 & 2035. And of those three years, 2035 is probably represented the least (but, per discussion in this thread, more fitting than 1996). Also, I, Robot, easily outdrew 12 Monkeys at the box office $345-million to $160-million (foreign + U.S. domestic) and would still win even if you took inflation into consideration.

But then, I think from a popularity standpoint, the 12 Monkeys still wins. It’s a classic cable TV rotation movie. (Full disclosure: in 1995 I was a complete movie dork, watching 100 movies a year in the theaters. In 2004, maybe 10 – just got married and had a newborn – although I, Robot was one of them.)

So, which one?

Technically, I, Robot should win… but for me, it would seem almost sacrilegious to choose it over 12 Monkeys. Point is, if I came up with a formula, this example would render it meaningless. At least in this case.

So, there are lots of years with multiple entries. I suggest shrinking the font size of the ones that in your mind pale the ideal period piece in a given year. In other words:

2035 I, Robot / Twelve Monkeys

And then let the debates begin.

What about 2015: Robocop vs. Back to the Future II?

322

Anybody have any problem with these?

1908 Take Me Out To The Ball Game / The Great Race
2001 2001: A Space Odyssey / World Trade Center / Flight 93
1973 Ratcatcher / Almost Famous / The Lovely Bones / Secretariat / The Ice Storm

Another major criterion, I think, is that the more fitting entry must have (should have) come out significantly before/after the year the movie is set in.

323

For 1894, there’s Princess Kaiulani (2009). It’s about the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. It appears the story takes place from 1887 to 1894.

324

As long as we’re debating, let’s talk Argo.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed the movie. But is it set in 1979?

The first part of the movie was. The American embassy in Tehran was seized in November of 1979. But the escape - which I feel is the main part of the movie - happened in January of 1980.

325

For years with movies made both before the actual year (in which the year is in the future) and movies made after that year (which depict events that actually happened in that year), I suggest that we include two entries, one for the year as the future year and one for the past. Therefore for 2001 I would include both *2001 *and WTC.

326

Thank you for the note, but there is a 1000 year nit. :slight_smile: The year/slot is 629, not 1629.

327

There is however one movie from the 1600’s that all this reminded me, but it has stuck a lot like a sore thumb in **my **history.

The Last Valley, with Michael Cane and Omar Sharif,

Very violent and disturbing movie for the recreation of the death and destruction caused by the religious warfare of the day, particularly the sack of Magdeburg referenced at the beginning of the movie:

[Personal Historical bit you can skip]
Now, this movie IMHO is a very underrated piece of historical fiction, but for the day and the location I originally saw it, it was a very sinister one. The movie showed the priest of the village as one of the worst characters from the movie, he ends up being killed by a village peasant when the peasant cannot stomach the injustice of the inquisition when he sees it up close.

It was not the movie’s fault, but the hand of propaganda that put a cloud over the movie in the 70’s El Salvador.

In the Salvadorian civil war TV was a great distraction, but movies like The Last Valley were suspiciously aired many times; now, the past hypocrisy of the Catholic and protestant churches would be good a lesson to learn in a different time, the trouble was that back then in El Salvador of the 70’s that message of hypocrisy and bad apples in the church was not an accurate one to have as priests then were helping the poor and opposing the oppression of the military dictators in Central America.

Nowadays I have the very strong suspicion that movies like this one were shown often by the reactionary media to spread the message to military thugs that it was ok to get rid of “meddlesome priests” because “they deserved it”. During the dark days, many good human beings like Monsignor Romero were murdered just for opposing injustice.

But I digress..

That was another time, nowadays I do recommend this movie for the acting and to get a very unflinching view of the days of the 30 year war in Europe.
[/end of personal history bit]
So, where were we? Ah, the time line! This also had a bit of work, as the sack of Magdeburg was mentioned as happening in the past, that meant that the action took place after 1631, the captain makes a reference to the coming siege at Rhinefeldt by the Duke of Bernard in 1638, as much of the action takes place before the previous winter, the year the movie is set is then in 1637.
**1637 The Last Valley **

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Wow, some people sure got worked up over being just a few years off! :smack:

(To be fixed on the next update. :))

329

Which reminds me:
1980 Salvador

It’s close, but I agree with you, Nemo. Argo should be moved to 1980. Similarly, Salvador is also very loosely based on a true story. But a distant cry, I think, from Argo and No Country for Old Men. But between those two, which is the most fitting 1980 entry? I lean toward Argo, personally (simple viewer bias: it’s just more my kind of movie), but NCfOM leads slightly on IMDB (8.2 - 7.9) as well as on RT (8.6 - 8.4). Both, of course, won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

I marveled at how Argo recreated its time period, FWIW. Was surprised it didn’t get nominated for Production Design.

330

Great idea. Going with it.

Anybody have a problem with this:

1969 Taking Woodstock / Awakenings

(Yes, I know I’m avoiding the legitimately debatable years. :p)

331

Holy crap, I can’t believe The Great Race is based on a true story.

332

While Awakenings is rated much higher critically, there’s an argument to be made for Taking Woodstock as representing an historical event that took place in that year, and thus more representative of it. However, this is not a criterion stated in the OP.

I admit to bias since I was actually at Woodstock.:slight_smile:

333

I have not read the entire thread, but the latest listings don’t have an entry for A.D. 10191. The opening establishes that date for the beginning of the David Lynch version of Dune. The first couple of acts occur in that year, and then the action skips forwards a few years during the Fremen resistance. Care to add it to the list?

-DF

334

I really think this is better for that year than (ptui) Gods and Generals.

335

Princess Kaiulani reminded me of another one.

1817 Princess Caraboo

336

I would like to add Gangs of New York to our 1863 list.

337

Also, for 1878, The Yearling is more highly rated on IMDb than Cheyenne Autumn.

338

And for 1865, I like The Outlaw Josey Wales better than Lincoln.

339

1847 Jeremiah Johnson (based on John “Liver-eating” Johnson, whose vendetta against the Crow began that year)
1850 The Legend of Zorro

340

I’m voting for I, Robot simply because the whole movie is set the year, while 12 Monkeys (which I actually like better) only has the year as one of its time settings.