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.
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?
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 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!
Notes: Updated, per most recent posts – going back over a year now.
I agree with Rilchiam, who states:
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.
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.
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.)
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.
I note there is a gap for 1852 - how about the movie “The Piano”? It is set in that year.
Love this thread! Thanks for the update, 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.
1835 - Seminole (1953)
1846: Key events in the following movies take place in this year:
The Donner Party became stranded in the snow in 1846, but the survivors were rescued the following year.
One Man’s Hero, about the Mexican War, begins in this year, but the climax takes place in 1848.
Brigham Young is already listed for 1844, when it begins, but depicts the Mormon migration west that began in 1846.
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.
Glad to help - this is an awesome thread idea. Very much appreciate the effort you have put into it.
Fairly sure it says in the film that Oblivion is set in 2077.
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. 
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
Thread must not die until 19th century has no gaps! :mad:
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.
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.
Lydia Bailey (1952) was set in 1801.