Movies: Early Modern Military History 1450AD – 1750AD

1600s

Michiel de Ruyter (Admiral; 2015) (Jaap Boender)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2544766/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

When the young republic of The Netherlands is attacked by England, France, and Germany, and the country is on the brink of civil war, only one man can lead the country’s strongest weapon, the Dutch fleet: Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676)

Cromwell (1970) (Andy Grainger)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065593/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

Oliver Cromwell can no longer tolerate King Charles’ policies, and the self-interest of the ruling class, and leads a civil war to install Parliament as the ultimate ruler of England.

Potop (“The Deluge”) (1974) (Jim Wallman)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072021/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

During the 1655 war between Protestant Sweden and Catholic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth some Polish-Lithuanian nobles side with Swedish king Charles X Gustav while others side with the Polish king Jan Kazimierz.

The Last Valley (1971) (Jim Wallman)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065969/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

During the Thirty Years’ War of 1600s, a band of Protestant mercenaries peacefully coexist with German Catholic villagers in a hidden idyllic mountain valley untouched by war.

1700s

Culloden (1964) (Jon Casey)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057982/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

The 1746 Battle of Culloden, the last land battle fought in the British Isles and the battle that ensured that Scotland was controlled by England.

Barry Lyndon (1975) (Andy Grainger)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072684/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

1750s. Barry joins the British Army to fight in the Seven Years War. He deserts and is forced to join the Prussian Army.

H.M.S. Defiant (1962) (Jon Casey)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055884/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_37

On the H.M.S. Defiant, during the French Revolutionary War, fair Captain Crawford is locked in a battle of wills against his cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny.