Streaming on Kanopy

Best History Movies on Kanopy

Top 20 history movies available to stream on Kanopy right now, ranked by ratings.

1

Saving Private Ryan(1998)

8.6 IMDb94% RT91 Meta

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating

2

Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)

8.3 IMDb93% RT60 Meta

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not

3

Downfall(2004)

8.2 IMDb90% RT82 Meta

In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich

4

Ran(1985)

8.2 IMDb96% RT97 Meta

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

5

Ennio(2022)

8.2 IMDb91% RT75 Meta

A portrait of Ennio Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, the one most loved by the international public, a two-time Oscar winner and the author of over five hund

6

Pather Panchali(1955)

8.2 IMDb98% RT

Impoverished priest Harihar Ray leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. His wife, Sarbojaya, looks after their rebellious daughter, Durga, and young son, Apu. The children enjoy the small p

7

Apollo 11(2019)

8.1 IMDb99% RT88 Meta

A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.

8

The Battle of Algiers(1966)

8.1 IMDb99% RT96 Meta

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali

9

Hotel Rwanda(2004)

8.1 IMDb91% RT79 Meta

Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Ru

10

Ip Man(2008)

8 IMDb86% RT59 Meta

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun. The film focuses on events surrounding Ip that took place in the city of Foshan bet

11

The Virgin Spring(1960)

8 IMDb88% RT

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the wood

12

The King's Speech(2010)

8 IMDb94% RT88 Meta

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dr

13

A Taxi Driver(2017)

7.9 IMDb97% RT69 Meta

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwa

14

The Untouchables(1987)

7.8 IMDb83% RT79 Meta

Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. In order to achieve this goal, he forms a group given the nickname “The Untouchables”.

15

Loving Vincent(2017)

7.8 IMDb84% RT62 Meta

A young man arrives at the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.

16

There's Still Tomorrow(2023)

7.7 IMDb89% RT59 Meta

In postwar Rome, a working-class woman dreams of a better future for herself and her daughter while facing abuse at the hands of her domineering husband. When a mysterious letter arrives, she discover

17

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas(2008)

7.7 IMDb65% RT55 Meta

When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing stripe

18

My Way(2011)

7.6 IMDb19% RT30 Meta

During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incr

19

One Life(2023)

7.5 IMDb91% RT69 Meta

British stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and forms plans to assist in the rescue of Jewish children before the onset of World War II, in an operation that came to be know

20

Simone: Woman of the Century(2022)

6.8 IMDb

Simone Veil's life story through the pivotal events of Twentieth Century. Her childhood, her political battles, her tragedies. An intimate and epic portrait of an extraordinary woman who eminently cha

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