Historical movies help us see the past from a different perspective. Here you’ll find the best history movies for high school students and relive the details of the stories you read about in school.
Historical movies might give you a better understanding of how people think and look like during that time period the film is talking about.
Last of the Mohicans
One of the best history movies for high school students
The movie is set during the French and Indian war, created by James Fenimore Cooper, John L. Balderston, and Paul Perez, directed by Michael Mann, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig, and Jodhi May.
Film Plot
The film is about a native American man who is the last member of the Mohicans – Uncas. He lives peacefully with the people in the British colonies and his half-white brother Hawkeye.
He and his brother rescue a British colonel’s daughters when they are kidnapped, and become involved in the French and Indian war.
Movie Time: 1 hour and 52 minutes.
Movie Type: Action, Adventure and Drama.
Gone With the Wind
A classic movie that you must see once – at least – in life and one of the historical movies for high school students. It is a love story set during the time of the American civil war.
The movie is created by Margaret Mitchell, Sidney Howard and Oliver H.P. Garrett, directed by Victor Fleming, Sam Wood and George Cukor and starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O’Neil, and Evelyn Keyes.
Movie Plot
Scarlett is a wonderful woman who is dealing with many troubles in her life, she suffers from the civil war and her man Ashley who is getting married to another woman.
Movie Time: 3 hour and 58 minutes.
Movie Type: War, Romance and Drama.
Apollo 13 (best history movies for high school students)
Another one of the best history movies for high school students about a NASA mission, the movie created by Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger and William Broyles Jr., directed by Ron Howard, and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan, and Mary Kate Schellhardt.
Movies Plot
The movie is about a real-life mission for NASA called “Apollo 13” that happened in 1970. The spaceship was going to the moon and there were Astronauts on it. The group reaches the moon indeed, but everything goes wrong after that and the astronauts lose their hope of ever coming back to earth.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 20 minutes.
Movie Type: History, Adventure and Drama.
Saving Private Ryan
Another Tom Hanks movie and one of the best history movies for high school students created by Robert Rodat, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Adam Goldberg, and Vin Diesel.
Movie Plot
It’s 1944 during World War II, when the allies attack the ship “Normandy”. Mrs. Ryan is a mother of 4 soldiers. She lost three of her children during the war, and the fourth one “James Ryan” went missing in action. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall decides to send a team to save him.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 49 minutes.
Movie Type: War and Drama.
Lincoln (best history movies for high school students)
One of the best educational movies for high school students about the united states president Abraham Lincoln, created by Tony Kushner and Doris Kearns Goodwin, directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, and Tommy Lee Jones.
Move Plot
The movie is about the civil war that happened in 1865 in America, at this time the United States president Abraham Lincoln decided to end slavery by a constitutional amendment. Lincoln at this time was in a race with time to pass this constitutional amendment and get enough voices from Congress, as well as put a stop to the war at the same time.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 30 minutes.
Movie Type: Biography, History and Drama.
To Kill a Mockingbird
The movie is about the Depression era in 1932. The film is created by Harper Lee and Horton Foote, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, and Brock Peters.
Movie Plot
Atticus Finch is a lawyer in Alabama, he is a widower and he has two kids, Jem and Scout, he is working on an important case of Tom Robinson which is a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 9 minutes.
Movie Type: Crime and Drama.
Empire of the Sun
One of the best world history movies for high school. It’s about the occupation of China in World War II by the Japanese, and it’s created by Tom Stoppard, J.G. Ballard and Menno Meyjes, directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, and Joe Pantoliano,
Movie Plot
James Graham is a young boy who suffered from the invasion of the Japanese to Shanghai, China in 8 December 1941. He is separated from his parents and ends up in Soo Chow confinement camp, he lacks good nutrition and becomes sick.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 33 minutes.
Movie Type: War and Drama.
Born on the Fourth of July
The film is about the Vietnam war, and it is considered to be one of the best history movies for high school students. It’s created by Ron Kovic and Oliver Stone, directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Larkin, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, and Sean Stone.
Movie Plot
The movie depends on the true story of Ron Kovic who was a solider in the Vietnam War and he got injured there. He became a peace activist when he came back to United States.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 25 minutes.
Movie Type: Biography,War and Drama
Nixon (best history movies for high school students)
Richard Nixon is one of the most famous presidents in the U.S.A history and the movie is a Biography for him, the movie is created by Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, and Oliver Stone, directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Bob Hoskins and E.G. Marshall.
Movie Plot
The movie explores the life of Richard Nixon, the United States president, starting from his life as a law college student, and how he fell in love with his wife Pat, and how he was defeated in the 1960 election by John F. Kennedy, then he lost another election in California gubernatorial race in 1962.
Movie Time: 3 hour and 12 minutes.
Movie Type: Biography,History and Drama
Hidden Figures
Another one of the best history movies for high school students. It’s about an African – American team of women working for NASA, the movie is created by Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi and Margot Lee Shetterly, directed by Theodore Melfi, and starring Taraji P. Henson, Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, and Jim Parsons.
Movie Plot
The movie shows us the cold war era between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. There was a race between both countries to reach space.
NASA hired a group of very talented African – American women mathematicians and shortly they become the brains behind the greatest operation in America’s history. NASA called them “human computers” and their life story inspired everyone.
Movie Time: 2 hour and 7 minutes.
Movie Type: Biography,History and Drama
