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Movies about the Middle Ages


Roxy Roller
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I am looking for movies about the middle ages for my DC, ranging in age from 6-12. They need to be clean, and I have one really sensitive kid, so it has to be pretty mild. We have watched Ever After, and it does show amazing costumes, and a little about what life may have been like. This is the kind of thing I am looking for. Are there any out there?

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My boys love Robin Hood, too. Errol Flynn, the Disney fox one, Wishbone, it doesn't really seem to matter. We even have the silent film, but it's a lot sillier. (Seriously, the "merry men" spend all their time jumping and hopping to show how "merry" they are. We haven't even tried showing that one to the kids.)

 

Have you considered Prince Valiant? I've never seen it, but the reviews for it look pretty good, and point out that the whole process of becoming a knight is better portrayed here than in more recent films. (I do vaguely remember the cartoon version that aired on Family Channel when I was a kid. I didn't much care for the little bits of it that I caught, but it seemed to fit your criteria.)

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My middle ds (2nd grade) loves the old "Sir Lancelot" TV series.

 

I also compiled a list of movies about the Middle Ales this year for my 6th grader. If I still have it (I added the movies to the school schedule when it fit in with that week's history), I'll post it. Also, someone has a movie list that corresponds to SOTW Vol. 2 (Middle Ages). Too late at night, but I'll post that tomorrow, too if no one else has first!

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I haven't seen it yet, but this one about the Book of Kells looks interesting

 

The secret of Kells

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485601/

 

This is very good. Artistic. Has some seriously scary parts though. I was surprised at how scary it was, appropriately so for what was happening but startling because it's a cartoon.

 

My dds loved the kid-friendly 'clean' segments (that I let them watch) of Monty Python's The Search For The Holy Grail. Dd's favorite line: I'm not dead yet!

 

Did I just admit this? :)

 

:iagree: This is the best!

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ETA: Terry Jones' Medieval Lives is quite entertaining.

 

You may want to watch out for the one on the lady---my daughter stopped that episode because all the references to sex made her uncomfortable. The others we watched in the series were fine (though we didn't watch them all).

 

I can give you a list of what we're watching (though I only have an 11 yo who is not sensitive to scary/violence within reason---no Friday the 13th ;)). I would suggest you go out to Common Sense Media or check the parental advisories on IMDB or Netflix in regard to whether things will work for your 6yo and/or the sensitive kid.

 

Branagh's Henry V (very graphic, meant to be anti-war) and Olivier's Henry V (second much less graphic, very much war propaganda "God is on the British side" rah-rah given the time, though that's also very true to the original)

Brother Cadfael series with Derek Jacobi (some of the episodes may have problematic themes, but not sure)

David Macaulay's Castle and his Cathedral

Horrible Histories

The Secret of Kells (has some really violent and scary parts, honestly, when the Vikings attack the abbey, though it is all animation)

 

I looked at the possibility of Becket and The Lion in Winter, but the descriptions of both had more sexually related themes than I was comfortable with for our family quite yet. Remember that they were before there was PG-13.

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You may want to watch out for the one on the lady---my daughter stopped that episode because all the references to sex made her uncomfortable. The others we watched in the series were fine (though we didn't watch them all).

 

 

Yeah, we don't censor too much here... and we did watch that Medieval Lives episode about the "Damsel"... and I don't regret it... BUT... both of us were blushing and possibly giggling and I am positive that there are a fair number of parents who would find it entirely inappropriate. So... um... better preview that one.

 

My kids enjoyed the BBC games for kids on Celts and Vikings and such... Yours might too.

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My kids also loved the Book of Kells- beautiful artwork!! but some scary themes. We're still talking about it months later. The "magic" in it takes some explaining too, just be prepared.

Also, Lion in Winter- oy vey. Glenn Close sure knows how to potray PD with excellence. I'd be careful about young kids watching this.

The Agony and Ecstasy is excellent, an older movie, moves a bit slow. MY ds 17 LOVED that movie as a child and watched it numerous times.

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If you do The Lion in Winter (which I totally dig, but which is I kinda heavy and might not be for kids), consider the amazing 1968 version with Katherine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton!

 

This sounds goofy, but as a kid I actually learned a lot about the Crusades from Disney's Robin Hood, which is still one of my all-time fave animated features. So funny and rollicking. I say "Odelally!" all the time, and heck, the Hamster Dance music is a remix of a section of the Robin Hood soundtrack.

 

My favorite movie version of Arthurian legend is Boorman's Excalibur from 1981.

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My favorite movie version of Arthurian legend is Boorman's Excalibur from 1981.

 

Do be aware that Excalibur is rated R, so I wouldn't necessarily show it to the kids. Actually, this was the first R-rated movie I ever saw (it was shown on campus when I was in college). There are definitely pretty graphic scenes as I recall, including a memorable one of Uther and Ygraine during Arthur's conception (I remember thinking, "Couldn't he at least have taken off *all* his armor first? Ouch!") and another of Arthur discovering Guinevere and Lancelot together nude after their assignation. It's been years since I watched it, but, if you do, pay close attention to the scene toward the end where Arthur visits Guinevere in the nunnery. If you look closely, you can see the camera reflected in his breastplate.:)

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My 12 yo recently watched

Crusade: A March Through Time

 

at his Grandparents house and came home requesting to watch it again...Both he and his sister loved it. Its a story about a boy going back in time to participate in the "Children's Crusade"...

 

Time-travel aside its takes a pretty accurate look at the middle-ages without alot of scary stuff. (Rated PG)

 

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crusade-March-Through-Emily-Watson/dp/B001AUKUV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321257215&sr=8-1

 

FWIW, it does have a heavy Christian bias...but that was/is appropriate for the era. (We are not Christian but I do teach the Bible as Literature so this didn't bother me in the least)

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My 12 yo recently watched

Crusade: A March Through Time

 

at his Grandparents house and came home requesting to watch it again...Both he and his sister loved it. Its a story about a boy going back in time to participate in the "Children's Crusade"...

 

Time-travel aside its takes a pretty accurate look at the middle-ages without alot of scary stuff. (Rated PG)

 

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crusade-March-Through-Emily-Watson/dp/B001AUKUV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321257215&sr=8-1

 

FWIW, it does have a heavy Christian bias...but that was/is appropriate for the era. (We are not Christian but I do teach the Bible as Literature so this didn't bother me in the least)

 

My dd and I recently watched this and we both really enjoyed it. We caught it on tv one night when we were flipping channels. I'm planning on watching it again when we actually get to the Crusades in history so my twins can see it too.

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