Colonial Adventures
by PDZombie | created - 9 months ago | updated - 9 months ago | PublicMost interesting films about colonialism as a subgenre of adventure films
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1. The Black Watch (1929)
Passed | 93 min | Adventure, Drama
Captain Donald King of the British Army goes to India just as World War I breaks out, convincing his comrades that he is a coward. In reality, he is on a secret mission to rescue British soldiers held prisoner there.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, David Torrence, David Rollins
Votes: 479
2. The Lost Patrol (1934)
Passed | 73 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during World War I, are menaced by unseen Arab enemies.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford, Reginald Denny
Votes: 3,603
3. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
Passed | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, War
Three British soldiers on the Northwest Frontier of India struggle against the enemy - and themselves.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Guy Standing
Votes: 3,237
4. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A major countermands orders and attacks to avenge a previous massacre of men, women, and children.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson
Votes: 5,481
5. Under Two Flags (1936)
Passed | 112 min | Adventure
Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle is in love with her. Doyle sends ... See full summary »
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor McLaglen, Rosalind Russell
Votes: 506
6. Elephant Boy (1937)
Approved | 80 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
This black and white movie is based on Rudyard Kipling's "Toomai, of the Elephants", in which a small native lad claims he knows the congregating place of the elephant hordes.
Directors: Robert J. Flaherty, Zoltan Korda | Stars: Sabu, W.E. Holloway, Walter Hudd, Allan Jeayes
Votes: 852
7. The Drum (1938)
Not Rated | 104 min | Adventure, War
During the British Raj, Captain Carruthers works under cover to track smuggled shipments of arms on the restless Northwest Frontier of India. He fears a full-scale rebellion is brewing. To ... See full summary »
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 938
8. Gunga Din (1939)
Approved | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
In 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Votes: 12,798
9. The Real Glory (1939)
Approved | 96 min | Action, History, Romance
A small American contingent tries to train rural tribesmen to defend themselves against fanatical Muslim radicals in 1906 Philippines.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Gary Cooper, David Niven, Andrea Leeds, Reginald Owen
Votes: 1,218
10. Beau Geste (1939)
Passed | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three adopted English brothers join the French Foreign Legion in North Africa after one of them steals their adoptive family's famous heirloom sapphire.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 6,523
11. Los últimos de Filipinas (1945)
99 min | Drama, History, Romance
During the time of the Spanish-American War, the commandant of a Spanish detachment in Baler, in the Philippines, realizes that the native people of his district are planning an ... See full summary »
Director: Antonio Román | Stars: Armando Calvo, José Nieto, Guillermo Marín, Fernando Rey
Votes: 200
12. Unconquered (1947)
Passed | 146 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Intrepid frontiersman Chris Holden foils the political and personal ambitions of renegade Martin Garth in the Ohio Valley following the French and Indian War.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff
Votes: 2,888
13. Captain from Castile (1947)
Passed | 140 min | Adventure, Drama
The invasion of Mexico by Cortez, as seen by a young Spanish officer fleeing the Inquisition.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 2,226
14. Kim (1950)
Approved | 113 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
During the British Raj, the orphan of a British soldier poses as a Hindu and is torn between his loyalty to a Buddhist mystic and aiding the English secret service.
Director: Victor Saville | Stars: Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas, Robert Douglas
Votes: 2,258
15. Soldiers Three (1951)
Approved | 92 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
Retired British general Brunswick reminisces about the days when he was a colonel in charge of a British Army battalion fighting against native rebels in colonial India during the late 1800s.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Stewart Granger, Walter Pidgeon, David Niven, Robert Newton
Votes: 506
16. King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)
Approved | 100 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A half-caste British officer in 19th-century India battles the prejudices of both his Army colleagues and the local populace while trying to help put down a rebellion led by a greedy local ruler.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, John Justin
Votes: 903
17. Bengal Brigade (1954)
Approved | 87 min | Adventure, History, War
Set during British India 1857, Captain Clayboune (Rock Hudson) is faced with restoring his reputation after being harshly disciplined for disobeying orders.
Director: Laslo Benedek | Stars: Rock Hudson, Arlene Dahl, Ursula Thiess, Torin Thatcher
Votes: 542
18. Simba (1955)
Not Rated | 99 min | Adventure, Drama
A European family in East Africa finds itself caught up in an uprising by local black Africans against their white colonial masters. Based on the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Virginia McKenna, Basil Sydney, Donald Sinden
Votes: 469
19. The Far Horizons (1955)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, History, Romance
After purchasing Louisiana from France, the USA sends surveyors Lewis and Clark, assisted by a Shoshone guide, to chart the new territory.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Charlton Heston, Donna Reed, Barbara Hale
Votes: 1,298
20. North West Frontier (1959)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Drama
Set on the North West Frontier of colonial India in 1905. A British Army Officer, Captain Scott is sent to rescue a five year old Indian Prince and his American governess, Catherine Wyatt from certain death at the hands of rebel tribesman.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 3,050
21. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,410 | Gross: $44.82M
22. 55 Days at Peking (1963)
Unrated | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Guy Green, Andrew Marton | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson
Votes: 7,420
23. Guns at Batasi (1964)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, History, War
Anachronistic strict Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Sir Richard Attenborough), on a remote colonial African army caught in a local coup d'etat, must use his experience to defend those in his care.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Flora Robson, John Leyton
Votes: 1,958
24. Zulu (1964)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, History, War
Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth
Votes: 42,754
25. Lord Jim (1965)
Not Rated | 154 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Peter O'Toole, James Mason, Curd Jürgens, Eli Wallach
Votes: 4,262
26. The Brigand of Kandahar (1965)
Not Rated | 81 min | Adventure, History
The British army fights off rampaging locals in 1850s India.
Director: John Gilling | Stars: Ronald Lewis, Oliver Reed, Duncan Lamont, Yvonne Romain
Votes: 647
27. Khartoum (1966)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the Sudan, in 1884 to 1885, Egyptian forces led by British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) defend Khartoum against an invading Muslim Army led by a religious fanatic, Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi (Sir Laurence Olivier).
Directors: Basil Dearden, Eliot Elisofon | Stars: Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson, Ralph Richardson
Votes: 8,271 | Gross: $6.54M
28. The Long Duel (1967)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
To protest against British oppression and tyranny a tribal leader becomes a bandit.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Andrew Keir
Votes: 705
29. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, History, War
In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, Harry Andrews
Votes: 3,880
30. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
PG | 129 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In 1880s India, two former British soldiers decide to set themselves up as Kings in Kafiristan, a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander the Great.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Saeed Jaffrey
Votes: 52,038
31. The Wind and the Lion (1975)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A Berber chieftain triggers an international incident, drawing the involvement of Theodore Roosevelt, when he kidnaps an American widow and her children in 1900s Morocco.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, John Huston
Votes: 10,154 | Gross: $0.75M
32. March or Die (1977)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
During the 1920s, French Foreign Legion Major William Foster's (Gene Hackman's) unit is protecting an archaeological dig, but the discovery of an Arab sacred burial site prompts the angry Arab tribes to attack Foster's small garrison.
Director: Dick Richards | Stars: Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow
Votes: 3,979 | Gross: $1.00M
33. Zulu Dawn (1979)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A dramatization of the Battle of Isandlwana, where the British Army met its match against the Zulu nation.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Peter O'Toole, Simon Ward, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 7,597
34. Fort Saganne (1984)
180 min | Drama, History, War
Young army officer of peasant origin becomes a war hero battling in the Sahara while seducing a young woman from the aristocratic class.
Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Philippe Noiret, Catherine Deneuve, Sophie Marceau
Votes: 1,107
35. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,699 | Gross: $17.22M
36. El Dorado (1988)
149 min | Drama, History
The film tells the epic story of an expedition that took place between 1560 and 1561, headed by Pedro de Ursúa, in search of "El Dorado." The territory they explored subsequently became ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Omero Antonutti, Eusebio Poncela, Lambert Wilson, Gabriela Roel
Votes: 660
37. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig
Votes: 187,680 | Gross: $75.51M
38. The Revenant (I) (2015)
R | 156 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson
Votes: 874,463 | Gross: $183.64M
39. The Lost City of Z (2016)
PG-13 | 141 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A true-life drama, centering on British explorer Major Percival Fawcett, who disappeared whilst searching for a mysterious city in the Amazon in the 1920s.
Director: James Gray | Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland
Votes: 99,472 | Gross: $8.58M
40. Gold (2017)
R | 103 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Love, ambition, treason and death clash in a neverending search for a city built with gold.
Director: Agustín Díaz Yanes | Stars: Raúl Arévalo, Bárbara Lennie, Óscar Jaenada, Jose Coronado
Votes: 1,878 | Gross: $0.00M
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