Best British Historic Film

Historic UK’s latest poll involved asking you – our dear readers – for your choice of the best British historical film of all time.

After great debate amongst the team here at Historic UK, we selected a shortlist of 11 exceptional films based on historical events for you to choose from:

‘Zulu’ (1964) Oscar winner, Best Picture

‘Braveheart’ (1995) Oscar winner, Best Picture

‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962) Oscar winner, Best Picture

‘Henry V’ (1989 version) Oscar winner, Costume Design

‘The Longest Day’ (1962) Oscar nominee, Best Picture

‘Master and Commander’ (2003) Oscar nominee, Best Picture

‘Elizabeth’ (1998) Oscar nominee, Best Picture

‘Young Victoria’ (2009) Oscar winner, Costume Design

‘The King’s Speech’ (2010) Oscar winner, Best Picture

‘Becket’ (1964) Oscar nominee, Best Picture

‘The Lion in Winter’ (1968) Oscar nominee, Best Picture

The Results

After several months of voting and with an impressive 23.97% of the ballot, you have selected the 1964 film ‘Zulu’ as your winner! A great film with superb cinematography and lots of humour, the film depicts the Battle of Rorke’s Drift between the vastly outnumbered British and the Zulus in January 1879, following the British defeat at Isandhlwana.

Second in the voting was the Oscar-winning ‘King’s Speech‘ with 14.98% of the vote. Third and fourth were also Oscar winners for Best Picture; Mel Gibson’s ‘Braveheart‘ was third, with the 1962 film ‘Lawrence of Arabia‘, fourth in the poll.