Hacker Cinema
Henry V
The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France
1944 · Film · 137 min
Directed by Laurence Olivier
In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.
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4 comments on Hacker News
A lot of these historical inaccuracies can be traced back to the Victorians. Horns on viking helmets, highlanders wearing tartan etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they invented this one too.
Also wasn't it shown in a black and white film of one Shakespeare's plays (Henry V?).
So is the core of this issue that if I "buy" a movie on iTunes (say Kenneth Braunah's Henry V), and they lose the right to distribute it (as they did within the last year), I can no longer watch the movie?
Master and Commander is really good for more recent history of the Napoleonic Wars era as far as clothing, language and customs.
Outlaw King (netflix movie about Robert Bruce) is bad, but a leap better than other medieval outings - they at least try, the armor is sloppy, ill-fitting, and anachronistic but the weapons, clothing and heraldry are really good.
Others more expert than me have mentioned Henry V (1944) with Laurence Olivier as being the best movie attempt at 15th century armor.
A company that makes clothes and merchandise for 'viking' enthusiasts kick started a short film that is absolutely excellent in terms of language, clothes, and attitude of the very late Viking period, although they too fall prey to the Vikings-as-bad-ass-biker trope on occcasion. (Not to mention the romantic sanitization of all the unsavory activities any early medieval raiders or pirates would get up to).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yqbowUiH-s
In general though, true historical accuracy is very hard to find outside niche youtube videos, even if you aren't terribly nitpicky about what is 'accurate'.
Since the invention of videotape it has been possible to watch plays with great casts. But I think that live drama is the form least affected by this, for two reasons: it is about live actors in front of an audience; the context changes with the times. Think of Henry V performed in WW II England (yes, yes, I am thinking of Olivier's movie) or of Lysistrata put on by the literal minded during the second Gulf War.