Best tv shows like Christopher Columbus
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The epic mini-series tells the story of the legendary Italian-born explorer Diego de Geona Taino, later known as Christopher Columbus, from his birth in c.1450 Genoa, Italy, to his young adult years as an expert sailor and navigator who, with money funded from the monarchy of Spain, sailed to the unknown West to find Asia in 1492, and instead found a 'New World' of the modern day West Indies to South America, and then follows his later years in his 50's as a tired, ailing man whose dreams of exploration and discovery to which he passed onto his son, and other followers, just before his death in 1506.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 695
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy, France, West Germany, USA
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, factual, suspenseful, disturbing, historical drama, nautical
Best tv shows and movies like Christopher Columbus (1985):
Similar in 76%
Die Puppenspieler (2017)
Plot Summary:
Helpless, the young convent student Richard has to watch as his mother Sarazenin Zobeida is condemned by the inquisitor Heinrich Institoris as a witch and burned at the stake. From then on, Richard swears revenge on Institoris for what he did to his family. He can escape and is taken by the merchant Jakob Fugger. He wants to teach him not only to seek blind revenge, but to manipulate people like puppets and thus to reach his goals. The two travel from Florence to Rome to influence the upcoming election of the pope and to witness the power struggle between the Medicis and the Borgias up close.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 133
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 178 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Ermak (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story of Ermak Timofeevich, whose campaign for the Ural mountains served to annex the Siberian lands to the Moscow kingdom, in the second half of the 16th century.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 161
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Russia
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: epic
Similar in 82%
David (1997)
Plot Summary:
The tribes of Israel need to defeat the superior might of the Philistines: "Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." (I Samuel, 8:5). And so the prophet Samuel gives the Hebrews their first king, Saul. Saul, however, has incessant doubts about his mission. The influential prophet Samuel turns away from Saul in order to select a new king according to God's will: David. He is still a young boy, tending sheep in the fields, when, secretly Samuel oints him as the next king of the Israelites.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy, Germany, USA
Duration: 190 min
Plot tags: biblical, christian film, exciting, atmospheric, epic, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 77%
Abraham (1993)
Plot Summary:
This engrossing dramatization of the life of Abraham, the most tested servant of God and the father of Judaism, spans from the patriarch's quest for the Promised Land to the sacrifice of his son, Isaac.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, Italy, USA, Czech Republic, France
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: biblical, christian film, epic, serious, psychological, captivating, disturbing, exciting
Similar in 90%
The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)
Plot Summary:
The Spanish explorer Pizarro captures the Inca god-chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon the delivery of a hoard of gold. But Pizarro finds himself torn between his desire for conquest and his sense of honor after friendship and respect develops between captive and captor.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 788
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, serious, realistic, epic, historical drama, baroque, period drama, cult film
Similar in 87%
Hernán (2019)
Plot Summary:
The Spanish "Conquistador" Hernán Cortés arrives in the shores of what today is México and faces both local demons and those who've sailed with him.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Mexico, Spain
Duration:
Plot tags: heroic, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, stylized, historical drama
Similar in 81%
Sea Wolf (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young man is taken aboard a seal-hunting vessel helmed by the cruel captain Wolf Larsen.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, Germany
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, captivating, tense, exciting, serious
Similar in 81%
Saints & Strangers (2015)
Plot Summary:
Saints & Strangers is a story that goes beyond the familiar historical account of Thanksgiving and the founding of Plymouth Plantation, revealing the trials and tribulations of the settlers at Plymouth: 102 men, women and children who sailed on a chartered ship for a place they had never seen. Of this group, half are those we think of as pilgrims, or saints, religious separatists who abandoned their prior lives for a single cause: religious freedom. The other half, the merchant adventurers–referred to as strangers–had less spiritual and more material, real-world objectives. This clash of values created complex inner-struggles for the group as they sought to establish a new colony, compounded by a complicated relationship with the local Native American tribes. The conflicting allegiances among these groups, culminated in trials of assimilation, faith, and compromise that continue to define our nation to this day.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 192 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, educational, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 75%
Moby Dick (2011)
Plot Summary:
The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 184 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, psychological, serious, captivating, nautical, fairy tale, stylized, period drama
Similar in 82%
Elizabeth R (1971)
Plot Summary:
When Elizabeth Tudor comes to the throne, her (male) advisors know she has to marry. Doesn't she?.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: historical drama, costume drama, serious, realistic, stylized, factual, spiritual, period drama, vintage
Similar in 78%
Charles, Emperor King (2015)
Plot Summary:
The series tells the story of Charles I or Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, one of the most powerful men Europe has met, the ruler of a empire as great in size as in diversity. As the life of Charles of Habsburg is told since his arrival to Spain, it can be seen how the heir to the crowns of Germany, Burgundy, the Netherlands, the Free County, Artois, Nevers and Rethel, of the territories of the Crown of Aragon and its related Italian territories, and of the territories of the Catholic Monarchs in Castile, North Africa and the Americas, matures as a statesman and gets stronger in face of menaces around him and good and bad advice from his counselors.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 715
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, factual, tense, captivating, historical drama, erotic, sensual, telenovela
Similar in 83%
Conquistadores: Adventum (2017)
Plot Summary:
Narrates faithfully the first 30 years of America's discovery and conquer, from Colon's departure from Spain in 1492 until Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first travel around the world in 1522.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: factual, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, historical drama, humorous, fun
Similar in 79%
Marco Polo (1982)
Plot Summary:
The life and experiences of the 13th-century explorer, who sought to connect the civilizations of China and Europe through trade.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Italy, USA, Japan, China
Duration: 504 min
Plot tags: exciting, epic, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 76%
Isabel (2011)
Plot Summary:
Charting the life of Isabella I of Castile, one of the most important women in Spain’s history, Isabel follows her passionate story from childhood to being crowned Queen. From her political struggles within King Henry IV's court to her wedding to Ferdinand of Aragon, the drama encapsulates the passions, emotions and sacrifices of a woman who refused to just be a figurehead and whose outlook was ahead of her time.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 3038 min
Plot tags: serious, historical drama, captivating, realistic, stylized, period piece, erotic, romantic, sensual, family saga
Similar in 76%
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Plot Summary:
1492: Conquest of Paradise depicts Christopher Columbus’ discovery of The New World and his effect on the indigenous people.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, Spain
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, factual, inspirational, period piece, exciting, atmospheric, dramatic, brutal, anamorphic
Similar in 78%
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992)
Plot Summary:
Genoan navigator Christopher Columbus has a dream to find an alternative route to sail to the Indies, by traveling west instead of east, across the unchartered Ocean sea. After failing to find backing from the Portugese, he goes to the Spanish court to ask Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand for help. After surviving a grilling from the Head of the Spanish Inquisition Tomas de Torquemada, he eventually gets the blessing from Queen Isabella and sets sail in three ships to travel into the unknown. Along the way he must deal with sabotage from Portugese spies and mutiny from a rebellious crew.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA, Spain
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, atmospheric, serious, realistic, anamorphic, independent film, costume drama
Similar in 81%
Blackbeard (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the Golden Age of Piracy, at the dawn of the 18th century, Blackbeard stood out among the lawless rogues as the most fearsome and notorious seafarer of them all. He killed for the reputation, and his reputation has become legend. Now, for the first time, comes the true story of pirate Edward Teach, the man who terrorized the seas.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 170 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, tense, suspenseful, nautical, historical drama, baroque, period drama
Similar in 85%
Joan of Arc (1999)
Plot Summary:
Ten years before her death, Joan hears voices. Six years later, from the village of Domremy, she begins her mission to unite France under King Charles. First she leads a defense of Vaucouleurs against the Burgundians, then obtains safe passage to Charles, the Dauphin. He uses her, as the embodiment of the mythical "Maid of Lorraine," to raise an army, and he sends her to the rescue of Orléans. After Charles is crowned, Joan leads a disastrous campaign in Paris, where her brother dies. Then she's the victim of Charles's manipulations: she's captured in Burgundy, sold to the English, examined by Bishop Cauchon, found a heretic by the Inquisition, and burned at the stake.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: epic, retro, costume drama, informative, bleak, serious, captivating, psychological, inspirational, biblical
Similar in 82%
Lionheart (1987)
Plot Summary:
A young knight sets out to join King Richards crusaders. Along the way, he encounters The Black Prince who captures children and sells them as slaves to the Muslims. It is Robert Narra's sworn duty to protect the children and lead them to safety.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 969
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Hungary, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, serious, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Tut (2015)
Plot Summary:
Explores the drama of power, political back-stabbing, war and murder and chronicles King Tut's rise to glory, his efforts to rule a chaotic empire and the enigma surrounding his death.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, historical drama, tense, thought provoking, erotic, sexy, political
Similar in 90%
Borgia (2011)
Plot Summary:
Borgia is a French-German-Czech historical drama television series created by Tom Fontana. The show recounts the Borgia family's rise to power and subsequent domination of the Papal States during the Renaissance. Borgia debuted in Italy via Sky Italia on 10 July 2011, and in North America via Netflix on 2 October 2011. It was since renewed for a second season, which premiered on Canal+ on March 18, 2013. Season 3 is currently in Pre-Production, and will be the end of the series.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: family saga, rough, captivating, realistic, epic, ambiguous ending, political, historical drama, erotic, costume drama
Similar in 83%
Treasure Island (2012)
Plot Summary:
Treasure Island is a two-part British television miniseries adaptation of the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was made by BSkyB and first shown in the United Kingdom on Sky1 on 1–2 January 2012. The screenplay was by Stewart Harcourt and it was produced by Laurie Borg and directed by Steve Barron.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: captivating, atmospheric, suspenseful, epic, costume drama, exciting, serious, realistic, stylized, nautical
Similar in 81%
Shackleton (2002)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition to the the South Pole and his epic struggle to lead his 28 man crew to safety after his ship was crushed in the pack ice.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Australia
Duration: 206 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, suspenseful, exciting, realistic, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 79%
Kon-Tiki (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story about legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft in 1947, in an effort to prove it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: harsh, realistic, exciting, inspirational, epic, suspense, intense, factual, serious, tense
Similar in 86%
Marco Polo (2014)
Plot Summary:
An epic adventure that follows the early years of the famous explorer as he travels the exotic Silk Road to the great Kublai Khan’s court. But Marco soon finds that navigating the Khan’s world of greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry will be his greatest challenge yet, even as he becomes a trusted companion to the Khan in his violent quest to become the Emperor of the World.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 77000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, epic, atmospheric, serious, historical drama, costume drama, tense, erotic, sexy
Similar in 78%
Peter the Great (1986)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of Peter I, Tsar of Russia from 1682, and the constant struggle between him, his sister Sophia and the Streltsy, an important Russian military corp. The story depicts the efforts of Peter in transforming Russia in an "all European" country, importing scientists, costumes, technology and military tactics.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 793
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 371 min
Plot tags: historical drama, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, period piece, costume drama, baroque, vintage, period drama
Similar in 76%
Wolf Hall (2015)
Plot Summary:
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impass steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: historical drama, serious, captivating, period piece, costume drama, stylized, suspense, factual, political, educational
Similar in 80%
Leonardo (2021)
Plot Summary:
A fresh look at the life and legacy of the iconic artist Leonardo da Vinci, positing that he was a gay outsider who used his work as a way of hiding his true self. Each episode will examine one of da Vinci’s artworks for hidden clues about a tortured artist struggling for perfection.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy, USA, UK, France, Spain
Duration: 409 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sexy, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
Da Vinci's Demons (2013)
Plot Summary:
The series follows the "untold" story of Leonardo Da Vinci: the genius during his early years in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Fantasy, History, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, intellectual, captivating, witty, serious, erotic, sexy, costume drama, christian film, thought provoking
Similar in 79%
Longitude (2000)
Plot Summary:
Parallel stories: 18th century Harrison builds the marine chronometer for safe navigation at sea; 20th century Gould is obsessed with restoring it.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, sincere, captivating, suspenseful, historical drama, saga, independent film, period drama