The Film Analysis consists of selecting a film and writing a 900-1200 word (roughly 2-4 pages) critical analysis/assessment of the degree to which the film accurately reflects U.S. history as we have

Note: This brief list is (clearly) not exhaustive. Students may choose a movie not on this list, but must get it approved by the instructor prior to using it for the extra credit assignment.

Most movie summaries used below come from Internet Movie Database.

The Patriot (2000) Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger

Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.

The Alamo (2004) Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton

Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

The Alamo (1960) John Wayne, Richard Widmark

In 1836 General Santa Anna and the Mexican army is sweeping across Texas. To be able to stop him, General Sam Houston needs time to get his main force into shape. To buy that time he orders Colonel William Travis to defend a small mission on the Mexicans' route at all costs. Travis' small troop is swelled by groups accompanying Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, but as the situation becomes ever more desperate Travis makes it clear there will be no shame if they leave while they can.

Black Robe (1991)

In the 17th century a Jesuit priest and a young companion are escorted through the wilderness of Quebec by Algonquin Indians to find a distant mission in the dead of winter. The Jesuit experiences a spiritual journey while his young companion falls in love with the Algonquin chief's beautiful daughter underneath the imposing and magnificent mountains. Dread and death follows them upriver.

Amistad (1997) Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey

About a 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the northeastern coast of America. Much of the story involves a court-room drama about the free man who led the revolt.

Lincoln (2012) Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field

As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

Glory (1989) Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.

1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) Gérard Depardieu, Armand Assante

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) Tom Selleck, Marlon Brando

Genoese navigator overcomes intrigue in the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and gains financing for his expedition to the East Indies.

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) Robert Redford

1. A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on the early frontier.

2. An American soldier goes west to escape the Mexican War and becomes a mountain man. He is taken in by an old trapper who teaches him how to survive. After unavoidably violating an Indian burial ground, he loses his new Indian wife and their adopted child to vengeance, and a vendetta between him and the Crows ruins his idyllic life as a fur trapper. Gorgeous scenery and a great role for Will Geer in a thoughtful meditation on the American West.

3. This tale of isolation in the great Rocky Mountains, perhaps reflects America's mood as the Vietnam war was coming to a close as much as anything else. Johnson, seemingly war weary, yet with a sense of respect for indigenous cultures as if one informs the other. The only thing he seems to want is to share utopia with those who were there before him and perhaps leave his implied past behind. But even in the vacuum of an isolated life, Jeremiah Johnson seems doomed by threads to culture he cannot completely escape. As with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," one can't help but feel that along with Indians and animals with which he shares the land, "A Brave New World will soon rush in and overrun them all.

The Mountain Men (1980) Charlton Heston, Brian Keith

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor, and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure. 

How the West was Won (1962) Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck

A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century--including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.

12 Years a Slave (2013) Brad Pitt, et al.

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

The Revenant (2015) Leonardo DiCaprio

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.

Birth of a Nation (1915)

The first half of the film begins before the Civil War, explaining the introduction of slavery to America before jumping into battle. Two families, the northern Stonemans and the Southern Camerons, are introduced. The story is told through these two families and often their servants, epitomizing the worst racial stereotypes. As the nation is torn apart by war, the slaves and their abolitionist supporters are seen as the destructive force behind it all.
The film's racism grows even worse in its second half, set during Reconstruction and featuring the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, introduced as the picture's would-be heroes. The fact that Griffith jammed a love story in the midst of his recreated race war is absolutely audacious. The movie is disturbing.

The Birth of a Nation (2016) Nate Parker, Armie Hammer

Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the Antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising.

The Molly Maguires (1970) Sean Connery, Richard Harris

Life is rough in the coal mines of 1876 Pennsylvania. A secret group of Irish emigrant miners, known as the Molly Maguires, fights against the cruelty of the mining company with sabotage and murder. A detective, also an Irish emigrant, is hired to infiltrate the group and report on its members. But on which side do his sympathies lie?

Harriet (2019) Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom, Jr.

The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.