The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024

presents
The Fifteenth Annual Historical Appreciation Challenge

| Challenge starts at dusk June 1 and ends at sunrise July 8 |
This is the 15th annual historical appreciation discussion thread.
| LIST THREAD |
| 2023 discussion thread |
| 2023 list thread |
| 2022 discussion thread |
| 2022 list thread |
| 2021 discussion thread |
| 2021 list thread |
| 2020 discussion thread |
| 2020 list thread |
(lotsa stuff in between)2010 Discussion | 2010 Lists
2011 Discussion | 2011 Lists
2012 Discussion | 2012 Lists
2013 Discussion | 2013 Lists
The challenge runs from June 1 through Independence Day weekend.
Years ago, this challenge had its roots in the war and Westerns genres, so we continue to celebrate those today.
In a nutshell, here are the basics:
- Movies and TV content specifically about a historical figure, event or period are eligible.
- Tangential content (i.e., fantasy, time travel, movies merely set in a generic "past" where the time period is not emphasized as important) is to be excluded, except...
- Toward the end of the challenge, from dusk on 30 June until dawn on 1 July, you may watch Time Travel films to count double with your Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge list. However, the setting(s) must have already taken place, so you can't watch a movie set in the future that travels to a different point in the future.
Is TV Content Allowed?
Certainly! Just make sure that it's as consistent with the spirit of the challenge as the movies you might watch. We used to allow anything on The History Channel carte blanche but with the proliferation of reality TV shows there, try to remember that no matter how dangerous driving a semi across ice is, it isn't "historical"...yet!
Counting
Many of the films at the heart of this challenge have considerable run times, so even though there's always a sort of de facto goal of hitting 100 movies watched, it's not really expected here. We'd much rather you take this opportunity to finally see Lawrence of Arabia than to squeeze in two shorter films.
Since there are no prizes for this challenge, feel free to count using whichever method best suits you. The standard is that 2 TV broadcast hours or short films is equivalent to 1 movie. Some members prefer to count each episode or short as a single entry. Others tally their cumulative viewing time. Whatever floats your boat. It's your list!
Why Aren't Documentaries on the Checklist?
It's up to each participant to decide what mix of dramatizations and documentaries best suits him or her. If you want to watch documentaries exclusively, you're welcome to do that. If you don't want to watch any, that's fine, too. Some checkmarks will be easier to attain with docs, though!
Hey, What About...?
Travis was the original host, and his BA was earned in history, but even he hasn't seen every movie ever made and he doesn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every historical figure, event and period. Regarding specific films, the suggestion--and this goes for any questions--is that you ask about a specific film in the discussion thread and see what feedback you get from others who have seen it. If you don't get anything helpful, the general rule of thumb is that if you feel that you have a sufficient reason to believe that it's an appropriate selection then go ahead and watch it. If it turns out not to really fit the nature of this challenge, still count it as a viewing but please share your thoughts with us.
Post your list in the list thread. Be as creative or as basic with your list as you want.
Here 's one of Trravis' original checklists if you're so inclined:
Spoiler:
Last edited by davidh777; 06-04-24 at 01:04 PM.
The following users liked this post:
shadokitty (05-31-24)
#2
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
Reserved
#3
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
I finally updated the image and links lol
#4
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
I just finished Ripley and network seasons are over, so I started the new Bridgerton. I liked the first season better than the second so we’ll see how this one is.
#5
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
I counted Netflix's Hit Man because the main character is a historical figure.
I watched Testament of Youth (2015), the memoir of WWI. Alicia Vikander is the headliner, but it also has Kit Harrington (GOT) and even Hayley Atwell in a small role.
I watched Testament of Youth (2015), the memoir of WWI. Alicia Vikander is the headliner, but it also has Kit Harrington (GOT) and even Hayley Atwell in a small role.
#6
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
It was too late to count it, as I only caught the last 20-25 minutes, but I saw yesterday TCM aired Jimmy Stewart’s The Spirit Of St. Louis. It did remind me however that when I have time, I have digital copies of both The Blue Max, and Red Tails. The second movie of which I once got for free from Amazon during a Black History Month giveaway along with Men Of Honor.
#7
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
You might find this video from historian Dan Snow interesting:
The following users liked this post:
shadokitty (06-18-24)
#8
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
My favorite watch so far was BlackBerry on Hulu. I never knew the history, and I never had one, but one of my former jobs several years ago was sending promo emails, and all the company executives had BlackBerrys and all the peons had iPhones and Androids, so we had to figure how to make the mails look good on all of them. Even then the BB seemed like ancient tech.
The following users liked this post:
shadokitty (06-25-24)
#9
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
^ I watched that movie last year, though not for the challenge. I really enjoyed it too. Particularly telling was how corporate the one partner became especially when Apple was becoming bigger.
The following users liked this post:
davidh777 (06-25-24)
#10
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
I Am Woman popped up as “new” on Netflix. I thought it was a Helen Reddy documentary but it was actually a 2019 biopic. I liked it because I’m a sucker for music biopics, and the lead Tilda Cobham-Hervey was really good (though dubbed throughout).
#11
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Godfather
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,499
Received 1,681 Likes
on
1,354 Posts
From: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Re: The 15th Annual Historical Appreciation *Discussion Thread* June 1-July 7, 2024
Last day of the challenge but I just requested the list thread to be unstickied because I forgot we were running through the holiday weekend lol. Sorry for the inconvenience!




