Thousands of films portray significant historical events from Ancient Greece to 9/11. It is almost impossible to choose the best of the genre, so here are a few highlights that we think are historic:

Saving Private Ryan
Event: D-Day

Saving Private Ryan follows a group of rangers and their captain, John Miller (Tom Hanks), as they search for paratrooper Private James F. Ryan. The most memorable scene is when the American soldiers invade Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. Viewers face gruesome and bloody images as the American soldiers are relentlessly shot at by the German army. Numerous American soldiers are shown losing their limbs. One man is so badly injured that his intestines are spilling out of him. Steven Spielberg, the director of the film, depicted the gory and frightening details of the invasion so well that the viewer can't help but feel jumpy (and maybe a little queasy) just watching the scene.

The rest of the movie focuses on the hunt for Private Ryan, who's three brothers were killed in combat. Now the only child left in his family, the head general of the United States army orders that he be sent home. One of the struggles that Captain Miller's men face is risking their lives for one man that is possibly already dead. The seemingly pointless mission drives a couple of the men to argue and results in one of the men drawing his gun on the other, illustrating the psychological toll soldiers take.

Saving Private Ryan takes place in the matter of a few days, but manages to illustrate the emotional and physical hardships of the men who took part in the D-Day invasion and the war in general.

The Pianist
Event: The Holocaust

The Pianist is based on the autobiographical book by pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman who survived the Holocaust and dodged the deportation of the Jews from the ghettoes to the death camps. The film tracks Szpilman's struggle to survive as he hides out in the abandoned ghettoes and in various apartments in the German parts of Warsaw.

What is notable about the film is the depiction of the brutality of the Nazis and the suffering of the Jews. Some scenes in the movie are bound to haunt the viewer even days after watching it. One scene where a woman drops her tin of soup on the ground is particularly unsettling. After she drops it, a man starts eating the soup right off the street. The woman repeatedly hits the man with her bag, but is too weak to make much of an impact. Other atrocious and disturbing scenes include a German SS soldier shooting a Jewish woman in the head for asking the simple question "where are you taking us?" and SS soldiers randomly picking Jewish men to lay down in a row on the ground so they can be shot in the head one by one as the soldier walks by.

The Pianist is filled with alarming and upsetting scenes, but it is for that reason that the movie excels. On the other hand, the story is also inspiring. Szpilman's will to live is remarkable. Even when faced with the cruelest and distressing circumstances, he never gives up. It leaves movie-watchers with a sense that one can overcome anything.

Titanic
Event: The Sinking of the Titanic

Romance, action, drama-this 1997 blockbuster has it all. Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is not only the most successful box office film in history, but it is also an excellent depiction of history. Although the very beginning is slow, it is informative and takes the viewer (via underwater video camera) into the actual remains of the ship at the bottom of the ocean.

For many people, it is hard to imagine how an iceberg could take down such a seemingly grand and majestic ship, but Titanic effectively and accurately displays how the collision with the iceberg occurred. The iceberg scrapes the right side of the ship and the lower compartments begin to fill with water. Even the sinking of the ship is correctly portrayed with the ship splitting into two, the stern sinking a few minutes after the bow.

For the romantics, Titanic also fosters a love story. Passengers Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet) meet onboard and quickly fall for each other, going to great lengths to keep each other alive. The action in the film stems from Rose's fiancée's knowledge of her and Jack's affair which causes him to shoot at both Jack and Rose during the time that the ship is sinking. And, of course, action comes with the disaster of the ship's collision.

Titanic touches on several emotions. A scene such as the mother tucking her children into bed as the ship sinks so that they die in their sleep causes heartache while Jack and Rose's strong love and intense passion creates warmth. The sight of dead babies in the ocean is disturbing, while the scene where Jack and Rose are dancing at a party is playful and lighthearted. Titanic is able to tell a historical story while adding other stories and characters that are believable, passionate and likeable.

Story by Sara Martone

Starpulse contributing writer