66 Essential British Films To Take Your Mind Off The World Cup

28. Hope And Glory (1987)

John Boorman's autobiographical film is an engaging and beautifully reconstructed account of a young boy's perspective on the early days of the Second World War. Through young Bill's eyes the war is experienced as a "boy's own adventure", though the horrors of the conflict eventually encroach upon his fantasy world of model planes and shrapnel collecting. The film focusses upon the excitement a child (who doesn't understand the greater consequences) would have felt, it also contains one of the greatest "wish fulfilment" scenes ever committed to film, which once seen, will make you wish it was a feature of your own childhood.

27. The Boys From Brazil (1978)

From a film about the war to one which speculates on where its arch antagonists may have ended up. The Boys From Brazil is an accomplished adaptation of Ira Levin's novel, with two powerhouse performances by Gregory Peck: as notorious Nazi Eugenist Josef Mengele, and Lawrence Olivier: as fictional Nazi-hunter Ezra Lieberman (based on real-life Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal). If it was a B-Movie it would have been called "They Cloned Hitler!" but it is by no means a B-grade picture, it isn't as steadfastly serious as Munich but not as "Saturday Morning Serial" as Raiders of the Lost Ark... Somewhere in the middle.

26. Excalibur (1981)

Excalibur was the eventual outcome of John Boorman's efforts to make a live-action Lord of the Rings 20 years before Peter Jackson actually achieved it. A hugely abridged adaptation of Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur, you can see the strong influence of LOTR in Boorman's seamless blending of fantasy and historical legend. Packed with a roll-call of British talent, Excalibur is a visual epic feast and to date the finest version of the Arthurian legend committed to screen... Or rather the best "serious" version of the Arthurian legend committed to screen.