Named by the British Film Institute as the third greatest British film of all time, Lawrence of Arabia is a tale of the First World War. T.E. Lawrence (the real-life figure on whom the film is based) mediates between Bedouin tribes and the British in their fight against the Turks, then leads guerrilla actions himself. Nowadays, it's criticized for its "white savior" narrative (and Alec Guinness's very unfortunate brownface), but the film's intelligence and gorgeous scale have influenced generations of directors (Spielberg called it a "miracle").