The most astonishing battle scenes in the history of film and television

After Game of Thrones completely blew us away with the Battle of the Bastards last week, we’ve been thinking about some of the battle masterpieces that preceded television’s highest rated episode ever.

If you’re looking for more of the same action-packed spectacular, look back no further than these excellent scenes from television and film’s finest:

1. Saving Private Ryan: Omaha Beach

2. Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King: Minas Tirith

3. Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers: Battle of Helm’s Deep

4. 300: First battle scene

5. Braveheart: Battle of Stirling Bridge

6. Alexander: Battle of Gaugamela

7. Apocalypse Now: Ride of the Valkyries

8. Vikings: Raid on Paris

9. Spartacus – War of the Damned: Battle of the Siler River

10. Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards

10 films you didn’t know were based on Shakespeare

William Shakespeare has been dead for 400 years this year, but we still celebrate his work as though it were only yesterday. In celebration of the bard – and the BBC’s Shakespeare Festival 2016, which continues with The Hollow Crown tonight – we’ve compiled a list of ten films you (probably) didn’t know were based on the works of Britain’s most famous writer.

1. The Lion King (Based on Hamlet)

The Disney film about lions was actually based on the story of Hamlet, which explains why it was so brutal for a children’s film. In Hamlet, the king is murdered by his brother and the king’s son sent into exile before reclaiming the throne. Thankfully, there’s less killing in the Disney version.

2. She’s the Man (Based on Twelfth Night)

Twelfth Night is a typical Shakespearian comedy, playing with love triangles, misunderstandings and deception. In both the film and play, protagonist Viola disguises herself as a man and wins the attention of a very confused Duke. She does so for different reasons, and pretends to be different men, but the outcome is very much the same.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You (Based on The Taming of the Shrew)

The Taming of the Shrew was the inspiration for the wildly successful 90s film 10 Things I Hate About You. Both film and play were about sisters Bianca – pursued by multiple suitors – and the disagreeable Cat, whose father insisted Bianca could not date until Cat did as well.

4. Warm Bodies (Based on Romeo & Juliet)

We can probably name a list of Romeo and Juliet-inspired works off the top of our heads, but did you know the zombie hit starring Nicholas Hoult is also of Shakespearian origin? The love affair between a human and a zombie is pretty different to the two warring families of Verona, but it was an interesting take on a well known classic.

5. Forbidden Planet (Based on The Tempest)

Science fiction 50s film Forbidden Planet seems pretty far removed from Shakespeare – and yet it’s actually a clever reworking of The Tempest. Both stories are about a crazy scientist who lives alone but for a daughter, isolated from the world and seeking to control it through the weather or (in the film) alien technology. This all changes when a group of men enter their new world, the leader of said group falling in love with the daughter.

6. Get Over It (Based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Get Over It is an example of a more blatant Shakespeare recreation. In Get Over It, students at a high school perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream – and their lives, unexpectedly, begin to parallel the tale.

7. O (Based on Othello)

O is of course a recreation of Othello, which goes a long way to explaining why it’s so messed up. The story is basically about a frustrated man’s plot to bring down the successful Othello, and then loads of murder.

8. Kiss Me Kate (Based on The Taming of the Shrew)

Another Taming of the Shrew-inspired film, Kiss Me Kate is based on the musical of the same name and is about a warring former husband and wife who are portraying the roles of Katherine and Petruchio in an adaptation of the Shakespeare play. Again, their lives begin to mimic the play.

9. My Own Private Idaho (Based on Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V)

The story of a gay hustler’s search for his mother is actually loosely based upon Shakespeare’s plays about Henry IV and Henry V, which feature a strained father-son relationship between the two real-life kings. Although the story is told through the eyes of Mike Waters, it is his best friend Scott who has a Shakespearian-style relationship with his father.

10. A Thousand Acres (Based on King Lear)

The film A Thousand Acres, which is based upon the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, began life inspired by King Lear and shares the same basic plot. Three daughters must share the division of their father’s estate, causing rivalry and in true bard fashion – tragedy.

The 10 most disturbing sex scenes we can’t believe were allowed on television

Warning: This piece contains explicit content that viewers may find disturbing. Please click back if you do not wish to view this material.

10. Dorian Gray has sex with a prostitute suffering from consumption

Penny Dreadful (season one, episode two)

Sky Atlantic’s gory horror series took Moulin Rouge further than we ever wanted – showing literary character Dorian Gray in a sexual liaison with a prostitute suffering from tuberculosis. Reading about that kink is unpleasant enough, but viewers were subjected to a bizarre and graphic sex scene during which the prostitute coughs blood directly on Gray’s face. Instead of doing the normal thing and withdrawing immediately, he smiles – licks the blood – and continues with increased vigour.

9. The Frankenstein threesome

American Horror Story (season three, episode seven)

American Horror Story has a wealth of I-can’t-believe-they-just-showed-that-on-television scenes, but this is a particularly nasty example. Kyle was a fairly nice guy who got murdered along with his rapist frat brothers, and then brought back to life with the aid of limbs from his fallen housemates. The resurrected version was nothing like the former version – incapable of proper speech and basically behaving like some crazed robot. However, this deterred neither Madison (who was the one gang raped by Kyle’s frat brothers) and powerful witch Zoe, who proceeded to jointly use him as some sort of Frankenstein-esque sex toy.

8. Sean has sex with a life-size sex doll resembling his colleague’s former lover

Nip/Tuck (season two, episode ten)

Time for another creepy sex toy story. When the porn star former ex-lover of plastic surgeon Christian appears requesting vaginal surgery on a life-size sex doll, his practice partner Sean is roped into the job. Unbeknownst to Kimber, Sean engages in oral, vaginal and anal sex with the toy in some explicit scenes. Kimber isn’t overly bothered by this however, and she and Sean have a short affair after she discovers his dalliances with her plastic counterpart.

7. Erotic asphyxiation

House of Cards (season two, episode five)

House of Cards is a showcase of disturbing scenes relating to power, money and sex – and often they seem to come out of nowhere. Take this example, which took place right at the start of a season two episode, where a Chinese billionaire is seen attempting autoerotic asphyxiation (diminishing his oxygen supply with a plastic bag) while entertaining two high class escorts.

6. Prostitutes masturbate in a row for money

Masters of Sex (season one, episode three)

Masters of Sex could get away with a lot due to its outlandish premise, exploring the lives and work of Victorian researchers examining human sexuality. In this one experiment, a large group of prostitutes all masturbate in a montage in order for researchers to examine variations in the female orgasm. A series of different women all get themselves off in different ways, while the protagonists watch avidly and take notes. Bizarre television.

5. Jax and Tara have a fit of passion next to Kohn’s corpse

Sons of Anarchy (season one, episode eight)

Tara’s psychotic ex ATF Agent Kohn returns to stalk her, which puts him in the firing line of Tara’s other ex Jax. After Jax beats Kohn up once, Kohn ignores the warning and visits Tara anyway – and then attempts to rape her. Jax arrives at the right time to put a bullet in Kohn’s brain and then apparently neither Jax nor Tara can control their longing for one another and begin to bone right beside Kohn’s dead body.

4. Bill twists Lorena’s head around 180 degrees so he doesn’t have to look at her during hate sex

True Blood (season three, episode three)

Let’s be honest, watching hate sex can be rather arousing, but True Blood has a particularly disgusting version of the act on its show. In a gruesome scene, Bill runs into his loathed sire Lorena and they have a row. In True Blood style, this very angry war of words becomes a very angry war of bodies – but that’s not where it stops. His hatred for Lorena meaning he does not want to see her face, Bill twists her head 180 degrees so he doesn’t have to look at her. And then continues.

3. Adam orders Natalia to get on all fours in dubious consent scene

Girls (season two, episode nine)

Girls is known for some pretty explicit sex scenes, but this one left fans confused and horrified over what to think about Adam. After things seemed to be on the up – Adam was in a happy relationship with new girlfriend Natalia – he makes the terrible mistake of trying a drop of alcohol for the first time in years. We shortly learn the reason he gave up. In a dark and extremely uncomfortable scene, Adam tells Natalia to get on all fours and crawl to the bedroom. While she doesn’t explicitly argue, her consent is dubious to say the least and afterwards she tells him the sex was awful. We really wish we hadn’t seen it.

2. Jaime rapes sister Cersei next to the body of their dead son

Game of Thrones (season four, episode three)

Game of Thrones regularly features horrifying scenes of all nature – including graphic depictions of murder, terrorism and rape. However, Jaime’s rape of sister Cersei in front of the dead body of their son really took the bucket. The scene made a mess of Jaime’s redemptive character development, and also was substantially changed from the consensual sexual exchange that was shared between the pair in George R.R. Martin’s novels (yes, it was still in front of Joffrey’s corpse). It was also just plain nasty, and totally unnecessary.

1. The Minotaur sex slave

American Horror Story (season three, episode three)

Just when you thought you’d seen it all, American Horror Story doles out the Minotaur sex slave scene. We’re not joking. In the third season of the horror anthology, a Minotaur arrives to seek revenge on the witch that cursed him back in the 1800s. He finds Queenie instead, who is strangely attracted to the Minotaur’s suffering and indicates that she would be interested in a sexual inter-species liaison. The result is violent and grotesque viewing that really might have been better remaining in the sick minds of the writers.

12 respected actors you won’t believe went full-frontal in films

There’s no shortage of female nudity in television and film, or even prominent stars who have bared all for the silver screen. However, when the topic becomes famous male stars who have dropped their underwear for acting roles, few are remembered. We’ve compiled a list of respectable actors who bared it all for an acting role and you won’t believe how many household names have gone completely starkers in film:

1. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley

That’s right – Jude Law got it all out in a bath scene during The Talented Mr. Ripley, in a scene where his co-star Matt Damon doesn’t quite know where to look.

2. Kevin Bacon in Wild Things

Before Kevin Bacon was doing all those EE adverts, he was appearing completely starkers in Wild Things in 1998.

3. Tom Cruise in All The Right Moves

There was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance from Mini Cruise in the 1983 film All The Right Moves.

4. Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting, The Pillow Book, Young Adam, ER, and Velvet Goldmine.

Ewan is no one-time-wonder in this category. Catch him full-frontal in any one of Trainspotting (1996), The Pillow Book (1996), Young Adam (2003), Velvet Goldmine (1998) and an episode of ER.

5. Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The only part of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) we didn’t forget was the memorable early appearance of Segel’s member.

6. Viggo Mortensen in The Indian Runner

Viggo Mortensen appeared wearing nothing in 1991’s The Indian Runner.

7. Michael Fassbender in Shame

We got a gratuitous shot of Fassbender completely naked in 2011’s Shame.

8. Daniel Craig in Some Voices

Before anyone said anything about Bond, Daniel Craig was getting his kit off in Some Voices in 2000.

9. Ben Affleck in Gone Girl

There’s a brief glimpse of Affleck’s goods in a shower scene in Gone Girl (2014).

10. Tom Hardy in Bronson

Hardy bared it all for prison drama Bronson in 2008. He’s also been pictured completely naked filming for the upcoming FX mini-series Taboo, which will air in the summer.

11. Richard Gere in American Gigolo

Gere plays a male prostitute in American Gigolo (1980), and aptly gets his business out for the role.

12. Mel Gibson in Gallipoli

Mel Gibson’s private parts make a blink-and-you’ll-mis-it appearance in war drama Gallipoli (1981), during a skinny dipping scene.