# Historically based movies with gross inaccuracy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712 "2010-07-23T14:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/1 "2010-07-23T14:09:36Z")
Two Movies based on historic events were mentioned in a GD Thread [\*\* A Beautiful Mind\*\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/) and [**September Dawn**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473700/) and comments were made about how inaccurate they were. Of course we don’t really expect Hollywood productions to be that accurate but I’d say there is a line where it goes from dramatic license to total bullshit, with a disregard for the concept of “based on a true story” or historical events. I enjoy movies based on true stories and history. I often will watch a movie and then do the research to see where they have distorted it. Sometimes the details are wrong but the heart is intact. Other times significant details are wrong that changes the heart of the story. So what historic movies , or movies based on actual events, have you discovered are grossly inaccurate or, fairly accurate for Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/2 "2010-07-23T14:23:55Z")
There was actually a book out that discussed this: **Future Imperfect: History According to Hollywood**. My feeling on this is simple: I don’t mind minor inaccuracies if it makes for a better story. The only time I object is if these become major plot points. It’s no big deal if, say, the Little Big Horn Massacre is moved to Arizona (e.g., **Fort Apache** , but if Custer is saved, then there is a problem. **U-571** is condemned by British historians because it made Americans the heros, but the movie was a good adventure story. **Mad Men** pissed me off on the very first episode when, to resolve the main plot point, Don Draper “invented” a slogan that had been used continuously for over 40 years (at the time of the show) and presented it as a new idea. That was a blatant cheat (and a bit of a deus ex machina). A great writer would have used an actual slogan _from the time_ to make the point; a good writer would have invented something new; a terrible writer would just say, “Let’s just pick something; no one will know.” (This has been a consistent issue with the show every time I try to watch; the writers have no concept about attitudes of the time.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/3 "2010-07-23T14:24:20Z")
As remarked previously (many times), you’d be more efficient to ask which movies have been the most accurate. Most “historical” movies have truly egregious errors. My personal favorite is **300** , which is so overblown over-the-top preposterous that it’s great guilty fun. You can’t even _begin_ listing all the errors and misconceptions – you’ll fall over yourself trying to get them all out. My choice for most accurate is probably **A Man for All Seasons**. Granting that Bolt necessarily re-arranged things for dramatic effect, the biggest criticisms seem to be “it doesn’t tell the whole story – it leaves out _x_.” ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/4 "2010-07-23T14:45:22Z")
The Birdman of Alcatraz is an especially infamous example. The guy in real life was allegedly something of a psychopath as well as a pedophile. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/5 "2010-07-23T14:59:26Z")
Let’s also consider movies that are based on true stories rather than major historic events. I watched [The Hurricane](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174856/) and decided to do a little research. It was interesting to discover just how far off the story was and that many people believed he was guilty as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/6 "2010-07-23T15:08:35Z")
The Doors movie took way too many liberties and portrayed Morrison as a sociopath. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/7 "2010-07-23T15:25:06Z")
_Braveheart_ is a well-known example of a film that took, uh, “liberties” with actual history. Too many to list. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/8 "2010-07-23T15:28:42Z")
TVTropes page: [Hollywood History.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodHistory) > [@joebuck20](#): > > The Birdman of Alcatraz is an especially infamous example. The guy in real life was allegedly something of a psychopath as well as a pedophile. And that’s a [Historical Hero Upgrade.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/PlayingWith/HistoricalHeroUpgrade) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/9 "2010-07-23T15:33:15Z")
See also [You Fail History Forever.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouFailHistoryForever) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/10 "2010-07-23T15:35:48Z")
The British cartoon Monkey Dust had brilliant bits on Hollywood movies of The Crusades & The Diary of Anne Frank. (Anne gets rescued by her boyfriend, an American GI. This is not close to the most absurd thing in the piece. I’d find it on youtube, but I’m posting from work.) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/11 "2010-07-23T15:37:00Z")
Amadeus is not factually accurate - but then, it’s not supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/12 "2010-07-23T15:37:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \My choice for most accurate is probably **A Man for All Seasons**. Granting that Bolt necessarily re-arranged things for dramatic effect, the biggest criticisms seem to be “it doesn’t tell the whole story – it leaves out _x_.” In particular it leaves out a [Crowning Moment of Awesome,](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome?from=Main.CrowningMomentOfAwesome) when More pulled away his long beard so it would not rest beneath his neck on the chopping block, saying, “This, at any rate, has given the king no offense.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/13 "2010-07-23T15:45:09Z")
Pretty much all Oliver Stone movies. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/14 "2010-07-23T15:49:01Z")
I’ve never seen it but there’s a movie called [Krakatoa, East of Java](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa,_East_of_Java). No idea how inaccurate the actual movie is, but Krakatoa is actually west of Java. Kind of awesome when even the title gets it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/15 "2010-07-23T15:58:42Z")
Bridge on the River Kwai > [@](#): > > [The film’s story was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. One of a number of Allied POW’s, Toosey was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (one of steel, one of wood), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon. > > In reality, the actual bridge took 8 months to build (rather than two months), and they were actually used for two years, and were only destroyed two years after their construction - in late June 1945. The memoirs of the ‘real’ Colonel Nicholson were compiled into a 1991 book by Peter Davies entitled The Man Behind the Bridge. > **[Bridge on the River Kwai; the true story](http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww2/kwai.htm)** Great Escape - was POW camp for captured British soldiers. There were no Americans. All that stuff with Steve McQueen was fantasy. PBS did a NOVA special about the true story. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/16 "2010-07-23T16:19:53Z")
The thing that bugs me about **A Beautiful Mind** beyond the stuff they left out is that Alicia actually divorced Nash sometime around 1960. It’s in the book. The she let him move back into her house. I think this was a stretch, since she was working as a programmer for NJ Transit, and didn’t drive. Her house was a few hundred feet from the Princeton Junction railroad station. I think her support of Nash was more admirable than shown in the movie, since it was not the slightest bit romantic at the time. Something about Alicia attracted mathematicians, John Moore, a topologist at IAS adored her. They seem to have thrown out a lot of truth and instead used the invisible friend theme. I never studied that stuff when I was at MIT, but people in the MIT Club of Princeton spoke of him in these reverent tones two steps above Jesus. I don’t think the movie showed why he was treated with such respect even when he was sick. I’ll have to watch it again to see if they got Alicia’s accent right, but I don’t think so, which is probably just as well. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/17 "2010-07-23T16:22:53Z")
I saw the recently released “Robin Hood” at the drive-in and was mildly entertained until the French assaulted the English coast in wooden LST Landing Craft - the kind of boat where the front opens down onto the beach so the troops can run out (usually confronted by Nazi or Japanese machine-gun fire). Since the story of Robin Hood (in the movie) was based in the 14th century and LSTs weren’t invented until the late 1930s, I found this to be a bit of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/18 "2010-07-23T16:39:06Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > I saw the recently released “Robin Hood” at the drive-in and was mildly entertained until the French assaulted the English coast in wooden LST Landing Craft - the kind of boat where the front opens down onto the beach so the troops can run out (usually confronted by Nazi or Japanese machine-gun fire). > > Since the story of Robin Hood (in the movie) was based in the 14th century and LSTs weren’t invented until the late 1930s, I found this to be a bit of a stretch. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one bugged by this. Why would they specially build boats that were so inaccurate when they could have used practically any other boat laying around and been closer to reality? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/19 "2010-07-23T16:43:44Z")
I was thinking the same thing. I don’t know - maybe Russell Crowe thought they were more dramatic. Although I can’t fathom why. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/20 "2010-07-23T16:47:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > … **Mad Men** pissed me off on the very first episode when, to resolve the main plot point, Don Draper “invented” a slogan that had been used continuously for over 40 years (at the time of the show) and presented it as a new idea… What was the slogan? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712.md?page=2)