# 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:** 2
**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, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/21 "2010-07-23T16:53:34Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > 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. The movie also completely omits any mention at all of Nash’s [homosexuality](http://www.slate.com/id/2060110) – which might not be the most important thing about a person’s life story, but can’t fairly be left out if the story purports to cover his love life. ---
**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, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/22 "2010-07-23T17:01:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Great Escape - was POW camp for captured British soldiers. There were no Americans. There _were_ Americans – but they’d been removed from the camp before the Escape. X organization actually debated shifting the escape forward so that the Americans – who had contributed so much to the effort – could escape at the same time, but it was thought to be too much of a risk. You can find this in several books on Stalag Luft III, but it’s notably present in Paul Brickhill’s book, the one on which the film was based (Brickhill was one of the inmates, but he wasn’t part of the escape) But you’re right about McQueen – his entire character is fantasy, although it incorporates a few things actual people did. But after reading Brickhill and the other writers, it’s really hard to take his character at all seriously. Escape and be recaptured to bring in information? Unthinkable – getting out was hard enough, and they had other sources. Assaulting a German soldier? And Stealing and wearing his uniform? You’d definitely be shot, and convicted as a spy. Running over the warning wire after a baseball? You’d be shot by the tower guards before you got to it. Jumping a motorcycle over the border fence? Please. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/23 "2010-07-23T17:03:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The Doors movie took way too many liberties and portrayed Morrison as a sociopath. Beat me to it. A true story movie that took fewer liberties than I had supposed: “I Love You To Death.” . ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/24 "2010-07-23T17:03:46Z")
Uh… all of them? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/25 "2010-07-23T17:06:28Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Amadeus is not factually accurate - but then, it’s not supposed to be. But too many people don’t know this. I don’t understand the reason for Amadeus-- the true story is just as interesting and entertaining. . ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/26 "2010-07-23T17:10:25Z")
Men of Honor about the first black Navy diver was way off. The character that DeNiro played was made up, no such person existed in real life and he was important to the story in the movie. ---
**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, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/27 "2010-07-23T17:16:05Z")
> [@](#): > > But too many people don’t know this. I don’t understand the reason for Amadeus-- the true story is just as interesting and entertaining. I’ve noted this before. Peter Schaeffer wasn’t interested in telling historically accurate stories – he wrote plays about The Relationship Between God and Man, basing them on historical events, but making up the story to suit his purposes. He’s admitted to doing this. So **The Royal Hunt of the Sun** isn’t about Francisco Pizzaro and the conquest of the Incas and Attahualpa – it’s about God and Man. **Equus** isn’t about the real case of the british boy who blinded six horses in his care – it’s about God and Man. And **Amadeus** isn’t about Salieri and Mozart. It’s very definitely about God and Man. That’s why the title isn’t _Mozart_ or even _Salieri_. “Amadeus” means “beloved of God” – which is what Mozart, in Schaeffer’s play, was, and Salieri is waging war against what he sees as an Unjust God, with Mozart as the battlefield. Schaeffer couldn’t care less that his play isn’t accurate, except as it helps the play and its point. And the movie differs materially from the play. I prefer the play, myself. But i don’t confuse it with history. ---
**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, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/28 "2010-07-23T17:20:54Z")
Oliver Stones JFK I shudder to think how many people think it’s history. ---
**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, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/29 "2010-07-23T17:24:43Z")
The Hurt Locker: set in 2004, but has references to YouTube (not yet launched), has soldiers playing a video game that hasn’t been invented yet, and has someone using an iPod Nano that won’t be in production for a couple of years. So sayeth Wired Magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/30 "2010-07-23T17:38:42Z")
I couldn’t watch _The Tudors_ because of the costuming. It was actively offensive to my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/31 "2010-07-23T17:42:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. It’s east of Java if you go far enough! 😛 ---
**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, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/32 "2010-07-23T17:43:50Z")
Another case of movie accuracy (from what I’ve read) – \*_The Return of Martin Guerre_. Pretty surprising, but the story is true, although the character motivations the film suppllies are arguable. The film also isn’t done in “spectacular” style, but a pretty low-key, realistic one, which helps. ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/33 "2010-07-23T18:33:27Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > But too many people don’t know this. I don’t understand the reason for Amadeus-- the true story is just as interesting and entertaining Well, it’s a great bit of storytelling, although I’m glad I knew it wasn’t accurate before I watched it. > [@Chefguy](#): > > The Hurt Locker: set in 2004, but has references to YouTube (not yet launched), has soldiers playing a video game that hasn’t been invented yet, and has someone using an iPod Nano that won’t be in production for a couple of years. So sayeth Wired Magazine. Continuity errors, but not important to the plot of the film. ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/34 "2010-07-23T18:35:17Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Beat me to it. > A true story movie that took fewer liberties than I had supposed: “I Love You To Death.” > > . Wow That was a bizarre flick and I had no odea it was based on a true story, ---
**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, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/35 "2010-07-23T18:36:40Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Men of Honor about the first black Navy diver was way off. The character that DeNiro played was made up, no such person existed in real life and he was important to the story in the movie. How about Cuba Goodings character? How accurate was that? ---
**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, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/36 "2010-07-23T18:42:00Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Continuity errors, but not important to the plot of the film. Which would be relevant if we were discussing plots. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/37 "2010-07-23T18:45:22Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Continuity errors, but not important to the plot of the film. Yeah. IMDB catagorizes the different errors in a film. Don’t know if you care: Continuity, according to their system, is a plot error that contradicts a previous established fact. Example: A character is seen entering a building wearing a blue shirt. In the next shot, showing the character moving around inside that building, supposedly mere moments later, is shown to be wearing a red colored shirt. Errors of the type decribed above for “Hurt Locker” get labeled in IMDB as an Anachronism. Historical Inaccuracy would be changing the cause of Patton’s death. (IRL, Patton died from injuries sustained in a car accident.) But anywho, I agree with you that minor errors that don’t impact the plot are no biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/38 "2010-07-23T19:00:28Z")
One I’d normally let slide because it was so over the top, but the filmmakers claimed that it was based on a true story: _The Texas Chain Saw Massacre_. Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper said in the past that the movie was based on crimes committed by real people: Ed Gein and Dean Corll. But other than the broad fact that people were killed the murders in the movie did not resemble either of the genuine crimes. Due to internet debunking, Henkel and Hooper now deny that they ever said that the movie was based on a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/39 "2010-07-23T19:23:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper said in the past that the movie was based on crimes committed by real people: Ed Gein and Dean Corll. But other than the broad fact that people were killed the murders in the movie did not resemble either of the genuine crimes. I believe the true story claims are attached to the boxes of body parts that one of the characters finds in the Chainsaw Massacrer’s house. Gein apparently did the same thing. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Due to internet debunking, Henkel and Hooper now deny that they ever said that the movie was based on a true story. That’s a pretty neat trick considering the fact that the true story label was on the poster: [http://iconsoffright.com/news/TCM%20Poster.jpg](http://iconsoffright.com/news/TCM%20Poster.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712/40 "2010-07-23T19:39:17Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > How about Cuba Goodings character? How accurate was that? I think it was pretty accurate. I never read any complaints about that character being way off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historically-based-movies-with-gross-inaccuracy/547712.md?page=3)