# Most accurate movies in any given genre…? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821 "2004-11-09T11:27:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/21 "2004-11-10T10:12:57Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Casino and Goodfellas are both fairly close to their source books(which are supposed to be rather accurate with lots of first-hand material) other then changing some names and combining a character or two. > > However, I can’t speak to the technical details. Casino is generally regarded as pretty damn accurate. However _Goodfellas_ is generally regarded as pretty much the last word on a mid-level mafia member. based on this [book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671723227/qid=1100081926/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-5381846-0809539), it follows very closely. The movie is not only one of my top 3, the book is also right up there. I find I re-read it about every 6 months or so. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/22 "2004-11-10T13:57:28Z")
**Star Wars** has portrayed the battle between the Empire and the Rebels with 100% accuracy. Also, the Indiana Jones films were 100% accurate about his adventures. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/23 "2004-11-10T14:08:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Most certainly the most accurate asteroid impact movie, and one of the most accurate I’ve seen in the general category of Man vs. Nature, is _Deep Impact_. I agree that it’s very close, _except_ for one glaring error - you’d never be able to keep that asteroid a secret for as long as they did. Never. There’s too many amateur eyes looking at the skies every night that the news would’ve broken long before. Otherwise, it was very good. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/24 "2004-11-10T14:23:17Z")
One of my personal faves that I like to plug whenever I can is Hiroshima. The actors in gerneral looked a lot like those that they played. Of course, a lot of the dialogue may be speculative but from what I can tell (and I’m no historian) this seemed to be a pretty honest effort to be true to history. Not mentioned for the Civil War is Gods and Generals. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, I nominate it for being as long as the actual Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/25 "2004-11-10T14:44:39Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I’ll give you **Platoon**. But let me relate an anecdote that I heard my father say (and I later found out that it was from a comic named Glenn Steer, but it still applies): > > My father and I were Christmas shopping several years ago, and he was wearing his old Vietnam jacket (he served a two-year stint in artillery), and was approached by an older woman, who told him, “Sir, I just want you to know that I can appreciate all you went through in Vietnam. I saw **Full Metal Jacket**.” > > My father, without missing a beat, responded, “Ma’am, I can appreciate everything you went through in childbirth. I saw **Look Who’s Talking**.” Yes, but was he saying the movie was inaccurate or was he saying that seeing the movie does not equal an understanding of the Viet Nam expierence just as seeing Look Who’s Talking does not equal the child birth expierence. Plus, FMJ is divided into two parts. Part one of the film is boot camp and the second half is in Viet Nam at the battle of Wey. (sp) When I saw this film in a theatre, during part two there was a gentleman sitting down the row from me. He was a bit older so he was Viet Nam Vet age. When a GI was going through a destroyed house on screen he bent down to pick a teddy bear. The guy down the row let out an audible “NO!” and the bear was a booby trap. The guy down the knew it was trap. Now I don’t know if he knew it was a trap because it was a film convention or if during his Viet Nam expierence he saw people killed in this mannor. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/26 "2004-11-10T16:53:04Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Plus, FMJ is divided into two parts. Part one of the film is boot camp and the second half is in Viet Nam at the battle of Wey. (sp) That would be Hue City. A minor nitpick but I always saw it as three acts: boot camp, Saigon and Hue City. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/27 "2004-11-10T18:25:55Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > When a GI was going through a destroyed house on screen he bent down to pick a teddy bear. The guy down the row let out an audible “NO!” and the bear was a booby trap. The guy down the knew it was trap. Now I don’t know if he knew it was a trap because it was a film convention or if during his Viet Nam expierence he saw people killed in this mannor. What an idiot! Weren’t they told about them in boot camp? Hell, I knew enough not to pick up teddy bears from reading _Popular Science._ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/28 "2004-11-10T18:34:08Z")
For look and feel I recommend “Enemy at the Gate.” The town square was a precise reconstruction and the “off the boat, charge the enemy unarmed, and grab a gun off a dead guy,” combat was real. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/29 "2004-11-10T18:41:52Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Casino is generally regarded as pretty damn accurate. However _Goodfellas_ is generally regarded as pretty much the last word on a mid-level mafia member. based on this [book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671723227/qid=1100081926/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-5381846-0809539), it follows very closely. The movie is not only one of my top 3, the book is also right up there. I find I re-read it about every 6 months or so. How accurate was ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/30 "2004-11-10T18:43:47Z")
_The Valachi Papers?_ (Damn Storebought Fingers…) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/31 "2004-11-10T19:20:55Z")
Anyone here see the comedy _I Wanna Hold Your Hand_, now out on DVD? As someone old enough to remember Beatlemania, I thought the screenplay barely contained any exaggeration. Young people were really that crazy. And the movie is a delight. It would make a good double bill with _Almost Famous_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/32 "2004-11-10T20:46:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Not mentioned for the Civil War is Gods and Generals. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, I nominate it for being as long as the actual Civil War. Therein lies the irony I noticed. It goes on forever and yet doesn’t do a particulary good job of covering the events. 2 years, 3 battles in three hours and it feels like it’s missing a lot. The problem was that it wasn’t focused enough and even Robert Duvall couldn’t save it(even though I felt he made a great lee). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/33 "2004-11-10T21:12:37Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ contains the most jaw-droppingly accurate depiction of an attempted alien colonization of the earth ever filmed. "You see? You see? Your stupid minds. Stupid! Stupid! " Sounds not unlike a lot of Democrats talking to red state voters… Hey, maybe “alien colonization of the earth” DOES explain the last election! ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/34 "2004-11-10T23:33:48Z")
What, we’re NOT going to spend most of our time in the future? How dare you criticize such a prophetic work! I just won a copy of _Ed Wood_ (the Tim Burton movie, not the mouldering corpse) today. The only thing better than a free movie is a free movie that you love! ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/35 "2004-11-11T00:10:30Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ contains the most jaw-droppingly accurate depiction of an attempted alien colonization of the earth ever filmed. Fuckin’ A ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/36 "2004-11-11T00:48:35Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > WWII - _Das Boot_, hands down. WWII on land - _The Longest Day_. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/37 "2004-11-11T01:02:46Z")
> [@](#): > > For look and feel I recommend “Enemy at the Gate.” The town square was a precise reconstruction and the “off the boat, charge the enemy unarmed, and grab a gun off a dead guy,” combat was real. Is this a joke? I can’t speak for the combat scenes, as it’s been a while, but the overall environment was farcically halfassed IIRC (not to mention thoroughly ridiculed in every Russian review). ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/38 "2004-11-11T10:36:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Most certainly the most accurate asteroid impact movie, and one of the most accurate I’ve seen in the general category of Man vs. Nature, is _Deep Impact_. Certainly it is more accurate than any other asteroid impact movie I’ve ever seen, but it was irritating the way they indicated that the ocean impact was just going to result in a big wave, while the land impact would be planet-killingly horrible. Everything I’ve read on the subject indicates the opposite – that a land impact is bad for the people under it, but allows the energy to radiate back out into space fairly quickly, while a water strike sheaths the planet in clouds and causes lots of rain, wiping out crops and bringing about famine and pestilence and the like, and possibly triggers a new ice age by drastically increasing the planet’s albedo. Your basic collapse of civilization, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/39 "2004-11-11T11:26:12Z")
Couple of British nitpicky objections: the Charge of the Light Brigade was nothing to do with the Raj, it was the Crimean War. Saving Private Ryan was very affecting, especially in the opening and closing battle scenes, but how likely is it that they could be that deep into continental Europe and not meet any British soldiers? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821/40 "2004-11-15T22:26:56Z")
Yes, indeed: “Can you prove it _didn’t_ happen?” > [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ contains the most jaw-droppingly accurate depiction of an attempted alien colonization of the earth ever filmed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies-in-any-given-genre/273821.md?page=3)