# Most Accurate Movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385 "2000-10-02T19:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/21 "2000-10-03T19:16:01Z")
I was sitting next to a baseball scout one time on an airplane and I asked him about the accuracy of baseball movies. He said that given that Robert Redford was a movie star, he had pretty good form in “The Natural.” The Pamela & Tommy Lee video is a very accurate depiction on my own sex life… ---
**Author:** ![bpaulsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@bpaulsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bpaulsen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/22 "2000-10-03T19:24:57Z")
Spinal Tap… The more I see the VH1 “Where are they now” clips, the more I start to think that Spinal Tap could have been a documentary rather than a rockumentary. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/23 "2000-10-03T21:25:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I give the movie version of “High Fidelity” the vinyl geek stamp of approval. Except it was set in the _wrong freaking country_. Grrrr. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/24 "2000-10-03T22:06:38Z")
The Matrix – there really **is** no spoon! Oh wait! I’m not supposed to tell you people that! Never mind – it’s just crazy science fiction. Yeah. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/25 "2000-10-03T22:18:02Z")
FWIW I was very _very_ disappointed in the dramatic version of _Memphis Belle_. The movie was not worth the loss of the B-17 that burned up during the filming. If you want to watch _Memphis Belle_, see the original documentary. ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/26 "2000-10-03T22:39:11Z")
“The Great Escape” Right up to the point where they escape, it is very close to what actually happened. After that, it gets a little silly (Steve McQueen rides a motorcycle, James Garner flies a plane…) “The Bridge over the River Kwai” The movie is virtually identical to the book, which (I assume) is fairly close the actual occurence. The only difference in the movie is that Alec Guinness blows up the bridge and dies. In the book, the bridge doesn’t fall. And in reality, the Colonel survives and saves the life of the prison commander during the war crimes trials by writing a letter of support. Many porno movies seem like they are based on my life. :rolleyes: I WISH. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/27 "2000-10-03T23:08:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fretful Porpentine \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > I give the movie version of “High Fidelity” the vinyl geek stamp of approval. > > Except it was set in the _wrong freaking country_. > > Grrrr. \*\* Hey, I didn’t say it was faithful to the _book_, merely to the record geek subculture. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/28 "2000-10-04T01:21:53Z")
\>\>\>\>\>FWIW I was very very disappointed in the dramatic version of Memphis Belle. The movie was not worth the loss of the B-17 that burned up during the filming. If you want to watch Memphis Belle, see the original documentary.\<\<\<\<\<\<\< I’d tend to agree.The documentary version was great.The movie was fair.(coulda been much better).The air combat sequences IMHO were excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/29 "2000-10-04T07:58:51Z")
For all it’s accuracy flaws, BRAVEHEART does give an excellent portrayal of the brutality of Mideival warfare. It was really much messier than that, but Gibson would have never been allowed to release a movie THAT violent. Of course most of the rest of the movie is written so that the average movie-goer (that would be the uneducated masses)could follow what’s going on. Just for the record, Wallace was a Lowlander and would not have worn a belted plaid, nor would anyone have referred to it as a “kilt.” Robert the Bruce may have worn a plaid when he was hiding out in the Highlands before he took the throne, but he wouldn’t have worn it day-to-day around the castle. The battle of Stirling took place at a bridge, and using the long spears to skewer the cavalry horses was used at Falkirk (and it would’a worked if not for the damned archers…) The basic plotline follows history about 65% of the time. The stuff with his wife was true, but her name was Marion, not Murron. The stuff with the princess is Hollywood hogwash. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/30 "2000-10-04T14:18:51Z")
Cecil’s take on “first night”: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_181.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_181.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/31 "2000-10-05T05:16:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kilt-wearin’ man \* > **Just for the record, Wallace was a Lowlander and would not have worn a belted plaid** That’s how N.C. Wyeth painted him. Are you calling N.C. Wyeth a liar? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/32 "2000-10-05T07:43:23Z")
Nah, by the time Wyeth was around, every Scot either lowlander or Highlander was sporting a kilt. It got really trendy in the Victorian period and it’s stuck around ever since. I think it’s 'cuz kilts are ridiculously comfortable, and when you’re walking around in one, you feel like you can kick anybody’s butt without breaking a sweat. And the ladies DIG them!!! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/33 "2000-10-05T13:11:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rich G7subs \* > \*\*I’ve been told that the air combat portions of “Memphis Belle” are extremly accurate by a family member who was in the Army Air Crps in England during WWII. \*\* My grandfather was at the beginning of his 25 mission tour about the time that the Memphis Belle finished up, and he said the movie was pretty dead-on, except that he said that they DID NOT chatter over the intercom during flight like the actors did, because that made it tougher to hear the “Bandits 4 o’clock low” type stuff. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385/34 "2000-10-05T13:18:38Z")
_That Thing You Do!_ did the best job I’ve ever seen of any movie of its genre in two respects: –Having the band members play period instruments. I love _The Buddy Holly Story_, but they had Busey playing Stratocasters and Telecasters in paint jobs that weren’t available until some time after his death. In _That Thing You Do!,_ they start out with inexpensive instruments like Danelectros, Silvertones and Fender P-basses, and get better and more expensive instruments as they get a little more popular and get signed. –Having the actors mime the songs. The actors rehearsed and rehearsed until they could do a passable job on the instruments, and they did a **fantastic** job. I know how to play all of those songs, and they got it right down to the chords, solos and drumrolls. Very good work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-accurate-movies/35385.md?page=1)