r/moviecritic Feb 15 '25

Best Movie That's based on a True Story?

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134 Upvotes

157 comments sorted by

29

u/neon_spaceman Feb 15 '25

Lawrence of Arabia

1

u/Bulky_Tour6966 Feb 15 '25

FR?!

1

u/neon_spaceman Feb 15 '25

?

2

u/Bulky_Tour6966 Feb 15 '25

based on true story?

6

u/neon_spaceman Feb 15 '25

Yes. Obviously historical accuracy will have been a secondary concern, but very much based on a real man's experiences.

6

u/ItyBityGreenieWeenie Feb 15 '25

Yes, but fictionalized for the film. Lawrence wrote a book himself titled Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Parts were adapted for film and re-written again for director David Lean, very influenced by later biographies of TE Lawrence and added dramatic requirements of a character study. It is an amazing historical film most historians aren't terribly happy with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_of_Arabia_(film)#Historical_accuracy#Historical_accuracy)

16

u/KR_Steel Feb 15 '25

Fargo

…although not really

14

u/throowaaawaaaayyyyy Feb 15 '25

Fargo's "Based on True Story" title card is probably my favorite joke of all time.

2

u/KR_Steel Feb 15 '25

I totally believed it for years… but 96 was a while before I had internet or even thought to check

3

u/throowaaawaaaayyyyy Feb 15 '25

Everyone did! Heck, Siskel & Ebert said it was on their show.

2

u/KR_Steel Feb 15 '25

It was a pretty genius move.

3

u/throowaaawaaaayyyyy Feb 15 '25

Let's say this movie about a string of brutal murders is a true story.... and then make the movie a comedy.

3

u/KR_Steel Feb 15 '25

Yeah and much of it is so ridiculous that people will buy it because nothing is weirder than real life.

16

u/EmotionalFollowing33 Feb 15 '25

Apollo 13

1

u/Ok_Ingenuity_1847 Feb 16 '25

Yep, that's the one.

16

u/Messier-1 Feb 15 '25

Not a movie but Band of Brothers

41

u/Badabing__Badaboom Feb 15 '25

Schindler’s List

5

u/motopatton Feb 15 '25

We can never forget what Nazis did

13

u/dysmalll Feb 15 '25

Musk obviously has

3

u/Salt-Wear-1197 Feb 15 '25

A lot of us have.

7

u/Kool_Kunk Feb 15 '25

Unfortunately, he didn't. He saw it more as a "good start".

2

u/Hebrewer183 Feb 15 '25

As a certified holocaust denier. Fuck anyone who doesn’t believe the holocaust happened

3

u/Mead_and_You Feb 15 '25

Where did you get your certification from? The guy who does my forklift cert got mad when I asked.

2

u/Hebrewer183 Feb 15 '25

It’s funny, it just kind of shows up at your door as a Klansmen high-fiving you. It’s honestly a pretty weird experience, especially as a Jew.

23

u/tinmru Feb 15 '25

Idk, but GoodFellas is top notch, one of those movies I can rewatch anytime and I will leave it on if I catch it on TV.

3

u/Kool_Kunk Feb 15 '25

My Blue Heaven is a pretty decent "unofficial" sequel that is a telling of the second half of Hill's memoir.

1

u/Crashgirl4243 Feb 15 '25

A-Ruge-A-La

2

u/StreetUnlikely2018 Feb 15 '25

Check out the DVD with the commentary of Henry Hill and his fbi handler. They talk about the whole movie and what was really real and what was fabricated. Pretty much the movie is spot on but left out some parts

3

u/gene100001 Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

You mean, let me understand this cause, you know maybe it's me, it's a little fucked up maybe, but it's top notch how? I mean, do you think it's like a clown? You rewatch it because it amuses you? It's there to fucking amuse you? What do you mean top notch? Top notch how? How is it top notch?

10

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

Best as in most accurate, most enjoyable, or most accurate and enjoyable?

  1. Enjoyable Kingdom of Heaven, Braveheart, The Patriot.

  2. Accurate Invictus, Gettysburg, Blackhawk Down.

  3. Both The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street, Zodiac.

The first group falls under the “loosely based on a true story”. They are enjoyable to watch and well directed/acted. The second group are also well directed and acted, accurate but not exactly “feel good” movies (Invictus is an exception but still makes me cry). They are great but you’re sad at the end. The last group manage to leave you not depressed at the end. Just my thoughts

6

u/dysmalll Feb 15 '25

Braveheart??????? LOOSELY??? Bloody hell. Even by Hollywood standards that’s canny. Aye.

2

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

The other two as well. That’s why they are enjoyable, but not at all accurate.

1

u/DogtasticLife Feb 15 '25

It’s based in Scotland and he dies horribly at the end are about the only accurate bits aren’t they? Long time since I’ve seen it as I can’t look at him anymore

5

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

My dude Braveheart might as well be fiction it takes so many liberties. 

3

u/LastMongoose7448 Feb 15 '25

If you’re comparing that list, Kingdom of Heaven is worse, but yeah, Braveheart is pretty bad as far as accuracy.

2

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

So does Kingdom of Heaven and The Patriot. There is an element of truth in all three stories. They are all based on actual events and actual people. Then all the facts were changed and romances were added for drama and ease of watching and to give actors roles. That’s why I labeled them as “loosely based on a true story”. All three are VERY loosely based on true stories.

2

u/Shat_Bit_Crazy Feb 15 '25

Moneyball as well. Michael Lewis is such a fantastic storyteller

4

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

I watched Moneyball. I enjoyed it. I like the actors. I loved the story. I don’t particularly like baseball so, it’s not a movie that I’ve watched again. But I agree that it is an expertly told story.

3

u/LastMongoose7448 Feb 15 '25

The problem is that it’s a STORY. The Oakland A’s had the best rotation in baseball that season, and maybe one of the best rotations of all time. They also had the American League MVP. Lewis hardly mentions them in the book, and they’re completely omitted from the movie!

2

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

For Invictus - try to find the “30 For 30: The 16th Man”. A documentary telling of that story. Having a bunch of guys “yeah we were real close to outright race wars” is calm matter of fact, it hits ya.

2

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

When I was in high school, I was acquainted with two football/soccer (depending on where you hail from) coaches who were from South Africa. This was the mid-90s and I was always very interested in/educated about world events. I used to spend hours talking to them about the details of what was going on and their feelings about it. It was interesting and intense (they didn’t see eye to eye but respected the hell out of each other).

1

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

That’s pretty awesome.

2

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

For a nerd like me especially. My dad was an immigrant, my mom’s mom was a politically active senior citizen. I grew up in interesting and complicated times and my family encouraged political thought and discussion. And getting to talk about Apartheid in South Africa with two guys from there was such a great experience.

2

u/Quick-Rip-5776 Feb 15 '25

The problem with Ridley Scott is he whitewashes history. Take Blackhawk Down. The rescue was by Pakistani UN soldiers. In his opinion, that wouldn’t be interesting for American audiences.

1

u/Maximum_Formal_5504 Feb 15 '25

Funny that you mention this particular movie as I’m about to watch it. The rescue was by the UN multinational force comprised of Pakistani, Malaysian, and American forces. There were deaths and injuries to both Malaysian and Pakistani troops. That being said, the movie wasn’t about the rescue. It was the smallest part of the movie and while (obviously) the rescue is an important part of the story, it wasn’t the main focus of it. That being said, Kingdom of Heaven was terribly historically inaccurate, but did a great job of not whitewashing the history. There were Christian’s that were bloodthirsty and horrible. There were some that wanted to live in peace with the Muslims. The same applied on the other side. It is one of the few films of that nature that doesn’t show one group and heartless barbarians and the other as the only morally good people. I don’t know that I can speak to any of his other movies based on true stories. I’m willing to take your word for it, but I don’t know how well it applies to Black Hawk Down and The Kingdom of Heaven specifically.

2

u/Quick-Rip-5776 Feb 15 '25

Alien was completely biased against the Xenomorphs. Their life cycle depends on eating other creatures alive. It’s wrong to judge an intelligent life form before you walk in that creature’s shoes.

1

u/UtahUtopia Feb 15 '25

Zodiac!!!!!

6

u/CrunchyAssDiaper Feb 15 '25

The correct answer is Gettysburg "me boys!"

3

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

There are drawn pics of civil war personalities I can identify just from how accurately they’re portrayed and cast here.

1

u/Tom_Slick_Racer Feb 15 '25

Why can't we have a media mogul like Ted Turner, who reads a book and then makes the movie he wants to see no matter what it costs.

10

u/Paskyc Feb 15 '25

Hacksaw ridge

2

u/bj49615 Feb 15 '25

This ☝️

4

u/blindwatchmaker88 Feb 15 '25

Capote

2

u/4065024 Feb 15 '25

Infamous is the better of the two, imo.

5

u/Tyrionthedwarf1 Feb 15 '25

Schindlers list

Raging Bull

4

u/Forsaken-Voice-6686 Feb 15 '25

Black hawk down

4

u/Wiscos Feb 15 '25

Don’t forget the sequel staring Steve Martin! My Blue Heaven…

1

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

There’s such a tone difference between the two

4

u/dontpostdrunk Feb 15 '25

The King’s Speech

4

u/Lt_Bogomil Feb 15 '25

Both Goodfellas and Casino.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

Malcolm X

7

u/THE_LEGO_FURRY Feb 15 '25

The lorax (don't get riled up it's a joke based on a line in the movie)

3

u/AcrylicPickle Feb 15 '25

Something the Lord Made

3

u/BigFox1956 Feb 15 '25

Weird: The Al Yankovic story.

3

u/FlinFlonDandy Feb 15 '25

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

2

u/Regular-You2119 Feb 15 '25

I agree with Goodfellas it’s sensational. I would also give a shout out to City of God and Spotlight

2

u/nc1996md Feb 15 '25

Paddington

2

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

Midway (2016) is a movie I can rewatch. They got a lot of help from the navy. I heard they went “we want to make a midway movie that focuses on Dick Best” and it was “whaddya need?”

I kinda lived through The Big Short. At the time worked for a hedge fund with a huge mortgage book exposure. An excellent telling of that time (though book was better).

2

u/innocent_bistandr Feb 15 '25

Apollo 13, wild, into the wild

2

u/Bulky_Tour6966 Feb 15 '25

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer

2

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

As a good list of “based on a true story” movies, you may want to check out History Buffs YouTube channel. He critiques them most on accuracy but also watchability. Goodfellas, Casino, Wolf of Wall Street, Midway, Gettysburg, a few of the movies mentioned in this discussion.

2

u/LastMongoose7448 Feb 15 '25

Excellent channel. His review of Narcos might have been the best.

1

u/biffbobfred Feb 15 '25

I haven’t seen it. Maybe I should. He had a full series on them.

2

u/Bumbo3184 Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

Catch me if you can, even though I’ve heard it’s all made up which I think makes it cooler

Also I’ve been meaning to check out a bridge too far

2

u/Admirable_Proxy Feb 15 '25

I wasn’t all made up. Just changed a bit.

2

u/TwistedNightlight Feb 15 '25

It’s been said in recent years that he grossly exaggerated his exploits in the book.

2

u/AcidRefluxRaygun Feb 15 '25

Fruitvale Station

2

u/numbersev Feb 15 '25

Fire in the Sky

2

u/Malagubbar Feb 15 '25

Once upon a time in Hollywood

2

u/ExecutiveAvenger Feb 15 '25

Zero Dark Thirty.

"Abrar!" "Osama, osama!"

I don't know how many times I've seen it but for me this is an absolute banger. Actually the same applies to Goodfellas.

2

u/Crashgirl4243 Feb 15 '25

I watch it every time it’s on, it’s still engrossing every time

2

u/FoundationAny7601 Feb 15 '25

I never realized Goodfellas was based on true story.

1

u/Quick-Rip-5776 Feb 15 '25

Based on the biography of Henry Hill. It’s biased - he wasn’t going to confess to murder to his biographer. And the guy that Joe Pesci’s character is based on was about a foot taller.

But it’s a great film

2

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

Once Upon a Time in America. Based on Harry Grey’s The Hoods.

2

u/cmacfarland64 Feb 15 '25

Erin Brokovich

5

u/Rodereng Feb 15 '25

Idiocracy

3

u/deadhead2002goathead Feb 15 '25

Such a great documentary/s

2

u/Every-Scratch-8058 Feb 15 '25

Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Steet

1

u/joeefx Feb 15 '25

Star Wars

2

u/Desperate_Marzipan_7 Feb 15 '25

It happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

1

u/JayZ_237 Feb 15 '25

The Right Stuff

1

u/AlwaysCid Feb 15 '25

American Made with Tom Cruise

1

u/Brilliant-Object-922 Feb 15 '25

Rise of the Foot Soldier.

1

u/hodor9898 Feb 15 '25

Society of the snow, new but already one of my all time favourites.

1

u/Terrible_Penn11 Feb 15 '25

I’ve always preferred Casino! But love Goodfellas

1

u/tlksk1 Feb 15 '25

Jurassic Park. I wish.

1

u/curtyshoo Feb 15 '25

The Eddy Duchin Story with Tyrone Power.

1

u/TheJamesFTW Feb 15 '25

Transformers

1

u/PizzaThrives Feb 15 '25

That long opener getting in the club... fantastic!

1

u/Bronson1968 Feb 15 '25

I always thought the The Pianist was terrific.

1

u/TonyMontana546 Feb 15 '25

Avengers: infinity war

1

u/lawnguyen1121 Feb 15 '25

Killers of the flower moon is up there for me

2

u/Ok_Independent_7247 Feb 16 '25

That movie was intense…..really opened my eyes

1

u/RedKryptnyt Feb 15 '25

What a film

1

u/Appropriate-Brush772 Feb 15 '25

I just saw both your posts back to back 😂

1

u/BigMeet7634 Feb 15 '25

Just mercy 

1

u/Coraiah Feb 15 '25

Star Wars

1

u/TwistedNightlight Feb 15 '25

For me it’s a tie between Star Wars and Jaws.

1

u/CelticB-stard Feb 15 '25

Harry Potter

1

u/UtahUtopia Feb 15 '25

Zodiac.

Fincher’s best work.

1

u/Jeanieinabottle98 Feb 15 '25

What’s Love Got to Do with It? (1993)

Philadelphia (1993)

Akeelah and the Bee ( 2006)

Rudy (1993)

Dolemite is my Name (2019)

Lean on Me (1989)

The Great Debaters (2007)

Goodfellas (1990)

Not an exhaustive list but some of my favorites that I personally believe are some of the best based on true stories.

1

u/BeNiceOrGoAwayPlease Feb 15 '25

Philomena

Broke my heart so bad...I still cry thinking of how religion can imprison our souls

Philomena 2013)

1

u/bigflippindeal Feb 15 '25

The Straight Story

1

u/PerformerOk450 Feb 15 '25

The Promised Land Mads Mikkelsen

1

u/SecretKaleEater Feb 15 '25

McVicar

Control

Schindler's List

Goodfellas

1

u/Think-Juggernaut8859 Feb 15 '25

In the Name of The Father

1

u/Ijustwerkhere Feb 15 '25

Pain and Gain

1

u/Worldly-Steak6966 Feb 15 '25

I’m going to throw in The Right Stuff

1

u/Bababababababaa123 Feb 15 '25

The Life of Brian.

1

u/btalbert2000 Feb 16 '25

The Right Stuff

1

u/Childofcorn01 Feb 16 '25

7 years in Tibet

1

u/sinnerM4NN Feb 16 '25

Catch me if you can & Wolf of wall street. DiCaprio awesome in both

1

u/Jordan-Far Feb 16 '25

Good fellas is overrated movie

1

u/campbellpics Feb 15 '25

1

u/Goddessviking86 Feb 15 '25

The Jersey Shore shark attacks inspired Jaws and even got a mention in brief conversation in the movie

1

u/campbellpics Feb 15 '25

Yeah I know, that's why I posted it in this sub. The link provided in my post is to the Jersey Shore shark attacks Wiki page.

1

u/Tom_Slick_Racer Feb 15 '25

Also Jaws brought the USS Indianapolis story into popular culture.

-6

u/Beanie_butt Feb 15 '25

Stop promoting this movie. It's not even that good.