Least historically accurate "historical" movie

[Husky25]

Which is why I like Stone. He's obsessed with 60s culture and the Boomers and Any Given Sunday tries to capture the rise (and fall) of the NFL in a generational way with the Pacino Diaz tension.

I would say Football in general. It is widely accepted that the Miami Sharks play in a ficticious league. However, it is a commonly miscontruded point that it is based on the NFL. The in game anouncer even mentions the Sharks' failing attendence as compared to the cross-town Dolphins.

I liken the Pacino/Diaz tension to the Business vs Game argument that permeates throughout professional sports today. Diaz' character doesn't even like football, but she loves the status...She loves being a great Miamian.

Undertones being what they are, I loved the movie and hearing Pacino's speach makes me want to run through a wall!!!!

 

[RS9999X]

When Boomers first went Vietnam there was no Superbowl. Its now the greatest single day commercial event on the planet. Football became America's sport. That's where I think it fits into Stone's canon along with the usual issues of commercialism and disposable employers that are now the root of Business. Any historical facts like the LA Rams female owner are just minor plot points

 

[Kgun7]

My Vote: U-571

The German sub was actually U-110 and it was forced to surface and boarded by British vessels escorting a British convoy on their way to Nova Scotia ... 7 months before Pearl Harbor. Just about the only thing historically accurate was Jon Bon Jovi's acting ...

 

[Husky25]

My Vote: U-571

The German sub was actually U-110 and it was forced to surface and boarded by British vessels escorting a British convoy on their way to Nova Scotia ... 7 months before Pearl Harbor. Just about the only thing historically accurate was Jon Bon Jovi's acting ...

U-571 is technically a period piece. While it has a basis on the goingson of the time, it is fiction.


"It received a reply, in which the President acknowledged the role played by the people of Horsforth and tried to assure them that the movie was a work of fiction."

"At first glance this is an action story about bravery and honour but it is also a story about money - American money, American stars and a "seemingly" American story is just what it takes to make an American box office success."

That said, like JFK, its not very clearly stated that the movie is not intended to be a historically accurate documentary. I thought it was a great movie, personally.

 

[Waquoit]

I liken the Pacino/Diaz tension to the Business vs Game argument that permeates throughout professional sports today.

North Dallas Forty had a great scene on that. Still holds true.

 

[Kgun7]

U-571 is technically a period piece. While it has a basis on the goingson of the time, it is fiction.


"It received a reply, in which the President acknowledged the role played by the people of Horsforth and tried to assure them that the movie was a work of fiction."

"At first glance this is an action story about bravery and honour but it is also a story about money - American money, American stars and a "seemingly" American story is just what it takes to make an American box office success."

That said, like JFK, its not very clearly stated that the movie is not intended to be a historically accurate documentary. I thought it was a great movie, personally.

Husky25 - Sorry ... I should have been more specific. I thought if the thread devolved enough to include Natural Born Killers, I could comment on a movie that didn't clearly advertise itself to be fiction ... while incredulously misrepresenting history, with no repect for the actual historical facts, in an effort to make money ...

 

[Aluminny69]

What? You didn't find Brad Pitt's Italian passable?

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

I'm pretty sure we didn't kill Hitler and Goebbels by blowing up a theater in Paris. Unless someones been lying to me...

 

[ZooCougar]

The Patriot has to be one of the most historically inaccurate movies listed here.

Mel Gibson's character was essentially an amalgamation of a bunch of different people in history including Francis Marion.

Oh and not every country Americans have ever gone to war with had Soldiers that acted like Nazis.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Patriot has to be one of the most historically inaccurate movies listed here.

Mel Gibson's character was essentially an amalgamation of a bunch of different people in history including Francis Marion.

Oh and not every country Americans have ever gone to war with had Soldiers that acted like Nazis.

The church burning scene was obviously made up, but the British became fairly brutal as the rebellion wore on. Tarleton slaughtered prisoners, and the movie makes it clear that Gibson's character had no problem killing prisoners also. Marion was absolutely a monster, but he was not the only person that the Gibson character was based on. It was a war, and it is not unusual for soldiers make reprisals against citizens, particularly when there is an insurgency. It is morally reprehensible, and was presented that way.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Express (2008).

The scene at Mountaineer Field never happened, and is a brutal representation of the West Virginia fans. Whatever you think about WVU and their fan base, that scene is simply a not fair representation of that university.

 

[pepband99]

It's the difference between art and history. Without artistic license to impove on the Salieris concertos we would be left with ........ mediocrity. Everywhere.

LOL. Amadeus isnt even meant to be accurate. Great pic!

 

[Husky25]

The Express (2008).

The scene at Mountaineer Field never happened, and is a brutal representation of the West Virginia fans. Whatever you think about WVU and their fan base, that scene is simply a not fair representation of that university.

Remember the Titans.

T.C. Williams was fairly dominant in real life that year (i.e. they didn't win squeakers) and a number of characters were amalgamations (Ray the TE that Gary threw off the team, the bigotted assistant coach, Ryan Goseling character and his father). Plus Cheryl was one of four Yost daughters and I believe I read that they were not the only school forced to integrate in their conference.

Just saw it last night again...

 

[Husky25]

Husky25 - Sorry ... I should have been more specific. I thought if the thread devolved enough to include Natural Born Killers, I could comment on a movie that didn't clearly advertise itself to be fiction ... while incredulously misrepresenting history, with no repect for the actual historical facts, in an effort to make money ...

I called NBK out as well but the poster was making a point about Oliver Stone. There is a subtle difference between actual documented history being the basis for a film and a film that is merely inspired by historic events. That's my point. I probably went a little over the top in make it though...

 

[RS9999X]

I'm pretty sure we didn't kill Hitler and Goebbels by blowing up a theater in Paris. Unless someones been lying to me...

Better yet....what was Tarentino really saying with Inglourious Basterds?

Shoshana and the use of cinema on a Jewish revenge trip against German leadership and all that cackling during the ritual immolation/holocaust scene in the cinema?

 

[RS9999X]

There is a subtle difference between actual documented history being the basis for a film and a film that is merely inspired by historic events. That's my point. I probably went a little over the top in make it though...

None are oactual events no matter how hard they try. Directors always take an editorial stance. It's why I liked Clint Eastwoods "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Flag of our Fathers" telling the Iwo Jima story based on an Amerian Narrative and a one a Japanese narrative. It's still not history but it offers different perspectives. Ultmately there' a thematic point and editing that outweighs any film as a historical document.

 

[storrsroars]

What about most historically accurate? My vote is for Idiocracy

 

[Husky25]

What about most historically accurate? My vote is for Idiocracy

Game Change

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Donnie Brasco - pretty accurate historically, with one significant, and odd, exception. He was actually closer friends with Sonny Black (Michael Madsen), who was ultimately killed for letting Donnie infiltrate the Bonnano family. Lefty Ruggiero simply went to prison in a large part on evidence derived from the Donnie Brasco operation. Strange that the Directors would switch that. I get that it was dramatic to have Al Pacino march off to his executioner, but in some ways a reaction to a betrayal (in his mind) that Joe Pistone had inflicted on him would have been just as interesting.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Marie Antoinette

Pretty accurate historically with the obvious exception of the music. Like a lot of Sofia Coppola's stuff, it was visually awesome with some issues around pacing and character insight. Overall a good movie. Dunst and Schwartzman were perfect for those two characters.

 

[Vowelguy]

"Lincoln" never once showed Abe hunting vampires.

Yes that bothered me too.
It's just a result of the history book publishers who don't want to admit tht they've misled schoolchildren for decades.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Elizabeth and Brave heart top the list. But there are many contenders...including Rudy.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

When you duckk up the initial movie as badly as the Director did from a historical standpoint, how the hell did he think he could make a sequel? The biggest problem is that the first movie inaccurately gets rid of 2 of her 3 most important real life advisers. Dudley, Burghley and Walsingham were Elizabeth's top 3 advisers for almost her entire life, but the first movie fictionalizes Dudley's internal banishment, and Burghley's forced retirement. Which is a problem for the sequel, and forces the Director to elevate Raleigh into a much bigger role than he had in real life. Dudley essentially led the preparations for the Spanish invasion.

I would say that the sequel is actually more accurate than the first movie, which is a very low hurdle, and the sequel's historical accuracy problems are about 90% the result of the first movie being so absurdly fictionalized that it was almost impossible to get back on track with the true story, which really is a fascinating story. The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of the 2 most important battles (in my opinion) in the history of the world. The entire history of North America and the United States depended on the English keeping Spain from landing that Armada on English soil.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Enemy at the Gates - The Battle of Stalingrad is the other one of the 2 most important battles in the history of the world, in my opinion. The book is amazing, and the movie is a pretty faithful representation of the book, with the chief exception of elevating Kruschev to be much more important in the movie than he was in the book. A little dramatic license, and not a big deal in my opinion.

The opening scene of Enemy at the Gates makes the storming of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan look fairly benign by comparison.

 

[Waquoit]

What was the other?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Stalingrad and Defeat of the Spanish Armada are the two most important battles in history in my opinion.