Posted on 11/07/2014 5:43:15 PM PST by PJ-Comix
I remember reading about an interview with journalist Lowell Thomas. He was asked what he thought about the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" since he knew T.E. Lawrence and one of the characters in the film was loosely based on him. Thomas replied that he began to take notes when the movie came on the screen but quickly put his notes aside because the Lawrence he knew personally and the one he saw on the screen bore no factual resemblance to each other.
In fact most movies supposedly based on fact in reality are quite inaccurate so it would be easy to ask for your list on factually inaccurate movies. Instead, I am asking for your list of factually accurate movies. That is movies based on real events to come closest to factual accuracy.
Okay, I'll lead off. Because I read the book before seeing the movie, I would say "The Right Stuff." Some liberties with truth were taken but in general the facts of the space program were pretty accurate. Also "Nicholas and Alexandra" for the same reason as before, I read the book and the movie was mostly truthful except perhaps it did not show what a vacuous idiot Nicholas II was.
I thought that Dumb And Dumber pretty accurately portrayed Obama and Hillary.
A buddy of mine said the boot camp parts of Apocalypse Now we’re pretty much spot on to his time.
Yeah, the German M-48 Patton tanks advancing across the Ardennes desert really screamed verisimilitude.
oh, that’s funny!
Why?
It's Texas.
They have chainsaws.
On a Friday night, they be in a mood for a massacre.
If only Richard Fleischer had directed that 2001 piece of crap instead of Michael Bay.
I do remember Malmady being mentioned.
The movie “Battle of the Bulge” was denounced by former President (and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WW2) Dwight D. Eisenhower soon after its release in a press conference due to its glaring historical inaccuracies.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058947/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
I think the worst one of all because it was totally made up was “Fargo”.
I read an article some time ago where a couple of guys from that area were talking and they could not remember any crime which resembled the movie at all.
Turns out that the movie despite saying it was true, was totally made up.
I agree ‘Laurence of Arabia’ didn’t portray the man as he really was. And the movie certainly veered way off the facts.
I also agree...’Tora Tora Tora’ seemed pretty much according to the facts.
“Gone With The Wind”
It truly deserves that accolade too. It’s almost uncanny, esp. the clothes. Some outfits, even though they are barely described in the book are just as one imagined them.
It’s probably the greatest chick flick of all time.
Another one that is really good, and more for men, is “The Leopard” with an international cast including Burt Lancaster in the lead.
Great book, great movie. If you see it in Italian with subtitles, much of the subtitled dialogue is right out of the book. That’s the one I’ve seen most, so I’m not sure about the English language version.
1776 the musical
How about Dr. Zhivago?
LOL. I know. I was trying to get you to call me a Lousy DUmmie Troll.
I don’t recall a boot camp scene in Apocalypse Now - you might be thinking of Full Metal Jacket with Sgt. Ermey as the drill instructor.
Full Metal Jacket?
I believe Apollo 13 was technically accurate, but probably less so with respect to personalities of the astronauts and ground crew.
I would like to believe that Gettysburg was fairly accurate.
Animal House was pretty accurate......
Tora-tora. I enjoyed how they named names.
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