Posted on 09/24/2011 4:19:32 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
I am a huge history buff so and enjoy watching movies about events in the past. However, many of these movies really irk me because they are incredibly inaccurate as to the historical facts. Here is a sampling of movies that have bugged me due to their historical inaccuracies:
1. Battle of the Bulge: So just how inaccurate was this 1965 movie? So inaccurate that former President Eisenhower who was Supreme Commander of the Allies in Europe denounced this film in a press conference. To watch this movie you would think that some Boston detective was able to predict all the German tactical moves based on such police work as shutting off the engine of a spotter plane in the middle of a fog bank in order to hear sounds of tank treads. Oh, and the German Panzers looked exactly like M47 Patton tanks which is what they were. As to the heavily forested Ardennes forest, at times it looked like a deforested western prairie.
2. Gunfight at the OK Corral: Couldn't Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp have bothered to grow a mustache or at least wear a fake one? The cleanshaven Earp in that movie is a slap at the intelligence of anybody with even a little knowledge about Wyatt Earp. Also the real life gunfight took just a few seconds, not at all like the extended gunfight in the movie which did not take place at the OK Corral but NEXT to it.
3. Huns. Why is it that every movie depicting Huns make them look like white guys? In actuality the Huns were a nomadic tribe from deep inside Asia who looked like ugly Mongolians with scarred faces. And the movie Attila the Hun looks like Jack Palance which is just wrong.
4. Confederate uniforms. This really bugs me. Civil War movies which depict Confederates late in the war wearing immaculate uniforms. Only officers had uniforms at that stage of the war that were in decent shape. The uniforms of the average foot soldiers were either one step up from rags or were stolen Federal uniforms dyed a beechnut color. And even those latter uniforms were usually in bad shape.
5. Pearl Harbor: Did anybody else cringe when Franklin D. Roosevelt rose from his wheel chair and walk a few steps to make a point? Guess what? That never happened.
6. The Alamo: Final Mexican attack took place in the dark before daybreak not in the middle of the day as depicted in the film. Also Col. Travis in the movie spoke with a clipped British accent. Oh, and the character of supposed frontiersman Smitty from Tennessee looked and sounded like he was an urban guy from South Philly.
I’m a female red head.
You were warned.
;D
I know.
Oxymoron heaven, innit?
;D
lol. The new Star Trek movie was obviously and overtly the result of people messing with the time line. Which was sort of the point of the film and now they gave themselves a whole new universe to play in. Besides wasn’t Spock only supposed to want a girl every 7 years, how did Uhura get that timed??
The dirt was the wrong color. Should have been more red.
In real life any British prisoner who raised even the slightest objection to the Japanese would be instantly bayoneted...or worse.
“Oliver Stone’s JFK”
That was the first one that came to mind...
I had to watch Braveheart because my son was an extra in it- funny stuff...
I know it wasn't that stinker, but one "Alamo" I saw had Texans using lever-action Winchesters! I threw a rod so bad the wife thought I had a coronary. Well, maybe I did. Frigging awful. Being a gun nut, I could fill pages with inaccuracies. I can overlook breechloading trapdoor Springfields having a flint hammer to portray earlier muzzle loaders, but lever-actions in 1836?
In a river crossing scene in the old "Red Badge of Courage", the Union troops are holding 1880s trapdoors over their heads as they ford a stream. One guy is holding up a M1906 Springfield. Closeups did show Audie Murphy shooting a M1861 though, so Huston gets a pass.
Probably those into clothing could add a bunch also, but the ones you mention are right up there. Saw the trailer for the new Pearl Harbor and when I saw clipper bows on the ships, I passed. Like another poster mentioned, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" passed the test.
Yeah, yeah...details details..
I've checked on that one. Based on actual people, but not very accurate.
Never said I hated it. I'd probably give it 3 1/2 stars, myself.
Just pointing out that it was not as historical as was touted.
That IS the topic of this thread, isn't it?
There is a Polish movie about when the Soviets attempted to invade Poland in 1920 but failed that I am interested in. Does anybody know the title of that movie and if it has English subtitles?
Actually, “The Sound of Music” was not that accurate...the father in reality was a very warm loving father, Maria had a real streak of anger...the family had sold the rights to the story and had no say in the movie...there are several good books on the real story...
‘Soldiers’, when compared to the book, was a close as they could be considering the battle took three days over three different areas, and the movie was only 2 1/2 hours, I think...I know the producers worked closely with some the people portrayed to make it as close as possible
Devil’s Brigade: In real life they never wore a red beret or even any kind of beret.
Any movie that depicts Naval Officers and enlisted men wearing their DRESS UNIFORMS in the middle of the ocean.
American carrier aircraft had difficulty locating the target, despite the positions they had been given. The strike from Hornet, led by Commander Stanhope C. Ring, followed an incorrect heading of 263 degrees rather than the 240 heading indicated by the contact report. As a result, Air Group Eight's dive bombers missed the Japanese carriers. Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8, from Hornet), led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron broke formation from Ring and followed the correct heading. Waldron's squadron sighted the enemy carriers and began attacking at 09:20, followed by Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6, from Enterprise) at 09:40.
Commander Waldron and his men sacrificed themselves, but brought the Japanese fleet to ruin with their sacrifice.
Despite their losses, the American torpedo attacks indirectly achieved three important results. First, they kept the Japanese carriers off balance, with no ability to prepare and launch their own counterstrike. Second, their attacks pulled the Japanese combat air patrol out of position. Third, many of the Zeros ran low on ammunition and fuel. The appearance of a third torpedo plane attack from the southeast by Torpedo Squadron 3 (VT-3) at 10:00 very quickly drew the majority of the Japanese CAP to the southeast quadrant of the fleet. Better discipline, and employment of all the Zeroes aboard, might have enabled Nagumo to succeed.
It's a tale right up there with the exploits of Taffy 3.
Yes, the Ben Affleck character was indeed an extraordinary pilot. Not only did he fly a fighter plane at Pearl Harbor, he was a good enough bomber pilot to fly a B-25 a few months later on the Doolittle Tokyo raid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.