Films based on true stories: Which do you think are full of holes/inconsistencies?

A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard completely changes historical events to suit his own artistic intentions. Which I think was a bad idea.

Ron Howard presents mental illness as almost a fantasy. Plus, he fictionalizes the relationship between the main charaacter and his wife, and tries to create as much sentimentality as he can. Otherwise, I think it’s a well done movie. Just completely offensive on a biographical level.

All of them. No “true” story can told in two hours.

Think about it. If you were going to make a movie about anyone, even someone very close to you like your mom, how could you possibly learn enough about her or be absolutely sure of what was true and what wasn’t about the information you got from family members, friends, teachers and parents and others, not to mention from her? How could you even be sure of what you knew, or thought you knew, about her?

Even if you did (and you couldn’t), how could it be written and filmed in any amount of time less that, well, a lifetime? And what producer would believe that anyone would pay to see a movie that lasted, say, 75 years?

Dramatic license is the key to movie making and attracting audiences.

Almost anything by Oliver Stone.

@rockfan Not to mention that he didn’t actually “see” the people who were voices in his head. They were just voices.

My favorite movie based on a true story is “I Love You To Death”. They kept pretty close to the truth.

One that really got me mad was when they made a movie of the life of a woman reputed to be the ugliest woman on the planet. Grown men would fight over whether she was the ugliest, or just one of the ugliest. Then, when they cast the movie, they got Valerie Bertinelli

True or not, the Ilyad is a very complex story, and most school kids won’t read it if they have the chance to watch the movie Troy. The story is so vastly changed, with people dying who lived, people living who died, and just crazy changes that were unnecessary.

Maybe the worst telling of a true story was “Apollo 13”. Nicely told, but those small changes that made for a good story didn’t echo the truth. Ken Mattingly wasn’t the guy who helped fix the battery loss problem, it was John Ahrens. The crew knew almost immediately why the Oxygen tank ruptured, and there was no discussion of an asteroid hitting it.

I’m guessing that Perfect Storm was full of holes… since it’s based the a true story of things that happened to people who did not survive the incident.

@filmfann

One that really got me mad was when they made a movie of the life of a woman reputed to be the ugliest woman on the planet.

What’s the name of that movie?

@Brian1946 The link I provided showed the movie. It’s “Pancho Barnes”, who was a famous pilot.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes to mind. It’s based on Edward Gein, the Ghoul of Plainfield.

The dude in question.

A shy individual who was smothered by his mother, when she died, he found he could no longer live without her. He tried to recreate her in a number ow ways, such as murdering two women and wearing their skin, and decorating his place with pieces from female corpses. It’s recorded that he killed two people, although there may have been more victims, and the unsolved death of his brother may also be attributed to him. The guy was fucked, although while imprisoned, he was said to be a model prisoner. Anyways.

The original Chainsaw movie features a sadistic family of cannibals, and they pretty much kill anyone who happens to stray by their domain.

The movie used a lot of the morbidity from the Ed Gein story, especially for setting its imagery and macabre factor. However, the story itself, which is general slasher fanfare, and the characters have very little, if anything, to do with the actual events. Ed Gein had, apparently, no ill intent in his actions. He was fucked. The Chainsaw family are obviously enjoying themselves. Leatherface is the victim, as he is mentally retarded, so it was easy for the family to raise him how they wanted. With that exception, you can see where the influence comes from, but really it couldn’t be more off than what the movie says it’s based on, sort of. (not entirely sure that Ed Gein was mentally retarded, but he was pretty nuts) Although I suppose this is the key word; based on.

Also as a side note, I am often frighteningly surprised at people’s gullibility.
The intro.

To this day, I’ve had people tell me they thought that the whole movie was real based on those 48 seconds. Lol. Dude I mean what? Even back as a knobby kneed failed 80’s punk bitch when I first saw this, I knew it wasn’t real. But saying it’s based on something real can be real convincing, I suppose.

That said, Psycho is a lot more closer to what Eddy Gein was than Leatherface.

Also, the saw is family, motherfuckers.

@Symbeline I saw both a documentary & the film based on Ed Gein & what a monumental fuck up he was, making lamp shades & shit outta his victims skins…dude, really!?!
A film I kinda feel sorry for is Driller Killer, made at roughly the same time as Chainsaw but largely forgotten. They were known as “video nasties” which is just fucking hilarious if i’m being honest.

@ucme Yeah the guy had problems. He was mentally unfit enough that he didn’t have to attend a trial, either. Automatically shipped off to the asylum. But the fact that he performed his crimes in private in order not to get caught shows that he wasn’t as whacked as Leatherface, who just goes wild and doesn’t really care who sees him do what, lol.

And lol The Driller Killer. Is that one movie where he’s about to drill some girl’s face off, and just as the dirll is about to pierce her forehead, the drull unplugs? Cuz if that’s the movie I’m thinking about, it’s funny as hell.

And yeah, Tobe Hooper did a lot of movies, and to this day is still popping em out. But he’ll forever be known for Texas Chainsaw, no matter how many other movies he makes. Personally my second favorite oh his is Eaten Alive. A guy who has pet crocodiles, and kills people with a scythe. if that’s based on something real, I don’t wanna know what haha

Yeah, that’s the one :D
A guy has pet crocs & kills folks with a scythe…Tarzan: The Farmhand Years XD

Just watched Argo today.

Great film, I loved it — but I wonder how accurate it was.