7 Movies based on True Stories that are complete.....

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Am I the only one who can say he honestly doesn't care anymore? Hollywood could say something like "Loosely based on events that may or may not have happened at any point in time or perhaps a parallel universe" and I honestly would not give a crap as long as it was a good movie and not some remake passed off as "original"?

I agree to a point. I go see a movie to enjoy it not for a history lesson. BUT and a big BUT...

This "Based on a True Story" gives the movie authority as though it is actual history and an out as it is just based on and not the actual story. People believe it to be factual when they see those words. Hollywood sure doesn't go out of their way to pretend otherwise either...until there is a lawsuit against them.

I think those words need to be changed or dropped all together.

I want to add this as I went and looked at the False Advertising thread. Movies with " Based on a True Story" is pretty much false advertising.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

The Perfect Storm.

They have no idea what the true story actually is, plus the movie is terrible to boot.

I always laughed about that with Perfect Storm. Everyone died and they had no communication (IIRC) once things got dicey and yet it's still based on a true story.

Is it really that difficult to come up the idea of a ship going to sea and getting taken down by a storm on your own?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by JayP

I always laughed about that with Perfect Storm. Everyone died and they had no communication (IIRC) once things got dicey and yet it's still based on a true story.

Is it really that difficult to come up the idea of a ship going to sea and getting taken down by a storm on your own?

I think with the Perfect Storm when they say its a true story I think they mean like "this fricken huge storm actually happened" as opposed to "george clooney and mark wahlberg are these guys and this is what happened when they were out there." I think the actual character story is mostly ficitional because its true that no one knew what actually happened, but that is the storm

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I think with the Perfect Storm when they say its a true story I think they mean like "this fricken huge storm actually happened" as opposed to "george clooney and mark wahlberg are these guys and this is what happened when they were out there." I think the actual character story is mostly ficitional because its true that no one knew what actually happened, but that is the storm

Yeah, the Perfect Storm was about the actual storm. A documented storm. Of course no one knows what happened, for all we know, they all got drunk and couldn't navigate properly and sailed right into the storm rather than forcing their way thru it because they wanted to make it back with fresh fish.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Haha thats true. I remember reading the thread about The Happening not too long ago, and I believe you said it was only so-so. I knew right away after reading that, that it was gonna be just garbage. And it was. If you don't think its that great, you know its gonna be bad! haha

It's all good though, I like the positivity.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Haha thats true. I remember reading the thread about The Happening not too long ago, and I believe you said it was only so-so. I knew right away after reading that, that it was gonna be just garbage. And it was. If you don't think its that great, you know its gonna be bad! haha

It's all good though, I like the positivity.

Well, at least I now know that people are reading my posts, but I have to say, I don't like the reputation I am gettin in regards to my movie taste. There are plenty of flicks that are huge fan favs that I can't stand. But if I begin to list them, then we derail the thread.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

Funny how James Frey gets completely crucified for his book embelishments, whilst these movies get made without much controversy.

Just goes to show you how stupid that whole thing with Frey was. Besides that whole Oprah freakout/sandbag was probably less about Frey embellishing and more about Oprah looking bad.

What about Olivers Stones JFK? Does that count? I bet most people who think the real thing was a conspiracy is because of that movie.

[Itse]

Well, it depends. I get annoyed when I like the real story better. Like "300". As a Frank Miller comic it's tolerable since the guy just has the skills to make ultra-machismo appealing. Now the movie, that's just silly. In my opinion it strips the actual 300 spartans of all their true glory, as their last stand is depicted as nothing but a stupid stubborness. It's not a last stand, since there's no fighting. They stay and just get slaughtered without achieving anything, without slowing the Persians down and without killing a single one of them.

I don't mind that everyone ignores that Thespians were also there to the very end (which was notable partly because unlike the Spartans, they had made no vows against retreat or surrender, and so it can be argued that they were the only ones that remained truely out of their own free will). It's just statistics really. I don't mind that the depiction of the battle is mostly pure fantasy, or that it's connected to a land battle afterwards, when in fact it was a naval battle. That's cosmetics.

What I do mind is that they changed what was truly unique about that particular battle. Small groups of men have stood and actually won against overwhelming odds several times in history, but mostly they didn't really matter in a bigger picture. But that one battle was much more than an epic act of stubborness and a waste of lives.

Thermopylae is special because the actual result is among the most significant ones in history. Halting the Persian army at Thermopylae meant that the Greeks had time to gather a warfleet which they used to defeat Persian fleet at the following Battle of Salamis, which meant the end of the Persian invasion, which in turn is seen as one of the most defining moments in history, as many things would propably be different for us now if Persia triumphed then. (At the very least we would have much more in common with the Middle-Eastern cultures than we do know, which of course would be quite enough to change tons of things in ways that are just impossible to imagine.)

EDIT: hopefully this makes better sense than the first version...

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

Well, at least I now know that people are reading my posts, but I have to say, I don't like the reputation I am gettin in regards to my movie taste. There are plenty of flicks that are huge fan favs that I can't stand. But if I begin to list them, then we derail the thread.

If 300 is one of them, then I applaud you sir.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Itse

(At the very least we would have much more in common with the Middle-Eastern cultures than we do know, which of course would be quite enough to change tons of things in ways that are just impossible to imagine.)

EDIT: hopefully this makes better sense than the first version...

Maybe. Alexander conquered all of them and look where we are. Nevermind the French and British a few centuries later.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

If 300 is one of them, then I applaud you sir.

Sorry, I loved it.....lots of fun.