historical accuracy
Movies based on true stories and real events.
When facts are more fascinating than fiction, let the facts shine. Some embellishments in films based on true stories leave us wondering why. The film seems like a missed opportunity at telling a true story. Other times, the film gets it just right, with fictional elements that enhance rather than detract from the true story and real events. Let's explore some of the most historically accurate films.
How is historical accuracy determined on this website? Sources include articles on biography.com, history.com, historyvshollywood.com, and more. In addition, check out the page "Based on a True Story?" on the "information is beautiful" website, where you can search by categories such as most true and most false.
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Based on a true story vs based on real events: there is a distinction. Films based on a true story claim to portray a real person's life and experiences. Films based on real events may have fictional characters but claim to portray real events, such as historical events.
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Most films below are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). They have at least a 70% or 7/10 rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or 8/10 or above. Enjoy the best and most historically accurate true story films!
Mostly Historically Accurate Films Set in the Cold War and U.S. Civil Rights Movement
Bridge of Spies (2015)
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PG-13 | Drama, History, Thriller | During the Cold War, an American lawyer, James Donovan, is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for an American spy plane pilot whom the Soviets captured.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The True Story of 'Bridge of Spies' on Biography.com
Selma (2014)
PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History | PG-13 | A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts: ​
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Martin Luther King, Jr. on Biography.com
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Martin Luther King, Jr. on History.com
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
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How Accurate Is Selma? on Slate
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The movie ‘Selma’ has a glaring flaw by Joseph A. Califano Jr. on The Washington Post. The author was President Lyndon Johnson’s top assistant for domestic affairs.
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When History is not Good Enough for Hollywood by Kent Germany on historians.org
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‘Selma’ vs. History by Elizabeth Drew on The New York Review
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"If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving." - Martin Luther King, Jr., speech "What Is Your Life's Blueprint?" delivered to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967. Full speech on YouTube.
Mostly Historically Accurate Films
Set in the World War II Era (1939-1945)
Dunkirk (2017)
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PG-13 | Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War | In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk, followed by troops evacuating from the beach during battle.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
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Unrated | Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War | In February 1943, Sophie Scholl was a student activist in Germany's anti-Nazi resistance group, The White Rose, when she and fellow members distributed anti-war and anti-Nazi propapanda in Munich, leading to their arrest. The film re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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This Day in History: February 18 - Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders on History.com
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History of Student Protests on History.com (White Rose Society of Nazi Germany is #3)
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Sophie Scholl biography on Wikipedia
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White Rose on Wikipedia
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Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Tanja B. Spitzer on The National WW2 Museum website
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Sophie Scholl on Wikiquote
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"Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did." - Sophie Scholl, statement to the Volksgerichtshof [People's Court] of Judge Roland Freisler (February 21, 1943).
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"How can we expect a righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause?"- Sophie Scholl, as quoted in Seeking Peace: Notes and Conversations Along the Way (1998) by Johann Christoph Arnold, p. 155
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The 12th Man (2017)
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Unrated | Adventure, Drama, History, Thriller | In March 1943, there were 12 men on an anti-Nazi sabotage mission in Norway. The Nazis killed 11 of them. This is the true story of Jan Baalsrud, the 12th man, showing his time on the run in the icy wilderness.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The 12th Man book by Astrid Karlsen Scott and Tore Haug on Amazon
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We Die Alone: A WWII Epic Of Escape And Endurance by David Howarth and Stephen Ambrose on Amazon
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Following in the tracks of Jan Baalsrud article on the Visit Lyngenfjord website
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Saving Private Ryan (1998)
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R | Drama, War, History | After the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, a battalion of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve Private James Ryan, a paratrooper whose three brothers have been killed in action.
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Facts: ​
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History Buffs: Saving Private Ryan video on YouTube
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
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PG-13 | Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War | Long-buried letters are discovered, telling the stories and perspectives of Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19-March 16, 1945), a World War II conflict between the United States and Japan.
Trailers and Reviews:
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IMDb
Facts:
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The battle for Iwo Jima: why did it happen and why was it so hard fought? on History Extra
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Battle of Iwo Jima on Naval History and Heritage Command
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Letters From Iwo Jima book by Kumiko Kakehashi
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Downfall (2004)
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R | Biography, Drama, History, War | Adolf Hitler's private secretary, Traudl Junge, narrates Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker near the end of World War II in April 1945. Based on Traudl Junge’s memoir Until the Final Hour, historian Joachim Fest’s Inside Hitler’s Bunker, and other memoirs.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Is Downfall historically correct? on Axis History Forum
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Blind Spot (2002) is the documentary source of the opening and closing interviews with Junge. Read the documentary reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
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Unearthed Eyewitness Reports of Hitler's Final Days from The Smithsonian Channel on YouTube
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990)
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PG-13 | Drama, History, War | The film dramatizes the aftermath of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945 during World War II by following the perspectives of multiple characters, including Japanese victims, soldiers, American prisoners of war, and more.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes has eyewitness accounts at the end of the book
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Eyewitness Account of Hiroshima by Father John A. Siemes, professor of modern philosophy at Tokyo's Catholic University​
Schindler's List (1993)
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R | Biography, Drama, History | In German-occupied Poland, businessman Oskar Schindler aims to profit from World War II and staffs his factory with Jewish workers, but he gradually becomes concerned for them upon witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. The film takes place primarily between 1939-1945.
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The Pianist (2002)
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R | Biography, Drama, Music, War | A Polish Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman, is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto at the beginning of World War II and later becomes separated from his family, going into hiding. The film takes place from 1939-1945.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 autobiography by Wladyslaw Szpilman that inspired the film
Mostly Historically Accurate Films
Set in the U.S. Civil War Era (1861-1865)
Glory (1989)
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R | Biography, Drama, History, War | Col. Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer regiment, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army and the Confederates.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, War | During the Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln struggles against members of his own cabinet and makes the decision to end the war and abolish slavery through the 13th Amendment.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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How Accurate Is Lincoln? by Forrest Wickman on Slate
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How Historically Accurate is "Lincoln"? by Kelsey McKernie on History News Network