Historically Inaccurate Movies:
Filmmakers have always tinkered with history to make it more exciting and theatre-worthy. We don’t mind when it comes to small details, but sometimes, they take it too far. Referring to these movies as ‘true stories’ is downright disrespectful to the actual events. The movies on this list are highly entertaining, but they do not depict what truly happened.
#1: 300 (2006)
Zack Snyder showed us The legendary Battle of Thermopylae in the most spectacular fashion, and the might of Spartans left us in awe. But in reality, Spartans had the support of over 7,000 Greek soldiers. The movie heavily glorified the Spartans and belittled the Persians. Xerxes, the Persian King was not a weirdo as depicted in this movie, and the Persian empire was one of the strongest and most open-minded civilizations at that time.
#2: Pearl Harbor (2001)
Michael Bay added spice to the story of Pearl Harbor every chance he got, and the end result was nowhere near reality. The American exploits are heavily glorified in this movie. As you know this is a Michael Bay movie, the destruction and explosions are amped up, which ultimately makes it a popcorn-action movie, and not a movie based on historical events.
#3: A Beautiful Mind (2001)
The Oscar-winning movie A Beautiful Mind is a spectacular movie about John Nash, but it leaves out a lot of significant events. In reality, John Nash had several homosexual affairs that are completely left out of the movie. He even abandoned his first son and the boy’s mother due to their humble background. John Nash was a genius, but not without flaws, and this movie is just a sugar-coated version of his life.
#4: The Patriot (2000)
This movie depicts Britishers as blood-craving lunatics who would go to any extent to kill even women and children, which wasn’t completely true. The movie is based on the life of Francis Marion, and he wasn’t exactly a role model in reality, as he used to hunt Native Americans for fun and he used to constantly rape slaves. He even married his cousin. The Americans lost this fight in reality, but the movie shows a different ending.
#5: Gladiator (2000)
Don’t get us wrong, Gladiator is a phenomenal movie, but it is nowhere near as close to reality. Ridley Scott hired historians, but the reality was far less dramatic, so he decided to mingle with the story. This did not go down well with the historians, as they showed their dissent publicly. In reality, Commodus was a beloved ruler and he did not kill his father. He wasn’t even murdered by Maximus in reality.
#6: The Last Samurai (2003)
The Japanese never hired the Americans as foreign military advisors, and this fact refutes the entire movie. On top that, Nathan Algren, a retired veteran managed to become a master Samurai in no time at all, a feat that requires years of training. Granted, it’s Tom Cruise, and he can achieve anything, but it is still far-fetched.
#7: Argo (2012)
Ben Affleck raked in a lot of praise for this movie, and he deserved it, but he had to rework a lot on the plot to make it more exciting. In reality, the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979, was not really as eventful as depicted in the movie. The movie downplayed the influence of Canada and New Zealand during the rescue. Apart from depicting Iranians as crazy villains, even the climax is fictional. The chase on the airport runway never happened.
#8: Braveheart (1995)
William Wallace, the focal point of this movie didn’t even have the title of Braveheart in reality. The title actually belonged to Robert the Bruce. Historians have regarded this movie as entirely fictional, and that is true. Isabella, who is William’s love interest in this movie was actually only three years old during this time and England was at peace with Scotland. The entire execution scene is dramatized as none of that actually happened.
#9: 10,000 BC (2008)
After this movie came out, the historical inaccuracies became the least of worries for the makers as it bombed on every front. We don’t even know where to begin with this movie as it doesn’t have an iota of truth in it. From Mammoths building the Pyramids to showing ships and steel thousands of years before actual discovery, this movie is a plethora of inaccuracies. One could argue this movie was only meant for entertainment, but they even failed on that front.
#10: Pocahontas (1995)
The real story of Pocahontas is nowhere near as cheery as depicted in this movie. In reality, Pocahontas was only around ten years old when the English people came. The English massacred and wiped out Native people, as opposed to what’s depicted in the movie. Pocahontas never had any relations with John Smith, in fact, she was kidnapped and was forced to marry an Englishman named John Rolfe.
