Top 30 Historically Accurate Movies

When it came to faithfully adapting history, these movies did not cut corners. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best movies that were reasonably faithful to reality. Our countdown of historically accurate movies includes “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Goodfellas”, “Flags of Our Fathers”, "The Pianist", “Apollo 13”, and more! What are some other historically accurate films we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

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[WatchMojo]

Which movie taught YOU the most about history? Let us know in the comments!

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[skipads]

The Killing Fields about Pol Pot's Cambodian genocide is another that deserves mention.

[terpcj]

It often feels as if _Tora, Tora, Tora_ has always been a forgotten film. Maybe it's because it's a little dry and doesn't throw in needless romance or melodrama (looking at you, _Pearl Harbor_ ). It tells a story of an event that should be action enough for anyone...even today. It's certainly a more balanced telling of this battle than most are ever taught.

[mikewyatt]

Excellent list, but the Imitation Game is a big no. That film depicts Turing discovering a Soviet spy but covering for him because the spy knew about T's sexuality. In reality, the spy worked in a different section of Bletchley Park and never met Turing. Turing was actually pretty open about his sexuality, and everyone knew about it. Turing wasn't weird and autistic; people found him witty and charming. The film depicts the head of the project as interfering and obstructing Turing. In reality, the boss was very supportive, and had many useful suggestions. The code breakers did not decide which intelligence to act on and which to ignore in order to keep their secret. Bletchley Park passed the intelligence to the military to let them decide.

[lichbane]

"Flags of our Fathers" was great, but nowhere near as heart-wrenching as its partner movie, "Letters from Iwo-Jima". You can't mention one without mentioning the other. Both films should be watched as one set.

[jsmith]

You got something wrong about Apollo 13. They didn't faithfully re-create the mission control room, they used the actual mission control room. Just prior to filming, NASA had opened a new mission control center at the Johnson Space Center. This made the now de-activated control room, which was used for all Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle missions (up until that point), available for the filming. So you are seeing the real deal in the movie, not a faithfully re-created film set. Also adding to the accuracy, the on-set technical advisor for the movie was astronaut David Scott, who had served as the pilot on Gemini 8 (with Neil Armstrong as the commander), the command module pilot on Apollo 9, and commander of the Apollo 15 mission. So the actors were getting instruction from a man who knew not only space flight, but had intimate knowledge of both the Command Module and Lunar Module.

[ElizabethMcCormick-sn]

I was BLOWN AWAY by Mr. Day-Lewis's portrayal of Lincoln, he totally deserved that Oscar!

[trinaq]

The Filmmakers behind "The Big Short" accurately predicted that most of their audience wouldn't understand about hedge fund managers, so had celebrities pop up in cameos to explain more of the more complex terminology. Margot Robbie in a bathtub was originally scripted as Scarlett Johansson underneath a waterfall.

[fairamir]

How in the world could you leave off the movie " The Right Stuff" about the history of the early space I consider it one of the most perfect movies ever made.

[Ulbre]

The heart wrenching story of Dith Pran, the Cambodian journalist whose story was revealed in The Killing Fields, should not only be on this list but should be at or near the top.

[alwaysrecycles]

Master and Commander is one of my favorites. The story has great characters and so many different elements packed in together.

[MsJayteeListens]

The Imitation Game is not accurate. The GCHQ historian said the only thing’s that were accurate was there was a Second World War and a Turing called Alan.

Historian Alex von Tunzelmann criticised the espionage subplot, “creative licence is one thing, but slandering a great man's reputation – while buying into the nasty 1950s prejudice that gay men automatically constituted a security risk – is quite another”

The portrayal of Turing isn’t consistent with accounts of his life. I think this was twisted by prejudice. Those making the movie believe that Turing was autistic, so do I. But they clearly don’t understand autistic people, the casting of Cumberbatch shows that, so they changed Turing to fit their stereotype, instead of allowing Turing to show that autistic people have always been here.

[Scynthius]

Monty Python and The Holy Grail is my generation's definitive guide to the middle ages.

[BrianJNelson]

Glory, from my understanding, was pretty faithful to the material as well. I'm surprised you missed that one.

Monuments Men and American Hustle are pretty close as well.

[brucie]

Master and Commander is so underrated. Should have been a franchise

[bigdaddysnapper]

You forgot to include “The Killing Fields.” I had the fortunate opportunity to meet a survivor and he told me there really is no better way to depict the history and true story about the events in Cambodia under Pol Pot.

[krisfrederick]

Absolutely Downfall...First of all, very few have dared to portray Hitler in film beyond the portrait on the wall or desk of a general. The fact that the Germans themselves did this adds a certain potency that I don't think anyone could have achieved. They're owning up to it, a brutal admission of guilt in film. Sometimes you forget you're watching a movie and not a documentary. Or even in the room yourself. The overwhelming sense of dread and impending doom feels like a led blanket. Some criticize this for "Humanizing Hitler" but that's the point. The Nazis weren't imaginary monsters. They were Humans who did monstrous things. Never Forget.

[momcat]

Anyone who has seen the late great Bruno Ganz as Hitler in "Downfall" owes it to themselves to see his luminous portrayal in "Wings of Desire." Polar opposite characters.
It's a testament to everyone involved in the filming of "Apollo 13" that even those of us who lived those events in real time were on the edges of our seats, despite knowing the outcome.

[gcorriveau]

Das Boot / The Boat depicts many of the harsh realities of submarine warfare and the trials of a U-boat crew towards the end of WWII as it becomes more and more obvious they are losing the war. The original book explains many technical details of how a u-boat worked and the movie stays faithful to that.

[CalidrisJZ]

Calling the Battle of Stalingrad a "skirmish" is a bit naff.