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What is the most historially accurate film ever made?


Garandomatic
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I had this thought when I was talking to my son about the movie "42" about Jackie Robinson, which they will watch after school tomorrow. I have not seen it, but wouldn't mind the opportunity. I did read about the film in the newspaper. Son started to say that it was all true, and I told him that I thought a lot of it would be decent history, but at least one instance was improperly Hollywood-ized, in which a left-handed pitcher beans Jackie. I guess it is hyped with some racism in the film, when in real life, according to the player (before his death) and his family, the man dreaded pitching to Jackie, who crowded the plate, making being hit by a ball from a southpaw more likely. He was afraid of what it would look like if he hit Jackie, all this according to an editorial written by or with significant contribution of the pitcher's daughter, to the point that with plenty of real examples of racism to focus on, why make a racist out of a man that apparently was not a racist? Seems Hollywood always has to get its $.02 in.

 

It got me thinking. Have there been any historical movies that would score above 95% on our unscientific scale of movie accuracy? I'd be interested in even non-military examples as well. If you thought a movie was spot on, do tell.

 

 

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I'm sure not trying to rip the movie "42" or discount the issues Jackie Robinson faced, by any means, either. Just looking for members' impressions of movies that "got it right", primarily of a military nature, and why they feel that way.

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I would say the most historicially acurrate film ever made was the 1957 8mm home movie "Bobby's 7th Birthday," which accurately portrayed most of the event, but did leave out brother Don's rant about how come he didn't get presents too. So I'd rate it at 90% accuracy :)

 

By their very nature, feature films are not history, but often based on history. There are documentary films, but they often reveal the filmmaker's personal bias and that can color the interpretation of history.

 

Ironically, this morning I watched the Smithsonian Channel's documentary evaluating the historical acuracy of the non-fiction film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. You can watch it for free online at http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/series/679/the-real-story/140631/saving-private-ryan

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The recent production of the Lincoln assassination "killing Lincoln" I thought was outstanding, and the NatGeo "Killing Kennedy" was a very, very close second. I like that "docudrama" trend that's going on now, with Hatfields and McCoys (though not sure how accurate that one was) and the new one "Bonnie and Clyde" that comes out this weekend. Even my wife likes these, and she hates history.

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Being a HUGE Dodgers fan and consumer of so much of what was written about that "golden" era of baseball, I think I have a fairly educated perspective. I have also spoken with Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese (years ago) and confirmed much of what was written about during that first and subsequent seasons.

I watched the film a few months ago and tried desperately to lay aside the things that I new in order that I might be entertained. The idea that Hollywood producers, executive, writers and directors take certain liberties with facts in order to tell an entertaining story is hardly a new concept and it certainly played part in this film.

When dealing with 2+/- hours in which to tell a story that spans a large portion of time, many aspects get compressed, omitted or enhanced. As far as the portrayals of the racism Jackie endured, while it fell short of demonstrating every instance or aspect, the film did demonstrate the ugly nature of what was said and done to him. Some of the portrayals had more of a revisionist feel to them (I can't articulate this in a brief forum post), but the essence and spirit/tone of the racial hatred was correct.

I wished that Branch Rickey's character was better baked in order to show WHY he made the decision and why he thought the timing was right. Harrison Ford could have had an Oscar performance if they had another 30-40 minutes to build his character. What Jackie endured was not born entirely by him (and Rachel). Rickey was getting lit up by the other owners, the media, the commissioner, the Brooklyn community, etc. Enough of that.

 

If I recall correctly, the film opens with a statement to the effect of "This is a true story" which, seemed to me to be quite presumptuous. In the end, I can't recall anything too glaringly inaccurate that would served to discredit the overall spirit of the film's claim of truth. To me, it just had too much of today's convenient perspective that portrayed everything about post-war American society to be entirely bad (this is just my sentiment).

I did enjoy the film and want to add it to my library. It is by far a much more accurate depiction of Robinson's story than the film that actually featured him in the lead role.

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The recent production of the Lincoln assassination "killing Lincoln" I thought was outstanding, and the NatGeo "Killing Kennedy" was a very, very close second. I like that "docudrama" trend that's going on now, with Hatfields and McCoys (though not sure how accurate that one was) and the new one "Bonnie and Clyde" that comes out this weekend. Even my wife likes these, and she hates history.

 

Keep in mind that docudramas are filled with dialogue that is made up: it may be based on history, but unless someone followed Bonnie Claude around with an audio recorder, none of it is real. The only historically-accurate voices from the past are those reciting words from actual letters or sound recordings. I think Ken Burns was one of the first to make widespread use of actors reading letters. When they get into something like conversations amongst the Hatfields, that's pure fiction. Even film dialogue between modern characters, such as the Kennedys, is faked.

 

The problem is that the general public takes it as gospel and that gives the film makers a lot of room to manipulate the general perception of historic events. Oliver Stone was the master of distoring that perception.

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Keep in mind that docudramas are filled with dialogue that is made up: it may be based on history, but unless someone followed Bonnie Claude around with an audio recorder, none of it is real. The only historically-accurate voices from the past are those reciting words from actual letters or sound recordings. I think Ken Burns was one of the first to make widespread use of actors reading letters. When they get into something like conversations amongst the Hatfields, that's pure fiction. Even film dialogue between modern characters, such as the Kennedys, is faked.

 

The problem is that the general public takes it as gospel and that gives the film makers a lot of room to manipulate the general perception of historic events. Oliver Stone was the master of distoring that perception.

Which is very true, and knowing that no one will get it 100%, especially due to dialogue, I at least appreciated the strict attention to period detail, timelines, social interactions, etc etc, and though it is "Hollywood" it is to me "less Hollywood" than if they were theatrical releases.

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I think that a great job was done on Blackhawk Down as well as We Were Soldiers, at least as far as transforming the contents of a long existing non-fiction book into a feature film. Scott

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I sure liked Band of Brothers-can't attest to the accuracy though. Re: 42 -two things that bothered me was the lack of road uniforms and in the background of the spring training outfield (which was filmed in Macon, Ga.) you can see modern railcars....I know nit-picking, but as a former railroad conductor these things stand out like a sore thumb. I still enjoyed the movie.

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Generation Kill was great too, and getting the marines the story was based on, as well as the reporter on board as advisors was a really good step, but then hiring some of the guys to play themselves in the series, well that's about as good as youre gonna get.

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I nominate the first twenty minutes or so of "Full Metal Jacket."

I second that! Made the hairs stand up on my neck. They got the boot camp stuff correct at least from what I experianced.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Friday Night Lights was a pretty accurate portrayal of the 1988 Permian Panthers EXCEPT they lost in the quarterfinals, not the Texas State Championship game. I guess losing a quarterfinal game isn't as dramatic.

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A historically incorrect comment on "42" that has little to do with history. When Jackie's bus arrived in Daytona to deliver him to the Royals field which today is named Jackie Robinson Field or locall as "The Jack"; the scene would still look much the same today. Until they began play and you see those tall pines in the outfield. Well, The Jack is on a very small island in the middle of the Intercoastal waterway and there were no or are no tall pines in the outfield. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

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A list of some accurate war films...

 

in no particular order....

 

Band of Brothers.......no comments needed....

 

Westfront 1918 ...........a German film about WW1...I like it better than All Quiet on the Western Front....you can watch it on youtube, I believe.

 

The Antietam Doucumentary.....you might be able to find parts of it online....they did a much better than average job with uniforms; and it shows a brutal side of the Civil War which isn't often discussed. It's not perfect, but it's one of the best CW films.

 

.http://antietammuseum.stores.yahoo.net/andocfildvd.html

 

 

Hollywood Canteen...........for a feel of the 40's, and a time when celebrities were behind the war effort....great music....good film.

 

Killing Lincoln is well done.....

 

A Very Long Engagement........the WW1 battle scenes are incredible....and it's a great film. Well done. I believe it's on youtube also....

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A historically incorrect comment on "42" that has little to do with history.  When Jackie's bus arrived in Daytona to deliver him to the Royals field which today is named Jackie Robinson Field or locall as "The Jack"; the scene would still look much the same today.  Until they began play and you see those tall pines in the outfield.  Well, The Jack is on a very small island in the middle of the Intercoastal waterway and there were no or are no tall pines in the outfield.  Thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

In watching the bonus features on the BRD, I can understand why a detail like this was de-prioritized. Finding vintage stadiums AND being able to set up the HUGE green screens in the outfield snd other areas to transform them into the real thing was a monumental task.

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