Top 10 Surprisingly Historically Accurate Movies
Some historical events are hard to believe! Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the most outlandish or ridiculous movies that are surprisingly based on historic events.
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00:00 My name is Jordan Belfort.
00:02 Not him. Me.
00:04 That's right.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most outlandish or ridiculous movies that are surprisingly based on historic events.
00:12 This is Walter, returning your call.
00:14 From the organization.
00:17 Number 10. The Men Who Stare at Goats.
00:21 Once you understand the linkage between observation and reality, then you begin to dance with invisibility.
00:30 It's the Cold War, and the American military's desperate for a leg up.
00:33 They turn genuinely to the potential of paranormal warfare.
00:36 Specifically, the idea of psychic powers.
00:39 Although this movie's bizarre story is largely fictional, it still draws inspiration from the real-life Stargate Project and the First Earth Battalion.
00:46 Show me where Larry had some bottles of LSD, and we put some in the powdered eggs last night.
00:51 And in the water?
00:53 Wood.
00:56 The Stargate Project was a secret military operation that hoped to uncover psychic abilities that could be utilized by the U.S. Army.
01:02 It turned out to be a huge disaster and was terminated in 1995 for yielding no useful information.
01:07 On the other hand, the First Earth Battalion, proposed by Jim Channon, envisioned creating super soldiers with night vision and powers of divination.
01:14 These ideas were, however, not adopted.
01:16 Carry my body through space and time. You are my connection to the universe and all that comes after.
01:24 I am yours, and you are mine.
01:27 Number 9. The Big Short
01:29 I'm sorry, are you for real? You want to bet against the housing market, and you're worried we won't pay you.
01:34 Yes, that's correct.
01:36 The idea of people predicting the 2008 financial crisis and betting against the housing market to become rich may seem ludicrous, but in reality, it actually happened.
01:43 The Big Short is ostensibly a comedy, but it contains many disturbing details regarding the devastating financial crisis of the late aughts.
01:50 See, it's not old fish. It's a whole new thing.
01:54 And the best part is, they're eating three-day-old halibut.
01:57 That is a CDO.
02:00 It also explains how certain individuals manipulated the disaster for their own capital gain.
02:04 While it makes for a scary story, the Big Short is remarkably accurate.
02:08 The dense financial information is flawlessly conveyed, and while many character names were changed for the movie, their stories are nevertheless based in fact.
02:15 Uncomfortable as it might be, the Big Short manages to veer closer to documentary than fictional storytelling.
02:21 You think I'm a parasite, don't you, Mr. Bond?
02:24 But apparently society values me.
02:27 Very much.
02:28 Number 8. The Revenant
02:30 The proper thing to do would be to finish him off quick.
02:34 Unless he has a chance of pulling through.
02:37 The story of Hugh Glass seems mythical, and maybe it is, to a certain extent.
02:40 As The Revenant correctly portrays, Glass was attacked by a grizzly bear in present-day Lemon, South Dakota, and left with horrific injuries.
02:47 Abandoned by his partners who deemed his survival improbable, Glass defied the odds, traveling over 200 miles to the safety of Fort Kiowa.
02:54 I ain't afraid to die anymore.
02:58 I've done it already.
03:00 Much of this story is disputed, and it's believed to have been largely embellished over the years.
03:04 This is exemplified by the finale of The Revenant, which shows Glass battling Fitzgerald despite this never happening in real life.
03:10 However, even with some mythical and exaggerated elements, The Revenant remains true to the basic survival story of the tenacious Hugh Glass.
03:17 You're forgetting your place, boy.
03:20 As far as I can tell, my place is right here on the smart end of this rifle.
03:25 Number 7. War Dogs
03:27 War is an economy.
03:30 Anybody who tells you otherwise is either in on it or stupid.
03:35 Todd Phillips' War Dogs is a hilarious black comedy about two young arms dealers who work with the Pentagon to supply weapons to the Afghan army.
03:42 The plot is based on the true story of Ephraim DiViroli and David Packhouse, who ran an independent arms company called AEY, Inc.
03:49 DiViroli started the company as a teenager out of his Miami apartment, bidding on military contracts on websites like FedBizOpps.
03:55 FedBizOpps stands for Federal Business Opportunities. Think eBay, but for war.
04:01 The two won a $298 million contract with the Pentagon in 2007, when they were both in their 20s.
04:07 Despite their early success, they violated the American arms embargo against China, eventually pleading guilty to conspiracy.
04:13 Their controversial contract garnered widespread publicity, notably documented in the Rolling Stone article that inspired the movie.
04:19 Everybody's fighting over the same pie, but they're ignoring the crumbs.
04:23 I live on crumbs, like a rat. And when you're dealing with the Pentagon, crumbs are worth millions.
04:29 Number 6. Alive
04:31 Look, I don't want to talk about this.
04:32 Neither do I, Gustav, but we have to. We're starving and we're trapped.
04:35 Survival stories are incredibly popular, often taking place in exotic locations and proving the tenacity of the human spirit.
04:41 Frank Marshall's Alive is no exception.
04:43 It recounts the harrowing ordeal of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into the Andes in 1972.
04:50 33 people survived the crash and endured over two months in the freezing mountains, fighting starvation and cold exposure.
04:56 Come on, Roy. We've got to stuff up this hole. Come on. Or we're going to freeze to death.
05:02 They eventually resorted to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
05:05 Most unbelievable of all is the story of Nando Parado and Roberto Canessa.
05:10 Already starving and exhausted, they climbed a 15,000-foot mountain and hiked 38 miles into Chile, desperately looking for help.
05:17 All of these events are dramatically conveyed in Alive, despite how unreal they may seem.
05:21 That we climbed this mountain, you know what it is? It's impossible. It's impossible, and we did it.
05:28 #5. American Hustle
05:30 Also, always take a favor over money. I think Jesus said that as well.
05:36 David O. Russell's acclaimed crime comedy opens with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer, informing viewers that some of this actually happened.
05:42 It's a pretty accurate assessment of the movie, not entirely truthful, often elaborated, but nevertheless rooted in history.
05:48 It dramatizes an old FBI sting operation called Abscam, which targeted corrupt politicians in the late '70s and early '80s.
05:55 You got any other questions?
05:56 Yeah, I think the name of this operation is offensive.
05:58 What, Abscam? Arab Scam? It's racist.
06:01 American Hustle altered some names, changing Mel and Marie Weinberg into Irving and Rosalind Rosenfeld, and Camden Mayor Angelo Arricchetti into Carmine Polito.
06:10 Regardless, the essence of their stories remain mostly true. Weinberg was indeed an FBI informant who helped operate the sting,
06:16 and Arricchetti was actually convicted of bribery and sent to prison.
06:20 So Carmine got the reduced sentence. 18 months. The loss of his friendship would've won me for the rest of my life.
06:30 #4. 127 Hours
06:32 This rock, this rock has been waiting for me my entire life.
06:38 The story of Aaron Ralston sounds like something out of a great adventure novel.
06:42 Without informing anyone, he ventures into Utah's Blue John Canyon and becomes trapped when a boulder squishes his arm.
06:48 Over the next five days, Ralston attempts various methods of escape and contemplates his situation before resorting to some horribly drastic measures.
06:55 You didn't tell anyone where you were going.
06:59 Uh, yeah, that's absolutely correct.
07:03 What he does to ensure his survival is extraordinarily graphic, not to mention slightly unbelievable.
07:08 But believe it, because it actually happened.
07:10 Director Danny Boyle adapted Ralston's book with scary accuracy.
07:14 Janky surgical procedure and all. Ralston himself praised the film, calling it so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama.
07:23 And that's it for water.
07:29 I'm in pretty deep doo-doo here.
07:33 #3. Black Klansman
07:35 When can you meet?
07:36 How about Friday night after I get off work?
07:38 That's a deal, buddy boy. We'll get right back to you with the details.
07:40 In this spiky classic, John David Washington plays Ron Stallworth, a Colorado detective who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan through the help of Adam Driver's Philip Zimmerman.
07:49 A black man infiltrating a white supremacist organization via a surrogate sounds like pure fiction.
07:54 But in this case, it's not, and that's what makes the story so endlessly fascinating.
07:57 And what?
07:59 Just stick to the game plan.
08:00 Which is?
08:01 Improvise, like Jeff.
08:04 Like bebop.
08:05 The actual events occurred in 1978 with the real Ron Stallworth collaborating with a still unidentified white officer to infiltrate the Klan.
08:12 Not only is the general story true, but so are some of the more outlandish details, like Stallworth posing for a photo with Grand Wizard David Duke.
08:19 What's his name?
08:21 Ron. Stallworth.
08:23 Ron.
08:24 Ron.
08:25 Sir, can you take this picture of us, please?
08:26 Number 2. The Disaster Artist.
08:28 Oh, you don't want to enjoy it? Fine. Maybe Johnny Depp available.
08:32 No, no, no, I want it. I want the role. I'll take it.
08:36 Tommy Wiseau's The Room has long enjoyed a cult following on the internet, known for being one of the worst movies ever made.
08:41 Its misguided creation was chronicled in the 2013 memoir The Disaster Artist, co-written by the movie's star, Greg Sestero.
08:48 In 2017, Sestero's book was skillfully adapted into James Franco's film of the same name.
08:53 Yeah, uh, how old is my character supposed to be?
08:56 Like your age, like 15, 16 year old boy.
08:58 I'm 26. Same thing, okay? You look great.
09:02 It manages to poke fun at and also showcase a tender fondness for Wiseau, depicting how his ambitions clashed with reality, resulting in a cinematic monstrosity.
09:10 The film takes a few creative liberties, like having The Room be met with an ovation rather than complete disdain.
09:15 But for the most part, this is an accurate depiction of a near-mythical Hollywood story.
09:19 Take 17. Action.
09:22 I hit her! No! Do you want to change the line?
09:25 Script is script. Script says same. You're doing great, man. We'll get there.
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09:44 Number 1. The Wolf of Wall Street
09:47 The year I turned 26 as the head of my own brokerage firm, I made $49 million.
09:53 Which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.
09:57 We return to the finance industry for The Wolf of Wall Street, a late career masterpiece from Martin Scorsese.
10:03 It tells the story of Jordan Belfort, a conman who committed rampant fraud through his brokerage house, Stratton Oakmont.
10:09 By running various financial scams, Belfort was able to defraud investors of up to $200 million.
10:14 That's incredible, sir. I can't tell you how excited I am.
10:17 You should be.
10:18 Belfort's larger than life story and hedonistic lifestyle makes for a great movie.
10:22 And its basis in reality makes it all the greater.
10:24 Belfort has praised the movie's accuracy, saying that it nailed the overall feeling of his time in finance,
10:28 including the camaraderie, the insanity, and the rampant drug use.
10:32 Second key to success in this racket is this little baby right here. It's called cocaine.
10:39 Which of these stories surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
10:43 Just because you want it, doesn't mean it can happen.
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10:55 [MUSIC]