Summary

• Some historically accurate movies can be more engaging than fiction, showing that fact can be just as compelling as storytelling.
• Films like "Chapter 27," "Downfall," and "Schindler's List" strive for accuracy, providing detailed depictions of historical events and figures.
• Other films, like Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," focus on one key aspect. There, it's about President Abraham Lincoln's administration, showcasing the political intrigue and deals made to abolish slavery.

While total accuracy in a narrative movie should never be expected, the most historically accurate movies show that sometimes fact can be more engaging than fiction. While movies like Ridley Scott's Napoleon fuel the debate about how much a movie based on a true story needs to adhere to the facts, there are some movies that have managed to depict the actual events in an honest way while still creating a cinematic representation of the story.

Some of the most beloved films in the medium have been inspired by important, tragic, or revolutionary events across human history, and as long as humanity endures, so will its odyssey. But as much as the film industry loves history, artistic license has been taken over and over again, including with inaccuracies in Napoleon and other similar films. Fortunately, some films strive to maintain as much accuracy and truth as they possibly can, whether that truth is glorious, hideous, uncomfortable, or unbelievable.

1 Chapter 27 (2007)

Jared Leto Stars As The Man Who Killed John Lennon

To say a film that dives into the disturbed mind of a killer is 100% accurate is highly speculative, but Chapter 27 is perhaps the most in-depth exploration of the assassination of John Lennon. Led by Jared Leto in the starring role of Mark David Chapman, the film recreates the week leading up to Lennon's murder and nearly all his doings during his time in New York City in December 1980.

The film is uncomfortable to watch, but then again that's essentially the point. Seeing Chapman interact with other Beatles fans and even just meeting a kid in Central Park is unnerving on every level even before he pulls the trigger. While the movie does not succeed in giving much context or understanding to Chapman or his motivations, it does provide a detailed look at the events leading up to the murder that shocked the world.

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2 Lincoln (2012)

Steven Spielberg Explores The Emancipation Proclamation

Steven Spielberg's biopic of President Abraham Lincoln is not the typical biopic as it does not look at the entire life of the man but rather focuses on one key aspect of his administration -- the passing of the amendment to abolish slavery in the United States. It details the political intrigue and deals made behind the scenes to ensure the important part of history was actually created. It also depicts Lincoln as a storyteller and complex leader whose reasons for ending slavery are not as heroic as others.

The film is not only powerful but emotionally gripping as Daniel Day-Lewis plays Lincoln as a weary and steadfast leader holding the weight of the nation on his shoulders as he struggles to keep the thirteenth amendment and his Emancipation Proclamation from dissolving after the Civil War.

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3 Downfall (2004)

The Last Days Of Adolf Hitler

Although it was the birthplace of a thousand memes, Downfall should be taken as a brilliant character study that faithfully recreated the last days of Adolf Hitler during the Battle of Berlin in the fall of WWII. The film gives an inside look deep into the bowels of Hitler's Wolf's Den as Germany loses the war. The movie explores different aspects of the h=infamous historical figure that are not often covered in movies, from his crippling insecurities to his health issues.

Because Hitler is such a grotesque historical figure, movies often feel the need to depict him and his evil as inhuman and even cartoonish. While the Fuhrer himself is by no means a sympathetic or heroic character in this film, it's still quite remarkable to see the man at the forefront of the picture instead of a stereotypical Nazi commander or an over-the-top caricature.

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4 Schindler’s List (1993)

Spielberg's Harrowing Look At The Horrors Of The Holocaust

On the subject of World War II films, the genre would be nothing without the moving and heart-wrenching saga of Schindler's List. Based on the account of Oskar Schindler and the hundreds of Jewish refugees he saved from Germany's concentration camps, it goes into painstaking detail depicting the cruelty of the Nazi party, the indifference to the plight of the Jewish population felt by onlookers, and the compassion had by one man who saved over a thousand.

While there had been many holocaust movies before this, Steven Spielberg's Best Picture winner gave mainstream audiences an unflinching look at one of the darkest moments in human history. While the story of Schindler himself is a fascinating one, it is Spielberg's sequences like the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto that stand out as the most harrowing.

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5 Joyeux Noël (2005)

The Inspiring Christmas Story Set On A Battlefield

Inspired by the famous Christmas Truce of WWI, Joyeux Noël is a war film that is also an unexpected Christmas movie. Excruciating attention to detail was taken to ensure that this emotional tale of war, brotherhood, and peace was given the proper respect it deserves. The movie takes a look at the soldiers on both sides of the fight and the harsh realities of their dangerous lives in the trenches mixed with the welcome reprieve from the fighting.

So much attention to historical accuracy was given that the biggest deviation from actual events concerned the fate of a stray cat that wandered into the trenches, making him captured instead of being shot by French soldiers. A charming anecdote, but one that shows how dedicated the filmmakers were in preserving and presenting this story.

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6 12 Years A Slave (2013)

Solomon Northup's Unjust Journey To Freedom

Few people knew about the story of Solomon Northrup before 12 Years A Slave won Best Picture, but it is an unbelievable and harrowing story set during the dark period of American history. Solomon is a free Black man living in New York with his family when he is kidnapped and illegally sold into slavery.

The portrayal of slavery in the United States is among one of the periods that undergoes the most rewriting once a project tackling the subject reaches Hollywood. Perhaps out of fear people won't flock to theaters to witness the depiction of atrocities that not far in the past, movies about slavery fail to do the period justice. Steven McQueen's movie glosses over nothing as it shows the many faces of racism, inhumanity, and barbaric cruelty Solomon and the other slaves face.

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7 Spotlight (2015)

Journalists Expose The Crimes Of The Catholic Church

Spotlight is another Best Picture winner that excels in telling a true story accurately and making the details of the truth speak for themselves. Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Mark Ruffalo star as part of an investigative team with the Boston Globe who help to uncover the long history of abuse by Catholic priests and the church's cover-up of those events. It is easy to see how most movies would simplify the story for a Hollywood version, shrinking the team to fewer heroes or ignoring the investigation's disruption due to 9/11, but Spotlight is committed to the entire story.

Spotlight premiered in 2015, a little over half a decade after the events it portrays took place in real life. Even though that might seem little to consider historical accuracy, it must be acknowledged that the world in 2015 was very different from the world in 2001, mostly due to technological advancements. From giant and clumsy computers to the characters' fashion choices, Spotlight delivered on those small details.

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8 All The President's Men (1976)

An Investigation Into The Watergate Scandal

Like Spotlight, All the President's Men is a movie about investigative journalism that requires as keen an eye for detail as the journalists in the movie have with their work. If a movie is undergoing the task of portraying on screen one of the biggest scandals to ever occur in American politics, the filmmakers want to make sure they do it right, and nailing the specifics is an absolute must.

That was the daunting task facing the Best Picture-winning All The President's Men, and the movie met the challenge going as far as having the executive editor of The Washington Post at the time of the Watergate Scandal consult for the movie. This ensured the offices and the two main characters were the spitting image of the actual journalists on the case.

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9 Zodiac (2007)

A Detailed Examination Of The Unsolved Serial Killer Case

David Fincher has taken on some ambitious and unique projects throughout his career, and the 2007 movie Zodiac might just be one of the best projects the director was involved in. The movie is a look at the decades-long investigation into the Zodiac Killer as police and journalists attempt to uncover who is behind the murders that gripped the people of San Fransisco in the 1970s. Drawning from those investigators, survivors of the attacks, and police details, the movie is an eerie recreation of the mystery.

Extremely influenced by All The President's Men and nailing each and every necessary detail, Zodiac doesn't make up a satisfying conclusion to the movie in order to appease audiences. Instead, it embraces the real-life implications of the story, which further imprints a lot of character into the film and gives it an A+ in historical accuracy.

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10 Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

A Look At Both Sides Of The Pearl Harbor Attacks

The attack on Pearl Harbor is one of the most impactful events in American and Japanese history. What sets this film apart from other movies that took many liberties with their historical portrayals is the team of people involved. Tora! Tora! Tora! made the groundbreaking decision to involve both sides of the story in the making of the film, making it a joint production between the two countries discussed in the movie. Research that gathers material from several sources and not just one side is bound to result in a much more accurate portrayal than a biased view.

While movies like Midway and Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor turn the historical event into an action blockbuster, Tora! Tora! Tora! is a much more nuanced and interesting look at the event while still keeping an epic feel.

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11 A Night To Remember (1958)

The Depiction Of The Titanic Tragedy That Influenced James Cameron

Before Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were Rose and Jack in the epic Titanic, helmed by director James Cameron, the public got to witness the history of the famous ship all the way back in 1958. While Cameron did have an enormous budget and technology to work with, his take on the sinking Titanic was widely romanticized by focusing largely on the love story. On the other hand, A Night To Remember went to great lengths to accurately portray the several people involved, the class dissonance, and what led to the sinking in the first place, among many other details.

Looking at A Night to Remember, it is clear that Cameron was heavily influenced by the historically accurate depiction of the sinking and that the research of the two movies overlaps in some areas. There are moments from A Night to Remember that are depicted nearly identically in Cameron's Titanic, making it a must-watch for fans of Cameron's epic.

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12 Apollo 13 (1995)

The Telling Of A Desperate NASA Rescue Mission

Apollo 13 had everything to be great and, simultaneously, everything to flop. The fact that this milestone in human history was so ingrained into people's minds and heavily documented meant the production team had plenty of information to draw from. But it also meant everyone would heavily criticize it if something was off. Ron Howard didn't want to take the chance that the latter would happen and made sure to surround himself with NASA consultants and special permissions to film in given places.

The movie is an intense and thrilling look at the rescue mission that gripped the nation when a trio of astronauts faced a catastrophic issue while in space. From the movie's recreation of the zero-gravity atmosphere to the brilliant and innovative work of the engineers on the ground, the movie was thrilling just from showing how the real situation unfolded.

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13 Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A Real-Life Boot Camp Instructor Elevates Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam Movie

The disastrous results of the Vietnam War on every party involved have been heavily explored by Hollywood throughout the years, often giving birth to some of the rawest and most incredible pieces of cinema out there. Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is one such movie, with its portrayal of the time and the environment reaching near perfection thanks to the extensive research carried out by the director.

One of the most memorable and effective examples of the movie's realism is the casting of R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The first half of the movie depicts the soldiers' experiences in boot camp with this abusive, profane, and darkly hilarious instructor. Ermey was a real-life boot camp instructor and his experience brings authenticity to that entire section of the story which informs the rest of the movie. Ermey earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

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14 The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

An Unheroic Look At An American Icon

Incredibly long title aside, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford gives a completely different take on what audiences were used to from a Western movie. Less guns and exaggerated violence, more attention paid to the details surrounding the characters, their outfits, their dialogues, and their motivations. It depicts the murder of outlaw Jesse James by a former colleague, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), but it is the story leading up to that point that is truly fascinating.

Along with the detailed account of the various characters within James' life, it is a more honest and unromantic look at the life of an outlaw in the Old West. Indeed, Jesse James is often depicted in movies as a Robin Hood-like antihero, but Brad Pitt's take on the character is a paranoid, ruthless murderer more accurate to his real persona.

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15 The Lion In Winter (1968)

An Oscar Winner With Notable Stars

The Lion In Winter might be guilty of investing too much in the heavy romanticization that was often seen in medieval-era movies of the past. However, that doesn't result in its downfall but can be largely ignored in favor of what it does get right. The star-studded Oscar-winning movie details the reign of Henry II as his sons seek to inherit the throne and he reunites with his imprisoned wife.

This 1968 movie is incredibly accurate where political intrigue is concerned and went to great lengths in order to correctly portray just how tense and complex the political situation was at the time. The historical accounts of the era are more vague than some historical dramas set in more modern times, but its sharp dialogue and accuracy to the known events make it an engrossing look back in time.

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