Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

I thought we did this before but couldn't find it.

When American Sniper came out, we heard a lot of the same complaints as Lone Survivor and Zero Dark Thirty. Some of the "true story" was downright fabricated. We all know that with 2 or 2 /12 hours to play with, sometimes multiple characters are written as one, or a character is introduced that didn't exist but is there as exposition.

What are some of your favorite "fish stories" within supposedly true stories?

300 - based on an actual event but laced with super natural gobbledygook.
Apollo 13 - Mattingly finding the answer was actually several people, not as much drama and finger pointing aboard the capsule
Band Of Brothers - For the Last Detail none of the friction between Webster and Liebgott was in the book and Webster fired the machine gun from the other side of the river
Battle of the Bulge - other than taking place during WWII, this is a fictional story based on one small aspect of the battle
Braveheart - the princess was 9 at the time and never met WIlliam Wallace
Catch Me If You Can - in the movie, he and his dad met up, but actually after running away he said he never saw him again
Memphis Belle - real plane, most of the story was just drama
Rudy - the guys never laid their jerseys on the coaches desk, no black janitor that used to play
Saving Private Ryan - based on some actual brothers being killed, rest of story made up
Sound Of Music - they never snuck out during a performance and hiked the Alps, they just walked to the train station 5 minutes away and then hopped a boat
U-571 - The Americans did not secure the enigma machine, the English did
Untouchables - Frank Nitti was never thrown off a building, he lived and went to jail

I have a bunch more in my collection but couldn't remember the "true" true story

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

I just watched/reviewed MISSISSIPPI BURNING, and there's a bunch of well-publicized problems with that 'true story' - probably the first in a line of movies that lost the Oscar because the story wasn't close enough to real-life.

Fact is, you could probably do this with ANY movie 'based on a true story'. A better thread question would be which movies are CLOSEST to their real-life events. That's a much shorter list.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Well, 'based on a true story' means just that, it's a story that is derived from a real one, doesn't mean it's actually true.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Take your pick of just about any horror movie these days.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Most films are made for profit so they will sensationalize and customize true stories to get people into the theater. But to stay on topic, A Beautiful Mind is one of the most ridiculous biopics I have ever seen. Very inaccurate and badly executed.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was very, very loosely based on the Ed Gein case.

The Butler was pretty much 90% fiction. The only true parts in the movie were him being a butler, and working under multiple presidents.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

How disappointing. I thought from the title that new footage for David Byrne's True Stories had been found.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

In John Milius's THE WIND AND THE LION (1975) that great Arab actor Sean Connery plays Raisuli, a Moroccan bandit who kidnaps Eden Perdicaris, a gorgeous blonde American woman played by Candice Bergen. In the real-life incident that formed the basis for the movie, the kidnapee, Ion Perdicaris, was a bearded, middle-aged Greek man. In real life, President Theodore Roosevelt was not an admirer of Raisuli but instead coined the phrase, "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!"

From Wikipedia:

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Argo - the Canadian government and embassy were mostly responsible for getting the six people out of Tehran, and the CIA had a very minor role.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

"Based on" means "similar to".

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

With the exception of docu-dramas like Tora, Tora, Tora or Longest Day where a concerted effort was made to stick pretty close to the facts and even include the other side's POV, we all know there is a ton of drama introduced in these movies. However upon each one's release, people on the board go crazy about the details and differences.

Yet consider the other side. The third act was fiction in both Lone Survivor and ARGO. Yet if they stuck to the actual events, I think the climax would have been pretty boring...."and then he walked home"

Would you have preferred watching a movie where Chris Kyle was portrayed constantly as a self-centered jerk? AS was lambasted by many on this board for its jingoism, however if you've ever been around a group of ARMY buddies, that's how they talk. Would you rather have a movie that was less accurate on the dialogue?

I just like looking at both sides.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

If I want true accounts I would watch a doc. after the movie. The movie is to entertain; nothing more. If it stuck to the truth it would be boring as hell.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Fargo was 100% fiction.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

I rarely like movies of this kind that much. Hollywood has no interest in telling true stories so offering a mere shade of the truth feels second-rate to me.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Not so. A lot of movies based on events could have been much better if it stuck to the truth. Great example.... Dragon, that shit Bruce Lee biopic. It's a piece of crap compared to the man with his flaws and all.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Does that mean I wasted my time watching Kumiko?

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Argo
The Imitation Game

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

One of the few extras I really enjoy on DVD's any more are documentaries or commentaries about real life events. I like being informed as to what was real and what was just for the movie's sake.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

What's his face's escape from Prison was actually much more daring and exciting in real life than it was in Midnight Express.

I actually just watched a Investigation Channel show on Ted Bundy called Serial Thriller and it was amazingly true to actual events.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Yeah, I agree; his real life was way more interesting than Dragon and I wish someone would step up and do the real story justice.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

JFK is far and away my favorite. Oliver Stone is a crazy person, Jim Garrison was an opportunistic hustler and the film is pure fiction. But that doesn't change the fact that it's an absolutely spell-binding snapshot of the hysteria and paranoia surrounding the JFK assassination and a master-class in mixed media editing. I love that film so much.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

And I thought this thread was going to be about this movie based on the thread's title.

David Byrne's True Stories
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...psoglhix1x.jpg

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bXdvdjvSIuw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Goes to show that you can make an inaccurate film based on history/true events and it can still be fascinating. JFK is a masterpiece of storytelling, direction and editing. It's also IMO Oliver Stone's best film.

Re: Embellishments to "True Stories"
 

Bloodsport (80s martial arts movie with Jean Claude Van Damme) is supposed to be based on a true story, but there are many claims that it was all made up.