If you are looking for a history lesson, you might want to ignore these historically inaccurate movies. They act as kryptonite against history teachers, as they are full of fiction and other false information. While, yes, these kinds of movies are based on history — like wars, assassinations, and political figures — they tend to bend them for dramatic purposes.
Drama equals more box office sales, more attention from the press, and the spreading of false facts. This is the case with the most historically inaccurate movies, where drama paves the way, and history is left behind.
Historical movies, as the name gives out, are based somewhat on reality. History is a continuing thing with events that have shaped the whole world. But Hollywood doesn’t care. As long as there is a need for drama, history will change.
Romances, rivalries, and inflated battle scenes get inserted for that drama boost. But the most horrible crime that Hollywood movies based on history can make is to leave history in the back. History is sometimes as awesome as the most dramatic movies. The best example is Alexander the Great. He conquered a portion of the world in his younger years, yet the film based on him is nothing compared to the legacy he left behind.
If you are looking for historically accurate movies, this is not the list for you. In this list, we have decided to compile the movies that critics and historians have described as inaccurate. To save you some time, we have compiled a list of these period films in the list below. Like the drama in the movie? Upvote it. If you have any historical information to share, you can do so in the comments below.
#1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2018 | 2h 14m | Directed by Bryan Singer | IMDB: 7.9/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, and Gwilym Lee
Queen, the rock group that stole the Live Aid concert with their songs, was the focus of this movie. While more than half of the film is factually based, some parts are more fiction than reality. For example — Paul Prenter was not fired because of suggesting Mercury go solo. Instead, he got fired because of a party he threw at Mercury's house.
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28points
#2 Pocahontas
1995 | 1h 21m | Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg | IMDB: 6.7 | Rotten Tomatoes: 54%
Starring Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, and Christian Bale
Disney is not a stranger to shifting historical narratives in their animated movies. In this classic, Disney tries to portray the relationship between the Native American Pocahontas and the English colonist John Smith. While they seem to be the same age and kind-natured, Pocahontas (real name Matoaka) was ten years old, and Smith was an authoritative figure.
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25points
#3 Cool Runnings
1993 | 1h 38m | Directed by Jon Turteltaub | IMDB: 7.0/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Starring John Candy, Leon, and Doug E. Doug
While this movie is based on the heartwarming journey of a Jamaican bobsleigh team in the 1988 Winter Olympics, some additional drama was still added. The biggest problem arises from the ending. In real life, instead of carrying their sled and receiving applause from the audience, they walked near it and only received some attention from the audience.
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21points
#4 A Knight's Tale
2001 | 2h 12m | Directed by Brian Helgeland | IMDB: 6.9/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 59%
Starring Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, and Rufus Sewell
Some critics brutally attacked this movie for historical inaccuracy, but they are the minority. They usually have two reasons — the rock music and the praises that the winning knights get. Rock music might be the strangest reason, as the critics attack the inclusion of rock music in the soundtrack.
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20points
#5 JFK
1991 | 3h 09m | Directed by Oliver Stone | IMDB: 8.0/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, and Jack Lemmon
The assassination of JFK allowed some people to create bizarre conspiracy theories that don't have the facts to stand on their feet. This movie jumps into the unproven theory that the CIA, FBI, the Mafia, and Secret Service worked together to assassinate their president. This theory is pushed through trials and tries to seem like a real solution to the case.
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19points
#6 Argo
2012 | 2h 00m | Directed by Ben Affleck | IMDB: 7.7/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman
CIA and Hollywood mix perfectly together, but sometimes, the land of entertainment takes its artistic liberties. In the movie, the CIA takes a more central role while the Canadians sit in the backseat. In real life, the Canadian Caper operation was headed by the Canadians, with the help of the CIA and especially agent Tony Mendez.
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18points
#7 Braveheart
1995 | 2h 58m | Directed by Mel Gibson | IMDB: 8.3/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Starring Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, and Patrick McGoohan
This movie goes all in on the fiction, basically reducing historical facts to nothing more than references. The writer of the script admitted that the movie was based not on historical facts, per se, but on an epic poem of the 15th century. Even then, artistic liberties got taken, and facts were mixed in with fiction beyond the point of recognition.
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18points
#8 Apocalypto
2006 | 2h 19m | Directed by Mel Gibson | IMDB: 7.8/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Starring Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, and Dalia Hernández
The movie failed to depict the Mayan culture, the focus of the story. It goes all in on the human sacrifices, an aspect that is commonly associated with the Aztec civilization and was rarely practiced by the Mayans. The events in the movie also play into the idea that the Mayans were savages and the Europeans were civilized people.
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18points
#9 Gladiator
2000 | 2h 35m | Directed by Ridley Scott | IMDB: 8.5/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, and Connie Nielsen
The Roman Empire, while epic, was portrayed with fictional details in this movie. The first one is that Marcus Aurelius never gave a random commander the whole empire, as he entrusted the holdings to his son, Commodus. The other is how Commodus passed away, because in recorded history, he was strangled by his trainer.
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17points
#10 300
2006 | 1h 57m | Directed by Zack Snyder | IMDB: 7.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, and David Wenham
Sparta — they take the focal point in this movie by using 300 Spartans as a defending force against Xerxes' army. In reality, more like 5 to 6 thousand Greeks (all of them) stood against the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae. Also, the defeat was a clear-cut defeat for the Greeks, as it now allowed Persians to attack their cities.
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17points
#11 Dances With Wolves
1990 | 3h 01m | Directed by Kevin Costner | IMDB: 8.0/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Starring Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, and Graham Greene
Sometimes, movies inflate numbers on the antagonist side for that much-needed drama in the story. In this movie, the Sioux are seen as a small, heroic group of Indians, while the Pawnees are the evil and stereotypical villains. In reality, the roles were shifted, and the Sioux were the more powerful of the two, number-wise.
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16points
#12 Elizabeth
1998 | 2h 04m | Directed by Shekhar Kapur | IMDB: 7.4/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Starring Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, and Rod Culbertson
Focusing on the early days of Queen Elizabeth, a.k.a the Virgin Queen, this movie jumps back and forth with the events she partook in. But the biggest problem might be with the portrayal of the queen herself. In the movie, she had terrible judgment, a weak character, when in reality, she was a strong-minded queen.
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15points
#13 Alexander
2004 | 2h 55m | Directed by Oliver Stone | IMDB: 5.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 16%
Starring Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, and Rosario Dawson
There is nothing impossible for those who try, except when Hollywood tries to depict a historical Alexander the Great. This movie fails at multiple things, with the most visible one involving the Persians. In the movie, they look like a backwater nation, when in reality, it was advanced and cultured, and troops wore clothes.
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14points
#14 Bonnie And Clyde
1967 | 1h 51m | Directed by Arthur Penn | IMDB: 7.7/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Michael J. Pollard
Bonnie and Clyde, real-life criminals, are portrayed as this romantic couple, and this movie is to blame for it. The couple's life gets glorified, and other characters, based on real people, are shown to be more evil. For example, Frank Hamer, a decorated Texas Ranger, is shown to have been a criminal, but that is far from reality.
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14points
#15 Troy
2004 | 2h 43m | Directed by Wolfgang Petersen | IMDB: 7.3/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 53%
Starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom
Homer might have added a touch of drama to this epic battle of the ancient world, but Hollywood dumped a truckload of it. In Homer’s story, The Trojan War took ten years of continuous conflict, while in the movie, it seems only a few years had passed. Also, Agamemnon, the villain that met his demise at the end, survived in the original story.
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14points
#16 Pearl Harbor
2001 | 3h 03m | Directed by Michael Bay | IMDB: 6.2/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 24%
Starring Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, and Josh Hartnett
When you know that a Japanese movie did a better job of capturing Pearl Harbor, then your film is inaccurate. Michael Bay paid more attention to the action and explosions and ignored historical facts. Even war veterans and surviving victims admitted that the movie was historically incorrect.
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13points
#17 Patch Adams
1998 | 1h 55m | Directed by Tom Shadyac | IMDB: 6.8/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 21%
Starring Robin Williams, Daniel London, and Monica Potter
Incorrect and damaging, the story portrayed in this movie played too much into the comedy aspect, leaving out the truth behind. Even Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams came out and said that the movie was factually incorrect. However, he did praise Robin Williams's portrayal and only hated the story that was presented in this movie.
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13points
#18 The Sound Of Music
1965 | 2h 52m | Directed by Robert Wise | IMDB: 8.1/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and Eleanor Parker
Focusing on the story of the von Trapp family, this movie, like the stage musical before it, takes some artistic license. First of all, the family itself, while they did oppose Anschluss, didn’t live in a mansion. Georg von Trapp, in the movie, is said to be a captain, but in real life, he held the noble rank of "Ritter.”
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12points
#19 The Other Boleyn Girl
2008 | 1h 55m | Directed by Justin Chadwick | IMDB: 6.7/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 43%
Starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana
Historians agree that this movie is full of little historical inaccuracies. The story focuses on two sisters, Mary and Anne, real-life figures who played supporting roles in the creation of the English Reformation. However, their portrayal is not exactly right. Mary, for example, was not as shy as she was portrayed in the movie.
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11points
#20 The Imitation Game
2014 | 1h 54m | Directed by Morten Tyldum | IMDB: 8.0/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, and Matthew Goode
Alan Turing was one of the most influential people in British history, so it's a shame that the movie based on his life and work was about 50% factual. This movie portrays Turing as an extreme introvert, but this is far from the truth. Also, the story focuses on Turing cracking the enigma machine but shifts the facts in the worst way possible.
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11points