Biopics are intended to be largely accurate portrayals of the people they are about. However, directors occasionally impose their own preferences on certain issues.
Sometimes the movies are only a part of a completely other world, even though some fiction makes the plot more dramatic than what can be expected in reality. However, it doesn’t lessen how entertaining the movies are to watch. Consider these biopics, for instance.
Whether or not they are a history enthusiast, anyone who has seen 300 is certainly aware that it isn’t very accurate. Considering that the director stated that it was 90% correct, one might assume that it is near.
It isn’t. In actuality, hardly anything about it is true. For instance, there were far more soldiers involved in the conflict than merely 300, and the Spartans were fighting to preserve slavery rather than democracy. Even the clothing they wore in the film was so far from reality that it couldn’t simply be said that it was stylised.
It is a terrific movie with tons of action, emotion, and drama despite all the inaccuracies. The movie is accessible to almost everyone.
Amadeus
The ongoing rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri is the subject of the musical Amadeus. It’s a great movie with lots of drama, but it’s virtually entirely made up.
The opening sequence, in which Salieri slashes his throat, is historically incorrect even before the movie begins. Almost everything is made up, with the exception of the people and the era.
The two men were even pals after Mozart, who was married and had eight children, passed away in real life. We don’t know why the director lied so much, but it makes the scene more emotional.
American Sniper
Chris Kyle, one of the deadliest US snipers in history, is profiled in the film American Sniper. The film is exciting and includes many information taken directly from his biography.
Unluckily, it is the issue. Although the movie stayed true to the biography, Kyle embellished practically all of the information.
The movie deviates from the biography in several ways as well, stretching the truth even farther. For instance, Kyle claimed a few times that he felt no remorse for the killings he was responsible for, but in the film, we see him sniffing and clearly feeling sorry.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Freddie Mercury’s life certainly wasn’t PG, despite the rating of the film Bohemian Rhapsody. That is a major factor in how distant from reality this movie is.
The majority of this was motivated by Queen’s desire to maintain their band’s image, which would have been compromised by learning the true, horrible truth about Freddie Mercury. The specifics of his battle with HIV/AIDS weren’t actually discussed, which could have also been intriguing.
But it still conveys the essence of the group and how they came to write such incredible tunes. Perhaps a proper Freddy Mercury biopic will be released someday.
Bonnie and Clyde
Naturally, Bonnie and Clyde is a movie about the 1930s outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde. The two have a strong romantic relationship, and the film is full of action and adventure because the duo must remain on the run after robbing banks.
However, the movie greatly dramatized their lives. They did rob locations, although they only ever targeted little shops, gas stations, and a few smaller banks. The film completely ignores the fact that they also murdered 13 individuals.
Nobody even knows if they were lovers, which is one of the biggest surprises.
Braveheart
Mel Gibson’s performance in Braveheart is superb. It is a movie that is still frequently referenced and viewed again today. There is no doubting how excellent the film is.
You will be let down if you expect a historically accurate movie, though. This movie appears to be set roughly four centuries after the real conflict, based on the locale and the attire. Additionally, Edward II had five children that he fathered, and William Wallace never got to meet Isabelle of France. Wallace was never betrayed by Robert the Bruce either.
However, the manner in which Wallace was executed was historically accurate.
Jobs
A movie called Jobs is about Steve Jobs. In contrast to The Social Network, the film aspires to present Steve Jobs as a far better person than he actually was. For instance, the film ignores the fact that Jobs frequently used LSD and divorced his wife when she was pregnant.
However, Ashton Kutcher, who was attempting to move away from his silly roles and embark on more serious acting, had a fantastic performance in the film. Here, we get to witness the entire range of his abilities.
However, Danny Boyle’s film Steve Jobs is considerably more accurate and factual if you still want to see how Steve Jobs grew to be who he is.
Lincoln
Even though Lincoln’s life was fantastic, watching it on film was a touch dull. It comes as no surprise that many of the parts are inaccurate as a result. The major issue, though, is that a lot of information was just omitted to make Lincoln appear better than he actually was.
Lincoln was a racist like many others at the time, and he firmly believed in white supremacy, despite the fact that he did some nice deeds to benefit people.
However, it does demonstrate some of his work. It’s also a really entertaining movie because you can jump right into the action because the movie is only set over a few months rather than his entire lifespan.
Patch Adams
Everyone adores Robin Williams, and his performance in this film makes it interesting and enjoyable to watch. But as an actor, Robin Williams doesn’t really alter his extremely distinct on-screen presence.
This does a terrible disservice to the film Patch Adams. The actor and the filmmaker greatly exaggerated the doctor’s story, making it into a comedy rather than the actual work that Adams did with his patients.
The actual Adams mentions that the only reason he agreed to them filming a documentary about his life was because he was supposed to acquire money to fund his hospital, which never materialized, and it’s not the only issue with this film.
But since it’s a lovely movie, lots of people still liked it. So long as you don’t go into it expecting the truth, it is worth watching.
Rudy
The protagonist of the happy story Rudy Rudy, a young kid who aspired to play football, struggles to maintain good grades.
Regrettably, several of the most endearing scenes in the film—like the one where Rudy is scooped up and supported by everyone watching the game—were completely made up.
Since he was in the Navy and the GI Bill would have covered the majority of his tuition, he didn’t suffer with it as much as the movie implied. This indicates that he didn’t difficulty managing his schedule as much as the film implied.
The Blind Side
The Blind Side is the ideal movie to watch if you’re looking for a football film about family that makes you feel good. In it, Sandra Bullock plays a mother who doesn’t put up with nonsense and isn’t swayed by other people. Even if it means taking in an abandoned child off the streets, she is there to help when she sees someone in need.
Although the real-life narrative is still endearing, some of the more terrible aspects are unfortunately missing. For instance, he was being scouted for football before he was adopted by the Tuohy family. The real football player, who can’t believe all of his hard work was credited to his family, is still bothered by this fact. He even feels that this movie damaged his career because it led many people to believe that his efforts were not as significant as they truly were.
There are various errors from before he was adopted. While he did come from a difficult household, his adoptive family wasn’t flawless, and his early years were very straightforward.
The Doors
Knowing Oliver Stone as a filmmaker, you might not be shocked to learn how wrong The Doors is. He has a reputation for obfuscating the truth in order to portray what happened in a more Impressionist manner. In his film about the band The Doors, this is unquestionably the situation.
You might be shocked to learn, for instance, that Jim Morrison was portrayed as being lot darker than he actually was. He never exhibited severe outbursts of rage, and he never skipped classes.
The majority of the band members detest the film and claim that Morrison was fictionally portrayed in it.
The Greatest Showman
Hugh Jackman, who was attempting to leave his status as Wolverine at the moment, performed brilliantly in The Greatest Showman.
It had everything you could possibly want in a movie: music, a love interest, a man defying society, and a satisfying conclusion.
Unfortunately, such rarely occurs in real life. The fact that the character portrayed by Zac Efron didn’t exist is the most obvious mistake in this movie. Furthermore, Barnum was an outright monster and a well-known racist.
He was rumored to have acquired an African American woman and pulled out all of her teeth to make her look older, which is a fantastic example. And it wasn’t even close to being the worst thing he’d ever done in his professional life.
The Imitation Game
The book Alan Turing: The Enigma, a biography of Alan Turing, intended to serve as the inspiration for the film The Imitation Game. Although it had a fantastic cast and a tale that was largely authentic, there was a glaring change that many viewers just can’t get beyond.
This was because Turing was generally thought of as a nice guy. He wasn’t shy or awkward. However, the directors decided it would be best to modify up his personality a little because we frequently see highly characters in that light. In addition, the biographer claims that the information regarding blackmail is false and ludicrous.
The King’s Speech
The King’s Speech is a lighthearted film that chronicles the life of King George VI and his terrible stammer, which frequently prevented him from saying what he wanted.
But the film made a big deal out of his ability to overcome his stammer. He actually managed to control the stammer 12 years before Britain’s entry in World War II, therefore he didn’t manage to do it in time to help in the war.
The Social Network
Being a bad person, Mark Zuckerberg is despised by many. However, a lot of the actions he took for The Social Network were outright lies.
One of the most significant was that he founded Facebook in an effort to win back an ex-girlfriend. But in reality, he was already seeing her at the time the movie is set.
If you questioned Zuckerberg, the only accurate aspect of the film was his attire.
It may not be accurate, but the movie is entertaining. Even Quentin Tarantino agreed that it would be the best film of the decade, and Jessie Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg, gave one of his best performances ever.
The Theory of Everything
The marriage of Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde is the subject of The Theory of Everything. It’s a wonderful film about their love enduring anything, even his ALS diagnosis. Although the film is based on Wilde’s own memoirs, it leaves out many of their relationship’s more complex nuances.
Since Hawking was the main subject of the film, Wilde was virtually ignored. In reality, she was cut off from his life and had to renounce everything, including her work, in order to care for him. Additionally, the film skimmed over the specifics of Hawking’s connection with Elaine Mason and how it caused him to lose touch with both Wilde and his daughters.
It’s an entertaining movie to watch if you can ignore the unpleasant truths about this man. We’re hoping someone will eventually create a reliable documentary about Barnum’s life.