17 Movies That Are Historically Inaccurate, But Get A Pass Because They're So Good

"That movie crosses the absurd into awesome, and I love it."

Let's be real – a lot of the movies that are "based on a true story" are not exactly... true.

New Line Cinema

^^^ Me watching The Patriot.

But, a movie can be both inaccurate and enjoyable. So, when u/Agreeable-Beach-3009 asked the good people of Ask Reddit "What's a historically inaccurate movie that gets a pass because of how good it is?", I knew I had to share the more popular answers.

1. Anastasia

Twentieth Century-fox Film Corpo

"Can you imagine getting murdered, then a movie gets made implying the woman who claimed your identity was the real deal and had to fight a freaky wizard's curse, and there were two knockoff movies made in the same year? Songs were boppin' tho."

– u/vworpstageleft

"They also took some uh, interesting interpretations of the political situation in Russia before and after the Revolution."

– u/DrOctopusMD

2. Gladiator

DreamWorks

"Almost nothing about the movie Gladiator is historically accurate, but it doesn't matter. S-tier historical drama."

– u/Pixelated_Penguin808

3. Braveheart

Paramount Pictures

"How can you purport to show the Battle of Stirling Bridge… without the damn BRIDGE???"

– u/Old_Tomorrow5247

"Wait, there was a bridge? Next thing you'll tell me is that Scots at that time didn't paint their faces blue, or wear kilts, or speak English with a modern Scottish accent, that Prima Nocta was never really a thing, William Wallace was a lord, not a commoner, that Robert the Bruce wasn't present at the Battle of Falkirk, Isabella was 10 years old when he died and two years old when Falkirk happened (which makes the affair........creepy), or that Edward Longshanks died several years after Wallace, not in bed while hearing him scream 'Freeeeeeedoooooooom!'" – Majestic_Ferrett

4. The Greatest Showman

20th Century Studios

"The Greatest Showman makes PT Barnum look like a better person than he was in real life."

– u/viridianvenus

"Obviously, the music is fantastic but the best description I heard of the plot was that it was the story Barnum would have come up with in his show if he decided to make it a biography."

– u/mmss

5. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer

20th Century Studios

"That movie crosses the absurd into awesome, and I love it."

– u/FactoryOfBradness

"I loved it too, but I think it did way too much to gloss over how involved werewolves were to Lincoln's legacy. Vampires got all the glam, but real history buffs know it was on the back of the wolves that Lincoln built his credentials. Vampires were but one aspect of his hunting life."– u/MyManD

6. Gangs of New York

Miramax

"Historically accurate setting, costumes and some characters/gangs, but the plot and the events supporting it are largely fictional. Damn good movie though."

– u/Lieutenant_Skittles

7. 300

Warner Bros.

"The rampant historical inaccuracies in 300 don't bother me because:

A) it's presented as being told by a soldier who has every reason to embellish the events in order to get his countrymen amped up to fight Persia a second time, and
B) it's exactly how I imagine ancient Spartans would want the events told anyway - 'Yeah, the Persians sent an emissary and our king kicked that motherfucker into a pit. Then. we went to war with no armour because we're all built like gods. Then we killed a million of them and died like heroes in a giant storm of arrows. The other Greeks didn't help at all, of course, it was totally just us.' 

They couldn't ask for better propaganda."

– u/PlatinumPOS

8. The Blind Side

Warner Bros.

"The Blind Side wasn’t about Michael Oher. It was about white Christians wanting a movie to pat themselves on the back about how good they are." 

– u/evil_con_carne·

9. Inglorious Basterds

Universal Pictures

"I was 20 when I saw it in theatres. I went in assuming it was based on a true story. Fell asleep in the midnight showing. Woke up to Hitler being shot in the face. 'Oh maybe this isn't a historical drama...'"

– u/Cpt_Tripps

"Always said Inglorious Basterds was going to make a bunch of people fail a history exam."

– u/thisusedyet

"It’s specifically not supposed to be true or accurate."

– u/dcrico20

10. Titanic

Paramount Pictures

"William Murdoch shooting a passenger and then himself never happened. His family and his entire hometown(who regard him as a hero) were pissed, and a studio exec had to personally apologise."

– u/TCM_407

"A few liberties were taken, but it’s still actually an incredibly accurate (and wonderful) movie aside from those few points."

– u/Electronic_Ad4560

11. Enemy At The Gates

Paramount Pictues

"By the time the Battle of Stalingrad began, there was no shortage of small arms. Unarmed soldiers were not told to 'follow the man with the rifle and pick it up when he dies.' Regular Red Army troops were not mowed down by blocking detachments simply for falling back without authorization. Otherwise, it’s a great action movie that gives us a break from the usual Western Allied/German perspective to bring attention to the Soviet experience on the Eastern Front."

– u/lawontheside

12. Steve Jobs

Universal Pictures

"The Steve Jobs biopic (the Fassbender one, not the Kutcher one) is pretty historically inaccurate in a few places but still manages to be more true to the type of person Steve Jobs was than the Kutcher one."

– u/PBfilms

13. The King

Netflix

"I really liked The King on Netflix (it's about the battle of Agincourt). So, I looked it up to see how historically accurate it was. Point for point, the entire plot was the opposite of what actually happened. It's a shame because the weapons, armour, and fighting style were way more accurate than any other movie."

– u/Gullible_Ad5191·

14. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Roku

"Accurate? No. A masterpiece? Definitely."

– u/XenaWarriorWalrus

15. Argo

Warner Bros. Pictures

"The Canadian government pretty much did 90% of the work there." 

– u/baconator81

"Canada’s role was heavily minimised so Ben Affleck could look like the hero. Even Jimmy Carter commented on it."

– u/haikarate12

16. Balto

Universal Pictures

" #JusticeForTogo" 

– u/yourlittlebirdie

"Togo was the true hero."

– u/faberj92

17. Amadeus

Warner Bros.

"Simply put, the main plot point of Salieri getting envious of Mozart, then plotting to kill him, then getting absolutely guilt-full until he becomes an old man is fictitious. 

Even the part where it's said that Salieri heard his music wither away for 50 years. Sure as a composer he wasn't as popular in 1820 as he was in 1780, but he was still a much respected music teacher and was still an established figure in Vienna even that late in his life."

– u/Gondolien

Note: submissions have been edited for length/clarity.

Shoutout to u/Agreeable-Beach-3009 and everyone who shared their favourite inaccurate movies in the Ask Reddit Thread. Which movies do you think deserved to be on this list? Tell us about them in the comments below!