DVDs that are true stories (1 Viewer)

[Tony-B]

Apollo 13
Catch Me If You Can
Seabiscuit
Black Hawk Down
Confessions of A Dangerous Mind
Schindler's List (Not out yet, but it's coming out in early March)

 

[Haggai]

Just re-watched one in my collection that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet: Das Boot. Whether you want to feel like you've been on a submarine at sea for weeks on end during wartime or not, that's what you get from this movie! Picture and sound quality on the DVD are tremendous.

 

[Tom Blizzard]

Jim,

Here are two I've enjoyed for years:
1. "Matinee" (especially if you are old enough to remember going to movie on Saturday for the grand price of 10,15, or 25 cents.)
It is "based" (a bit) on the life and movies of film producer William Castle.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0107529/


2. "Tucker: The Man and His Dream"
Neat,interesting, upbeat story. I never knew about this true story.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096316/

 

[nousername]

At Close Range
The Exorcist
The Elephant Man
The French Connection
Man on the Moon
Prefontaine or Without Limits
Raging Bull
Thirteen Days

 

[Bill Williams]

To add to the earlier mention of Citizen Kane, I would also recommend viewing the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane and the made-for-cable movie RKO 587 (or is it 487? I forget the number), which also looks at the making of Citizen Kane.

 

[Julian Reville]

"Rob Roy"
"Courage Under Fire"
"When Trumpets Fade"
"The Last of the Mohicans"

I think all of these are very realistic could-have-beens, and I watch them (and a few others) whenever I need some inspiration.

 

[Randy_M]

A League of Their Own

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Jim,

What about comedies? Though they may not be literally true, many comedies feature true-to-life subject matter (i.e. no fantasy or sci-fi). I'm thinking ANNIE HALL or MANHATTAN or older ones like IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. Would your wife consider SOME LIKE IT HOT too far fetched?

 

[Matt Czyz]

I nominate Office Space and BBC's "The Office" (not a movie, but watching all 6 episodes on DVD is close kinda somewhat).

 

[Elizabeth S]

Bloody Sunday
Murderous Maids
Amadeus

 

[Ruz-El]

Serial Mom

I had my own Mom convinced this was actually a true story (which is how it starts, similar to Fargo), which made for a pretty entertaining viewing.

 

[Brian W.]

Nobody's mentioned one of my all-time faves: Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins. Riveting from start to finish, and, with the exception of a few composite characters and events, and speculation about his relationship with his wife, it's VERY historically accurate.

And, as we were discussing in another thread, The Sound of Music is based on a true story. It's based on Maria Von Trapp's autobiography.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial killer is very loosely based on fact, too. The three lead characters were real people.

 

[Brian W.]

Oh, and Alex Haley's "Roots" -- though in subseuent years it was revealed that the story, particularly the early portions, is highly fictionalized -- and the African segments, passed off as true family history by Haley, were in fact plagerized from another author's novel! But the gist of the story is true.

 

[Jim Williams]

Just got Office Space from Netflix. I can hardly wait to cue it up.

 

[Arnie G]

I read Shackleton is a very good show. DDD has it for $11 so I might pick it up. True story about the explorer's attempt to cross Antarctica.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Riding in Cars with Boys

Not the best movie, but if she's into drama she might like it. It's been playing on HBO as of late, if you get that channel.

 

[Estevan Lapena]

If you don’t mind documentaries I highly recommend Hearts and Minds. It's an excellent Vietnam documentary made in 1974. It won an Academy award for best doc. and was highly controversial upon its release in the 70's. The DVD is made by Criterion so I'm not sure if your local video store would carry it.
For more info:

BTW: "Henry: Portrait of a Serial killer ..."
Don't take the film seriously as how Henry Lucas lived. The outcomes of the main characters in this movie are very different from what actually occurred in reality as I'm sure many know.

I recommend both films, but neither are the feel good movies of the century.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Probably not what you're looking for, but...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

(Well, it's kinda true. It happened, sort of.)

 

[Steve_Ch]

Henry and June
Frida
The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)
Breaker Morant
Gallipoli
All the President's Men

 

[Keith Paynter]