When a film is based on a true story, it might have a unique value for the audience. Whenever it happens, we watch with wide eyes, knowing that an actual person was there to experience all of the magnificence shown in reel life. While this marketing strategy is a tried-and-tested approach to persuade people to see a film, moviegoers aren’t stupid. The following is a list of times when filmmakers stated that a film was based on true events while most of the events in the film were made up:
1. Argo
Apparently, Canada handled 90% of the work, and it wasn’t nearly as spectacular as the movie depicted. The core of the operation was organized in Canada. The CIA was involved, but the Canadian embassy staff did most of the heavy lifting and perilous job. Furthermore, the climax, in which the Iranian revolutionary guards attempt to pursue the plane, did not occur. Everything went smoothly. It was also the Canadians, not the CIA, who purchased the tickets for the Americans.
2. American Sniper
Clint Eastwood‘s American Sniper has sparked numerous debates along with critical acclaim and box office success. Critics have highlighted contrasts between the true story of Chris Kyle’s real-life and Bradley Cooper‘s portrayal of him in the film. Mustafa, the opposing sniper with whom Kyle clashes, is one of the numerous distortions. In Kyle’s memoir, he only appears for one paragraph, however, in the film, he is a long-time nemesis. Kyle’s super-long-range shot of almost 2,000 yards also wasn’t targeted at Mustafa in the book, but at someone with a rocket launcher. Kyle’s friend Ryan Job, meanwhile, survives for years after being shot, rather than succumbing to post-surgery complications.
3. Fargo
Among the most critically acclaimed films of the 1990s, Fargo was not only an Oscar winner, but it also spawned a TV series. While its place in film history is undeniable, its standing as a true story is nonsense. The film begins with a fictitious disclaimer claiming to be based on a true story, but that the characters’ names have been changed to protect their identities. True, there was a case in the mid-1980s in which a body was placed through a wood chipper and another example in which someone was committing crimes by falsifying automobile serial numbers. Everything else, on the other hand, is pure fiction.
4. A Beautiful Mind
The Russell Crowe-led film gave an upbeat portrayal of economics Nobel Laureate John Nash’s life narrative, which was regrettably, heavily fabricated. To begin with, the real-life Nash never worked at MIT’s Wheeler Laboratory since it does not exist. He did, however, go on to teach at MIT. Nash also never served the Defense Department. He did become a parent in real life…of an out-of-wedlock child whose mother he left. Nash also never gave an acceptance speech when he was awarded the Nobel Prize.
5. The Revenant
Hugh Glass, the main character in the film, survived the difficult environment. He then pursued the perpetrators who murdered his son. In reality, there is no account of Hugh Glass even having a son. His ruthless revenge was motivated by a basic desire to reclaim what had been taken from him. He did, however, perform a lot of wicked stuff like in the movie. All of that is true. But a lot more shown in the film never actually happened.
