Top 10 Historically Accurate Movies about America

Sometimes, art imitates life. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most acclaimed films that captured a different slice of American history with surprising accuracy. Our countdown includes "Zodiac", "Apollo 13", "Lincoln", "12 Years a Slave", "The Big Short", and more! How accurate is our list? If you have a film about American history that feels real, let us know in the comments below!
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#movies #history #usa #historicallyaccurate

[@WatchMojo]

How accurate is our list? If you have a film about American history that feels real, let us know in the comments below! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZ7ZnImvq96La8k Play our Daily Point Battles to earn MojoPoints and qualify for CASH BATTLES! Check it out: WatchMojo.com/play

[@xyz061220]

The 13th Amendment was January 1865, not 1854 ... 8:23 in the Transcript.

[@andrewmurray9391]

Both Clark's "Kids," and Linklater's "Suburbia." You'll never know what it was like to sit on the curb behind a 7/11 and smoke weed while touching your friend's boob. Silly now, but that meant you ruled the world at the time. That's all we wanted, we had love, but Google was not involved. It's a little horrifying to think as adults that we were getting AIDS and shooting heroin as a good time at age 12, but that's how it was. Be happy you are getting fat on overpriced sliced fruit now. (Not really, I guess).

[@daniellewis2133]

Lincoln is set in January 1865, not 1854.

[@pengwin_]

AI fucked up

[@redphillips3924]

When rating movies for historical accuracy, be sure to have historical accuracy.

[@Princess_kitty14]

huh, i must be getting blind, because im not seeing Idiocracy anywhere in the list

[@dennisyanan9728]

That's only because its not technically history, when it was made it didn't describe events that happened in the past. It was pre-history. It described what was going to happen.

[@WatchMojo]

[@djlp2212]

It hasn't happen yet, give it time.

[@kenhutchingame2606]

Because Idocracy is a documentary.

[@onestopviewfiles]

Hidden figures should be a mention

[@SupermarketSweep777]

I was gonna say this.

[@AudreyC379]

Yes, at the very least.

[@annrowe5638]

Definitely!

[@djlp2212]

Maybe because they used a lot of fictional characters in it.

[@mikewyatt9977]

Not really. They took events that happened in the 1940s and moved them into the 1960s, so it looks like none of the civil rights struggles in the 50s had ever happened. Think of it like a WW2 film that puts Pearl Harbor at the end of the war.

[@albertPI007]

Tora, Tora, Tora, the longest day and the big short are my favorites about telling the true story of changing things for an entire country.

[@jackrodakthemovieguy1726]

Team America World Police isn’t on here? This list needs a redo

[@MPF-80]

I remember that!

[@aarongothmann7247]

Derka Derka

[@Trenee281]

Fuck yeah!!

[@LoganHunter82]

​@@aarongothmann7247 Baka laka mohammed jihad!

[@crimsonredkingdom2656]

I’ll never forget I think twelve years a slave came out when I was twelve (I’m twenty four now) and I remember watching it with my dad. I can remember a bunch of stuff about that movie but what I remember in particular were the droves of Caucasian people crying and leaving the theater as they were beating that girl in the movie, and those that didn’t leave were still crying. I’ll never forget it it’s a vivid memory.

[@heavyartillery-qm5hu]

Lmao. They were probably faking it

[@michaelyakiwchuk43]

I watched Django Unchained in a packed theatre sitting beside a group of black guys. And I’m bald and shave my head, so I was noticed. 😂 But we were laughing together, cheering, nudging between me and the guy next to me. That was a good time.

[@turtlesnail9824]

I’m surprised Oppenheimer isn’t here, I remember everyone talking about historically accurate it

[@rickybullock10]

Till stands out to me as how America back then was and still fighting unjustice today

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

Injustice, not "unjustice"

[@c.w.johnsonjr6374]

Midway(2019) deserves an honorable mention

[@Dukenukem]

The original from 1976 maybe, definitely not the 2019 remake.

[@c.w.johnsonjr6374]

@@Dukenukem Historians and Navy officials say Emmerich’s film is the most historically accurate version. Naval History and Heritage Command director and retired Navy Rear Admiral Sam Cox said: "Despite some of the 'Hollywood' aspects, this is still the most realistic movie about naval combat ever made."

[@FGH9G]

I would've included Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July. Fantastic movie.

[@DenisPopov888]

Gettysburg! Finally. My all-time favorite movie ever. Excellent, riveting, tremendous movie, epic of heroism and brutality. Great film, smashing and superior to any before or after. Great epic.

[@paultapner2769]

Sam Elliott's 'thank god!' when he sees Reynolds has arrived is the best bit of acting I've ever seen. It blows me away every time.

[@jonathanrosario1474]

3 historically accurate movies out of 10 include Tom hanks he is a LEGEND

[@ranb40]

Bridges of Spies appeared to be a story with some real names and events woven into a fictional story. Apollo 13 was better, but still had far too much artistic license taken.

[@80severythingbru23]

Because it’s the Fourth of July! You forgot to say that!

[@Freakears]

I would have ranked Lincoln higher, but that's just me. And Apollo 13 is a deserving movie for the top spot.

[@Sly88Frye]

I have to see more of these films. I do remember seeing the big short in theaters. That was fantastic! I've seen some of these other films as well such as zodiac and flags of our fathers although I would like to check out that other one that came out the same year.

[@bluejem1315]

Where's is Argo the about the American hostage esaping from Iran ?

[@DeltaElites]

Seems to me Saving Private Ryan should be on this list as I've heard from every person who had been left from that war would leave the theater in tears after a viewing.

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

Where _Pearl Harbor_ painted a more dramatized, more-fiction-than-fact picture of the attack on the titular naval base, _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ was a much more realistic retelling and a film I wish I had seen as a sophomore in high school American history.

[@Reaperguy67]

That movie is so sad because it happened. But its been a while since I last seen it

[@ractsninjas]

😂

[@lavern007]

In many ways Pearl Harbor was a sad joke. They spent all their money on depictions of battleships and went super cheap when they took 1970-1990 Spruance class destroyers and tried to pass them as significantly different World War II class tin cans. Also, military hating Alec Baldwin as shorter and more impressive Jimmy Doolittle. Sad.

[@Aragorn7884]

*#1.* _Independence Day_ 👽

[@markzuckergecko621]

Dennis Quaid was too good for us.

[@46sn29]

"Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom … Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution … but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!' Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

[@user-fh2rz6qv6o]

Isn't Independence Day just another version of the fictional War of the Worlds?

[@Aragorn7884]

@@user-fh2rz6qv6o yea, pretty much LOL

[@hollyrashell]

Facts

[@CIS101]

Saw #10 twice. Great movie. Isn't 20/20 hindsight great ? If I heard of #9 I forgot about it. Should probably see it. Saw #8 a couple of times. Very good. I was probably too young the first time I saw it however. Saw #7. Very good. Saw #6 a few times since I was a kid. Great movie. I'm surprised it was ever made. Saw #5 once. Well made, but a sad, and depressing story. Don't need to see it again. My late father liked #4. Great movie. For #3 this appears to be a double entry. Well both are good movies. Not sure I saw #2. Was it on Netflix at any point ? Regarding the honorable mentions, I don't think I saw those 2 Clint Eastwood films. The #1 pick never gets old. Great movie. Great list.

[@taivo55]

Excellent listing

[@soysaucetilapia2893]

1:59 i thought it was galvanized square steel

[@jrapny]

We passing History class with this one!!!!!!!!!

[@ErikZarins]

Kinda surprised Miracle wasn't on the honourable mentions list

[@student7052]

Missing: A League of Their Own, Catch me if you can, Miracle on Ice,

[@ArdanArianis]

Except that Catch me if you can has been proven to be false. Excellent movie with stellar perfomances, but the book it was based one turned out to be completely false and the author conned the entire industry. The irony

[@teoengchin]

How long till Idiocracy makes it onto this list?

[@christopherx7428]

By the time it becomes history, people will be too stupid to realise that it IS history...

[@pr0jectSkyneT]

The Insider by Michael Mann???

[@tomwilson2804]

Odd that Transformers: Dark of the Moon wasn't on the list. I felt it kept pretty much to the facts when it came to the Decepticon attack on Chicago.

[@me24469]

Quite a number of Tom Hanks and Mark Ruffalo in there..

[@stingrey1571]

@2:00 according to florida schools, the movie Till never happened.

[@matttarczon]

Black Hawk Down. I know someone who went to West Point. He said they show that movie because of the story accuracy and the accuracy of how they portray the fighting.

[@williamkarbala5718]

The 70s version of ‘Midway’ used actual footage captured by John Ford. One of Americas greatest directors was trapped on Midway island during one of the greatest battles in history with his camera!

[@jaytrace1006]

Seems like we’re living through “The Manchurian Candidate” right now. Also, what about “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”?

[@s.s.8029]

Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies.

[@kenulozas8635]

Making a bio pic hire Tom Hanks 😂

[@robkewley]

#1. Idiocracy

[@djlp2212]

Coming soon to a real world near you.

[@TheICONTheMICKING]

No.1 - Robocop No.2 - Idiocracy No.3 - The Addams Family

[@dmurray1674]

Considering the court scenes were based on actual records and in used in both college level history and legal courses, I'm surprised "Amistad" was not in the list.

[@kevinpoole6122]

Amistad, Argo, Hidden Figures, Jackie

[@carloscolon3781]

Tombstone should be in the list. From what I understand, they even had historians on set to try and get the events as accurate as possible

[@Z33Blaze]

Feels like Tom Hanks is in half this list lol

[@JPBarosy]

Damn! JFK by Oliver Stone was not even mentioned once.

[@ericgeddes3353]

If big newspapers and outlets want to be taken seriously they need to start doing their job properly. Look at things honestly and fairly. If they don't they can't blame us for not trusting them.

[@earlmoore7003]

I saw the Till movie and honestly, no other movie could hit me more 😢

[@kissfanmac]

Canadians telling us Americans about movies that are historically accurate? Well I guess they know us better than the UK, so I’m for it! 🍁🇨🇦 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

It makes sense.

[@Trix897]

We whitewash our history, others don’t.

[@lavern007]

Where was Dunkirk, A Bridge Too Far, and Hidden Figures?

[@chelseacanales8763]

Not gonna lie, 12 years a slave is a good movie, but I cannot watch it again. 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@Ardnightian]

Oppenheimer & Zero Dark Thirty snubbed

[@philipcalderon3208]

Can you guys do Best Westerns of the 21st Century so far? Between 2000 to 2023 (or 2024).

[@jsedbe0624]

As a CPA and financial analyst earlier in life, The Big Short was amazing. In a stint as an adjunct professor, I actually taught about the 2008 housing bubble.

[@Trix897]

I am obsessed with every film relating to the 2008 financial crisis (was going to be a CPA, became a CHFP instead), whether it be a film based on real events or a documentary. This one is definitely my favorite.

[@ellsay8987]

I’m surprised Selma is not mentioned

[@the1989mars]

I'm surprised Milk + Good Night and Good Luck aren't on here

[@user-ih1bm9me5u]

This Film in Tecnoglogi of the Future!😊

[@bpax7119]

I don't inherently disagree with choices on this list (though I think it is antebellum/Civil War and WWII heavy) but the order is off. The Big Short for instance is by no means perfect but takes an incredibly complex issue and makes it accessible while being still entraining it should a couple spots higher. As should Till is based on 27 years of research that led to the DOJ reopening the case plus. Also Bridge of Spies is beautiful made and important film but it has a decent amount accuracy issues especially timeline wise and characterizations.

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

At least the longest day get a honorable mention

[@mistermattmoose]

what about hidden figures? very good movie, i had heard it was very accurate.

[@josephmiller2460]

Charlie Wilson's War was always one of my favorites.

[@buddah1221]

I feel like more people should watch The Big Short it's just accurate but just a good movie in general

[@keithw9808]

I have seen several of these movies, not many of the recent ones about the civil rights movement or the slave trade due to seeing others from the past and reading so much about those horrors, but one of my favorites was in this list with All the President's Men. I have a anniversary blu-ray copy of the movie and remember, I think I was ten, when my folks showed it and explained to me what happened. I didn't fully understand it until seeing it again in a high school government class and I became transfixed. I also remember my folks telling me that the first time, just after I was born, they took me to visit my paternal grandparents was the day that Nixon resigned in disgrace. I have studied many books about him because he was a fascinating politician and president who destroyed his legacy with his lack of confidence, paranoia, and vindictive behavior. My mom made reference to him in that Trump was the return of Nixon but I pointed out that Nixon accomplished much more than Trump. Yes, Nixon was a racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, had an enemies list, and would turn his cabinet members against each other. However, his administration established EPA, opened trade with China to avoid a second cold war, he was a published author, avid bowler, and reader. Of course, besides Watergate, there were some other not so great things his administration did with the creation of the war on drugs, which the architect of it, John Ehrlichman, later said that it had nothing to do with stopping drugs but to use it against the hippie movement and Black Panthers to scare voters into putting Nixon in the White House, and then there was how secretary of state Henry Kissinger's foreign policies that involved Cambodia, leading to the rise of Pol Pot, his Khmer Rouge, and the killing fields, along with their support for the Pakistani dictator at that time fighting the Bangladesh Liberation War that lead to mass genocide. Such a dark time for our country but also a time when journalists worked the beat to get the facts of the stories and I still think that All the President's Men should be required viewing for all Americans.

[@robertmagee3974]

What about how Native people were treated in history?

[@inebriated7hero]

What about Borat?

[@tashacooper1753]

It doesn’t help that most of them are no longer journalist

[@dwightrider5713]

Saving Private Ryan? Of course the story is not based on actual history but how much more realistic can a movie be.

[@dpat4413]

Where is Scarface?

[@gregoryoliver8337]

Patton.

[@ractsninjas]

Oppenheimer, Lincoln......

[@davidspearie6921]

Tom Hanks in 3 of 10 movies. Most realistic actor 😉

[@rocketrockinit]

Happy 4th of July USA

[@lavern007]

Midway was way above Pearl.

[@kwebst1]

13 lives

[@anthonyperno1348]

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

[@stevensiferd7104]

Although it's an accurate depiction of the worst of the Great Depression, I think they were focusing on movies that portrayed real-life people and historical events.

[@anthonyperno1348]

@stevensiferd7104 I am with you on that. But I would call it a consentration on 'particular' historical events. I feel the term real-life can be reached via fiction. IMHO "Horses" does that. It feels very real But I agree "Horses" didn't fit their theme.

[@s.d.357]

13 Days

[@obi-juan]

What about Hidden Figures??

[@bpax7119]

Sadly, takes a lot of unnecessary creative liberties and adds things that never happened (like the bathroom sign scene) to what are important events.

[@Jarhead2318]

Malcolm X should be on this list. Incredibly accurate.

[@CandiceVidito]

Never seen any of these movies... Anyways Happy 4th Of July Everyone!

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

You too! By the way, did you see what Leonard Cooper is saying about Slayde Wilson? Tiger and John Murray said the same thing about me more than once.

[@CandiceVidito]

@@Jeremiah_Rivers76 Yeah I saw it and reported it. He is getting out of control. That is beyond rude.

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

@@CandiceViditoAnd he thinks we’re the problem? What kind of world does he live in if he believes being told to ignore StanHalen, whose comments are also uncalled for, is evidence of cyberbullying?

[@Heathcoatman]

@@CandiceVidito He's a kid who's entire goal is to make people mad. Nothing makes him smile more than you calling him rude. It's his goal. Dont feed the trolls. Also, you should check out The Big Short out of all of these. Not just full of truth, but extremely entertaining.

[@CandiceVidito]

@@Jeremiah_Rivers76 I have no idea but he thinks that stooping to StanHalen's level will make him stop. It seems he is a child in mind and in body if he thinks that will work.

[@sebigomezzz]

oppenheimer?

[@scotttaylor8462]

I hate that there are no Revolutionary movies on this list. By far my favorite time period. Yet, not enough movies.

[@josh72456]

I’ve not seen Till, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Gettysburg, On The Basis Of Sex and The Longest Day.

[@keoni96731]

There was a movie about the Rodney King riots that had multiple stories that all overlapped that day. I wonder how accurate that was?

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

What's the title?

[@elainewaller-rose9707]

@@jesseowenvillamor6348 Twilight: Los Angeles 1992. It was a one-woman show written/acted by playwright Anna Deavere Smith. She played a startling array of characters and how their life experiences merged that night. I saw the play and it was unforgettable.

[@leannacamacho7642]

I know the movie adaptation of the book Unbroken where it shows the cruelty of the Japanese during World War II. I think that should be on the top 20 list for being historically accurate.

[@joannesmith2484]

Empire of the Sun?

[@stingrey1571]

@11:25 if read the actual book of "12 years a slave" it would make you wonder why and how a large segment of the african american population is so religious. slaves were force fed Christianity, a religion which preaches forgiveness to those who wronged them no matter what.

[@ShandiNicole1982]

Pirates of Silicon Valley…

[@davidgilbert9822]

Just go with Dumb and Dumber. That covers at least 40 percent of the USA

[@frozen2golden]

Not including Spike Lee's Malcolm X in the list practically invalidates the entire list. SMH

[@vickthashredder]

Hidden figures October sky

[@christophermerlot3366]

Kind of surprised that there's no Westerns on this list. Unforgiven or Little Big Man for instance.

[@ranb40]

Those are both based on novels and fictional characters; not intended to be historical other than their settings. The real Little Big Man was a Oglala Lakota. Jack Crab of the film was a white boy adopted by the Cheyenne.

[@alexthelizardking]

There are no passenger pigeons in the period films, so no.

[@jorgeadairramos7469]

Hello good morning 😮😮😮😂😂

[@soup100]

"Lincoln" was not historically accurate. How did this film make the cut? Hilarious!

[@arcticwolf137]

Sadly it never fails to surprise me that no other cultures live in America other than black and white when any sort of accuracy is applied if they care to show it at all. Lmao😂

[@TheCdecisneros]

The press still is..just people choose not to listen...

[@kenhutchingame2606]

So happy they did not include Argo anywhere in this list. Movie is so far from the truth it is laughable.

[@samsam18200]

The right stuff?

[@toaolisi761]

USA! USA! USA!

[@MrQuinn-tc3uo]

January 1865.

[@dalekkgames5430]

Idiocracy

[@Animeguy300]

I love America 🇺🇲

[@martingargaro4855]

I would have put United 93 on here

[@2headedcow5252]

Saving private Ryan

[@The_Dudester]

Before you go thinking that SPR is accurate: 1) See The Longest Day (made by actual WW2 vets and D-Day veterans) 2) Read up on "Sullivan brothers."

[@kenyattaclay7666]

Saving Private Ryan has one huge historical flaw which is that Vin Diesel wouldn’t have been allowed to be in that unit because the military wasn’t desegregated until 1947.