Most spectacular piece of historical revisionism in film.

[Pappa]

Actually, I think Mel Gibson wins the thread.

I agree... he needs an award.... like a kick in the face or something.

[colubridae]

Inglorious Basterds wins the thread.

Is this your shop?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Mel Gibson has three mentions, nobody else has two. Shall we reproduce his "exit scene" in Braveheart?

[Coito ergo sum]

Another thread got me thinking about films that have messed about with history for entertainment or sometimes more sinister ends. The war film genre is rife, obviously, and kids films too (Pocahontas, the dodo bit in Ice Age 2).

What's the most spectacular misrepresentation in film?

Dances With Wolves
Troy
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
Gladiator

Oh, and Samurai, with Tom Snooze.

To name some that come to mind as giant facepalms.....


EDITED...

[Arse]

Inglorious Basterds wins the thread.

Is this your shop?

arse.jpg

No, but it should be.

What was wrong with Gladiator? I thought that was pretty historically accurate.

[klr]

Pearl Harbor immediately springs to mind. I will never forgive Jerry Bruckheimer for producing that movie.

Japanese fighters strafing the hospital grounds, the Japanese intentions behind the attack, the images of backlit modern US Navy warships substituted for the Japanese fleet (I wouldn't have guessed they were feeling so cheap about the special effects, but the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier alone jumped out as being really out of place), the scene of Roosevelt standing up from his wheelchair to make a point, etc. Too much to list, really.

I saw it during a port visit in Istanbul. My friend and I were probably the only Americans in the theater. After the movie ended, I really felt embarassed for us.

A big nod to Braveheart, too. Mostly since the Battle of Stirling Bridge did not involve a bridge in the film!

Never mind planes flying impossibly close to the ground without crashing. That's what you get for using CGI too much, instead of actual aircraft that have to fly like, well, real airplanes.

Braveheart also gets a vote from me.

Actually, many films take dangerous liberties when it comes to portraying the facts. Don't get me started ... :I-love-pork:

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Somebody remind me of the name of the RN destroyer sunk by Bismarck?

[Azathoth]

U-571

Bastard merkins did not capture the enigma machine

[Coito ergo sum]

U-571

Bastard merkins did not capture the enigma machine

The Americans did actually capture a U boat with an enigma machine on it, but it was not until June, 1944. The Canadians captured one also. The Brits captured all the rest of the Enigma materials captured at sea. Apparently, the Poles, though, captured one and did some code breaking of it before the invasion of Poland. No one nation is responsible for cracking Enigma.

U-571 was never captured by anyone, and was destroyed and all its crew killed, by an Australian crewed aircraft.

The whole movie was made up bullcrap from the get-go.

[Coito ergo sum]

Somebody remind me of the name of the RN destroyer sunk by Bismarck?

The Hood?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Somebody remind me of the name of the RN destroyer sunk by Bismarck?

The Hood?

Nope, Solent, IIRC correctly. Never actually happened, but it was a fun bit in the movie. No idea why they threw it in, except maybe that Bismarck hadn't done enough damage yet, despite Hood. Daft if you ask me. The audience lived through that period, so they'd know which ships were lost.

[Animavore]

Spartacus. All that Christianity put into it

[AshtonBlack]

THE FUCKING PATRIOT!

[Coito ergo sum]

THE FUCKING PATRIOT!

Christ that movie sucked.

It never ceases to amaze me that Hollywood can't fucking make a movie that is not black-and-white - good and evil - good guys and bad guys - with no nuance.

Naturally, the brits were portrayed as either evil, or aristocratic and soft, and the Americans were portrayed as clean lovers of liberty who were fighting off an invasion force.....and, of course, the "hapless" British military....that never ceases to amaze me -- one of the greatest militaries in the world, the British army and navy - a force that allowed a small portion of an island to conquer a good portion of the globe and form an empire upon which the sun never set - is portrayed as hapless and inept, except when committing savage atrocities....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

You have to give The Patriot one thing. They got Tarleton dead bang.