Most spectacular piece of historical revisionism in film.

[Pappa]

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?

[Clinton Huxley]

Braveheart - pretty much all of it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"JFK", by Oliver Stone.

"The Alamo", with John Wayne. (The later one was much more accurate.)

"Pearl Harbor", with Ben Affliction.

[Clinton Huxley]

Zulu - in one scene, some soldiers open a type of cartridge box that wasn't in regular use until 1880, a whole fucking year after the battle.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"300".

Lock thread.

[Animavore]

A few bits in Michael Collins were blown out of proportion to make the English (government) seem like bigger bastards than they were. The Bloody Sunday scene, for instance, when the armoured vehicle drove onto the pitch at Croke Park during a Gaelic match and opened fire on the crowd with large calibre turret machine guns was done purely for effect.
In reality the crowd was fired on by Black and Tans from the stands. A turret was heard firing outside but these shots were into the air to disperse the crowd. The vehicle in question would've been to big to get in there.
There's also a scene with a car bombing but car bombs had not been invented yet.

[Clinton Huxley]

Until Tom Cruise's long-mooted Battle of Britain pic hits celluloid, the greatest piece of historical revisionism has yet to be filmed.

[colubridae]

Zulu - in one scene, some soldiers open a type of cartridge box that wasn't in regular use until 1880, a whole fucking year after the battle.

he said 'spectacular misrepresentation' not 'spectacular pedantry'

[Geoff]

[Pappa]

The Passion of the Christ.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Zulu - in one scene, some soldiers open a type of cartridge box that wasn't in regular use until 1880, a whole fucking year after the battle.

he said 'spectacular misrepresentation' not 'spectacular pedantry'

Are you kidding? Lead foil liners for ammo boxes at Islandwanda? That's simply reprehensible.

I won't mention the song if nobody else does.

[Clinton Huxley]

U-571 - Bon Jovi in a submarine? I mean, really?

[orpheus]

A lot of Amadeus was inaccurate. Brilliant and funny and intriguing - a wonderful film. But much crap.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"1776, The Musical". Sigh, oh fucking sigh.

[Arse]

Inglorious Basterds wins the thread.