Random Best Oscar-Winning Movies Based on True Stories (26 items)

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  (#1) Titanic

  • Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, James Cameron, Bill Paxton, Ioan Gruffudd, Billy Zane, Victor Garber, David Warner, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Eric Braeden, Suzy Amis, Jonathan Hyde, Jenette Goldstein, Bernard Fox, Danny Nucci, Ewan Stewart, Nicholas Cascone, Jonathan Phillips, Jason Barry, Lewis Abernathy

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1997

  Titanic was destined to be a hit from the moment it left the port. While we mostly remember the film for the steamy romance between Leo and Kate Winslet, the film featured many historical asides that Cameron took from real accounts of the ship's demise. Specifically, the unsinkable Molly Brown captaining a life vessel full of women as the ship went down. 
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  (#2) Gladiator

  • Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Sheen, Richard Harris, Djimon Hounsou, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Omid Djalili, Tommy Flanagan, Tony Curran, David Hemmings, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Spencer Treat Clark, John Shrapnel, Allan Corduner, Tomas Arana, David Schofield, Ralf Möller, Al Hunter Ashton, David Bailie, James Fiddy, Nicholas McGaughey, João Costa Menezes, Brian Smyj, Giorgio Cantarini, Michael Mellinger, Kjeld Gogosha-Clark, Norman Campbell Rees, Giannina Facio, Charlie Allan, Paul Sacks, Mike Mitchell, Nic Main, Ray Calleja, Chris Kell, Ruth Frendo, Gilly Gilchrist, David Nicholls, Tom Kay, Billy Dowd, Alun Raglan, Neil Roche, Adam Levy, Christian Simpson, Malcolm Ellul, Mark Lewis, Mehdi Kashani, Antonio Meitin, Tony Tomlinson, John Quinn, Said Amel

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2000

  This story of a fictional Gladiator takes place during some very real events in the latter half of the Roman Empire. Ridley Scott took great pains to make the film as historically accurate as possible, but he cut a few corners when he thought the real story would bore viewers. 
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  (#3) Braveheart

  • Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox, Catherine McCormack, Patrick McGoohan, Tommy Flanagan, 피터 뮬란, James Cosmo, Angus Macfadyen, Alun Armstrong, Gerard McSorley, Alex Norton, David O'Hara, Ian Bannen, Michael Byrne, Rupert Vansittart, Bernard Horsfall, Rana Morrison, John Kavanagh, Sean Lawlor, David McKay, Seán McGinley, Stephen Billington, Niall O'Brien, Tam White, Julie Austin, Ralph Riach, Malcolm Tierney, Donal Gibson, Barry McGovern, Richard Leaf, Peter Hanly, Gerda Stevenson, Jer O'Leary, William Scott-Masson, James Robinson, David Gant, Jimmy Keogh, Liam Carney, Jimmy Chisholm, Derek Pykett, John Murtagh, Greg Jeloudov, Martin Dunne, Mal Whyte, Joe Savino, Paul Tucker, Bill Murdoch, Declan Geraghty, Alan Tall, Martin Murphy, Robert Paterson, Andrew Weir, Mhairi Calvey, Sandy Nelson, Daniel Coll, John Burns, Dean Lopata, Martin Dempsey, Jeanne Marine, Joanne Bett, Phil Kelly, Fred Chiverton

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1995

  A major influence on this story of William Wallace, a hero of Scottish independence, was a 15th century epic poem called "The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie" which takes quite a few liberties with history. Braveheart has managed to go down as one of the most inaccurate historical films of all time. 
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  (#4) The Bridge on the River Kwai

  • Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, André Morell, Percy Herbert, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Harold Goodwin, John Boxer, Peter Williams, Ann Sears, Heihachirô Ôkawa, Keiichiro Katsumoto, M. R. B. Chakrabandhu, Ngamta Suphaphongs, Javanart Punynchoti, Kannikar Dowklee, Vilaiwan Wattanapanich

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1957

  Although this film about John Wayne and a group of POWs sabotaging the Japanese army is largely fictitious, it borrows heavily from the actual construction of the Burma Railway which was built by prisoners of war during World War 2. 
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  (#5) Platoon

  • Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Forest Whitaker, Oliver Stone, Keith David, Tony Todd, John C. McGinley, Kevin Dillon, Dale Dye, Richard Edson, Cary Glover, Mark Moses, Francesco Quinn, Henry Strzalkowski, Nick Nicholson, Chris Pedersen, David Neidorf, Paul Sanchez, Reggie Johnson, Mark Ebenhoch, Terry McIlvain, Eric Hahn, Ivan Kane, Robert 'Rock' Galotti, Corkey Ford, H. Gordon Boos, Matthew Westfall, Warren McLean, Peter Hicks, Clarisa Ortacio, Bernardo Manalili, Chris Castillejo, Basile Achara, Li Mai Thao, Steve Barredo, J. Adam Glover, Andrew B. Clark, Li Thi Van, Ron Barracks, Than Rogers, Bob Orwig, Romy Sevilla, Kevin Eshelman

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1986

  Platoon was based on writer and director Oliver Stone's tours in Vietnam. After the film's release he was lauded as finally bringing the psychological stress of the war to the forefront of the American media. 
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  (#6) Dances with Wolves

  • Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Charles Rocket, Graham Greene, Maury Chaykin, Robert Pastorelli, Wes Studi, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Everett, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Rodney A. Grant, Michael Spears, Jimmy Herman

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1990

  Dances with Wolves is the story of a Lieutenant in the Union Army who joins up with the Sioux Indians and learns their ways. While most of the historical information in this film is as close to accurate as a film can hope to get, the representation of the Native Americans has been criticized heavily. Specifically troubling is Costner's approach to making all of the Siouxs good, while all of the Pawnees are bad.  
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  (#7) Lawrence of Arabia

  • Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, José Ferrer, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quayle, I. S. Johar, Gamil Ratib, Henry Oscar, Donald Wolfit, Zia Mohyeddin, Michel Ray, John Dimech

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1962

  Lawrence of Arabia is considered one of the most historically significant films of all time, largely because of the film taking most of its story from Lawrence's own writing. However, Lawrence's biographers are torn on the man's representation in the film. 
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  (#8) 12 Years a Slave

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2013

  The story of Solomon Northup, a man who was kidnapped from his home in the North in 1841 and sold into slavery, is seen as a somewhat faithful adaptation to Northup's original text, but a scene on a slave ship was added to give the film some extra pizzaz. 
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  (#9) A Beautiful Mind

  • Jennifer Connelly, Russell Crowe, Ron Howard, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Josh Lucas, Judd Hirsch, Anthony Rapp, Adam Goldberg, Rance Howard, Austin Pendleton, Roy Thinnes, Josh Pais, Jason Gray-Stanford, Jane Jenkins, Stelio Savante, John H. Tobin, Amy Walz, Warner Wolf, Reggie Austin, Brian Smyj, Tanya Clarke, Fileena Bahris, Michael Abbott Jr., Ryan Tygh, Jonah Falcon, Vivien Cardone, Dory Manzour, Rich Bryant, Dave Bayer, Robert Myers, Sean Reid, Tom McNutt, Charles McClelland, Cheryl Howard, Evan Hart, Jason Horton, Douglas Taurel, Jesse Doran, Fabrizio Fante, James Thomas Bligh, Alessandro Tanaka, Jennifer Weedon, Sean Dillon, Michael Pierce, Jon M. McDonnell, Todd Fredericks, Dan Chen, Teagle F. Bougere, Berly Ellis, Victor Steinbach, Holly Pitrago, Lloyd Baskin, Kent Cassella, Phil Cirincione, Michael Esper, Ed Jupp Jr., Gregory Gordon, Michael Fiore, Mike Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Christopher Todd, Reina Nomura, Tommy Allen, Sean Bennett, Eva Burkley, John Blaylock, Betsy Klompus, Will Dunham, Darius Stone, Glenn Roberts, Tracey Toomey, Christopher Stockton, Scott Addison Clay, Brian Keith Lewis, Logan McCall, Scott Fernstrom, Valentina Cardinalli, Gregory Dress, Reed Penney, Patrick Blindauer, Anthony Easton, Dave Sweeney, Matt Samson, Alex Toma, Yvonne Thomas, Bob Broder, Kathleen Fellegara, Ned Stuart, David B. Allen, Carla Occhiogrosso, Isadore Rosenfeld, Jill M. Simon, Mills Pierre, Erik Van Wyck, Cade Bittner

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2001

  A Beautiful Mind is based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate who develops paranoid schizophrenia. The film was criticized for inaccurately portraying Nash's second family, but the filmmakers responded that the film was never meant to be a literal interpretation of the man's life.  
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  (#10) Amadeus

  • Jeffrey Jones, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Ebersole, Abraham Murphy, Tom Hulce, Simon Callow, Elizabeth Berridge, Charles Kay, Roy Dotrice, Roderick Cook, Barbara Bryne, Richard Frank, Nicholas Kepros

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1984

  This story of betrayal and deceit in the music halls of Vienna is a lot of fun, but it's mostly fictitious. Aside from the fact Salieri didn't kill Mozart, there are a litany of inaccuracies in this film. 
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  (#11) The King's Speech

  • Helena Bonham Carter, Colin Firth, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Geoffrey Rush, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Andrews, Roger Hammond, David Bamber, Adrian Scarborough, Eve Best, Simon Chandler, Robert Portal, Calum Gittins, Andrew Havill, Ramona Marquez, Patrick Ryecart, Paul Trussell, Graham Curry, Teresa Gallagher, Orlando Wells, Max Callum, Harry Sims, Freya Wilson, Jensen Freeman, John Warnaby, Michael Archer, Richard Dixon, James Currie, Tim Downie, Ben Wimsett, Dominic Applewhite, Filippo Delaunay, Pete Noakes, John Albasiny, Stuart Pollock, Mary Robinson, Charles Armstrong, Sean Talo, Dick Ward, Sarah Molkenthin, Jake Hathaway, Tony Earnshaw, Mihai Arsene, Martyn Moore, Alex Sabga, Danny Emes, Abbie Murison, Dean Ambridge, Adam Eveson, George Rodd, Roger Parrott, Tony Sweeney

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2010

  This is the story of an Australian speech therapist who helps the King of England (played by Colin Firth) give his first speech to the public in 1939, when he declared war on Germany. In actuality, the King's speech lessons began almost ten years before he assumed the throne. The one issue that most historians have with the film is all the swearing. 
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  (#12) Gandhi

  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Ben Kingsley, Martin Sheen, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud, John Mills, Nigel Hawthorne, Amrish Puri, Trevor Howard, Om Puri, Shreeram Lagoo, John Ratzenberger, Richard Griffiths, Dalip Tahil, Saeed Jaffrey, Edward Fox, Bernard Hill, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Kapur, Rohini Hattangadi, Tom Alter, Alok Nath, Roshan Seth, Geraldine James, Ian Charleson, Mohan Agashe, Michael Hordern, Jalal Agha, Habib Tanvir, Brian Oulton, Nana Palsikar, Charu Bala Chokshi, Sudhir Dalvi, Supriya Pathak, Richard Vernon, Jyoti Sarup, Ian Bannen, Athol Fugard, Bernard Hepton, Shane Rimmer, Ernest Clark, Bernard Horsfall, Anang Desai, Daniel Peacock, Marius Weyers, Gerald Sim, Vinay Apte, Winston Ntshona, John Clements, Michael Bryant, Alyque Padamsee, Derek Lyons, Terrence Hardiman, Barry John, Dominic Guard, Richard Leech, John Savident, Harsh Nayyar, Avis Bunnage, Ray Burdis, K.K. Raina, Jack McKenzie, Graham Seed, Stanley Lebor, Peter Cartwright, Vijay Kashyap, Rupert Frazer, Geoffrey Chater, James Cossins, David Markham, William Hoyland, Keith Drinkel, Christopher Good, John Boxer, Gareth Forwood, Vijay Crishna, Richard Mayes, David Gant, Ken Hutchison, Norman Chancer, John Vine, Virendra Razdan, David Sibley, John Quentin, Colin Farrell, Sunil Shende, Günther Maria Halmer, Tarla Mehta, Gito Santana, Prabhakar Patankar, Michael Godley, Aadil, Stewart Harwood, Shekhar Chatterjee, Sunila Pradhan, Stephen M. Silverman, Suhas Palshikar, Sanjeev Puri, Amarjeet, Jon Croft, Caroline Hutchison, Chandrakant Thakkar, Sudhanshu Mishra, Roop Kumar Razdan, Sudarshan Sethi, Rajeshwar Nath, Hansu Mehta, Tilak Raj, Sankalp Dubey, Raja Biswas, Rovil Sinha, Vivek Swaroop, Manohar Pitale, Raj Chaturvedi, Bhatawadekar Prakash, Pankaj Mohan, Rahul Gupta, John Naylor, Bani Sharad Joshi, Avinash Dogra, Wilson George, S.S. Thakur, Dilsher Singh, James Snell, Shreedhar Joshi, Moti Makan, Dean Gasper, Gulshan Kapoor, Bob Babenia, Vagish Kumar Singh, Homi Daruvala, Alpna Gupta, Avpar Jhita, Karkirat Singh, Aswani Kumar, Anthony Sagger, Jane Myerson, Pren Kapoor, Gerard Norman, Dina Nath, Rama Kant Jha, Subhash Gupta, Gurcharan Singh, Pratap Desai, Peter Harlowe, Stanley McGeagh, Nigam Prakash, Irpinder Puri, Monica Gupta

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1982

  The filmmakers of Gandhi knew they had an impossible task in front of them when it came to telling this man's life story. The film begins with an opening statement that said as much: "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man..."
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  (#13) The Last Emperor

  • Peter O'Toole, Joan Chen, Vivian Wu, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Chen Kaige, John Lone, Victor Wong, Maggie Han, Ying Ruocheng, Constantine Gregory, Ric Young, Henry O, Lisa Lu, Dennis Dun, Hideo Takamatsu, Basil Pao, Lucia Hwong, Jade Go, Tsou Tijger, Li Yu, Richard Vuu, Fumihiko Ikeda, Tianmin Zhang, Hongxiang Cai, Akira Ikuta, Hajime Tachibana, Shu Chen, Wu Jun, Junguo Gu, Biao Wang, Henry Kyi, Fusheng Li, Hongnian Luo, Guang Ma, Matthew Spender, Baozong Yang, Guangli Li, Ruzhen Shao, Jiechen Dong, Liangbin Zhang, Yuan Jin, Xinmin Cui, Tao Wu, Alvin Riley III, Ruigang Zu, Zhenduo Li, Hongchang Yang, Dong Liang, Guang Fan, Shuyan Cheng, Zhendong Dong, Daxing Zhang, Lingmu Zhang, Shigang Luo, Chunqing Xu, Michael Vermaaten, Xu Tongrui, Shihong Yu, Huaikuei Soong, Shi Liang, Wenjie Huang, Jingping Cui

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1987

  This biographical film about the last emperor of China, Puyi was labored over by Bernardo Bertolucci but during distribution in Japan, a 30 second sequence featuring the Rape of Nanjing was cut from the film without his consent. 
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  (#14) Rocky

  • Sylvester Stallone, Joe Frazier, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Michael Dorn, Frank Stallone, Burt Young, Lloyd Kaufman, Joe Spinell, George O'Hanlon, Stan Shaw, Stu Nahan, John Pleshette, Tony Burton, Bobby Cassidy, Arthur Tovey, Frank Pesce, DeForest Covan, Thayer David, Billy Sands, Arnold Johnson, George Memmoli, Bill Baldwin, Simmy Bow, Jack Hollander, Frank Stallone, Sr., Frankie Van, Shirley O'Hara, Don Sherman, Pedro Lovell, Lou Filippo, Al Silvani, Jane Marla Robbins, Jodi Letizia, Robert Leh, Diana Lewis, Larry Carroll, Hank Rolike, Joe Sorbello, Jimmy Gambina, Christopher Avildsen, Jeri McBride, Lavelle Roby, Kathleen Parker, Paris Eagle, Joseph C. Giambelluc, William E. Ring, Robert L. Tangrea, Peter Glassberg, Butkus Stallone

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1976

  Sylvester Stallone admits that he had the idea for Rocky after watching Muhammed Ali beat Chuck Wepner in 15 rounds, more than anyone thought Wepner would go. But he refused to say that Wepner was his motivation for making the film. Wepner finally got his due with an ESPN documentary about his life in 2011. 
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  (#15) Argo

  • Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, Taylor Schilling, Adrienne Barbeau, Kyle Chandler, Victor Garber, Željko Ivanek, Philip Baker Hall, Clea DuVall, Mike Wallace, Tate Donovan, Richard Kind, Chris Messina, Tom Lenk, Titus Welliver, Rory Cochrane, Bob Gunton, Korrina Rico, Michael Parks, Scoot McNairy, Tehmina Sunny, Barry Livingston, Keith Szarabajka, Scott Elrod, Michael Cassidy, Larry Sullivan, Kerry Bishé, Omid Abtahi, Jamie McShane, Christopher Stanley, Cas Anvar, Bobby Naderi, Matthew Glave, Michael Chieffo, Clark Gilmer, John H. Tobin, Christopher Denham, Jerald Garner, Kelly Curran, Randy Oglesby, Richard Dillane, Rafi Pitts, Matt Doherty, Jean Carol, Erin Pickett, Mark Smith, Victoria Charters, Elena Kolpachikova, Alex Schemmer, Brandon Slagle, David Sullivan, David Dustin Kenyon, Roman Mitichyan, Matt Nolan, Nelson Franklin, Don Whatley, Karina Logue, Lindsey Ginter, James Shanklin, Martin Andris, John Boyd, Taies Farzan, Sean Patrick Reilly, Fahim Fazli, Nancy Stelmaszczyk, Michael Laren, Sally Spaide, Bill Blair, Ray Porter, Michael Stailey, Annie Little, Phillip Borghee, Veronika Kurshinskaya, Lucas N. Hall, Scott Anthony Leet, Rita Cannon, Rob Brownstein, Bill Tangradi, Danilo Di Julio, Daston Kalili, Houshang Touzie, Yan Feldman, Salomon Passariello, Collin McShane, Fouad Hajji, Yuriy Sardarov, Eli Jane, Fred Toma, Sandra Plazinic, Ali Saam, David Bittick, Seli Marset, Stephen Szibler, Jeremy Gram Weaver, Victor McCay, Muhammed Cangören, Brandon Tabassi, Bill Porter, Richard Allan Jones, Dawn Sobolewski, Rob Tepper, Mehrdad Sarlak, Bill Kalmenson, Sheila Vand, Desary Vailencour, Ken Edling, Vincent Rivera, Michael Lovern, Brendan Rooney, Page Leong, Mohamed Ibrahim Elkest, Michael Blumenstock, Armin Nasseri, Tyson Power, Erick Ramirez, Teemaree, Momo Casablanca, Marsad Nikui, Gabriel Aslan, Francisco Ovalle, Michelangelo Kowalski, Joseph S. Griffo, Omid Zader, Tim Quill, Koby Azarly, Shaun Daley, Hans Tester, Sepideh Haftgoli, Rafael Zubizarreta, Mihaela Lacramioara, Anthony Narvaez, Jennifer Christopher, Athena Talin Katalaris, Derek Mobraaten, Jozef Fahey, Matt Harding, Jack Topalian, Ron Vitalia, Maz Siam, Kaveh Taherian, Kevin Hawley, Aidan Sussman, Ray Remillard, Andrew Varenhorst, Kristi Faye, Nikka Far, Ryan Ahern, Ruty Rutenberg, Sahm McGlynn, Sunny Vachher, Matt McVay, Amitis Frances Ariano, Abe Rogland, Allegra Carpenter, Rita Qatami, Michael Woolston, Bahram Khosraviani, Rocky Kanaka, Josh Pellerin, Nima Azizi, Peter Henry Schroeder, Priyom Haider, Jonathan Levian, Siamak Keyvani, Chanelle Lyn, Roberto C Escobar, Gerry Rand, Eric Scott Cooper, Stephen J. Lattanzi, Ali Farkhonde, Roberto Garcia, Christina Sardinas, Ayden Mayeri, Reza Mir, Michael Klemp, Leyla Beysulen, Soheil Tasbihchi, Michael Kunselman, Amir Malaklou, Jon Woodward Kirby, Ania Spiering, Nick Santoro, Sharareh Sedghi, Sam Sheikholeslami, Xavier Wolf, Farshad Farahat, Yasmeen Yamak, Amaru Cloud, Danielle Barbosa, Saba Sarem, Ramon Calzada, Ray Haratian, Diamond Nicole Landeen, Alborz Basiratmand, Jasmin Jandreau, Danielle Beckwith, Ashley Wood, Bobby Zegar, Asal Nazerpour, Araz Vahid Ebrahim Nia, Baris Deli, Alison Fiori, Amir K, Asghar Allah Veirdi Zadeh, Dorianne Pahlavan, Mitchell Salberg, Rana Yamak, Ehab Elgharabawy, Fanshen Cox, Hovik Gharibian, Jason Kapraun, J.R. Cacia, Ayanery Reyes, Daniel Hayek, Puya Abbassi, Deborah Deimel Bean, Noah Arrue

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture:  2012

  Argo tells the story of Tony Mendez, a CIA Agent who concocts a brilliant scheme to help Canadian citizens escape from a hostage situation in Iran. In interviews, Affleck admitted to making the story much more exciting than it really was. 
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  (#16) Out of Africa

  • Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Iman Abdulmajid, Leslie Phillips, Michael Gough, Michael Kitchen, Benny Young, Graham Crowden, Shane Rimmer, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Donal McCann, Rachel Kempson, Suzanna Hamilton, Stephen B. Grimes, Malick Bowens, Niven Boyd, Tristram Jellinek, Annabel Maule, Job Seda, Allaudin Qureshi, Mike Bugara, Joseph Thiaka, Keith Pearson, Stephen Kinyanjui, Kenneth Mason, Abdulla Sunado, Muriel Gross, Peter Strong, Ann Palmer, Mohammed Umar, Amanda Parkin, Sbish Trzebinski

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1985

  Out Of Africa is VERY LOOSELY based on the memoirs of Karen Blixen, which was also titled Out of Africa. One of the biggest changes to Blixen's story was the downplaying of her family's wealth and 4,000 acre farm. 
  
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  (#17) Patton

  • George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Paul Frees, Lowell Thomas, Alan MacNaughtan, John Doucette, Lawrence Dobkin, Charles Dennis, Peter Barkworth, Michael Bates, Douglas Wilmer, Edward Binns, Gerald Flood, Jack Gwillim, David Healy, Morgan Paull, Lionel Murton, Tim Considine, Stephen Young, David Bauer, Harry Towb, Sandy McPeak, Clint Ritchie, Michael Strong, James Edwards, Carey Loftin, Richard Münch, Karl Michael Vogler, Frank Latimore, Florencio Amarilla, Siegfried Rauch, John Barrie, Bill Hickman, Paul Stevens, Brandon Brady, Pat Zurica, Bruce Rhodewalt, Albert Dumortier, Dolores Judson, Abraxas Aaran, Hellmut Lange

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1970

  Even though the producers of Patton wanted to make a loving character study of the revered General, the family refused to assist the production in any way. Still, many say that the film achieved a rich portrayal of the general.
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  (#18) Chariots of Fire

  • Stephen Fry, Kenneth Branagh, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Richard Griffiths, Ruby Wax, Alice Krige, Lindsay Anderson, Brad Davis, Ian Charleson, Patrick Doyle, Ben Cross, Benny Young, Peter Egan, Michael Lonsdale, Nigel Havers, Nigel Davenport, Patrick Magee, Nicholas Farrell, Dennis Christopher, Cheryl Campbell, John Young, Derek Pringle, Peter Cellier, Daniel Gerroll, Jeremy Sinden, David Yelland, Jack Smethurst, Struan Rodger, Sarah Roache, Stephen Mallatratt, Carole Ashby, Edward Wiley, Lorraine Daniels, Yvonne Gilan, Yves Beneyton, Robin Pappas, Colin Bruce, Kim Clifford, Andrew Hawkins, Tommy Boyle, Alan Polonsky, Philip O'Brien, Mark English, Gordon Hammersley, Stephen Marzella, Roberta Morrell, Wallace Campbell, Paul Howard, Ralph Lawton, Michael Jeyes, David John, Dave Turner, Gerry Slevin, Eddie Hughson, Alan Dudley, Steve Ambrose, Tess Dignan, John Rutland, Rosy Clayton, David Kivlin, Gayle Garyson, Graham Brooke, Peter Jones

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1981

  Chariots Of Fire is loosely based on a pair of athletes who compete during the 1924 Olympics for various personal reasons. Despite most of the scenes taking place during actual historic events, most of the film is a fabrication. 
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  (#19) The Sting

  • Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan, Sally Kirkland, Harold Gould, Kathleen Freeman, Ray Walston, Dana Elcar, Larry D. Mann, Susan French, John Quade, Brad Sullivan, Ken Sansom, Bruce Kimball, William "Billy" Benedict, Arthur Tovey, Jack Kehoe, Byron Morrow, James Sloyan, Robert Earl Jones, Charles Dierkop, Avon Long, Alexander Lockwood, Arch Johnson, Dimitra Arliss, John Heffernan, Leonard Barr, Guy Way, Tom Spratley, Jack Collins, Kenneth O'Brien, Joe Tornatore, Ta-Tanisha, Pearl Shear, Paulene Myers, Robert Brubaker, Lee Paul, Ed Bakey, Chuck Morrell, Patricia Bratcher

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1973

  The Sting is loosely based on the exploits of two real life brothers/con men, Fred and Charley Gondorff, that were documented in the book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man.
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  (#20) The Hurt Locker

  • Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Anthony Mackie, Christian Camargo, Brian Geraghty, Sam Spruell, Malcolm Barrett, Kristoffer Ryan Winters, Tommy Dallace, Jeffrey Feingold, Michael Desante, Sam Redford, Ryan Tramont, J. J. Kandel, Jerry Fortuna, Yousef Shweihat, David Gueriera, Nabil Koni, Imad Dadudi, Wasfi Amour, Hasan Darwish, Omar Mario, Kate Mines, Ben Thomas, Christopher Sayegh, Nibras Qassem, Nader Tarawneh, Fleming Campbell, Barrie Rice, Joseph Martinus, Anas Wellman, Feisal Sadoun, Justin Campbell, Suhail Aldabbach, Erin Gann

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2009

  The Hurt Locker tells the story of an Iraq War Explosive Ordinance Disposal team who become targets of insurgents. Despite being essentially a fictional tale, the film is based on the accounts of Mark Boal, a journalist who was embedded with troops in Iraq. In fact, there was a lawsuit filed over the possibility that some of the characters were based on actual soldiers. 
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  (#21) Mutiny on the Bounty

  • Clark Gable, David Niven, James Cagney, Charles Laughton, Movita Castaneda, Donald Crisp, Franchot Tone, Spring Byington, David Torrence, Eddie Quillan, Henry Stephenson, Herbert Mundin, Dudley Digges, Francis Lister, Mamo Clark, Bryon Russell

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1935

  Mutiny on the Bounty is the story of an 18th century ship's crew challenging the unjust practicers of their captain, and trying to overthrow him. The film has been called out numerous times for being historically inaccurate, but most of the issues brought against the film mostly have to do with shortcuts that the writers took to make the film more enjoyable. 
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  (#22) Crash

  • Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Ludacris, Thandie Newton, Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillippe, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Jennifer Esposito, Tony Danza, Marina Sirtis, Keith David, Loretta Devine, William Fichtner, Daniel Dae Kim, Michael Peña, Bahar Soomekh, Larenz Tate, Nona Gaye, Shaun Toub, Bird York, Jack McGee, Eddie J. Fernandez, Bruce Kirby, Beverly Todd, James Haggis, Curt Clendenin, Karina Arroyave, Ken Garito, Glenn Taranto, Billy Gallo, Jayden Lund, Allan Steele, Dato Bakhtadze, Art Chudabala, Ashlyn Sanchez, Alexis Rhee, Ime N. Etuk, Howard Fong, Alastair Douglas, Greg Joung Paik, Sylva Kelegian, Molly Schaffer, Paul E. Short, Nicholas George Stark, Joe Ordaz, Octavio Gómez Berríos, Sean Cory, Amanda Moresco, Kate Super, Martin Norseman, Yomi Perry

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 2005

  Even though this film about racism in Los Angeles is mostly fictional, one scene in the film involving a carjacking supposedly actually happened to the writer, Paul Haggis, and it inspired him to write this film. 
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  (#23) The Great Ziegfeld

  • Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, William Powell, Frank Morgan, William Demarest, Fanny Brice, Reginald Owen, Virginia Bruce, Ray Bolger, Nat Pendleton, Herman Bing, Harriet Hoctor, Ernest Cossart, Joseph Cawthorn, Paul Irving, Toni Mannix, Jean Chatburn

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1936

  This best picture winner is a cinematic adaptation of the Zigfield Follies and it attempted to combine the stage show of the Follies, with a real life interpretation of their author. At the time reviewers said, "The two biographies—of the man and of his creations—are, naturally, inseparable; but both have been told with such wealth of detail and circumstance (real and imaginative) that even the three-hour film narrative is fragmentary and, in some places, confused."
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  (#24) The Life of Emile Zola

  • Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, nm0129894, Joseph Schildkraut, Grant Mitchell, Dickie Moore, Ralph Morgan, John Litel, Franklyn Farnum, Frank Reicher, Harry Davenport, Pierre Watkin, Henry O'Neill, Moroni Olsen, Holmes Herbert, Montagu Love, Stanley Blystone, Lumsden Hare, Walter Kingsford, Robert Barrat, Arthur Aylesworth, Robert Warwick, Gilbert Emery, Vladimir Sokoloff, Morris Carnovsky, Wilhelm von Brincken, Frank Darien, Egon Brecher, Gloria Holden, Marcia Mae Jones, Harry Worth, Frank Mayo, Florence Roberts, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Charles Richman, Eric Mayne, Paul Irving, Maurice Black, Walter O. Stahl, Frank Sheridan, Paul Everton, Alex Novinsky, Alexander Leftwich, Rolla Gourvitch, Robert Cummings Sr., Dolores Weisenfreund

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1937

  At the time, this film about a French author's involvement with passing military secrets to the German military was unanimously praised. But recent reviewers have noted an odd lack of mention of German antisemitism in the film. 
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  (#25) Shakespeare in Love

  • Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, Rupert Everett, Imelda Staunton, John Inman, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Antony Sher, Mark Williams, Lucy Speed, Steven O'Donnell, Nicholas Le Prevost, Patrick Barlow, Jill Baker, Robin Davies, Georgie Glen, Barnaby Kay, Daniel Brocklebank, Roger Frost, Simon Day, Tim McMullan, Hywel Simons, Nicholas Boulton, Rupert Farley, Patricia Potter, Bridget McConnell, Roger Morlidge, Jason Canning, Bob Barrett, Gregor Truter, Steven Beard, Sandra Reinton, Joe Roberts, Adam Barker, David Curtiz, Kelley Costigan, Harry Gostelow, Alan Cody, Desmond McNamara, Paul Bigley, Rebecca Charles, John Ramm, Martin Neely, Timothy Kightley, Amber Glossop, Richard Gold, Jason Round, Rachel Clarke, Mark Saban

  Won the Oscar for Best Picture: 1998

  You know a film that's described as not being "constrained by worries about literary or historical accuracy" isn't trying too hard to accurately reflect history. But this love story between Shakespeare and a female actor who's pretending to be a man is at least inspired by it. 

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