Yahoo!’s Top 10 Historically Inaccurate Movies

Yahoo! has compiled a slideshow of the Top 10 Historically Inaccurate Movies, saying:

We all accept that movies stretch the truth in the interest of building drama. The following ten flicks, however, treat the truth like it was Silly Putty — pulling and twisting it until it’s unrecognizable.

View the slideshow here. I certainly did not agree with many of this writer’s choices and comments, but some of them did give me a good laugh.

No. 10 on the list is 10,000 BC. Umm, whoever thought this movie was supposed to be anything but pure fantasy in the first place was sorely deluded. The prehistoric people speak in unaccented, modern English, for crying out loud. Sure, put it on the list for all of those people who were confused, but give the film a break. It’s only “historically inaccurate” if you’ve never taken a history course. It’s an energetic and great movie, by the way.

No. 9 is Gladiator, another really awesome movie. Yea, it screwed up a good deal of Roman history, but it was a blast to watch. A snippet of the caption concerning Commudus says, “And instead of being killed in the gladiatorial arena, he was murdered in his bathtub,” and one guy commented, “It wouldn’t be as exciting if he was killed in a bathtub : / .”  Took the words right out of my mouth

The epic (and extremely disturbing) 300 took the No. 8 spot. This film was not based on history, but on the comic book by Frank Miller. So if you want to cry foul, blame Miller, not the creators of the movie. And I do believe the last thing on the creators’ minds was historical accuracy. Just watch it, and you will understand. It creeped me out. However, I do believe everyone should see it, especially those serving in the military. It’s a poignant reminder of the sacrifices people must make for freedom.

No. 7 is The Last Samurai and No. 6 is Apocalypto, neither of which I have ever seen.

Memoirs of a Geisha is No. 5, and though I haven’t seen the film, I have read the book, which was moving and marvelous, though hounded for it’s inaccuracy.

No. 4 is Braveheart. This is sure to make the list every time, but I love it nonetheless. It makes me sob like a baby and gives me goosebumps. The battle scenes are to die for, and, like the 300, its message is immensely powerful. But I want to know where this writer finds any insinuation in the film that the child of Isabella and Wallace was supposed to be Edward III . . .

No. 3 is Elizabeth: The Golden Age. One of the most visually stunning films, it is a little shady on the history. I was actually working on a post about Elizabeth’s speech to her troops at Tilbury when I found this slideshow, and the writer does make note of the inaccuracy of that particular scene. (That post will follow in the next week or so.) Still, the inspiration factor of this film is through the roof.

No. 2 is The Patriot. It seems someone has a problem with Mel Gibson. Of all the inaccurate period films out there, three of his show up on this writer’s list. And he totally screwed up the analysis; according to him, Mel’s character, Benjamin Martin, was based on Francis Marion (“The Swamp Fox”), and the writer excoriates the film for warping Marion’s history. Umm, that’s why they named him Benjamin Martin, not Francis Marion. And the final battle was not entirely based on the Battle of Guilford Courthouse; that’s why the battle was left unnamed, because the creators made up a great deal of it, taking details and strategies from various events, including the Battle of Cowpens. But no matter. The Patriot is in my Top 20 favorite movies list, though the British are depicted as the most dreadful of villains; I will admit, that is not fair, but it does inflate that American pride, and the score is awesome. You Brits know how much I love you.

And finally, No. 1 historically inaccurate film is A Space Odyssey. Seems a bit out of place to me, but then again, I haven’t been too thrilled with this list in general. A bad way to end a bad list. Like there weren’t a million other, more worthy movies that weren’t even mentioned (like Alexander; I watch movies from beginning to end, no matter how bad, but this, this, was the only movie so cringe-worthy, that I turned it off before I finished and threw away the DVD). Never have seen this movie, so I can’t make any further comments.

~ by Lady Ashley on January 6, 2009.