30+ movies based on amazing true stories
by postar51 | created - 27 Apr 2014 | updated - 27 Apr 2014 | Public30+ movies based on true stories
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1. Max Manus: Man of War (2008)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II and his battle to overcome his inner demons.
Directors: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg | Stars: Aksel Hennie, Agnes Kittelsen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Ken Duken
Votes: 29,770
2. Changeling (2008)
R | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
After Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan, Gattlin Griffith
Votes: 265,238 | Gross: $35.74M
3. The Counterfeiters (2007)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, History
The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Votes: 47,174 | Gross: $5.48M
4. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
R | 180 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey
Votes: 1,582,576 | Gross: $116.90M
5. Milk (I) (2008)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna
Votes: 179,825 | Gross: $31.84M
6. As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)
TV-G | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A German Army officer is captured by the Soviets in World War II and sent to a labor camp in Eastern Siberia. After five years of enormous hardship he escapes, commencing an incredible, arduous, danger-filled journey.
Director: Hardy Martins | Stars: Bernhard Bettermann, Iris Böhm, Anatoliy Kotenyov, Michael Mendl
Votes: 8,090
7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny
Votes: 110,422 | Gross: $5.99M
8. The Rookie (2002)
G | 127 min | Drama, Family, Sport
A Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Dennis Quaid, JD Evermore, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez
Votes: 37,157 | Gross: $75.60M
9. The Aviator (2004)
PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
Votes: 384,004 | Gross: $102.61M
10. Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
R | 102 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
Votes: 124,866 | Gross: $66.66M
11. Conviction (II) (2010)
R | 107 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
Director: Tony Goldwyn | Stars: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Thomas D. Mahard
Votes: 45,988 | Gross: $6.78M
12. The Insider (1999)
R | 157 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora
Votes: 180,164 | Gross: $28.97M
13. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
R | 117 min | Biography, Drama
In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is diagnosed with the disease.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Steve Zahn
Votes: 519,170 | Gross: $27.30M
14. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 929,055 | Gross: $13.18M
15. Moneyball (2011)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 464,410 | Gross: $75.61M
16. Nixon (1995)
R | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
A biographical story of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, from his days as a young boy, to his eventual Presidency, which ended in shame.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris
Votes: 32,720 | Gross: $13.56M
17. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, War
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 1,091,102 | Gross: $75.60M
18. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,450,192 | Gross: $96.90M
19. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
A mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 986,721 | Gross: $170.74M
20. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Barely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen
Votes: 1,095,130 | Gross: $164.62M
21. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
PG-13 | 117 min | Biography, Drama
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Thandiwe Newton, Jaden Smith, Brian Howe
Votes: 560,558 | Gross: $163.57M
22. North Face (2008)
Not Rated | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A secretary at a Berlin newspaper in 1936 gets to write about two Alpinists, as she knows them well. She later gets to report on and photograph her friends' and other Alpinists' climbs of the dangerous Swiss Eiger north face.
Director: Philipp Stölzl | Stars: Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Simon Schwarz
Votes: 16,430 | Gross: $0.71M
23. The Hurricane (1999)
R | 146 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 102,444 | Gross: $50.67M
24. 42 (2013)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie
Votes: 102,689 | Gross: $95.00M
25. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,128 | Gross: $5.51M
26. Philomena (2013)
PG-13 | 98 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Mare Winningham
Votes: 103,781 | Gross: $37.71M
27. The Great Debaters (2007)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker
Votes: 62,846 | Gross: $30.23M
28. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
R | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán
Votes: 104,765 | Gross: $16.78M
29. Lincoln (2012)
PG-13 | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
As the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 272,582 | Gross: $182.21M
30. Band of Brothers (2001)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, History, War
The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
Stars: Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor
Votes: 526,913
31. Donnie Brasco (1997)
R | 127 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 332,134 | Gross: $41.91M
32. Rush (I) (2013)
R | 123 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara
Votes: 513,511 | Gross: $26.95M
33. Erin Brockovich (2000)
R | 131 min | Biography, Drama
An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick
Votes: 221,183 | Gross: $125.60M
34. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
G | 93 min | Biography, Drama, Family
Professor Wilson discovers a lost Akita puppy on his way home. Despite objections from his wife, Hachi endears himself to the family and grows to be Parker's loyal companion. As their bond grows deeper, a beautiful relationship unfolds.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Sarah Roemer
Votes: 311,272
35. American Gangster (2007)
R | 157 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin
Votes: 452,422 | Gross: $130.16M
36. Gomorrah (2008)
Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama
Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino
Votes: 51,205 | Gross: $1.58M
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