The best movies based on real events
The list does not include biographies of famous people or historical films before the 20th century. The best movies I've watched, with my rating from 10 to 7 points.
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- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
- DirectorScott HicksStarsGeoffrey RushArmin Mueller-StahlJustin BrainePianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsRichard GereJoan AllenCary-Hiroyuki TagawaProfessor 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.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsSteve McQueenDustin HoffmanVictor JoryA French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
- DirectorGabriele MuccinoStarsWill SmithThandiwe NewtonJaden SmithA struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
- DirectorStanislav RostotskiyStarsVyacheslav TikhonovValentina VladimirovaMikhail DadykoA white dog called Bim is looking for its owner. It encounters all kinds of people and situations.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsWarren BeattyFaye DunawayMichael J. PollardBored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaIshirô HondaStarsTatsuo MatsumuraHisashi IgawaGeorge TokoroFollowing World War II, a retired professor approaching his autumn years finds his quality of life drastically reduced in war-torn Tokyo. Denying despair, he pursues writing and celebrates his birthday with his adoring students.
- DirectorMohsen MakhmalbafStarsNelofer PaziraHassan TantaiIke OgutAfter an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsEverlyn SampiTianna SansburyKenneth BranaghIn 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
- DirectorMarius HolstStarsBenjamin HelstadTrond NilssenStellan SkarsgårdNorwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsMatt DamonScarlett JohanssonThomas Haden ChurchSet in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsHiep Thi LeTommy Lee JonesHaing S. NgorDuring the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese woman struggles hustling on the streets, where she comes face to face with those involved in the conflict around her.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorLordan ZafranovicStarsFrano LasicMilan StrljicTanja PoberznikThree young men - a Croat, an Italian, and a Jew - are the best of friends in pre-World War II Dubrovnik. When their country is occupied by Germans and their cronies, the idyllic city becomes a place of terror and gruesome massacres. The friends must now take different sides in a global conflict.
- DirectorRobert EnricoStarsMichael YorkJacques PenotMacha MérilA story of the life of a Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsJohn HurtHugh DancyDominique HorwitzA Catholic Priest and an English teacher get stranded in a school in Kigali during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsAngelina JolieColm FeoreAmy RyanAfter 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.