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Movies Based on a True Story #1

Can you identify these recent films based on actual events?
"Based" on actual events does not mean the movie is factually accurate
Quiz by maxvenble
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Last updated: September 19, 2017
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First submittedJune 25, 2014
Times taken25,500
Average score50.0%
Rating4.10
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Year
Description
Movie
2017
British soldiers must be evacuated from France in the opening days of WWII
Dunkirk
2016
Oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico must deal with a massive blowout and fire
Deepwater Horizon
2015
Eccentric investor makes money by betting against the U.S. housing market
The Big Short
2014
Olympian spends 47 days in a raft before being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp
Unbroken
2014
Civil rights leader marches in campaign to secure equal voting rights
Selma
2014
Navy SEAL's battlefield shooting accuracy saves countless lives
American Sniper
2013
Merchant mariner is taken hostage by Somali pirates
Captain Phillips
2013
Free African-American is kidnapped and sold into slavery
12 Years a Slave
2013
Rodeo man smuggles drugs to his fellow AIDS patients
Dallas Buyers Club
2012
Decade-long manhunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
Zero Dark Thirty
2012
Fake film crew rescues Amercan diplomats in Iran in 1979
Argo
2011
Black maids and white employer have a complicated relationship in 1960s Mississippi
The Help
2011
The 2002 Oakland Athletics build a roster of undervalued players
Moneyball
2011
Dolphin gets fitted with prosthetic tail
Dolphin Tale
2010
Mark Zuckerberg creates Facebook, but makes a few enemies on the way
The Social Network
2010
American outdoorsman is trapped under a boulder and must amputate his own arm
127 Hours
2010
King George VI suffers from a stammer
The King's Speech
2009
Nelson Mandela inspires the South African rugby team
Invictus
2009
Family adopts a future NFL offensive lineman
The Blind Side
2008
German army officers plot to assasinate Adolf Hitler
Valkyrie
buck1017
+1
Level 77
Sep 10, 2014
Grrr...I was off by one hour.
Danno
+1
Level 68
Oct 10, 2014
Me to! I could not remember how many hours, but mt guesses were far short. And for the Jackie Robinson, I tried every number in the 40s and 50s except 42.
GrandMo
+1
Level 71
Sep 19, 2017
I knew how many hours, but forgot 5 years...
pamu
+3
Level 49
Oct 7, 2014
Not sure The Help is a true story....
keirapelican
+2
Level 88
Sep 20, 2017
The Help is based on a novel. Katherine Stockett, the author of the novel, has repeatedly insisted that it is NOT based on a true story. She was sued by someone who said a character was based on a real person, but the case was dismissed.

Cite: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/the-help-lawsuit-against-kathryn-stockett-dismissed/2011/08/16/gIQAiCWqJJ_blog.html?utm_term=.35f1c1f3fd76

OfTheMountain
+1
Level 63
Oct 7, 2014
All I could think of was Seabiscuit for horses
ander217
+2
Level 75
Oct 7, 2014
I saw most of these, but just couldn't remember the correct titles. I tried A Dolphin Tale, The Dolphin Tale, Dolphin's Tale. Then I was thinking, "What was that movie where Captain Phillips was taken hostage by pirates???" Sigh.
LarryLovage
+1
Level 55
Oct 7, 2014
All of these films are recent, all of them I'm aware of at least through publicity and reviews. And I could remember maybe half the films' titles.
PatrickCristiano
+2
Level 65
Oct 11, 2014
I thought the last one would be Inglourious Basterds, until I realized the soldiers in that movie were more of Fresh/Jewish-Americans.
PatrickCristiano
+1
Level 65
Oct 11, 2014
*French
camus
+1
Level 78
Oct 12, 2014
Yeah, I also thought Inglourious Basterds was there as a joke, and Valkyrie is a 2008 movie after all.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Aug 23, 2015
Inglorius Basterds is pretty much pure fantasy. Not based on anything even if it takes place with the backdrop of real historical events.
TheRealXboxNerd
+3
Level 67
Aug 23, 2015
American Sniper is not a totally true story. Creating a villain of another ethnicity just to make the protagonist not evil? Great job... Nothing more than disgusting propaganda.
kalbahamut
+7
Level 82
Aug 23, 2015
Yeah this comment is absurd. And I'm not in favor of the Iraq war, nor do I have anything against Iraqis as a people, nor am I a big fan of the protagonist in the film, nor would I say that the film gets many points for being totally accurate. But still... ridiculous comment. And I'm sure Zippy is probably right.
YantheMan
+2
Level 66
Oct 20, 2016
I agree. I saw it, and it's hardly pro-war. There's action, then he gets PTSD (spoiler) and has trouble with his wife. It's not all "MERICA!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
exactly. After all the negative press, and knowing what Clint Eastwood's politics are like, I was actually expecting a heavy handed jingoistic movie that made Kyle out to be Sergeant York. But it wasn't that at all. At the very end at the funeral scene it did start to veer slightly into that territory, but up until then it was a well-told story about the high cost of war and the toll it takes on all those involved. There was definitely nothing at all racist about it.
tschutzer
+2
Level 91
Sep 20, 2017
There's nothing in the notes saying the stories are "totally true". In fact, quite the opposite. Hollywood is riddled with movies "based on actual events" that bear very little resemblance to reality. Creative license is quite regularly taken with "true stories". That's show biz.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
On the follow-up quiz I authored I tried to include a mix of films: some that are very historically accurate and others that are a load of bollocks, just to perhaps stir up conversation.
PoetsCorner
+2
Level 85
Feb 28, 2022
"Creating a villain of another ethnicity just to make the protagonist not evil?"

Obviously, you didn't see the movie. To the degree that it even HAS a villain (and it doesn't really), the closest thing to a villain is clearly of the same ethnicity and nationality as the protagonist.

kiwirage
+1
Level 63
Aug 23, 2015
It would be nice if "The Dallas Buyers Club" could also work. :)
interopia
+1
Level 85
Apr 4, 2016
I think it's better to say "A man gets his hand trapped under a boulder for 5 days" or whatever so people don't know how he finally escapes.
roleybob
+1
Level 75
Nov 4, 2016
In my memory, 127 hours was an Australian story. Weird.
Algernon
+2
Level 72
Sep 22, 2017
Yeah a tad too American centric this one.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Mar 2, 2018
Americans make the most movies that are widely seen and popular all over the world. But that aside this quiz features films that take place entirely or mostly in: France, England, Somalia, Germany, Japan, Iran, England again, South Africa, and more Germany. You people are silly.
Djilas
+1
Level 82
Mar 24, 2020
American popular culture is a bit overwhelming, but it's not up to a quiz site to correct that. There are less US-centric movie quizzes but they're also taken less.
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 89
Apr 11, 2020
A quiz written for those fluent in the English language just might include a lot of movies made where almost all English language movies are made. Strange, huh?
cpgatbyu
+1
Level 85
Dec 23, 2017
Dunkirk description also fits Darkest Hour.
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Feb 27, 2018
The Dunkirk dilemma, though central to Darkest Hour's storytelling and purpose, was really more of a subplot than anything. Actual Dunkirk is on-screen for less than ten minutes, and the subplot isn't completely resolved within the movie, instead leaving the viewer to figure out how it ended for themselves.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Feb 27, 2018
I know most people thought Dunkirk was fantastic, but I was disappointed in it, and all members of my family who saw it agreed. I suppose it was a case of unfulfilled expectations. But I immediately knew which film it was from the description. (Great quiz, BTW.)
Eigengrau
+1
Level 60
Feb 27, 2018
In the hint for "Argo", American is misspelled Amercan. Also, please include Sully(2016).
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
I didn't really like Sully. But there are of course plenty of films based on true stories out there. So many anyone who felt inclined could easily make a sequel.
Maladroit
+1
Level 51
Feb 27, 2018
Sully was good! I mean, it had its problems, especially with overdramatisation, but most films on this list suffer from similar errors.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
meh... the story just didn't appeal to me.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Feb 27, 2018
I enjoyed Sully, too. I've seen all but five of these, and enjoyed them all except, as I stated earlier, Dunkirk. It was a real disappointment for me with no characters to really care about, and much of it almost like a documentary.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
I enjoyed Dunkirk but... yeah I can see your point, ander
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
Actually Quizmaster already made a sequel. So I made part 3

I even included a Chinese movie on the quiz but I'm sure less than 2% will get that one.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 27, 2018
I made another one with Sully in it. here you go
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Mar 5, 2018
Another problem I had with Sully in addition to it not being a terribly interesting story to me is that most of the drama in the film comes from the NTSB attacking and being antagonistic toward hero-pilot Sully... which just never happened. They investigated the crash but it wasn't like in the film. If the movie was true to life it would have been even more boring.
Archer1212
+1
Level 63
Feb 27, 2018
got 15/20 and the only one i've actually seen is Argo.
KellsDeeko
+1
Level 32
Feb 27, 2018
19/20, and I knew Unbroken was directed by Angelina Jolie but I could pull the title. Good Quiz!
HistoryHunter
+2
Level 28
Nov 19, 2018
Suprised Titanic Is'nt Here.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Jun 25, 2019
It's on the sequel
JohnnyYeet
+1
Level 57
Jun 24, 2020
Wow, only reason I got Dolphin Tale was because of my sister's fascination with it...
KanzazKyote
+1
Level 87
Jul 29, 2020
OK, but "The Help" is not even remotely based on a true story, nor does it claim to be. It is based on a novel that is also not at all based on a true story. That movie is fiction, please fix.
DarthKnight
+1
Level 69
Mar 18, 2021
Please add The Greatest Showman and maybe Togi as well
ItzIngenious
+1
Level 60
Aug 11, 2021
What! No Cool Runnings?
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