Is every movie that says it's based on a true story really true?

Answer 1

• The Blind Side
• Daddy's Little Girls
• Family Fued
• Social Networking
• Milk
• Malcom X
• The Kings Speech
• Pearl Harbor (loosely based)
• Mommie Dearest
• The Basketball Diaries
• Titanic (loosely based)
• An American Crime
• Stuck
• Girl Interrupted
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (based on the nonfiction book of the same name)
• The Amityville Horror (only the opening murder)
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose
• Open Water
• Train
• October Sky (based on the life of Homer Hickam)
• American Gangster
• Erin Brockovich
• Casino
• Donnie Brasco
• Rudy
• Remember the Titans
• Walk the Line
• The Pursuit of Happyness
• Public Enemies
• Notorious
• Monster
• A League of Their Own
• Changeling
• Alive
• We Are Marshall
• Awakenings
• JFK
• The Fugitive

However, you should be aware that many of these movies are very loosely based on true events.

Answer 2

No, not at all. Many movies claim to be "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story" when in fact they are essentially entirely fictional, such as The Blair Witch Project, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rose Red, Wolf Creek, The Strangers, Hostel, etc.

"Inspired by a true story" is a meaningless phrase, since all fiction has some truth to it. ALL fictional novels and movies are "inspired by a true story." Every novel and movie ever made can be called "inspired by a true story."

See the Related Question below for more information on "based on a true story" versus "inspired by a true story."

The fact is, movie producers and marketers in Hollywood know that people are more likely to see a movie -- especially a horror movie -- if they think it's based on a true story. So they are always eager to label a movie "based on" or "inspired by" a true story, so they will make more money off the movie.

NEVER believe it when a movie claims to be based on a true story (and especially "inspired by a true story"). You HAVE to research it for yourself.

None of the events depicted in the films listed above -- The Strangers, Hostel, Wolf Creek, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project, Rose Red -- ever happened in real life. All the characters are entirely fictional, and none of the events depicted ever took place. None of these films were intended to depict any true occurrences.

For example, the "real story" behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't happen in Texas, didn't happen with a chainsaw, and wasn't a massacre. The writer/director of The Strangersgot the idea from several different true crime cases...none of which resemble the characters and events in the movie to even the slightest degree.

Wolf Creek was written as an entirely fictional story. It was only AFTER writing the screenplay that the writer/director discovered that his story vaguely resembled some true crime cases that took place in Australia. So he edited the screenplay slightly, so it would resemble the real cases a bit more, and when the film came out, it was labeled "based on a true story."

And Eli Roth got the idea for the Hostel movies from a website that a friend showed him, advertising a "murder vacation" in Thailand, where, for $10,000, you could shoot someone in the head. He doesn't even know if the website was a hoax or not! But again, the Hostel movies are labeled "based on" or "inspired by a true story."

The last two -- Rose Red and The Blair Witch Project -- are a little different, since they are hoaxes. Elaborate hoaxes were produced for both of them, tricking people into thinking they were true stories. There are still people out there who think they are true stories.

Answer 3

An American Crime, Stuck, Open Water, Train, The Mothman Prophecies, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose...

However, you should be aware that some of these movies (namely, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting in Connecticut and The Exorcist) are at best very loosely based on the real thing, and at the worst, a scam/hoax.

You should also be aware that a lot of movies -- namely The Strangers, Hostel, Wolf Creek, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -- claim to be "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story" when in fact they are essentially entirely fictional. Movie producers and marketers in Hollywood know that people are more likely to see a horror film if they think it's based on a true story. So they love to label movies "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story," even when it's not really true.

None of the events depicted in the films listed above -- The Strangers, Hostel, Wolf Creek, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -- ever happened in real life. All the characters are entirely fictional, and none of the events depicted ever took place. None of these films were intended to depict any true occurrences.

For example, the "real story" behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't happen in Texas, didn't happen with a chainsaw, and wasn't a massacre. The writer/director of The Strangers got the idea from several different true crime cases...none of which resemble the characters and events in the movie to even the slightest degree.

Wolf Creek was written as an entirely fictional story. It was only AFTER writing the screenplay that the writer/director discovered that his story vaguely resembled some true crime cases that took place in Australia. So he edited the screenplay slightly, so it would resemble the real cases a bit more, and when the film came out, it was labeled "based on a true story."

And Eli Roth got the idea for the Hostel movies from a website that a friend showed him, advertising a "murder vacation" in Thailand, where, for $10,000, you could shoot someone in the head. He doesn't even know if the website was a hoax or not! But again, the Hostel movies are labeled "based on" or "inspired by a true story."

Answer 4

There are many movies based on true life events and they have become increasingly popular since the year 2000. Prior to this, 211 true life movies had been made but since then 221 have been made. Some of the pre 2000 films are The Sound of Music which was made in 1965 and follows the Von Trapp family and The Great Escape which was made in 1963 and is the story of 175 allied troops escaping from Stralag Luft 111 during World War 2. More recent films are Act of Valour made in 2010 which is based on US navy seals missions around the world and The Impossible made in 2012 which is about a Spanish families escape from a Tsunami in Thailand on 26th December 2004.

Answer 5

Yes. Plot means a series of events, and every movie (like movies based on true stories) has events, so every movie has a plot.

Answer 6

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Answer 7

yes