10 Movies Based on True Stories That Actually Lied to You

Argo (2012)

In 1979, a group of Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking several Americans hostage. The crisis lasted 444 days, until the CIA established a fake movie production company as a cover for a rescue operation.

Argo forgets the large involvement of Canadians in the plan, in favor of only having American heroes. It also takes a lot of liberties in order to give the audience a pulse-pounding climax. In reality, there was no frantic chase to the airport, and no last-minute ticket cancellations. The extraction was smooth – too smooth for Hollywood.

The Sound of Music (1965)

The classic movie about a chipper, singing governess who falls in love with her stern, brooding employer is based on a true story. With one major difference – in real life it was Captain Von Trapp who was cheerful and friendly, while Maria was cold and unsentimental due to trauma in her childhood.

The real life Maria von Trapp details all of this in her memoir. She also explains that the family's escape from the Nazis was much less dramatic in real life. Instead of escaping over the mountains with only the clothes on their backs, the family simply set off for a vacation and never went home.

The Imitation Game (2014)

The Imitation Game does honor the broad strokes of codebreaker Alan Turing's life. However, in the name of drama the movie also takes some pretty major liberties.

Turing was actually fairly frank about his homosexuality, which was an open secret among friends and colleagues. He was not responsible for building the machine that broke the Enigma code – that was built by Polish cryptanalysts years before, and improved on by the entire team at Bletchley.

Benedict Cumberbatch 's performance as Turing has a lot in common with his famous take of Sherlock Holmes (cold, doesn't get jokes, takes things too literally). In real life Turing had a great sense of humor and many close friends.

Finally, the movie's villain Commander Denniston was in real life extremely supportive of Turing and the code breakers. Denniston's family has taken issue with the film for his portrayal.

Rush (2013)

In the name of drama, Rush ratchets up the rivalry between Briton James Hunt and Austrian Niki Lauda in their quest to beat each other on the track. In real life, the two were far from being bitter rivals – in fact, they were great friends and even roommates at one point.

Gladiator (2000)

Where to start with this one?

Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix 's character) didn't kill his father, Marcus Aurelius.

Russell Crowe's character, Maximus, never existed.

Commodus did fight in the colosseum during his time as Emperor, but of course he made sure he couldn't possibly lose. Beating crippled people to death was his speciality, and he charged Rome a million sesterces per appearance.

And finally, Commodus did not die in the arena: he was choked to death in his bath by his wrestling coach.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

You likely wouldn't notice anything amiss with Kathryn Bigelow's wartime drama unless you know anything about the U.S. Army's bomb disposal units. Then, you would probably notice that just about everything in the movie – the equipment, the uniforms, the vehicles, the method of bomb disposals, the lack of robots – is inaccurate. Real life veterans of Iraq have a lot to say about it.

Braveheart (1995)

As thrilling as it is, Braveheart has gone down in history as one of the most inaccurate movies ever made. William Wallace wasn't poor, he was an aristocrat. Scots didn't paint their faces blue at that time. Wallace didn't go to war to avenge his wife, but for political reasons. 'Braveheart' wasn't his nickname – it was the name given to Robert the Bruce after his death. And on and on.

Oh, and that princess Wallace snogs in prison, Isabella? She would have been two years old at the time.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

This cool caper is based on the real life story of con man Frank Abagnale Jr. The movie is very accurate to the story that Abagnale Jr. tells about his own life.

The problem is, most of that story is made up.

Most of Frank Abagnale Jr's grandiose stories about posing as an airline pilot, forging millions in cheques, and working for the FBI as an ongoing consultant have been proven to be gross exaggerations or complete lies. (He gave a guest talk at the FBI once, but no – he was never employed by them).

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Was circus manager PT Barnum a defender of the downtrodden, a supporter of the disenfranchised, an all-round good guy?

No, he kinda sucked. Barnum's animals were abused, and so were many of his employees. In real life, that gorgeous opera singer didn't leave because their unrequited love was too painful. She left because PT sort of freaked her out.

Cool Runnings (1993)

Cool Runnings is a comedy, and for some reason it feels like that gives it more of a pass than these other movies. But that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of the movie is simply made up. Yes, Jamaica had a bobsled team for the first time in 1988. Yes, they had a crash in the final leg of their race. But the rest of the movie was essentially pulled from thin air.