Special Report

50 Best Movies Based on True Events

Charles Stockdale, John Harrington

Published: April 4, 2018 3:04 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 1:46 am

Truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction — and Hollywood, it seems, has adopted the old adage. Film studios frequently turn to true life stories for movie inspiration.

Filmmakers have based their movies on true stories for well over a century. French director Georges Méliès released his 10 minute “Joan of Arc” film in 1900. Just over a quarter of a century later, Buster Keaton released his now-classic “The General,” which is based on the true story of a Civil War military raid.

There have been many films based on true events since those two examples were released. To find the best movies that are based on true events, 24/7 examined audience and critic ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database.

Click here to see the best movies based on true events.
Click here to see the worst movies based on true events.
Click here to see our detailed findings and methodology.

Source: Courtesy of Gkids

50. The Wind Rises (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 84% of audiences
> Director: Hayao Miyazaki
> Starring: Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miori Takimoto
> Domestic box office: $5.21 million
> Based on: Life on Jiro Horikoshi

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Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

49. Spartacus (1960)
> Favorable reviews: 87% of audiences
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
> Domestic box office: $30.00 million
> Based on: Life of slavery revolt leader Spartacus

Source: Courtesy of Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

48. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Arthur Penn
> Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Life of criminals Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

47. Rush (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Ron Howard
> Starring: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde
> Domestic box office: $26.95 million
> Based on: Rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

46. The Miracle Worker (1962)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Arthur Penn
> Starring: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Helen Keller and her tutor, Anne Sullivan

Source: Courtesy of Spyglass Entertainment

45. The Insider (1999)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Michael Mann
> Starring: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer
> Domestic box office: $28.97 million
> Based on: Tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand

Source: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

44. 127 Hours (2010)
> Favorable reviews: 85% of audiences
> Director: Danny Boyle
> Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara
> Domestic box office: $18.34 million
> Based on: Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder while hiking

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Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

43. The Big Sick (2017)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Michael Showalter
> Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter
> Domestic box office: $42.87 million
> Based on: Romance of writers Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

42. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
> Favorable reviews: 80% of audiences
> Director: Kathryn Bigelow
> Starring: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt
> Domestic box office: $95.72 million
> Based on: Search for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden

Source: Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

41. The Imitation Game (2014)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: Morten Tyldum
> Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode
> Domestic box office: $91.13 million
> Based on: Life of British codebreaker Alan Turing

Source: Courtesy of Miramax

40. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: Julian Schnabel
> Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze
> Domestic box office: $5.99 million
> Based on: Life of stroke victim Jean-Dominique Bauby

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Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

39. Rope (1948)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Leopold and Loeb murder case

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

38. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 94% of audiences
> Director: Terry George
> Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix
> Domestic box office: $23.53 million
> Based on: Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina’s efforts during the Rwandan genocide

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

37. In the Name of the Father (1993)
> Favorable reviews: 95% of audiences
> Director: Jim Sheridan
> Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Crosbie
> Domestic box office: $25.01 million
> Based on: The Guildford Four wrongly convicted in IRA bombings

Source: Courtesy of Focus Features

36. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
> Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto
> Domestic box office: $27.30 million
> Based on: Life of Ron Woodroof who helped AIDS patients

Source: Courtesy of Cinecom Pictures

35. Matewan (1987)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: John Sayles
> Starring: Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell
> Domestic box office: $1.68 million
> Based on: Matewan coal miners’ strike in West Virginia

Source: Courtesy of Olive Films

34. Love Exposure (2008)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Sion Sono
> Starring: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Personal friends of the director

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Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

33. The Straight Story (1999)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: David Lynch
> Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz
> Domestic box office: $6.20 million
> Based on: Alvin Straight riding lawnmower across state lines to visit brother

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

32. Inherit the Wind (1960)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: Stanley Kramer
> Starring: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: The Scopes “Monkey” Trial

Source: Courtesy of Palm Pictures

31. Memories of Murder (2003)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Joon-ho Bong
> Starring: Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim
> Domestic box office: $0.01 million
> Based on: First serial murders in Korea

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

30. Argo (2012)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Ben Affleck
> Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
> Domestic box office: $136.03 million
> Based on: CIA freeing 6 hostages in Iran

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Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

29. Selma (2014)
> Favorable reviews: 86% of audiences
> Director: Ava DuVernay
> Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth
> Domestic box office: $52.08 million
> Based on: Selma-to-Montgomery protest marches

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

28. Gandhi (1982)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: Richard Attenborough
> Starring: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Candice Bergen
> Domestic box office: $52.77 million
> Based on: Life of Mahatma Gandhi

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

27. In Cold Blood (1967)
> Favorable reviews: 88% of audiences
> Director: Richard Brooks
> Starring: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas

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Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

26. Captain Phillips (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 89% of audiences
> Director: Paul Greengrass
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman
> Domestic box office: $107.10 million
> Based on: Maersk Alabama hijacking by Somali pirates

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

25. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Ari Folman
> Starring: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag
> Domestic box office: $2.28 million
> Based on: Director’s experiences in the 1982 Lebanon War

Source: Courtesy of IFC Films

24. Nobody Knows (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
> Starring: Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura
> Domestic box office: $0.68 million
> Based on: 1988 Sugamo child abandonment case

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Source: Courtesy of New World Pictures

23. Breaker Morant (1980)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: Bruce Beresford
> Starring: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters
> Domestic box office: $7.14 million
> Based on: Court-martial of Australian officer for war crimes in Boer War

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

22. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: George Roy Hill
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
> Domestic box office: $102.31 million
> Based on: Lives of outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

21. The French Connection (1971)
> Favorable reviews: 87% of audiences
> Director: William Friedkin
> Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Work of New York City detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso

Source: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

20. Patton (1970)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
> Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young
> Domestic box office: $61.70 million
> Based on: Life of General George S. Patton during World War II

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Source: Courtesy of Embassy Pictures

19. The Lion in Winter (1968)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Anthony Harvey
> Starring: Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins
> Domestic box office: $0.02 million
> Based on: Life of Henry II of England and his family

Source: Courtesy of Newmarket Films

18. Downfall (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 94% of audiences
> Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
> Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes
> Domestic box office: $5.51 million
> Based on: Adolf Hitler’s final days

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

17. My Darling Clementine (1946)
> Favorable reviews: 85% of audiences
> Director: John Ford
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Life of gunfighter Wyatt Earp

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

16. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Sidney Lumet
> Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen
> Domestic box office: $50.00 million
> Based on: 1972 bank robbery by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturale

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

15. Ace in the Hole (1951)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Billy Wilder
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur
> Domestic box office: $3.97 million
> Based on: Stories of W. Floyd Collins and Kathy Fiscus who were trapped in cave and well

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

14. The Right Stuff (1983)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Philip Kaufman
> Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris
> Domestic box office: $21.50 million
> Based on: The Mercury 7 astronauts

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Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

13. The Elephant Man (1980)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: David Lynch
> Starring: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Life of Joseph Merrick

Source: Courtesy of Cinema 5 Distributing

12. Z (1969)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Costa-Gavras
> Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant
> Domestic box office: $0.08 million
> Based on: Assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

11. The Social Network (2010)
> Favorable reviews: 86% of audiences
> Director: David Fincher
> Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
> Domestic box office: $96.96 million
> Based on: Founding of Facebook

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

10. Dunkirk (2017)
> Favorable reviews: 81% of audiences
> Director: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance
> Domestic box office: $188.37 million
> Based on: Evacuation of Allied troops during World War II

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Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

9. Badlands (1973)
> Favorable reviews: 91% of audiences
> Director: Terrence Malick
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Lives and crimes of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate

Source: Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

8. The King’s Speech (2010)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: Tom Hooper
> Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
> Domestic box office: $138.80 million
> Based on: Relationship between King George VI and speech therapist Lionel Logue

Source: Courtesy of Orion Pictures

7. Amadeus (1984)
> Favorable reviews: 95% of audiences
> Director: Milos Forman
> Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge
> Domestic box office: $51.97 million
> Based on: Life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

6. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Otto Preminger
> Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
> Domestic box office: $11.90 million
> Based on: Murder trial of Lt. Coleman A. Peterson

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

5. All the President’s Men (1976)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: Alan J. Pakula
> Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden
> Domestic box office: $70.60 million
> Based on: The Watergate scandal

Source: Courtesy of Open Road Films

4. Spotlight (2015)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Tom McCarthy
> Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
> Domestic box office: $45.06 million
> Based on: Boston Globe’s investigation of sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests

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Source: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

3. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Steve McQueen
> Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender
> Domestic box office: $56.67 million
> Based on: Life of born-free African-American man Solomon Northup who was kidnapped and sold into slavery

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

2. Raging Bull (1980)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
> Domestic box office: $23.38 million
> Based on: Life of boxing champion Jake LaMotta

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

1. The General (1926)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
> Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Based on: Confederate soldiers pursuit of Union spies who commandeered locomotive called The General

Historical films are one of the most popular movies based on true stories. Studios have found huge success at the box office with big budget titles such as “Saving Private Ryan,” “Braveheart,” and “The Pianist.” Among the 50 best movies based on true stories are films such as “Selma,” “The Lion in Winter,” “Amadeus,” and “12 Years a Slave,” which explore events that took place over a century ago.

A growing trend in recent years has been of movies based on extremely recent events. For example, director David Fincher released “The Social Network” in 2010. The film, about Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook, tells events that took place in the early 2000s. Kathryn Bigelow turned her sights to the story of the United States’ search for Osama bin Laden in “Zero Dark Thirty,” which was released just over one year after the Al Qaeda leader’s demise at the hands of Navy SEALs. Both of these films rank among the best.

Movies based on true stories are also frequently successful when they focus on the real life events of one remarkable individual. Examples include “Spartacus,” “Gandhi,” and “Patton.”

To determine the best movies based on true stories, 24/7 Wall St. ranked movies within the biography genre and those tagged on IMDb as being “based on a true story.” For each movie, we considered the Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes’ average audience rating, and IMDb average user rating. To be considered, each film had to have at least 10,000 user ratings between IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes and 10 approved Tomatometer critic reviews.

We averaged the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb and weighted by the number of votes for each. The combined user rating was then averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critic rating. Box office data comes from IMDb and is not adjusted for inflation.