Special Report

50 Best Movies Based on True Events

Source: Courtesy of IFC Films

40. Nobody Knows (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 93% of audiences
> Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
> Starring: Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura

A 12-year-old boy in Tokyo must care for his three siblings when their mother abandons them. Critics gave the film a 93% score, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The Detroit Free Press called it “a sweet salute to the tenacity and courage of children who are blithely mistreated by adults…”

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

39. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Ari Folman
> Starring: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag

In “Waltz With Bashir,” director Ari Folman explores his memories, and those of old friends, of the 1982 Lebanon War. The animated film is uniquely powerful and original.

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

38. Selma (2014)
> Favorable reviews: 86% of audiences
> Director: Ava DuVernay
> Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth

Critics gave this stirring account of the three months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an almost perfect 99% Tomatometer score. Critics hailed it as “beautifully observed” and “a truly fine film.”

Source: Courtesy of Rank Film Distributors of America

37. A Night to Remember (1958)
> Favorable reviews: 90% of audiences
> Director: Roy Ward Baker
> Starring: Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres

Nearly 40 years before the release of James Cameron’s “Titanic” came “A Night to Remember,” also based on the fated ship. The film is based on a popular book by Walter Lord of the same title.

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

36. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
> Favorable reviews: 92% of audiences
> Director: George Roy Hill
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross

George Roy Hill’s 1969 Western teams Paul Newman and Robert Redford in two of their most iconic roles — Butch Cassidy and the “Sundance Kid” Harry Longabaugh. The film is a defining piece of 1960s’ American cinema.

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