History can be a great source of storytelling inspiration, with countless films over the years adapting real events. Going all the way back to the early classics like Battleship Potemkin (1925), real events have been getting fictionalized for the big screen. Some filmmakers are incredibly dedicated to replicating the tales with vivid historical accuracy. Films like All the President's Men (1976), Schindler's List (1993), and 12 Years a Slave (2013) remain (mostly) true to the people, times, and stories they are adapting.
Sometimes, however, filmmakers take some pretty big liberties with their ideas. Even something like Hamilton (2020) that takes a radically different approach to adapting history is more accurate than some films that present themselves as true to fact. Some of the most famous and acclaimed films based on real events fabricated entire people, changed the nature of battles, and reinvented history for the sake of the story. While all the films became more compelling or dramatic for these changes, here are 10 historical movies that left history behind and where you can find them on Tubi, Netflix, and more.
Argo (2012)
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Argo is a great espionage thriller that takes a lot of liberties with the historical story that inspired it. The movie is based on the “Canadian Caper,” a joint operation between the United States and Canada to use a fake film production as the cover for a mission to rescue six diplomats caught in the Iranian Revolution. The film’s tense direction and tight screenplay are terrific, giving the entire mission a sense of danger, even as the charms never quite rub off from the unique concept.
However, Argo has come under fire for tweaking the plot to emphasize the CIA’s efforts in the operation. It was also a primarily Canadian-led operation, to the point where overt complaints led to Affleck changing the epilogue text at the end of the film to address the Canadian role in the story. Iranian government officials have also criticized the film for how it portrays the Iranian people during the tumultuous 1979 revolution.
The Imitation Game (2014)
The Imitation Game is one of the best films in Benedict Cumberbatch’s filmography, but its celebration of Alan Turing includes some pretty important changes to historical fact. A slow-burning character drama caught up amid Britain’s efforts to crack the German Enigma code during the height of World War II, The Imitation Game features Cumberbatch as the unforgettable, blunt mathematician who joins the mission and struggles with the ensuing moral quandaries and personal invasions.
The Imitation Game gives Turing an early contrast in the form of Charles Dance’s Commander Denniston. The actor brings the same level of cold authority he used to embody Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones (2011). However, in real life, Denniston didn’t have a contentious relationship with Turing and was actually the one to recruit him in the first place. Denniston’s family has even been open about their frustration with the film’s representation of the man. Still, The Imitation Game will be a sure hit for fans of Cumberbatch and World War II-set thrillers in general.
Braveheart (1995)
One of the most well-regarded films in Mel Gibson’s career, Braveheart used an old folk story as its inspiration for a historically inspired war movie. The film depicts the First War of Scottish Independence, with Gibson starring as freedom fighter William Wallace. The film pulls from an epic 15th-century poem, taking the story and translating it into a massive and emotional epic.
However, historians noted that Braveheart’s low-born hero, William Wallace, is very different from the real man, who hailed from the upper class and would kill soldiers who refused to fight for him. It’s probably better not to think of Braveheart as super historically accurate, though, and compare it more to Troy (2004) or Apocalypto (2006), which Gibson also directed.
The Patriot (2000)
Another historical epic starring Mel Gibson, The Patriot has a lot of tonal similarities to Braveheart, albeit set during the events of the American Revolution. The film is a fictional story that largely attempts to replicate the look and feel of the era. While that results in a more concise story, it also means the film glosses over a lot of history. Gibson’s character, Benjamin Martin, is a composite of multiple real-life figures from the Revolutionary War. This includes Francis Marion, who was accused of atrocities during the war.
This follows a general trend, with The Patriot whitewashing much of the violence perpetrated by American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. William Tavington, the film’s villainous British general, is also largely based on Banastre Tarleton, whose legacy in Britain resulted in the city of Liverpool calling for apologies from the film producers over how inaccurate The Patriot was. The Patriot is a beloved classic, but audiences looking for more accurate versions of the American Revolution should check out John Adams (2008) or Turn: Washington’s Spies (2014).
Cool Runnings (1993)
Cool Runnings is a warm-hearted sports comedy about a Jamaican team braving the cold of the Winter Olympics’ bobsled competition. One of the final films made starring John Candy before he passed away, the film adapts the story of the four athletes who try to learn bobsledding.
A fun movie with an inspiring story about overcoming low expectations and prejudiced doubt, Cool Runnings amplified the real team’s success for dramatic purposes. This includes the film’s finale, which has the team earn eighth place in their second race. In reality, they never came in above 24th. Coming from the same era as Angels in the Outfield (1994) and Rudy (1993), Cool Runnings is a heartfelt example of how tweaking stories for drama can add more tension to a retelling of historical fact.
Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott’s historical epic is one of the greatest “dad” movies of all time. However, Gladiator also invents a lot of its lore. The film follows Russell Crowe’s disgraced general Maximus as he is brought into the Colosseum to fight—and gets the chance for revenge. Taking inspiration from real events that happened in Rome during the 2nd century, the film created Maximus and fictionalized almost all of his arc.
Gladiator particularly turns Commodus into a more reprehensible villain. In reality, Commodus didn’t kill his father, ruled for 20 years, was far less aggressively dangerous, and was killed in the bath by the wrestler Narcissus. Similar to The Patriot, Gladiator put more effort into replicating the look and style of real life while telling an original story. Fans of this one will find about the same amount of historical accuracy in Gladiator II (2024), but with a memorable Denzel Washington performance.
Amadeus (1984)
The Academy Award-winning drama Amadeus, about the rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, is a classic film and must-see for drama fans, but it also completely fabricates its emotional core. Amadeus is a tale of jealousy and the downfall it leads to, focusing on Salieri’s rage at the immature Mozart’s natural skill. It’s a powerful story, but one that is openly fictional.
The film’s writer and director took the dynamic between the two leads from plays and operas rather than history. While the two were professional rivals, the real Mozart and Salieri were actually more akin to colleagues. Some even believe they were friends, with Salieri serving as the music teacher for Mozart’s son following Mozart’s death. It makes the intensity of their rivalry in the film off-putting in retrospect. However, it’s still a compelling watch if you consider it “fan fiction,” rather than fact.
300 (2007)
Zack Snyder’s hyper-stylized action epic 300 is memorably over-the-top, so much so that it leaves a lot of real history in the dust. The film focuses on Leonidas, the King of Sparta, who leads a small contingent of soldiers to hold off the invading Persian army. In the process, the movie largely glosses over the darker qualities of the Spartans’ culture to depict them as more heroic and noble in contrast to Xerxes and his army.
300 also depicts the Spartans as the only true Greek warriors in the battle, outside of a small group of Athenian soldiers who join for a time but retreat before the final battle. In reality, Leonidas and his 300 men fought alongside upwards of 6,000 other groups from around Greece, helping maintain the battle. The war with the Persians was also not really pushed back until a number of naval battles, which served as the inspiration for 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). While inspired in part by history, the film is more accurately an adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300 comic series, which took the original liberties with historical fact to tell a stylized action epic instead.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Shakespeare in Love uses the immortal bard’s history as the grounding for a romantic comedy, all while taking plenty of liberties with the history of not just Shakespeare but also theater in the 16th century. The film focuses on the romance between Shakespeare and Viola de Lesseps, with their relationship serving as part of the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. The pair even ends the film with Viola performing the play on stage opposite William, impressing the Queen of England enough that she saves them from arrest.
In reality, the Queen would have seen the shows in private; there were also several plays that Shakespeare wrote that were omitted by the film. While Shakespeare in Love will delight historical romance fans, other adaptations of Shakespeare’s life, such as Hamnet (2025), take a more measured and tragic approach to the idea, even if they are also heavily fictionalized.
Anastasia (1997)
An animated musical released to compete with the Disney resistance, Anastasia takes one of the more famously tragic moments from the Russian Revolution and uses it as the starting point for a more romantic story. When the Russian Empire collapsed, the ruling Romanov family was slaughtered. However, rumors swirled for decades that the princess, Anastasia, had survived and gone into hiding.
This idea served as the inspiration for Anastasia, which focused on the hunt for the amnesiac princess, the romance that blossoms between her and a con man, and the magical Rasputin chasing after her. It makes for a fun counterpart to the likes of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989). However, the real story ends on a much more somber note, as modern technology has been used to investigate the scene of the massacre and confirm that Anastasia did die that night with her family.
