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The best true stories (31 titles)

A list of my favourite films that were based on true stories, all of them well a watch!

by: A customer

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70
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Serpico

Al Pacino's outstanding performance makes this true story of corruption in the police force a must see movie.

Serpico on DVD (1973)
Starring: Jack Kehoe, John Randolph, Kenneth McMillan
Director: Sidney Lumet
Certificate:
Real life story of undercover police officer Frank Serpico (Al Pacino), who discovers that corruption is rife soon after joining the force. Refusing the payoffs which have become accepted practice, the nonconformist Serpico finds himself spurned and harrassed by his fellow officers. When the strain ..read more »
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Capote

This is the better of two films which document the time in Truman Capote's life that he wrote "In Cold Blood".

Capote on DVD (2005)
Starring: Dan Futterman, Bruce Greenwood, Bob Balaban
Director: Bennett Miller
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Oscar-winning drama based on a true story. In 1959, Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine ..read more »
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In Cold Blood

The classic film version of Truman Capote's book of the same name.

In Cold Blood on DVD (1967)
Starring: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson
Director: Richard Brooks
Certificate:
True story of a callous murder, based on the best-selling classic by Truman Capote. A prosperous and respected Kansas farmer, his wife and his two teenage children are brutally slaughtered. The murderers are two mindless ex-convict drifters: Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson)..read more »
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- 70
- from 1150 members

Schindler's List

A touching story of incredible heroism off of the battle fields of WWII.

Schindler's List on DVD (1993)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
Director: Steven Spielberg
Certificate:
Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts,..read more »
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- 80
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JFK

Once you've watched it, you'll never take the government at it 's word again.

JFK (1991)
Starring: Jay O. Sanders, Sissy Spacek, Sally Kirkland
Director: Oliver Stone
Certificate:
Oliver Stone's detailed examination of possible answers to unsolved mysteries surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who remained unconvinced by the Warren Commission Report and launched his own investigation. This film was ..read more »
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- 70
- from 15,123 members
Currently unavailable

All The President's Men

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford lead the cast in this film following the journalistic investigation that unveiled the Watergate scandle.

All The President's Men on DVD (1976)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jane Alexander, Hal Holbrook
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Conspiracy film specialist Alan J. Pakula turned journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their Watergate investigation into one of the hit films of Bicentennial year 1976. While researching a story about a botched 1972 burglary of Democratic Party headquarters at the ..read more »
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Zodiac

A story of obsession and and fear at the hands of a 1960's serail killer in San Francisco.

Zodiac on DVD (2007)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Chloe Sevigny
Director: David Fincher
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.
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- from 65,310 members

Monster

The harrowing story of Aileen Wuornos, prostitute and murderer.

Monster on DVD (2003)
Starring: Lee Tergesen, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Bruce Dern
Director: Patty Jenkins
Certificate:
Charlize Theron won an Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards for her portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in this gritty, hard-hitting drama by first-time writer/director Patty Jenkins. After a horrifically abusive childhood in Michigan, Aileen, known as 'Lee' (Charlize Theron) is working ..read more »
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Party Monster

Drugs, promiscuity, fashion, dancing, 90's club culture and Macaulay Culkin.

Party Monster on DVD (2003)
Starring: Chloe Sevigny, Wilson Cruz, Seth Green
Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
This is the lurid tale of Michael Alig, who arrives from the Mid West to New York with dreams of stardom. After a struggle he's ends up promoting parties at the Limelight club but succumbs to drugs and paranoia which ends in the murder of his dealer - and Alig in jail for manslaughter.
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- 60
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Flowers In The Attic

It's poorly acted, and comes acroos like a "movie of the week", but I think that this film is ready to acquire cult status. It's a harrowing true story of triumph over extreme adversity.

Flowers In The Attic (1987)
Starring: Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Jeb Stuart Adams
Director: Jeffrey Bloom
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
After the tragic death of her husband, the widow (Victoria Tennant) puts herself, and her children, at the mercy of her sadistic mother (Louise Fletcher) and her dying father. Nasty Grandma locks the children in the attic to keep their existence a secret from Grandpa, thus starting a bizarre and ..read more »
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- 60
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Currently unavailable