Poll: Movies "based on true events" and artistic liberties/laziness

[CuddlyCombine]

(Disclaimer, before somebody yells at me; I acknowledge that most historical pictures are based on true events but aren't perfectly accurate. However, I don't feel those are included, because when one sees Milk they know that the movie is based on a true story, while they may not know this while seeing Exorcism of Emily Prose (sic?))

I dunno about anyone else, but I've always been at least mildly hooked by this. For some reason, hearing "disembowelment... dismemberment... small alien spaceships... based on a true story!" perks my interest, no matter how absurd the connection is (e.g. the town the movie is set in actually exists). I think it's because it excites that small part of my brain which lingers to know whether vampires are real and if six teenagers really did get slaughtered by that cabin they were staying in.

Anyone else? Oh, and sorry for the crappy poll, but I like to include those for people who are "on-the-go" posters and don't have time to sit and chat.

EDIT: Since it occurred to me, I'm sorta adding another topic (which I talked about in a post below, but it's probably convenient for it to be here); when do artistic liberties become pure laziness? Is it a fine art or just a simple line to break?

 

[Roamin11]

You should put "Sometimes" in the poll, depends if you actully like what the story is about so on and so forth....

 

[CuddlyCombine]

You should put "Sometimes" in the poll, depends if you actully like what the story is about so on and so forth....

Good call, thanks.

 

[kazuwacky]

I think that if it is a perfectly moving story then yes, it matters to me that this is based on real events and would make me all the more interested in seeing it. Milk is a good example of this

I do not count war films though. This could be because I am incredibly biased, I'm British and I don't like the past Hollywood depictions of WW2 in particular that I have seen. Pearl Harbour especially just felt weak. In those cases I don't want to see them specifically because the true story is so horrific and Hollywood has a sad tendency (from what I've seen) to glorify the world wars and America's involvement. This does not count for everything made about WW1 and WW2 though as my favourite film "Life is Wonderful" is an Italian Holocaust film which was all the more powerful as you knew this story could have really been played out.

Horror and sci fi doesn't interest me even if it's based on true events, as you said yourself, it'll be incredibly loose and hyped up to extreme levels.

So real life stories which are genuinely unique and amazing will always interest me. A unique and heart wrenching tale is what we want from film and here it was even played out in real life.

 

[ssgt splatter]

It depends on what the movie is about. I very rarely see a movie that's based off a true story.

 

[Neonbob]

Normally I prefer the movies that have a wholly original plot. There are some good "based off..." movies, but they usually fell like they're being held back by the actual events to me.

 

[APPCRASH]

War movies rock. But FICTIONAL war movies? Those can be outrageous AND epic.

 

[JMeganSnow]

"Based on true events" or "Ripped from the headlines" just means "the writer is unimaginative and/or horribly shallow". Bleh.

If you want to see the difference in action, look at the recent James Bond movies: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Casino Royale, was a MUCH, MUCH better movie, even though the events were a little contrived (A super-high stakes international national security poker game? REALLY?!) because it was internally consistent due to sticking with the strictly artistic element. Quantum of Solace sucked--the plot wasn't just contrived, it was STUPID. You know why? They attempted to base it around something that really did happen when Bolivia went about "privatizing" their water delivery infrastructure in a criminally stupid way. All the international flair, mystique, and suave that makes James Bond, well, James Bond, were completely lost in a sordid little two-bit scam that could only have been dreamed up by someone completely ignorant of basic economics.

No. Even if the artist is an idiot, at least when they avoid things that "really happened" they still might pull off a semi-competent story.

 

[Trendkill6]

Not really, because they change the story so much it bears little resemblance to the original story. Some movies actually do a good job at being faithful to the true story, but most (mainly horror) really just use it to try and highten the tension felt during the movie giving it the illusion of being scary and to boost ticket sales.

 

[tkmachine]

95% of the time, "based on a true story" means "we took an anecdote that's been knocking around in the collective consciousness long enough to stand in place of the truth and we heaped a ton of contrived bullshit on top of it." If you aren't completely cynical of Hollywood marketing by now, you're either 13 or encephalitic.

On the other hand, I'll take a good biopic like The Express anytime.

District 9 looks like the most interesting thing we'll see in a while, and it isn't based on anything besides apartheid.

 

[PersianLlama]

95% of the time, "based on a true story" means "we took an anecdote that's been knocking around in the collective consciousness long enough to stand in place of the truth and we heaped a ton of contrived bullshit on top of it." If you aren't completely cynical of Hollywood marketing by now, you're either 13 or encephalitic.

On the other hand, I'll take a good biopic like The Express anytime.

District 9 looks like the most interesting thing we'll see in a while, and it isn't based on anything besides apartheid.

Yeah, also, a lot of the time, they blow something out of proportion. I remember one movie claimed to be "based off a true story". It was a horror movie which two people were brutally killed and scared the shit out of. The true part? Two people with the same names died under unknown circumstances.

 

[Vrex360]

It depends on what the 'events' are I guess.

 

[CuddlyCombine]

Yeah, also, a lot of the time, they blow something out of proportion. I remember one movie claimed to be "based off a true story". It was a horror movie which two people were brutally killed and scared the shit out of. The true part? Two people with the same names died under unknown circumstances.

That's what most modern teen-scare flicks use as their main advertising fuel. Sadly, it seems to work on me (I don't see the movies, but I do wonder).

I guess a greater question to be asked; when does artistic liberty become plain laziness?

 

[sky14kemea]

probably not with horror movies XD we watched The Amytiville Horror at my friends birthday and at the beginning it said "based on a true story" which scared the crap out of my friend
i had to keep convincing her it would never happen in real life (while crossing my fingers just in caaaase)
basically if they see "based on a true story" people will be more scared because they think its possible in real life, but im pretty sure "based" means they took the general idea and just exaggerated everything to make it scarier, just try telling that to 5 terrified 17 year olds XD

 

[Weaver]

Most (non war) movies BASED on a true story are more like tangentially related to the actual events.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

I voted "Sometimes". It can either help to drive a point home and make a movie more powerful, or it can make you snort derisively the second you finish watching the commercial.

Blackhawk Down?


The Exorcism of Emily Rose?

 

[CuddlyCombine]

probably not with horror movies XD we watched The Amytiville Horror at my friends birthday and at the beginning it said "based on a true story" which scared the crap out of my friend
i had to keep convincing her it would never happen in real life (while crossing my fingers just in caaaase)
basically if they see "based on a true story" people will be more scared because they think its possible in real life, but im pretty sure "based" means they took the general idea and just exaggerated everything to make it scarier, just try telling that to 5 terrified 17 year olds XD

Exactly; the prospect of it being real freaks people out. Maybe not as much nowadays, seeing how it is being overused massively...