Favorite Movies Based on True Stories
by leturlightshine | created - 23 Feb 2017 | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Imitation Game (2014)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech
Votes: 824,972 | Gross: $91.13M
2. Woman in Gold (2015)
PG-13 | 109 min | Biography, Drama, History
Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.
Director: Simon Curtis | Stars: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes
Votes: 63,214 | Gross: $33.31M
3. Big Miracle (2012)
PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In small-town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his Greenpeace-volunteer ex-girlfriend on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly-forming ice in the Arctic Circle.
Director: Ken Kwapis | Stars: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, John Pingayak, Ahmaogak Sweeney
Votes: 20,513 | Gross: $20.11M
4. We Bought a Zoo (2011)
PG | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning
Votes: 151,732 | Gross: $75.62M
5. The 33 (2015)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.
Director: Patricia Riggen | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin
Votes: 39,748 | Gross: $12.19M
6. Deepwater Horizon (2016)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin, James DuMont
Votes: 182,399 | Gross: $61.43M
7. Unstoppable (2010)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Thriller
With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee
Votes: 207,748 | Gross: $81.56M
8. Bridge of Spies (2015)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, History, Thriller
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan
Votes: 327,726 | Gross: $72.31M
9. The Good Lie (2014)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama
A group of Sudanese refugees, given the chance to resettle in the U.S., arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.
Director: Philippe Falardeau | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal
Votes: 30,021 | Gross: $2.72M
10. Awakenings (1990)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson
Votes: 158,734 | Gross: $52.10M
11. Philomena (2013)
PG-13 | 98 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Mare Winningham
Votes: 103,791 | Gross: $37.71M
12. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
G | 93 min | Biography, Drama, Family
Professor Wilson discovers a lost Akita puppy on his way home. Despite objections from his wife, Hachi endears himself to the family and grows to be Parker's loyal companion. As their bond grows deeper, a beautiful relationship unfolds.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Sarah Roemer
Votes: 311,332
13. Life of a King (2013)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama
Ex-felon, Eugene Brown, establishes a Chess Club for inner city teenagers in Washington, D.C.
Director: Jake Goldberger | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, George Dick, Thurston Hill III
Votes: 7,633 | Gross: $0.01M
14. Argo (2012)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin
Votes: 639,084 | Gross: $136.03M
15. The Impossible (2012)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast
Votes: 244,048 | Gross: $19.02M
16. Freedom Writers (2007)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
Director: Richard LaGravenese | Stars: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn
Votes: 85,365 | Gross: $36.61M
17. Spare Parts (I) (2015)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
Four Mexican high school students form a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT.
Director: Sean McNamara | Stars: George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Marisa Tomei
Votes: 11,859 | Gross: $3.61M
18. Apollo 13 (I) (1995)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, History
NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise
Votes: 315,550 | Gross: $173.84M
19. End of the Spear (2005)
PG-13 | 108 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Two people come to the end of a spear in order to realize that the divisions between them are not real.
Director: Jim Hanon | Stars: Louie Leonardo, Chad Allen, Jack Guzman, Christina Souza
Votes: 5,502 | Gross: $11.97M
20. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 231,906 | Gross: $115.65M
21. Dolphin Tale (2011)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Family
A boy finds a dolphin that was injured in a trap. They become friends, but the dolphin needs to have its tail amputated to survive. With the help of a biologist and a prosthetics specialist, the boy tries to save the animal.
Director: Charles Martin Smith | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Nathan Gamble
Votes: 25,703 | Gross: $72.29M
22. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
R | 127 min | Drama
Depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern, Christo Jivkov
Votes: 251,120 | Gross: $370.78M
23. October Sky (1999)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen
Votes: 98,035 | Gross: $32.48M
24. World Trade Center (2006)
PG-13 | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Votes: 87,865 | Gross: $70.28M
25. Fly Away Home (1996)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney
Votes: 27,120 | Gross: $24.51M
26. The Perfect Storm (2000)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane
Votes: 177,911 | Gross: $182.62M
27. 55 Steps (2017)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama
When patients' rights lawyer Colette Hughes goes to meet her new client, Eleanor Riese, a patient in the psychiatric unit of a San Francisco hospital, she has no idea that besides taking on... See full summary »
Director: Bille August | Stars: Hilary Swank, Helena Bonham Carter, Johan Heldenbergh, Cynthia Hoppenfeld
Votes: 3,645
28. Clouds (I) (2020)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Based on real events, a young musician discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Director: Justin Baldoni | Stars: Fin Argus, Neve Campbell, Sabrina Carpenter, Madison Iseman
Votes: 11,605
29. The Farewell (I) (2019)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
Director: Lulu Wang | Stars: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu
Votes: 71,129 | Gross: $16.88M
30. Dark Waters (2019)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History
A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman
Votes: 101,776
31. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 912,085 | Gross: $32.57M
32. Jerry and Marge Go Large (2022)
PG-13 | 96 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Based on the true story about long-married couple Jerry and Marge Selbee, who win the lottery and use the money to revive their small town.
Director: David Frankel | Stars: Bryan Cranston, Annette Bening, Rainn Wilson, Larry Wilmore
Votes: 24,844
33. Society of the Snow (2023)
R | 144 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi
Votes: 131,246
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