35 Movies and TV Shows That Chucked Their Historical Source Material in a Woodchipper

Let’s face it: Real life rarely comes close to the suspense and drama that movies and TV can drum up. Filmmakers have to fit that hero’s journey into a story that our movie-loving brains are hardwired to follow, while peppering in some obstacles and/or happier endings that may or may not have actually happened. Gotta raise those stakes, baby! And sure, kilts came out centuries after Braveheart took place, but what are you gonna do? Show Scottish people without kilts?!?! Don’t be ridiculous.

35

CRACKED COM In The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg only created Facebook because he wanted to attract women after a breakup. In reality, Mark Zuckerberg was already dating a girl at the time he created Facebook, whom he married later on. — Source

34

BREALAST Max Baer is shown as a murderous psychopath, who has killed multiple boxers in Cinderella Man. In fact, the real-life Max Baer did actually kill a boxer in the ring, but it was accidental. Не was SO rattled by the incident that he had nightmares and deliberately lost four of his six matches out of fear that he would repeat the tragedy again. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

GRACKED.COM The real Captain Phillips is no hero like he was hailed in the movie. Phillips ignored multiple warnings from Maritime authorities, and his crew's request not to go near the coast of Somali, assuring them he wouldn't let pirates scare them off, which led to a decision that nearly cost their lives. — Source

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35 Movies and TV Shows That Chucked Their Historical Source Material in a Woodchipper — Source

31

IN THE IMITATION GAME, COMMANDER ALASTAIR DENNISTON IS PORTRAYED AS A TERRIBLE PERSON LOOKING TO SABOTAGE ALAN TURING'S CODE-BREAKING CAREER AT EVERY TURN. IN REALITY, DENNISTON PERSONALLY SUPPORTED THE ENIGMA PROJECT. IN FACT, НЕ WAS THE ONE WHO HIRED ALAN TURING AS ONE OF THE CODEBREAKERS. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

In Best Picture Gladiator, Maximus duels and kills Commodus in the arena. THE REALITY The real Commodus was killed in the bath by a wrestler named Narcissus. And unlike the brief term shown in the film, Commodus actually served as Roman Emperor for a successful 13 years before he was dispatched in the tub. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Rose survives the sinking of the Titanic, despite the bungling efforts of the crew. THE REALITY in truth, the Titanic officers rescued all that they could, and went down with the ship. In the film, the crew is shown sending off half-filled lifeboats, panicking, and even murdering passengers. In reality the workers filled boats to capacity and many sacrificed themselves so others could survive. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Lawrence of Arabia is the story of a British army officer who leads a revolt. THE REALITY Arab countries were so revolted by the film that they banned it. The film portrayed Arab culture as vicious and brutal. For example, Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) is a tribal chieftain, when he was actually an educated, cosmopolitan gentleman who served in the Turkish parliament. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Schindler's List is about a man who saves over 1,000 Jews from the Nazis. THE REALITY As it turns out, there was no Schindler's List. Schindler had almost nothing to do with the list, said David M. Crowe, a Holocaust historian. Schindler was actually in prison, at the time the film depicts him creating it. And there were apparently nine lists, not one. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

In Amadeus, Mozart is a goof who was fiercely envied (and probably killed) by Salieri. THE REALITY But Mozart and Salieri had a respectful friendship. Most historians agree that their relationship was one of friendly rivalry, marked by mutual respect and admiration. Further, Mozart was far from the potty-mouthed, giggling simpleton depicted in the movie. And he likely drank himself to death. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

In Mississippi Burning, the FBI sends two agents to investigate the killings of three civil rights workers. THE REALITY The FBI actually sent more than 150 agents to investigate the murders. In the film, there are just two agents. And it took the real-life investigators 44 days to break the veil of silence and locate the bodies. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

In Bridge of Spies, Gary Powers is imprisoned and tortured. THE REALITY The real Powers was treated well by the Russians. Не spent most of his time in the Russian jail wondering whether his wife was having an affair. And knitting. Seriously. Не knit an entire rug during his captivity. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

In Argo, the Americans save the day. THANK YOU CANADA THE REALITY In reality, it was Canada that pulled off the rescue. The plot involved rescuing hostages by posing as a film crew scouting a location. The movie makes it seem like it was all the CIA's idea, but Canada was responsible for at least 90 percent of the operation, according to President Jimmy Carter. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

In Goodfellas, Joe Pesci's character is assassinated by a shot to the face. THE REALITY But the real Thomas DeSimone vanished in 1979, and was never found. In the movie, Ray Liotta's character says, They even shot Tommy in the face so his mother couldn't give him an open coffin at the funeral. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

In Walk The Line, Johnny Cash's first wife Vivian hates his career. THE REALITY But the real Vivian didn't feel that way. Cash's daughter Kathy Cash says, That's not true. She loved his career and was proud of him until he started taking drugs and stopped coming home. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

CRACKED COM The poster that Andy uses to cover up his escape hole in The Shawshank Redemption is from the film One Million Years В.С. It was released in America on the 21st of February 1967. The year after Andy escaped from Shawshank Prison. — Source

19

CRACKED.COM DONT BE SAD JOHN COFFEE IT'S 1935 LOUISIANA ISN'T going TO START USING THE ELECTRIC CHAIR FOR ANOTHER FIVE YEARS — Source

18

The Aviator did a good job ...Especially in a scene from 1928 when he portraying Howard Hughes orders 10 chocolate chip as a man ahead of his time.. cookies, which weren't invented until the 1930's. GRACKED.COM — Source

17

CRACKED.COM After his house is firebombed Malcolm X shouts for someone to call 9-1-1. The 9-1-1 service was established in 1968, three years after Malcolm X was assassinated. — Source

16

CRACKED.COM In the film Public Enemies both Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd are killed long before John Dillinger. In reality they both outlived Dillinger. — Source

15

An Indiana الا Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy must rush to Berlin in order to save his father's $ diary from the Nazi's public book burning. HR The problem is the movie takes place in 1938 while the mass book burnings happened in 1933. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

GRACKED.COM In The Hurt Locker one character remarks that an Iraqi with a video camera is getting ready to put this on YouTube. The scene takes place in 2004, a year before the launch of YouTube. — Source

13

The Patriot begins sometime around the start of the Revolutionary War, and the movie finishes sometime around the end of the war. That means around 5-7 years passed throughout the course of the movie, and yet the Martin children don't seem to age a day. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

In Battlestar Galactica, a couple different characters become haunted for no apparent reason by Bob Dylan's song All Along The Watchtower. CRACKED COM According to the series finale, BSG takes place 150,000 years in our past. — Source

11

BRAVEHEART braved all fashion sense with ...garments kilts... not created for another 4 centuries after the real Braveheart lived. GRACKED.COM — Source

10

In Titanic, to discourage Rose from jumping, Jack tells her a story about him and his father ice-fishing in Lake Wissota, Wisconsin. The thing is, Lake Wissota didn't exist when Titanic sank. The lake was created in 1917 while Titanic sank in 1912. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Mulan's third act takes place in the famous Forbidden City. However, when the landmark was built, the Huns had not only been defeated but some had been integrated into Chinese society, making the movie's main premise obsolete. CRACKED COM — Source

8

H Не 10 LI Be в с N o F Ne 12 13 14 is 16 17 18 Na Mg Al SI P S CI Ar 19 20 21 22 DA DE 22 DE 27 25 29 30 31 33 33 34 35 M K Ca Sc TI V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Ga Zn Ge As Se Br Kr 37 38 39 ARE at az 43 45 46 47 48 ag 50 51 A2 53 54 Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe 55 — Source

7

X-Men: First Class takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. However, there's a bunch of Tomahawk missiles shown in the scene above. Tomahawk missiles weren't introduced until 1977. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

According to the writers, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is set loosely between 1720 and 1750. Granny Smith apples originated in 1868. In Australia. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

In Hot Tub Time Machine, Lou decides to stay in 1986, forming GRACKED.COM Mötley Lüe and writing Home N MAIN Sweet Home. MOTLEY CRUE Quite the feat, since Mötley Crüe had been around since 1981, and released Home Sweet Home in 1985. TRENTRE OF PRINT — Source

4

DID MEREDITH QUILL GET HER HANDS ON THE TIME STONE? Those rockin' mixtapes that Star-Lord's mother gave him before she passed away in 1988 GUARDIANS GALAXY AWESOME MIX VOL.1 were recorded on TDK CDing2 cassette tapes, which were released over a decade later. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

CRACKED.COM PEARL HARBOR A newsreel from 1940 shows a tank battle near Cologne Cathedral that will not happen until 1945. — Source

2

1

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Joneses book a flight from Berlin to Athens on a commercial zeppelin in 1938. In actuality, no ticket would have been a problem for all of the passengers, since airship travel was no longer a thing due to the Hindenburg crash the year before. CRACKED.COM — Source

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