this story is based on true events...

EyeofSauron

Master Member
well, i just saw a movie, that said in the beginning: this movie is based on true events, and lets just say: thats not possible. im not gonna go in details here

is there no rule for this? can you simply slap that on a movie even if its utter bull? id like to hear your oppinions
 
It's probably based on true events like Texas Chainsaw Massacre is based on true events. They took a couple generic things that may have actually happened, and then built a completely fictional story around it.
 
I saw a movie that stated that:

Based on a true story. Except the parts that ain't.

Or something like that. Classy way of doing it methinks.
 
There are those times where the idea that the film is true is actually central to the plot, even though nothing in the film was ever true. A lot of the "found footage" movies rely on this. But there's usually a big difference between implying that it's true and flat-out saying that it's true when it isn't.

Let's throw caution to the wind here... what movie are you talking about?
 
Look at cop shows like Law and Order, they take tiny snippets from the news and rework it so that while inspired/based it really has little in common with it.
 
My favorite use of this was in Return of the Living Dead:

"The events portrayed in this film are all true. The names are real names of real people and real organizations."
 
In the end credits they always have that ""The persons, incidents and situations portrayed in this movie are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, incidents, and situations is coincidental and accidental."
Why do they have that if the movie is based on True events.... Even if the "based on" line is jiffy then it pretty clear that it still Based on an actual incidents and persons and that it is NOT coincidental and accidental.
 
My favorite is "Perfect Storm"

If they lost radio contact with them right after they left, everything after that would be speculation.

What they do know?
A boat left port
There was a storm
It never came back

Lets make a movie!

Might as well of had them fighting pirates on a ghost ship.
 
For those of you old enough to remember, there is "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!". Ripley's never claimed everything was true, some of it fell into the "Not".
 
In the end credits they always have that ""The persons, incidents and situations portrayed in this movie are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, incidents, and situations is coincidental and accidental."
Why do they have that if the movie is based on True events.... Even if the "based on" line is jiffy then it pretty clear that it still Based on an actual incidents and persons and that it is NOT coincidental and accidental.

In "based on actual events" movies, that line doesn't usually appear in the credits.
 
My favorite is "Perfect Storm"

If they lost radio contact with them right after they left, everything after that would be speculation.

What they do know?
A boat left port
There was a storm
It never came back

Lets make a movie!

Might as well of had them fighting pirates on a ghost ship.

Well, that's why they included the otherwise unrelated storyline of the small sail yacht. Mark Bowden could interview the survivors and extrapolate what sort of conditions the fishermen would've been facing in the teeth of the storm and combine that with what were likely stories of things other men working that area of the sea had encountered (the shark, the guy getting his hand hooked and pulled overboard).

I've not read the book (it's on my to-read list) but I don't think anyone actually ever says "this is exactly what happened to these guys".
 
They can't translate books or short stories into movies without changing the story, so I usually have very low expectations for "based on a true story".
 
It's a pretty meaning less turn of phrase used by the industry far too often.
I mean any film you can think of no matter how obviously outlandish and fantastical can have a plot that uses actual events as a "Base". A base to build on and nothing more.

As for disclaimers the best has to be An American Werewolf in London

"Any reference to actual persons living, dead or undead is purely coincidental".
 
In a town where they make scripted reality shows. You can't take much stock in movies based on true events.

What's sad is so many people think things shown on film is real(without the statement, "based on true events").
 
Back
Top