Art often imitates life – especially when it comes to action movies. While we should always take the line ‘based on a true story’ with a pinch of salt, many action movies have not only been inspired by real-life events but have also remained as close to the truth as possible.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at the top five action movies that provide as accurate an account of the events they portray as possible.
1. Casino
For most of his career, Martin Scorsese has been a proven stickler for accuracy. From Goodfellas to The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese normally sources his best ideas from real life.
One of the best examples of Scorsese’s obsession with creating 100% true-to-life movies is Casino. This 1995 movie depicts the life of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, a professional gambler and Las Vegas organized crime associate.
The movie has been frequently praised for its accurate rendering of Rosenthal’s relationship with the mafia, the vocabulary and dialect of its characters, and for capturing the excitement of gambling in a Las Vegas casino in the 1970s.
Fans of the movie can test out its accuracy by visiting a brick-and-mortar casino in Las Vegas. Alternatively, they could try their luck on one of the best online casinos that payout. Just like the movie, these digital gambling sites accurately depict the excitement of a real casino – with 24/7 live dealers, numerous slot games, and big prizes to be won. Some also allow crypto gambling.
2. Public Enemies
While on the subject of gangsters, it would be difficult to compile this list without mentioning Public Enemies. This movie is true to life, but not exactly in the same way Casino is.
Public Enemies, which was released in 2009, tells the story of notorious bank robber John Dillinger and his Depression-era contemporaries Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.
This movie is true to life for an unusual reason: it uses real-life filming locations. The scenes which show Dillinger in the Biograph Theater and Little Bohemia Lodge were actually filmed in the locations they depict. Normally, a film studio would rather recreate the scene or film in a similar location – especially when the events of the movie they’re shooting took place 80 years before!
However, while Johnny Depp’s depiction of Dillinger may also be close to the truth, some of the events shown in the movie aren’t 100% accurate. For example, Dillinger wasn’t involved in the 1933 prison break but is included in the scene in the movie.
3. Rush
Rush is a fast-paced, action-packed Formula One movie that explores the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt. Specifically, it looks at the famous 1976 F1 Championship in all its tragic glory.
Despite the unbelievable twists and turns that the movie takes, Rush is a 100% accurate depiction of the events, as verified by Lauda. Its truthfulness was also confirmed by other race car drivers, including the late Tony Dron, who claims he was moved to tears by how well the movie evoked the events.
Lauda had met with the movie’s writer, Peter Morgan, prior to the movie being made, which definitely helped the team behind the project achieve a high level of accuracy. Apart from that, the actors and costume designers have a lot to be thanked for.
4. Saving Private Ryan
Like Public Enemies, you have to be careful when calling Saving Private Ryan (1998) 100% true to life. The movie follows Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) who is tasked with saving Private James Ryan during the Normandy invasion of World War II.
While Private James Ryan is somewhat based on a real-life soldier named Sergeant Frederick “Fritz” Niland who became lost from his platoon in Normandy, the characters found in this movie are mostly made up.
Despite some degree of fictionalization, the movie accurately details the unfolding of Operation Overload. Plus, many war veterans who watched the movie described it as being Hollywood’s best attempt at recreating what it was like being in Normandy at the time of the fighting. Not only that, but some veterans even claimed that they had to stop watching as it brought back too many traumatic memories.
Interestingly, the battle scenes were filmed using real-life soldiers. According to BBC, 2,500 Irish Defence Force reservists were used.
5. Zero Dark Thirty
Zero Dark Thirty (2012), which stars Jessica Chastain, follows a CIA analyst as she and her team hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Obviously, the events and characters of this movie are real – the CIA did interrogate individuals in order to find bin Laden. Plus, a helicopter did crash land during the raid. It is also believed that the main characters are based on real people who were involved in the investigation, although this cannot be fully confirmed.
The movie’s set designer was also praised for accurately recreating bin Laden’s compound and other key settings, which further boosts the movie’s authenticity.
However, given that the events depicted are meant to have taken place over a period of 10 years, it’s understandable that some big details had to be removed. So, while it may not be 100% true to life, Zero Dark Thirty comes pretty close.
Final Thoughts
While it would be impossible to ever make a movie 100% true to real life, directors have often gone to great lengths to make their movies as close to the truth as possible. So much so, that eyewitnesses to the events have confirmed their accuracy. Movies like Casino and Rush prove that action movies can be true to life.