True Story Movies

Tom Hanks in 1995's Apollo 13
Tom Hanks in 1995’s Apollo 13

Want to know the best Best True Story Movies?  Curious which True Story Movie earned the most at the box office? Want to know which True Story Movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which True Story Movies got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which one got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place …. because we have all of that information.

A few months ago, Wife of Cogerson (that’s what she likes to be called) was talking about Ultimate Movie Rankings with one of her co-workers, Anne C.  Anne’s favorite type of movie are ones that are based on a true story.  Since I did not have a “True Story Movies” page they requested that I do one.  Normally when I get a request, I go straight to IMDb, find out how many movies that performer made, and start researching the stats of each individual movie.  In this case, I quickly realized that there were thousands of movies based on true stories.  So after a few months of research, I had nothing to show for my work.  About two weeks ago, I stumbled across a book….Based On A True Story by Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen.  So using that book as a jumping spot…I finally figured out a way to write this movie page.

With the massive amount of movies to research…I decided to try and find the Top True Story Movies based on my Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score equation.  So using Vankin and Whalen’s book, the Internet, personal favorites, Wife of Cogerson’s suggestion, Anne’s suggestions, and the Ultimate Movie Rankings database, I scored over 300 movies.  This page looks at the Top 50 True Story Movies.

Peter O'Toole in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia
Peter O’Toole in 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia

Top 50 True Story Movies Can Be Ranked 5 Ways In The Table Below

The really cool thing about ther table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort True Story Movies by subject matter
  • Sort True Story Movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort True Story Movies by critic reviews and audiences voting.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each True Story Movie received.
  • Sort True Story Movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.  The ceiling to earn points for box office is $200 million…once a movie passes that mark it stops earning points in that category.

I am pretty sure that I have not included many films that could crack the Top 50…I will continue to research Based on a True Story movies and update when I find one.

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24 thoughts on “True Story Movies

  1. Absolutely love it!!! Thank you so much. Can’t believe that I think I forgot Sound of Music on my list – I guess I have it filed under musicals at home. You came up with a lot that I have seen and enjoyed, others that I have heard of and would like to see, and others that I would like to see just because of your recommendation. Keep up the good work!!

    1. Hey Anne C. Glad you like your movie page. Sorry it took so long to write it. Wife of Cogerson kept asking me how it was progressing…and the news was not good…but sometimes good things take awhile to develop…lol. Hope you find some good Based on a True Story movies on this list to watch.

  2. My, I had no idea there were that many movies done on real people and their stories or lives. I found this very informative and so interesting to see the stats on them. VERY INTERESTING COGERSON. THIS WAS A GOOD WEB SITE, I HAVE SEEN SO MANY OF THESE MOVIES – NOT ALL BUT A VERY LARGE PORTION OF THEM. THANK YOU!

    1. Hey BERN1960…..thanks for stopping by. Yep there are a ton of these movies out there….but I think I got most of the best. I am surprised you did not ask where the Jolson Story was…lol.

    1. Hey Mr. Solo…sorry Star Wars might come true but I think we have a few years before it becomes a Based on True Story movie….but it is a great movie!

  3. An excellent idea for a moviescore topic Bruce old chum. I might use this for a future poster page.
    There are 12 films here I haven’t seen nearly all of them sports movies.
    The odd one is The Exorcist, which was very loosely based on an incident involving a little boy, and only deserves inclusion if you believe in devils and demons otherwise you may as well include The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told. [wink]
    It’s good to see Lawrence at no.1, one of my top 5 favorite movies.
    Top Marks Bruce, now how about that Biblical top 50? 🙂

    1. Hey Steve. I have seen 68 of the 71 listed. I am thinking somebody is going to mention a movie that will crack the Top 50.
      As for The Exorcist…well it least there was a 1949 case that it is based on…numerous websites list Jaws as a based on a true story movie….just could not include that one though…..thanks as always for the visit and the comment.

  4. Interesting list. Although I see two of my recent favorite true movies did not make the list and probably should. Dallas Buyers Club and Philomena. That being said an impressive Top 10.

    1. Hey Madeline….thanks for the visit. Dallas Buyers Club and Philomena are both excellent movies….but they did not get enough points to crack the Top 50…both needed more love at the box office to rank higher.

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