Step back in time with us as we explore the most historically accurate movie scenes ever put to film! From nail-biting war sequences to pivotal moments in civil rights history, these scenes capture the essence of real events with stunning precision. Join us as we count down the top cinematic moments that got it right!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Can I see my office for a minute?
00:05Sure, I'll be back.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the top 10 specific movie scenes noted for historical accuracy,
00:13regardless of how accurate the overall film's look, feel, and story may be.
00:17It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood, a neighborly day for beauty.
00:22Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
00:28Number 10. Get the girl to check the numbers. Hidden figures.
00:33It was astronaut John Glenn who insisted that mathematician Catherine Johnson calculate his trajectory to orbit the Earth before he would launch,
00:41trusting his safety and success to her numbers rather than those of the NASA computer.
00:46Let's get the girl to check the numbers.
00:48The girl?
00:49Yes, sir.
00:52You mean Catherine?
00:53Yes, sir. The smart one.
00:54This would get Johnson's career path back on track and change history.
00:58Hidden figures does merge some characters together, but this scene they attributed correctly,
01:04and even got Glenn's wording right, despite his referring to a 44-year-old as the girl.
01:09After years of waiting and months of delays, Colonel Glenn is finally ready for that space flight that we've been waiting for with so much anticipation.
01:17In fairness, he did also refer to her as the smart one.
01:21While this scene was spot on, it happened in reality between a day and a half and three days before the launch,
01:27not mere minutes as the subsequent scene would imply.
01:30The launch window is a go. The landing coordinates match.
01:34Well, that is very good news, Al. It's a little hard to trust on him. He can't look in the eyes.
01:39That's right, Colonel. Catherine did manage to calculate a few decimal points further than that hunk of metal.
01:45Well, I will take every digit you got.
01:48Number 9. Little Round Top, Gettysburg
01:51When it comes to accurate cinematic depictions of war, especially in terms of real strategic considerations,
01:57nothing seems to top 1993's Gettysburg, and in particular, the Battle of Little Round Top scene.
02:04Sir, half a minute down. Most of the rest are wounded. The left is too thin, sir.
02:08How are we fixed for ammunition? It's almost gone.
02:10Sir, we're running out.
02:12The set resembles the actual battlefield, and ammunition really was at a premium for both sides,
02:18which was not only mentioned, but later shown, and the Union Army did use a wheel strategy, which clearly worked.
02:32This wasn't a long battle, but an effective one, and it garnered a 9 out of 10 historical accuracy rating from historian Gary Edelman.
02:40Colonel, we watched from our position above. It's the damnedest thing I ever saw. May I shake your hand, sir?
02:47Number 8. Bridge Crossing, Bridge of Spies
02:50This may be the first time a Tom Hanks movie appears on this list, but it certainly won't be the last.
02:56Well, let's go. You can stay here, Donald.
03:01Not likely.
03:05Open the gate.
03:06This Steven Spielberg suspense drama gets the overall look and feel of Cold War Germany,
03:11as well as several key historic events, correct, and earns its historical thriller descriptor.
03:16However, the climactic scene of a prisoner exchange on Glienicke Bridge, connecting Potsdam with what was West Berlin,
03:23got an 8 out of 10 historical accuracy score from Cold War historian James Hirschberg.
03:28We exchange now, or we go home?
03:32We're waiting for another man.
03:34Yep.
03:36You want him too.
03:39I want him.
03:40We can see why. The tension, the players involved, and how everyone on both sides behaved was all very appropriate for 1962,
03:48when exchanges like this happened but weren't commonplace.
03:55Number 7. Subway Singing, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
03:59When a film takes some liberties with historical fact,
04:02it's nice to know that one of the most heartwarming scenes in it happened as depicted.
04:07And right now, that's doing a profile on one of our nation's heroes.
04:11Who?
04:13Mr. Rogers.
04:18As in the hokey kids show guy?
04:20As in the beloved children's television host, yes.
04:23A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on Tom Juno's Can You Say Hero,
04:27an article he wrote for Esquire about the time he spent with Mr. Rogers himself, Fred Rogers.
04:33The film changes some things, including Juno's name to Lloyd Vogel,
04:37but the subway singing scene wasn't made up or altered.
04:40Hey, Mr. Rogers.
04:47It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor.
04:52According to Juno, a group of students recognized Rogers on the New York City subway,
04:56and instead of asking for autographs, started singing.
04:59It was a loving tribute that clearly brought a smile to the late icon's face.
05:14We admit it, most people watch this movie for the Jack and Rose love story.
05:18And maybe the Celine Dion song.
05:27Aside from the broad strokes of a supposedly unsinkable ship sinking after it hit an iceberg,
05:33we're not really looking for historical accuracy in the minutiae,
05:37but that doesn't mean there aren't some gems to be found.
05:40All right, boys, like the captain said, nice and cheery so there's no panic.
05:44As the Titanic is going down, we see a group of men dressed in tuxedos,
05:48offered life jackets and a spot on the lifeboats, presumably due to their wealth.
05:53One man rejects the offer with a total badass line.
06:05According to multiple eyewitnesses, that actually happened,
06:09and the man was Benjamin Guggenheim, a wealthy American businessman.
06:13The scene is cut in some versions, but really shouldn't be.
06:22On November 27, 1978, former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone.
06:30You can't take this away from me. You can't.
06:33Look, you made a decision. You know, you made the decision.
06:36He then walked down the hall and ran into the current supervisor and gay rights icon Harvey Milk.
06:42He calmly asked Milk to follow him to an empty office and then murdered him too.
06:47The 2008 biopic Milk shows this sequence of events as it happened, casual brutality intact.
06:54Where is everyone? Doesn't anyone give a damn?
06:58It follows this up with actor Sean Penn recreating a real recording Milk made,
07:03essentially predicting his own assassination and urging supporters to rise up.
07:08This plays over a recreated scene of the vigil that followed Milk's assassination.
07:13I ask for the movement to continue because it's not about personal gain,
07:20and it's not about ego, and it's not about power. It's about the us's out there.
07:26Number 4. Losing her wedding ring. Apollo 13.
07:30When a film gets so much of the big picture stuff true to history,
07:33you can forgive it for improvising some of the smaller character moments.
07:37I'm thinking there might be a slight change in destination.
07:41Really?
07:43Maybe say, the moon.
07:46But that wasn't needed here.
07:48Not only did Ron Howard nail the sets, period costumes and details of the space mission itself,
07:54he took an anecdote the real Marilyn Lovell told him and put it on screen.
07:58I just don't think I can go through all that.
08:06Just be glad when this one's over.
08:11You're going to miss a hell of a show.
08:13On the morning her husband Jim launched into space,
08:16she lost her wedding ring down the drain in her hotel room as she was showering,
08:21just as we see Kathleen Quinlan do in the movie.
08:24While it felt like an omen for what was to come,
08:27she did get the ring back after her husband safely returned to Earth.
08:30Our mission was called a successful failure in that we returned safely but never made it to the moon.
08:36Number 3. The bunker downfall.
08:39You're probably familiar with this scene, or at least a version of it,
08:43even if you haven't watched 2004's Downfall.
08:46The Steiner attack will be fine.
08:53My Führer,
08:56Steiner...
08:59Steiner couldn't massage enough forces for an attack.
09:02The Steiner attack was unsuccessful.
09:04On irate Adolf Hitler, yelling at his generals while looking over some maps
09:09has been turned into countless parody videos,
09:11replacing the English subtitles to make Hitler yell about everything from a sports team losing
09:16to reviews of Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice.
09:29Ironically, these memes are using one of the most accurate depictions of the final days
09:34of one of history's most reviled figures.
09:37While there are no eyewitness accounts of the full rant,
09:40the dictator's temperament and the subject matter discussed in the scene
09:44are all spot on according to people who were there and listening from outside the room.
10:02Number 2. D-Day landing. Saving Private Ryan.
10:06Steven Spielberg's war epic is a work of historical fiction,
10:10setting a story inspired by real events against the backdrop of World War II.
10:21So it wouldn't make any lists for overall historical accuracy.
10:25However, the film opens with one of the most accurate depictions
10:28of what the landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day was like.
10:32Who's in command here? You are, sir!
10:35The look and feel of the scene were so visceral that it brought real veterans at a screening to tears.
10:40It didn't get everything right, notably the amount of armor that reached the beach.
10:45Also, 1975's Overlord has a more accurate depiction of the same event,
10:50but that mixed in actual archive footage.
10:53This is a bloody nightmare. I feel sick.
10:56Watch out, we're going in!
10:58For a fully recreated cinematic rendition, this one can't be beat.
11:03Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:07Malcolm X assassination. Malcolm X.
11:10Because eyewitness and FBI accounts match Spike Lee's depiction.
11:19Nanny pinching young prince. The King's speech.
11:22King George VI's first nanny did mistreat him, according to his brother's biographer.
11:27When we were presented to my parents for the daily viewing,
11:32she'd pinch me so that I'd cry and be handed back to her immediately.
11:41Be free or die. Harriet.
11:43Tubman's pistol was for protection and intimidation, as in the crossing the river scene.
11:48We ain't going in that river. Come on, y'all.
11:50I say we are!
11:53Now you be free or die.
11:55Attack on Bin Laden's compound. Zero Dark Thirty.
11:59Reportedly, a look at classified documents helped in the authenticity of this scene.
12:03Yo, what's up?
12:07I shot the third floor guy.
12:12Why don't you get to work?
12:13Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
12:19You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
12:24If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
12:30Number one. Flight instructor spots Japanese squadrons.
12:34Tora Tora Tora.
12:35This 1970 movie showing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor from both sides
12:40is historically accurate pretty much from start to finish.
12:43According to this latest intercept, Tokyo wants to conclude negotiations with us no later than November 29.
12:52After which, and I quote, things are automatically going to happen.
12:57But one scene stands out by paying attention to a seemingly minute detail.
13:02A flight instructor on a training run with a trainee is the first to encounter the attacking Japanese aircraft.
13:08It plays like a bit of invented comedy mixed into the historical drama, but it really happened.
13:14I'm taking over, baby!
13:16Cornelia Clark Fort did spot and narrowly evade the squadron just before the attack started.
13:21She would go on to join the Women's Air Force Service pilots and sadly die in a mid-air collision while on duty
13:28two years after the near miss depicted in the movie.
13:31After logging more than 1,100 flight hours, Cornelia's adventure in the sky ended
13:36as she entered her place in U.S. military history as the first female pilot to die while on active duty.
13:43What do you think of our list? Are there any other historically accurate scenes you think we should have included?
13:48Let us know in the comments.
13:50So, uh, you think we can get to the moment?
13:56We're already there, sir.
13:59Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo
14:02and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.