Can people list off suggestions of movies that would accurately portray times in history or historical events? I am not talking about the kind that would get off topic and make it in to some agenda. I am a bit tired of movies that get off on to some agenda and then fail to portray anything accurate about the situation. I know with anything in history, there is only so much accuracy that can be showed, but I would like to find things that can tell about various events, and not be totally boring to a 13 yr old. Thanks!
try the vision forum web site. I don't know all they have but a few years ago we watched some dvds about history witch were very good. http://www.visionforum.com/
I am wonderign if you guys would think if watching The Last of the Mohicans for The french and Indian war would be appropriate for 7th grade and up ? It is rated R for violence, although it is pretty tame in the scheme of things. I wouldn't have a problem with it, but how about you ladies?
Gandhi and Amazing Grace are two that I quite enjoy. Incidentally, years and years ago I worked in central London and would sometimes drop by the National Portrait Gallery at lunchtime. Two of my favorite paintings are of John Wesley and William Wilberforce. While portrait artists were expected to flatter their subjects, you could tell the gentle spirit in both of these men - and that comes through in the Wilberforce character in Amazing Grace.
How bout "Ben Hur" or "The Gladiator"? Also, I really liked "Kingdom of Heaven". As far as accuracy goes, I consider them pretty much the same as I do Historical Fiction. My brother had a fit when he found out I showed John Wayne in "The Alamo" as part of history, lol! Oh, and we saw "Tora, Tora, Tora". I was impressed with some of the small details that matched up with what we were studying. (Saw that with K of H, too, but there were others that absolutely did NOT match up!)
300 - not completely accurate, but there is some truth to the story (dh looked it up); lots of violence, some nudity & sexual situations Windtalkers - about a war, so lots of violence Hidalgo - based on true story Anne Frank: The Whole Story - this is different from The Diary of Anne Frank; starts before went into hiding & follows them through the concentration camps Schindler's List Glory - very realistic, lots of violence Gangs of New York - based on true story, not completely accurate, but a lot of truth in it; lots of violence, some sexual situations
Ok, I was just talking to my dh & we came up with more. Braveheart - lots of violence, some nudity & sexual situations; somewhat historically accurate, though the reality was much worse than what is portrayed in the film Pride & Prejudice (the mini-series) & Sense & Sensebility are both pretty accurate if you want something just on the period, but not a true story The Untouchables - prohibition; violence The Godfather - prohibition & the rise of the modern Mafia; violence Apocalypto - Mayan kingdom, violence, nudity, sexual situations including rape The Mask of Zorro - accurate for time period Blow - story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 70s; violence, drug use, sexual situations A League of Their Own - not completely accurate, story of the girl's baseball league American Pop - fairly accurate for time period; violence, alcohol & drug use, brief nudity, animated Robin Hood Prince of Thieves - pretty accurate for time period & telling of the legend of Robin Hood; violence, sexual situations, brief nudity, attempted rape All Quiet on the Western Front - WWI Master & Commander - English Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, violence Radio - based on true story JFK - the trial after the assassination A Beautiful Mind - based on true story; sexual content Apollo 13 Field of Dreams - based on true story Men of Honor - based on true story; some violence, racism Babe Ruth (1991) - based on Babe Ruth's bio From Hell - period accurate, no way to know complete accuracy of story (Jack the Ripper); violence, nudity, sexual situations U-571 - WWII; violence Little Women - period accuracy - Civil War America Born Free - based on true story The Right Stuff - beginning of American space program Also, Gladiator may be fairly accurate for life in that time, but at least most of the details (who did what, when, where, & why) are wrong.
Gettysburg, it's rated PG. It was listed as one of the top 5 most historically accurate films. However, be warned, when I watched this (several yrs. ago) it was a long... movie. LR
13th Warrior - Vikings; violence. it's based on the book Eaters of the Dead- I read it in high school, I wouldn't reccomend the book for a 13 y.o., but the movie is good
After doing a little research, I found that htere are a few inaccuracies in my previous list: My dh had told me that Field of Dreams was based on a true story. However, after looking onto a little, I cannot find any evicence of that being true. It was based on a novel, and I've found nothing saying the novel was based on a true story. Babe Ruth was actually not the movie I was thinking of. Babe Ruth was a made for TV movie made in 1991. The movie I was thinking of was The Babe, which came out in theaters in 1992. I saw The Babe in theaters. I can't remember if I ever saw Babe Ruth. However, both are based on his life, so they would probably both be good to watch.
Whenever a movie comes out that is based on a book and the kids want to see it, we read the book first. Then, after we see the movie, we discuss how the book and movie were the same and how they were different (sometimes the only similarity is that the same characters are in both movie and book!) I would think this could be modified for history too. The kids can compare and contrast what they have learned compared to what a movie says. Mythology is great for this too. There are several movies based on myths that you can compare and contrast.
Jen we do this too, mostly with bible story related movies we even have gone as far as loking up the portion in the Bible to examine what is truth and what is fiction.
I did civil war reenacting as a kid with my family. I highly reccommend going to reenactments. they usually have settlers and venders who will teach you all about what they did for their job back in the day. My dad is a HUGE history buff. Ill send him an email and ask him the best kid appropriate movies. I loved fiddler on the roof. Also Gettysburg is a good movie. I've seen it alot. It would probably best be broken up over the course of two or three days Just called dad...Stallengrade (sp?) and Das Boot. They are both very accurate german ww2 movies. Looooong movies with german subtitles. He said they are amazing.
We do that too, but he reads the book as he listens to the audiobook, then he watches the movie. Almost every time he comes back and says the book was better - but we all know that! :wink:
Because a book inspires our imagination whereas a movie imagines for us. In my book (no pun intended), it's far better to let children develop their imaginations and allow them to dream than to force-feed a particular interpretation on them - especially when movies add or extend scenes just to sell.
Yes, movie producers always feel that they must "dress the book up" for whatever reason. Do they ever just think that it was popular enough to make it into a movie is because it is perfect exactly as it is? Side note about To Kill a Mockingbird and my daughter when she was in 7th grade - she LOVED that book but after she saw the movie, which I think was pretty old, she came back and told me in how many ways it was wrong. Mostly she said, Scout did not LOOK like that! :lol:
