Loosely based Historical Events
Movies and series TV that is loosely based on Historical Events. Catches the mood and basic storyline of human history at the time it occurred. Listed in no particular order.
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- CreatorJohn McNamaraStarsDavid DuchovnyGrey DamonGethin AnthonyA gritty 1960s cop drama about LAPD detective Sam Hodiak and his trainee, who must deal with gangs, brutal crimes, changing times, family crises and unhinged manipulative small-time crook Charles Manson, who's slowly building his cult.
- DirectorEric IdleAubrey PowellStarsRussell BrandBilly ConnollyTim CurryThis movie begins with the birth of a sex toy invented in Shagistan in 1898 by Deepak Obi Ben Kingsley (Eddie Izzard), and tells the story of the subsequent decline of the British Empire as seen through the eyes of a Piano (Eric Idle). The Piano narrates the tale of Dick (Russell Brand); his two cousins: Emma Schlegel (Jane Leeves), an emotionally retarded English girl; her kleptomaniac sister Helena (Sophie Winkleman) and their dipsomaniac Aunt Maggie (Tracey Ullman) who all live together in a large, rambling, Edwardian novel. When the Reverend Whoopsie (Tim Curry) discovers a piano on a beach, a plot is set afoot that can be solved only by a private Dick, the incomprehensible Scottish sleuth Inspector McGuffin (Sir Billy Connolly), who, with the aid of Sergeant Ken Russell (Jim Piddock) finally reveals the identity of the Houndsditch Mutilator.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsWilliam ShatnerRuth RomanWendell BurtonA 15-year-old girl in late-1960s America is sucked into an odyssey of sex and drugs and eventually seeks help.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsLee J. CobbMartin BalsamJoshua BryantBased on an incident that occurred off the coast of Florida in 1973, this film tells the story of four men who find themselves trapped in a mini-submarine in the ocean depths.
- DirectorRob SchmidtStarsEliza DushkuCary ElwesTimothy HuttonBased on the true story of the double initial killings in Rochester, NY.
- DirectorMel SmithStarsBrian BenbenMary Stuart MastersonNed BeattyA series of mysterious crimes threatens the existence of a new radio network.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsElijah WoodKevin CostnerMare WinninghamA Vietnam veteran helps his kids battle over a tree house while recovering from his traumatic war experience.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsWalter PidgeonJoan BennettGeorge SandersBritish hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.
- DirectorArchie MayoFritz LangStarsDon AmecheJoan BennettRoddy McDowallNewsman Mitch and teletype operator Jennifer, whose job is to see he doesn't send inappropriate stuff out of the country, dodge bombs during the blitz of London while falling in love.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsMonty WoolleyRoddy McDowallAnne BaxterWhile traveling in France during the Nazi invasion of 1940, an Englishman is entrusted with the care of a group of refugee children.
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsRoddy McDowallDonald CrispMay WhittyAfter her destitute family is forced to sell her, a collie named Lassie escapes from her new owner and begins the long trek from Scotland to her Yorkshire home.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsIrene DunneAlan MarshalRoddy McDowallSusan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whirlwind romance. However, American Susan never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsGregory PeckThomas MitchellVincent PriceA young priest is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsJohn CusackAlice EveLuke EvansWhen a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.
- StarsMichael CaineArmand AssanteRay McAnallyA Scotland Yard police inspector, battling the booze, investigates the Jack the Ripper murders and discovers a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Queen.
- CreatorBen CourtCaroline IpStarsRupert Penry-JonesPhil DavisSteve PembertonA fast-tracked inspector, a hardened detective sergeant, and an expert in historical homicides investigate modern crimes with connections to the past in the Whitechapel district of London.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsRobert MitchumDeborah KerrDuring World War II, an American marine and an Irish nun form an unlikely friendship after being stranded on a South Pacific island. They find comfort in one another while hoping for a rescue, as they try to avoid capture by the Japanese.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsIngrid BergmanRobert DonatCurd JürgensA tenacious British woman becomes a missionary and runs an inn for travelling merchants in China during the Japanese invasion and the tumultuous years leading up to the Second World War.
- 1993–201845mTV-149.0 (5.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorJames WongStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonWilliam B. DavisThe Lone Gunmen reveal the (possibly fake) secret history of the Smoking Man to Mulder with focus on three episodes from his life - the assassination of JFK, his attempts at becoming a novelist and one of his UFO cover ups.
- DirectorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonWilliam B. DavisMulder boards the wreck of a legendary missing WWII ship that suddenly appeared in the Bermuda Triangle. The ship turns out to be a time portal. Now Scully must use all of her wits to try and get the unwilling FBI to help her save him.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksEwan McGregorAyelet ZurerHarvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanKenneth HowellNew York City street principles get an East Side kid in trouble at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsOrson WellesDean StockwellDiane VarsiTwo wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
- DirectorRichard StroudStarsDerek JacobiMichael CulverJulian FirthCadfael and a deputation of monks from Shrewsbury are dispatched to Wales to recover the remains of martyred St. Winifred over the objections of the local lord and residents.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsHugh JackmanRussell CroweAnne HathawayIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
- DirectorJack BenderStarsJonelle AllenShari BelafonteLeVar BurtonPhil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinnie are high school friends, who unwittingly raise the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead have returned, Pitchford Cove will never be the same again....or will it?
- DirectorJim GoddardStarsJohn SheaBill NighyLucy GutteridgeThe story of Helmut and Karl Hoffmann. Both come of age at the start of Hitler's power in Germany. Helmut joins the SS and eventually becomes a successful flag rank officer. Karl joins the SA and experiences the darker side of Nazism after the SA is disbanded and Karl is thrown into prison and later conscripted into the German army. Brother is pitted against brother until their relationship, and the Third Reich, stands in ruins
- DirectorDan CurtisStarsCampbell ScottJennifer Jason LeighDavid Dukes20th century computer games designer Scott exchanges love letters with 19th century poet Elizabeth Whitcomb through an antique desk that can make letters travel through time.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsSally HawkinsOctavia SpencerMichael ShannonAt a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.
- DirectorKenny OrtegaStarsBette MidlerSarah Jessica ParkerKathy NajimyA teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.
- DirectorSidney SalkowStarsJoseph CottenDarren McGavinPhilip CareyA somewhat different take on Custer's motivation that changed him from a defender of Native-American rights into a politically-driven, headline-seeker chastiser of the Sioux during the 1870s.
- DirectorWilliam MaloneStarsGeoffrey RushFamke JanssenTaye DiggsAn amusement park mogul offers a group of diverse people $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted house with a horrifying past.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJames ArnessDennis WeaverMilburn StoneA headstrong young woman will undertake the long, dangerous journey to her fiancé's fort on her own if she must, so Matt nominates himself to escort her.
- DirectorMatt GlassJordan Wayne LongStarsThomas HobsonScott DeanEd LowryIn post-Civil War Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks only to discover that the utopian paradise is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsOlivia ColmanEmma StoneRachel WeiszIn early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.
- DirectorBen LewinStarsDakota FanningAlice EveToni ColletteA young autistic woman runs away from her caregiver in an attempt to submit her 500-page manuscript to a "Star Trek" writing competition at Paramount Pictures.
- DirectorDenison CliftStarsBela LugosiShirley GreyArthur MargetsonDuring a horrific storm at sea, the crew realizes that there is a murderer among them who is killing them off one by one.
- DirectorVernon SewellStarsRobert MorleyFelix AylmerYvonne ArnaudGhosts are condemned to haunt a house until it is visited by a reigning monarch,
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsDenzel WashingtonLiev SchreiberMeryl StreepIn the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.
- StarsSarah GadonEdward HolcroftRebecca LiddiardGrace, an Irish immigrant in 19th-century Canada, is convicted of the murder of her employer. However, things take a different turn when a psychiatrist arrives to analyze her mental state.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsHeath LedgerMark AddyRufus SewellAfter his master dies, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsJim CarreyMartin LandauBob BalabanIn 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.
- DirectorAlex IordachescuStarsGuillaume DepardieuAlysson ParadisCarlo BrandtAt the prime of his life, Jonathan Vogel suffers a motorcycle accident that changes his life. He loses a leg and later on he's abandoned by his wife. But when an eminent medicine professor creates a revolutionary treatment, to which Jonathan is selected for being the perfect candidate for the experiment, he finds a new hope to continue living and possibly get his wife back.
- DirectorRichard BenjaminStarsSean PennElizabeth McGovernNicolas CageIn 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMatthew ModineNicolas CageJohn HarkinsAfter two friends return home from the Vietnam War one becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.
- DirectorGiuliano MontaldoStarsNicolas CageRicky TognazziPatrice-Flora PraxoIn 1936, when Ethiopia is being invaded by the Italian army, Lieutenant Silvestri sets off for the nearest camp hospital to take care of a toothache. En route he meets a young Ethiopian girl, which leads to a tragic course of events that devastates his entire life.
- DirectorE.W. SwackhamerStarsDavid HasselhoffStepfanie KramerRandolph MantoothJack the Ripper is on the loose in Lake Havasu, AZ, and it's up to a local detective (David Hasselhoff) to stop him.
- StarsJeffrey RossJaleel WhiteBob Saget"Roastmaster General" Jeff Ross and a slew of guest stars poke fun at major historical figures while also honoring their enduring impact on the world.