What Historical Figure do you think has been most Accurately portrayed in the Movies?

Well THATS a mouthful!

My Top 5.
1. Captain Bligh by Anthony Hopkins (THE BOUNTY)- I think this is almost as good as his Lecter. And to me, the real Bligh must have been pretty close in temper. Noble if profane. (HEY, it took me 15 minutes to come up with that blurb! LOLL)

2. Gandhi by Ben Kingsley- JUST LOOK at him! He is Gandhi!
He wouldve been no.1 on my list but I LOVE anthony Hopkins!

3. Joan of Arc by Renee Falconeti- OK, Pigsnie just gave me the video last week of The PASSION of Joan of Arc & WOW! I was super impressed & Im not crazy about silent movies. Its from 1928 but this Renee lady is a GREAT actress. I wonder what happened to her, SHE must be JOAN oF ARC reincarnated!

4.Crassus by Laurence Olivier (SPARTACUS!)- Oliviers Crassus must have been what a noble Roman tyrant mustve been like. After I furst saw Spartacus, I wanted to be Crassus not Spartacus. SULLA?? To the utter damnation of his NAME!! I said that line over & over again until Pigsnie told me to shaddup.

5. Lawrence of Arabia by Peter OToole - Poor Peter, he shouldve won an Oscar for this one! He probably out-lawrenced Lawrence. He was certainly a lot prettier than the original. But hes my No.5!!

Honorable Mintions: Daniel D Lewis as Christy Brown, J-Lo as SELENA (HEY, she was good & I liked the outfits! ), Anthony Hopkins as Hitler (The BUNKER) & the infamous gay spy Guy Burgess in BLUNT, EVREYBODY in I CLAUDIUS.

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Klaus Kinski as Francisco Pizarro in Aguirre the Wrath of God is my favorite. I don't know about accuracy, but I liked his performance there. I also liked Daniel Day Lewis as Christy Brown.

I'll bet my life's savings that TWT is going to say William Wallace.

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Steve knows me so well. I dig that movie, in and out. Most people say things like "Yeah, but it was probably way off, seeing as how it came out of Hollywood" -- but Braveheart was truly an exception. They didn't sugar-coat it with crap like they almost always do.

I didn't see all of Nixon, but Hopkins seemed to do a good job there. I also don't know much of Shadowlands, but Hopkins (once again), I hear, was quite good as C.S. Lewis.

Braveheart goes down as my all time favorite movie,no kidding.In my opinion,it is totally accurate,except for William Wallace looking like Mel Gibson.I saw a real pic of the guy...blech!

Really? I've never seen a picture of him: is there one online? And yeah, I have read that he was a gruff, and somewhat homely looking guy...but the actual events were highly accurate.

Oh, I also think that Jim Carrey was PERFECT as Andy Kauffman. It's not much of a "Historical Figure," but I figured it worth noting.

Haha, well I was actually gonna mention all the historical dudes Hopkins has played but I thought you guys would think THATS PLITE GOIN NUTTY AGAIN!!!

Hopkins as
John Adams (AMISTAD)
Nixon
Fredric Treves -ELEPHANT MAN
Hauptmann- Lindbergh kidnapping Case
CS Lewis -Shadowlands
Richard the Lionheart - LION in WInter (And hes gay here too!)

BTW, someday Hopkins should play a woman, someone like Queen Victoria!

Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in TOMBSTONE

Anthony Hopkins as Picasso (forgot the name of the movie), Nixon in NIXON, John Quincy Adams in AMISTAD (one of the finest courtroom speeches in film), Adolf Hitler in THE BUNKER

John Hurt as John Merrick in THE ELEPHANT MAN and as QUENTIN CRISP in THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT

Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde in WILDE

Honorable Mentions since these guys were portraying rock stars but I thought I'd throw that in too. Hey if J-Lo is in this thread, , I'll pick:

Gary Oldman as SID VICIOUS in SID AND NANCY
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in THE DOORS

[Edited by Wart on 09-23-2001]

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OH yeah, PICASSO! I forgot about that, HA, you got one on me Wortle! And the movie was Surviving Picasso. I saw it only once, I guess it kinda turned me off becuz Picasso is such a jerk, treatin women like laundry.

Let's not forget something: just because we may have liked their performance, it doesn't make it accurate. For example: Hopkins may have been cool in "Surviving Picasso," but was he like Picasso? I personally haven't read a book on Picasso's life and/or personality, so I wouldn't know.

I wonder if anyone here thinks Richard the Lionheart is really gay? I read in 2 books that he was! And who knows about willy Wallace? I mean, he does wear skirts & makeup, hahaha.

Ps. Yup, Stephen Fry was born to play Oscar wilde, forgot about him too, aaarggh!

William Wallace is not accurately portrayed at all.
He was a complete savage who was good on the battlefield because he was nuts.
We never once see him wearing the skins of dead Englishmen to battel in Bravheart, do we?
[Edited by TWTCommish on 09-23-2001]

Nuts? Well, he was obsessed with freedom, if that's what you mean. I'll have to question your statement here: what's your source? Mine is G.A. Henty, a very esteemed writer, constantly acclaimed due to his tireless/extensive research into such matters.

SPOILERS BELOW





By the way: Wallace, in "Braveheart," is certainly shown as vicious. He burns people alive inside of huts, cuts people's heads off, kills a man while he's in his bed, cuts off someone's head and sends it to his enemies, among other things. The movie portrays him as patriotic, yet very brutal. I think his brutality was a good thing.

My source is my friend Stefan who's way smarter than you OR your army! He was actually GA HENTY's source for all his stuff.
So eat that instead of Mr. Gibson, you loverboy!

Uh, I have no army...and G.A. Henty has been dead for a very long time.

One of William Wallace's decendents actually helped with the movie with his family's historical journals in tow,so put that in your pipe and smoke it sultan big pants.

By the way, better check your sources Commish, according to GA Gentry, who is well-known for extensive research, GA Henty is still very much alive.

Also, I dont smoke my own pipe, that's why God made Eve.
Trust me I'm a descendent of Adam so somehow that makes me an expert on him. Pbbbtthhhh!!!!

Henty's dead, yo. He has been for awhile. His books are simply being re-published after awhile...although I strongly suspect you're just messing with me now. And yeah, I think being a descendent can help...it all depends.

Shame on you Sultan Big Pants! You should have asked your little 'enlightened'friend who shot Kennedy,not wasted your time with William Wallace for cryin' out loud! Family members? Bah! Who needs their diaries and photographs to tell a story? We've got Sultan's buddy!And he's got that wacky,little Time-Travel-Combobulator.

Gotta give props to Hopkins for any role where he portrays someone historical.

As well as, Kilmer for his depictions.

Jon Voight in Pearl Harbor. I thought he was whats his name. I can't believe I don't remember the President's name. Anyway, if you know what I'm talking about then it will register.

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"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

You dont know the name of your ww2 president Spud? Arent you a teacher. LOLL? Its Frank Roosevelt, the one with the wife that kinda looks like a guy. I think her name was Elinor. And I think it was a bit much when he actually stood up in the movie, it was so HOLLYWOOD!!!