10 Most Historically Inaccurate War Movies Ever Made

5. Battle Of The Bulge (1965)

U 571 Universal
Warner Bros. Pictures

What an original title. You’d think that someone who’d make a film about an event and call it by none other than that exact event, would at least try to be as accurate as possible in portraying it. Moreover, whereas some films’ historical inaccuracy is irrelevant because that’s not their raison d’être, Battle of the Bulge doesn’t really fall into this category…

The real life Battle of the Bulge (1944-45) was the German army’s ‘Hail Mary’, a last-ditch attempt intended to leverage the Allies into negotiating a peace treaty with the Axis powers. The weather was extremely bad, and this is as far as the film’s accuracy goes.

From using M47 Patton tanks as German King Tigers and then using the same exact tanks but painted in US colours to end the film slightly differently to how the battle actually ended, Battle of the Bulge was publicly criticised for its falsifications. This included former US president and the Allied commander of forces in Europe, Dwight Eisenhower, who deplored its many inaccuracies and felt it to be insulting to those who had fought and given their lives in the Ardennes.

You’d think that with $6.5 million budget, they could’ve hired a historian…

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Hello there! I am a history student studying at the University of Edinburgh. Originally from Barcelona but have lived in the UK all my life, in London and in Manchester. Aside from history/politics, my passions are film, football and music. Follow me on instagram @adriaarandabalibrea and on twitter @adria_aranda. Hope you enjoy my writing!