10 Movies Based On True Stories (That Were Total Lies)

3. Hidalgo

Hidalgo, "based on a true story," features a cowboy hat-wearing Viggo Mortensen as Frank Hopkins, an American distance rider who became legendary for his exploits in the late 19th century. The movie (did we mention it's "based on a true story"?) is named after his horse, Hidalgo, a fine steed if ever there was one.

The film highlights the adventures of Hopkins as he ventures to the Middle East and races against pure-blooded race horses, gets involved in a few scraps, and generally has a good old time living life on the edge. What a guy! The movie also makes the claim that Hopkins is of half Indian descent, and this is where the whole "true story" stuff begins to fall apart.

Heavily marketed on the fact that Hidalgo was, indeed, factual, historians took particular offence at amount of conjecture inherent to this film. The legitimacy over Hopkins' ancestry has been disputed - he was likely thought to be a con man. But perhaps worst of all, the central race in the movie - which sees him travelling 3,000 miles across the Arabian desert - probably never even happened. That's right: the main plot never happened.