4. U-571
Universal PicturesJonathan Mostow took subverting historical truths for the purposes of entertainment (and American jingoism) to new lows with U-571, in which American Navy submariners board a German U-boat in order to capture the Enigma code machine. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi it performed well at the box office and was well received in America. The same can't be said for the UK, where people were justifiably outraged at the glaring alteration Mostow had made to history for the sake of his film. The reality is that it was British personnel from the HMS Bulldog who had captured the Enigma machine - several months before the Americans had even entered the war. That the film was viewed as an atrocious piece of historical revisionism is hardly surprising. The British Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, described it as "an affront" to the servicemen who had carried out the operation. The rather weak counterargument offered in defense of this huge change was that U-571 wouldn't have been financially viable with a British cast, which seems like a poor excuse for claiming cinematic credit for the bravery of others. Even the screenwriter later admitted it was a gross distortion and that he wouldn't do it again, although some would argue that the damage had already been done.