10 Oscar Winning Films With Huge Historical Inaccuracies

2. Gladiator (2000) - German Shepherd Dogs... In Roman Times?

Gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) was entirely fictional, as was supposed to be the case, yet director Ridley Scott had hoped that the remainder of the film could be historically accurate. However, despite employing a historian to assist him, inaccuracies still managed to slip through the net. Most notably, Commodus commits patricide in the film, killing his father Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and his 13-year reign is cut terribly short.

Amusingly, the use of German shepherd dogs in the film caused outrage - because such a breed did not even exist at the time. The presence of large catapults on the battlefields - such huge weaponry would not have been transported by the Romans - of wars that did not ever take place only adds to Scott's woes.

Yet Gladiator did claim five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Crowe), Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Mixing. More importantly, however, is that the film is actually brilliant - and therefore the inaccuracies can be excused to a certain degree.