We've all become a bit jaded by the phrase "based on a true story". When it's not being flat out used to deceive us (Fargo, Blair Witch and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are three high-profile examples that pulled the phrase as a blatant lie), a heavy use of dramatic license can leave us with a sequence of events that bears little resemblance to the truth. It's understandable why filmmakers choose to do it - sometimes real life just isn't exciting and a bit of added fictionalised conflict is required - but it makes it impossible to tell what actually occurred. Even films that are highly regarded as being accurate can still, thanks to a subjective viewpoint or incomplete knowledge, end up telling us about events that never happened. Zodaic, which went to pains to recreate the attacks as close to survivor's accounts, is based off a rather subjective book and its conclusion on the identity of the killer rubs some followers of the case up the wrong way. What's strange is that sometimes, instead of changing something to get it suitable for the big screen, a film will actually cut out elements of real events, in essence only presenting us part of the story. And this isn't just things that aren't relevant; we'll see today sometimes what could have been an essential plot point is completely ignored. Here are nine movies of those movies that left the best bits from reality off the screen.
