Best Films - on the real world (factual or based on real events)
by graham_little | created - 07 Mar 2017 | updated - 17 May 2021 | PublicMovies i like where content focuses on life and events in the real world.
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1. Touched with Fire (2015)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Two bipolar patients meet in a psychiatric hospital and begin a romance that brings out all of the beauty and horror of their condition.
Director: Paul Dalio | Stars: Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby, Christine Lahti, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 2,724 | Gross: $0.15M
2. Eye in the Sky (2015)
R | 102 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Col. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.
Director: Gavin Hood | Stars: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi
Votes: 91,512 | Gross: $18.70M
3. Snowden (2016)
R | 134 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto
Votes: 163,004 | Gross: $21.59M
4. Still Alice (2014)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
A linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland | Stars: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth
Votes: 143,518 | Gross: $18.75M
5. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
High-school life gets even more unbearable for Nadine when her best friend, Krista, starts dating her older brother.
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig | Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick
Votes: 140,225 | Gross: $14.43M
6. The Gambler (III) (2014)
R | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Literature professor and gambler Jim Bennett's debt causes him to borrow money from his mother and a loan shark. Further complicating his situation, is his relationship with one of his students. Will Bennett risk his life for a second chance?
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Brie Larson
Votes: 73,573 | Gross: $33.68M
7. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
TV-MA | 137 min | Drama, War
A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor, Andrew Adote
Votes: 86,854 | Gross: $0.08M
8. Lone Survivor (2013)
R | 121 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Marcus Luttrell and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster
Votes: 306,769 | Gross: $125.10M
9. American Sniper (2014)
R | 133 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner, Cole Konis
Votes: 529,416 | Gross: $350.13M
10. The Hurt Locker (2008)
R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce
Votes: 473,917 | Gross: $17.02M
11. Black Hawk Down (2001)
R | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana
Votes: 423,730 | Gross: $108.64M
12. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 233,358 | Gross: $44.91M
13. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
R | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Tom Cruise, Bryan Larkin, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava
Votes: 115,993 | Gross: $70.00M
14. Malcolm X (1992)
PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Votes: 102,050 | Gross: $48.17M
15. Philadelphia (1993)
PG-13 | 125 min | Drama
When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Roberta Maxwell, Buzz Kilman
Votes: 258,156 | Gross: $77.32M
16. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,267 | Gross: $96.90M
17. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 912,651 | Gross: $32.57M
18. 6 Days (I) (2017)
R | 94 min | Action, Drama, History
Based on the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980, this action-thriller dramatizes a six-day standoff between armed Iranian Arabs and SAS soldiers ready for a counterattack.
Director: Toa Fraser | Stars: Jamie Bell, Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Martin Shaw
Votes: 24,667
19. Apollo 13 (I) (1995)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, History
NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise
Votes: 315,687 | Gross: $173.84M
20. To the Bone (I) (2017)
TV-MA | 107 min | Drama
A young woman, dealing with anorexia, meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
Director: Marti Noxon | Stars: Rebekah Kennedy, Lily Collins, Dana L. Wilson, Ziah Colon
Votes: 54,859
21. First Man (2018)
PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History
A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler
Votes: 202,306 | Gross: $44.94M
22. Vice (I) (2018)
R | 132 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that are still felt today.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell
Votes: 162,449 | Gross: $47.84M
23. Brexit (2019 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History
Political strategist Dominic Cummings leads a popular but controversial campaign to convince British voters to leave the European Union from 2015 up until the present day.
Director: Toby Haynes | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Belcher, Malcolm Freeman, Lucy Russell
Votes: 17,750
24. Last Breath (2019)
TV-MA | 90 min | Documentary
A deep sea diver is stranded on the seabed with 5 minutes of oxygen and no hope of rescue. With access to amazing archive this is the story of one man's impossible fight for survival.
Directors: Richard da Costa, Alex Parkinson | Stars: Duncan Allcock, Kjetil Ove Alvestad, Stuart Anderson, Glenn Brunskill
Votes: 7,316
25. The Command (2018)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster is followed by governmental negligence. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, August Diehl
Votes: 21,451
26. The Brighton Miracle (2019)
83 min | Drama, Sport
Inspired by true events, the story begins with Japanese rugby management dwelling on a humiliating anniversary, a 145-17 defeat by the New Zealand All Blacks in the 1995 World Cup. They ... See full summary »
Director: Max Mannix | Stars: Temuera Morrison, Lasarus Ratuere, Sumire, Masa Yamaguchi
Votes: 1,913
27. Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (2019)
TV-14 | 52 min | Documentary, Biography
A documentary that tells Bill Gates' life story as he pursues solutions to some of the world's most complex problems.
Stars: Bill Gates, Davin Orness, Alex Bueermann
Votes: 11,683
28. The Two Popes (2019)
PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujín, Luis Gnecco
Votes: 133,013
29. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Biography, Drama
American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to build a revolutionary race car for Ford in order to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe
Votes: 474,868 | Gross: $117.62M
30. The Professor and the Madman (2019)
Not Rated | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.
Director: Farhad Safinia | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Eddie Marsan, Natalie Dormer
Votes: 51,063
31. 12 Strong (2018)
R | 130 min | Action, Drama, History
12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig | Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban
Votes: 91,866 | Gross: $45.82M
32. The Post (2017)
PG-13 | 116 min | Biography, Drama, History
A cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk
Votes: 162,341 | Gross: $81.90M
33. Green Book (2018)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
Director: Peter Farrelly | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco
Votes: 572,541 | Gross: $85.08M
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