Good as a movie, not as a history

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2003)

First off, no movie ever made based on historical "facts" has been without fault -- be it a hybrid characterization, compressed time frame, "loose" facts, etc. Hollywood is Hollywood and History is History -- if you want true facts, watch a documentary, if you want "infotainment" watch a movie.

That said, as much as I love the movie Gettysburg (being a fanatical amateur historian), I cannot honestly place it in my top-five (three, four, or whatever) movies. However, it is as close to being an accurate representation of historical facts as Hollywood is willing to get.
For my top movies, therefore (which all happen to be period pieces), I must choose those which accurately reflect a certain period, without becoming caught up in historical facts.

In no particular order:
. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN: As real a depiction of combat which has ever been placed on film. Brilliant in that it accurately portrays the D-Day landings and breakout without becoming hung up on the facts -- the only "true-life" character in the movie is George C. Marshall.
. SCHINDLER'S LIST: Ditto, above, substituting "Holocaust" for "D-Day landings" -- although the story is based more on facts than Saving Private Ryan. Exemplifies Speilberg's genius in being able to tell a good story accurately while remaining loyal to the subject matter.
. UNFORGIVEN: Hands-down the best Western ever made (plus one of Clint's best performances). Again, accurate, without relying on facts, Unforgiven is probably the truest (?) depiction of the "Old West" on film, showing that not all historical figures from that era were larger-than-life characters -- nor were they all "good guys" vs. "bad guys." Actual history is replete with such grey areas.
. The GODFATHER, Parts I & II: I include parts I and II together, because I consider them two parts of the same movie (and don't get me started with Part III). Again, these follow the same patterns for success in historical filmmaking in that they accurately reflect historical eras, people and places, without having to be slavish to actual facts. Plus, they offer a brilliantly classic story line that rivals Greek tragedy.
Honorable Mention (also in no particular order):
A Thin Red Line; Empire of the Sun; Gallipoli; Breaker Morant; Lawrence of Arabia; Glory; Goodfellas; Braveheart; Gladiator; Last of the Mohicans (1992 version); The Bounty (1984 version); Age of Innocence; The English Patient; Dr. Zhivago and yes, last but not least, GETTYSBURG.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop there.
P.S. -- Throw in Animal House -- apropos of nothing, except that it's my favorite goofball comedy.