Best Non-Fiction/True Story Movies of all Time
by labrat70 | created - 15 Feb 2017 | updated - 17 Feb 2017 | PublicAll are a MUST for your "Bucket List"! In no particular order:
This is not a list to include "inspired by" movies, but factual true stories. The list is also MY opinion. If I left a "true story" movie off the list it was intentional. Doesnt mean it was a bad movie just not "bucket list" worthy in my opinion.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 125,878 | Gross: $70.60M
2. Awakenings (1990)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson
Votes: 158,450 | Gross: $52.10M
3. Dead Man Walking (1995)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama
A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.
Director: Tim Robbins | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry
Votes: 101,673 | Gross: $39.39M
4. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 147,268 | Gross: $43.00M
5. Walk the Line (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick
Votes: 265,610 | Gross: $119.52M
6. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Barely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen
Votes: 1,093,264 | Gross: $164.62M
7. Antwone Fisher (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
Antwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Derek Luke, Joy Bryant, Malcolm David Kelley
Votes: 38,389 | Gross: $21.08M
8. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi
Votes: 29,154 | Gross: $24.72M
9. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
R | 127 min | Biography, Drama
A directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy
Votes: 210,924 | Gross: $28.87M
10. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.
Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, RaéVen Kelly, Virginia Capers
Votes: 24,548 | Gross: $39.10M
11. Mommie Dearest (1981)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 18,294 | Gross: $19.03M
12. 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: 910,255 | Gross: $32.57M
13. Seabiscuit (2003)
PG-13 | 140 min | Drama, History, Sport
True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Cooper
Votes: 76,717 | Gross: $120.28M
14. Secretariat (2010)
PG | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Family
Penny Chenery Tweedy and colleagues guide her long-shot but precocious stallion to set, in 1973, the unbeaten record for winning the Triple Crown.
Director: Randall Wallace | Stars: Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Margo Martindale, Nelsan Ellis
Votes: 30,534 | Gross: $59.71M
15. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,255,402 | Gross: $46.84M
16. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
Votes: 272,799 | Gross: $50.00M
17. The Impossible (2012)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast
Votes: 243,718 | Gross: $19.02M
18. Radio (2003)
PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of a high school coach and the developmentally challenged man who he took under his wing.
Director: Michael Tollin | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger, S. Epatha Merkerson
Votes: 43,952 | Gross: $52.33M
19. Ray (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
Votes: 157,289 | Gross: $75.33M
20. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 927,773 | Gross: $13.18M
21. 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: 1,448,417 | Gross: $96.90M
22. Erin Brockovich (2000)
R | 131 min | Biography, Drama
An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick
Votes: 220,869 | Gross: $125.60M
23. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,471 | Gross: $67.18M
24. Sid and Nancy (1986)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Votes: 34,647 | Gross: $2.83M
25. Freedom Writers (2007)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
Director: Richard LaGravenese | Stars: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn
Votes: 85,299 | Gross: $36.61M
26. Invincible (2006)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.
Director: Ericson Core | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Conway
Votes: 75,266 | Gross: $57.81M
27. Mask (1985)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
A teenager with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Cher, Eric Stoltz, Sam Elliott, Estelle Getty
Votes: 32,486 | Gross: $48.23M
28. Brian's Song (1971 TV Movie)
G | 73 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Based on the real-life relationship between teammates Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers and the bond established when Piccolo discovers that he is dying.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Warden, Bernie Casey
Votes: 8,844
29. The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
The girl next door makes a teen born with immune deficiencies want to leave his germ-free bubble.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Robert Reed, Diana Hyland
Votes: 5,564
30. Born Free (1966)
PG | 95 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.
Directors: James Hill, Tom McGowan | Stars: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye
Votes: 7,006
31. The Amityville Horror (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror
Newlyweds and their three children move into a large house where a mass murder was committed. They start to experience strange, inexplicable manifestations which have strong effects on everyone living in or visiting the house.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud
Votes: 44,530 | Gross: $86.43M
32. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 427,333 | Gross: $51.97M
33. The Burning Bed (1984 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An abused battered wife has had enough of her husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
Director: Robert Greenwald | Stars: Farrah Fawcett, Paul Le Mat, Richard Masur, Grace Zabriskie
Votes: 3,426
34. A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story (1989 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A victim of domestic violence winds up in an ongoing struggle to get the police to take her seriously, until the abuse escalates to the worst extreme.
Director: Robert Markowitz | Stars: Nancy McKeon, Dale Midkiff, Graham Jarvis, Yvette Heyden
Votes: 1,625
35. The Elephant Man (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud
Votes: 258,119
36. Airport (1970)
G | 137 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
Directors: George Seaton, Henry Hathaway | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jean Seberg
Votes: 21,649 | Gross: $100.49M
37. McVicar (1980)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama
John McVicar was a notorious London criminal known as "Public Enemy No. 1" for armed bank robberies. He was captured and imprisoned in a high security facility, but continued attempting escapes.
Director: Tom Clegg | Stars: Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell, Billy Murray
Votes: 2,351
38. Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama
Lorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Peter Ustinov, Kathleen Wilhoite
Votes: 24,011 | Gross: $7.29M
39. Fly Away Home (1996)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney
Votes: 27,095 | Gross: $24.51M
40. Rosewood (1997)
R | 140 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African-American community.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill
Votes: 8,894 | Gross: $13.10M
41. Something the Lord Made (2004 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 110 min | Biography, Drama
A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Cliff McMullen, Yasiin Bey, Luray Cooper, Alan Rickman
Votes: 15,312
42. World Trade Center (2006)
PG-13 | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Votes: 87,831 | Gross: $70.28M
43. Wild (I) (2014)
R | 115 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffmann, Michiel Huisman
Votes: 138,695 | Gross: $37.88M
44. Secretariat (2010)
PG | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Family