American history movies with flaws

Just because Hollywood produces historical films, we shouldn't confuse them with factual documentaries. They teach us something about history, but there are inevitably inaccuracies in the script. Some films have just got it plain wrong: take a look at these glaring factual errors in the movies.

A historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg that delves into a slave ship mutiny and the consequential Supreme Court trial shines a spotlight on John Quincy Adams (portrayed by Anthony Hopkins), the 6th president of the United States. However, the film does take some artistic liberties with the actual events.

His antislavery stances were less forceful than the film would suggest and the film seems to focus around the numerous white heroes. The movie also forgot the part when 3,000 white people paid 12 cents to stare at the Africans while they were in jail awaiting the trial…

In the film, after surviving the bombing, fictional heroes Danny and Rafe are sent to Tokyo to bomb the city, but the truth is that no one was sent there. The film also shows the Japanese planes firing on civilians and a hospital, this also never happened.

However, perhaps the biggest and possibly most ridiculous historical part in Pearl Harbor is when President Roosevelt stands up from his wheelchair to make a dramatic speech.

Photo: Touchstone Pictures

Directed, produced by, and starring Ben Affleck, this Oscar-winning film focuses on the rescue mission of six American diplomats in Tehran, carried out by CIA operative Tony Mendez in 1979.

Photo: Legendary Pictures

Not only does it downplay the Canadian government’s role in the entire hostage situation, but it also replaces the real-life support from the British and New Zealand embassieswith indirect blame. Oh, and the scene at the end never happened, the handover went smoothly.

Photo: Legendary Pictures

Oliver Stone’s JFK is almost three and a half hours long. It made over $200 million at the box office and was nominated for eight Oscars. The director claims the film was based on research and says he pushed to have classified files about the assassination released, but more than a couple of the scenes in the movie are made up.

One witness in the movie is murdered after confessing he worked with the CIA, had a close relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald, and knew the identities of the real killers. In real life, that same man died of natural causes and was never found guilty of anything.

Mel Gibson’s Revolutionary War drama is filled with many events that never took place. The biggest fib is a scene in which civilians are locked in a church that is then set on fire by British troops. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that even happened.

Photo: Columbia / Sony

Mel Gibson's character is often seen accusing the evil British troops of breaking the "rules of war," even though at the time 'The rules of war' - as in the Geneva Conventions - didn’t exist. In fact, almost none of the facts about the English baddies are true. This is definitely more fiction than fact.

Photo: Columbia / Sony

In the Disney version of this Native American's story, Pocahontas meets and falls in love with English Captain John Smith, a settler with dreams of conquering the new world. She stops at nothing to keep the peace between her tribe and the English. Saving Smith's life along the way.

Photo: Pocahontas, Disney

In reality, Pocahontas was a child when Smith arrived, and she married another man before dying at the young age of only 22. Her real name was Amonute and Pocahontas was her nickname, translating to "playful one" or possibly "ill-behaved child."

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