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Best 80s/90s Drama Movies Based on a True Story?

FusionFuryFusionFury Posts: 14,121
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in Movies #1
Thinking the ones in the 80s and 90s specifically?

A bit like switched at birth.

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    dodradedodrade Posts: 23,853
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    #2
    Lorenzo's Oil.
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    Vix77Vix77 Posts: 529
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    #3
    A few personal favourites of mine
    Angelas Ashes
    Alive
    basketball Diaries
    Girl Interrupted
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    RebelScumRebelScum Posts: 16,008
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    #4
    Star 80- About the life and death of Playboy model Dorothy Stratten. Also the inspiration behind the Human League song "Don't you want me?"
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    TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #5
    At Close Range - a local petty-crime family eventually turns on each other. Sean Penn, Chris Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Sue Masterson and Crispin Glover. Fantastic performances all round.

    I Know My First Name Is Steven - the abduction and recovery of Steven Stayner. Probably the most defining TV film of the 1980s.

    Frances - the breakdown of Hollywood star Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange). Depressing as hell, but it's a train wreck one cannot help but watch.

    A Soldier's Story - A visiting officer investigates a murder at a WWII-era military base. A film adaptation of a play that's loosely based on Melville's novel Billy Budd, which is based on a true event. A criminally underrated and forgotten film of the 1980s.

    Breaker Morant - a military court trial during the Boer War. Harry 'Breaker' Morant (Edward Woodward) and two other officers are tried for the murder of Boer prisoners on the basis of the rules of war.

    The Burning Bed - Farrah Fawcett as a battered wife who finally reacts.

    Silkwood - the life of Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep), who attempts to prove safety violations at her workplace, a nuclear plant.

    The Elephant Man - the life story of Joseph Merrick, an English gentleman with a life-altering disability. Stark, gentle, bleak and lovely.

    Mask - similar to The Elephant Man, but this time it's an American teenager (Eric Stoltz) who has Hell's Angels as a family. Mostly sentimental.

    Born on the Fourth of July - the life and career of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) whose life is devastated by the Vietnam War.

    Raging Bull - the life and career of American boxer Jake LaMotta. Stark, brutal and almost relentlessly bleak.

    The Right Stuff - the lives of 1950s-era test pilots, who attempt to man a rocket as a possible spaceflight at a small isolated military base in a Californian desert. It's three hours long, which some might find off-putting, but I enjoyed it. It's almost like a saga.
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    TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #6
    Oh, wait. You wanted TV films that are based on dramatic personal events? Movie of the week type?
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    naquadanaquada Posts: 1,213
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    #7
    In the Name of the Father
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    intruder2kintruder2k Posts: 318
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    #8
    Stalking Laura is a personal favourite of mine, great performance from Richard Thomas.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 53,142
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    #9
    based on true events( or inspired by true events) but Indecent Seduction, with Gary Cole..He is the school teacher who starts an affair with a 15 year old school girl..good film i thought
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    FusionFuryFusionFury Posts: 14,121
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    #10
    What was the one where a person was wrongly imprisoned and fought for justice?
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    RebelScumRebelScum Posts: 16,008
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    #11
    FusionFury wrote: »
    What was the one where a person was wrongly imprisoned and fought for justice?

    Stir Crazy
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    SkyfallSkyfall Posts: 8,510
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    #12
    In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders
    Gia
    Casino
    Goodfellas
    Girl, Interrupted
    Lethal Vows
    The Untouchables
    Death of a Cheerleader
    The Ghost and the Darkness
    Heavenly Creatures
    Sister My Sister
    A Child's Wish
    A Dangerous Affair
    Switched at Birth
    The People Next Door
    Summer of Sam
    Anything to Survive
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    FusionFuryFusionFury Posts: 14,121
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    #13
    Skyfall wrote: »
    In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders
    Gia
    Casino
    Goodfellas
    Girl, Interrupted
    Lethal Vows
    The Untouchables
    Death of a Cheerleader
    The Ghost and the Darkness
    Heavenly Creatures
    Sister My Sister
    A Child's Wish
    A Dangerous Affair
    Switched at Birth
    The People Next Door
    Summer of Sam
    Anything to Survive

    Cheers dude!
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    SkyfallSkyfall Posts: 8,510
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    #14
    FusionFury wrote: »
    Cheers dude!

    Your very welcome FusionFury.
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    Eddie BadgerEddie Badger Posts: 6,005
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    #15
    The Right Stuff
    Apollo 13
    I'm a space buff :)
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    Eddie BadgerEddie Badger Posts: 6,005
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    #16
    Escape from Alcatraz
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    woodrowwoodrow Posts: 770
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    #17
    Hoffa with Jack Nicholson (1992).
    Thought it was very good but how close to the truth I do not know.
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    FusionFuryFusionFury Posts: 14,121
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    #18
    There was a 90s or 80s movie based on a true story that had a big murder mystery in (forgot the name), anyone know?

    Cheers.
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