I've only seen three of these, and they happen to be the three Mel Gibson movies. I think we actually watched the Patriot in high school. Must not have bothered my history teacher too much...

Every movie on that list has made me cringe at the historical inaccuracies. I have listened to students in my observations to become a history teacher quote them as fact. However, Hollywood is for entertainment and sometimes the simple facts of history don't seem so exciting to the average movie watcher. I haven't cried but I certainly have rolled my eyes through these films. Except Gladiator because I have never seen a Russell Crowe movie.

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. I have a severe aversion to Kiki Dunst, and she was just god-awful in this role.

Oh god, I forgot about Michael Collins. It was just a horrible, horrible movie. It featured Julia Roberts with a really awful "Irish accent". Just painful!

lol @ 2001:Space Odyssey

Wasn't Elizabeth: The Golden Age AWFUL?! Unless I'm remembering incorrect, Elizabeth was FAR better.

Boy was this list right correct. Moat of those were purely awful in my opinion too. I haven't seen 300 or 10,000 BC yet, but I heard that they're NOT good at all.

what about Troy?

JFK? Good ole Oliver Stone puts out some very reliable works of history!

Haha, that was a fun little read. I haven't seen most of those movies.

I don't watch these movies for the history lesson, I watch them to be entertained... so it doesn't bother me in the least if they aren't 100% true to fact.

Anyone else find it funny how many of those are Mel Gibson movies?

I haven't seen Marie Antoinette, mostly b/c I think Sophia Coppola is an over rated hack, but that's another Yahoo poll.

Thanks for this post. I almost walked out of the theater for
Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I was excited about this movie and it was not accurate. Braveheart, I won't even go there. I can't believe Wallace was portrayed that way and not to even think about "the Bruce".

JenBrett, MA was also horrible if you wanted the history. It is good for clothes, shoes, and color.

ha my early african american history teacher played us a clip from the patriot to show how ridiculous it was.

I'm not really bothered by 300. It's more about style than substance - I'm sure they weren't really going all-out for historical accuracy.

When I watched Marie Antionette, I just watched the last half in fast forward. It was all about the pretty pictures anyway...the clothes, Versaille, etc. None of the dialogue mattered!

2001 A Space Odyssey? That was science fiction... a big mistake to include it in this list.

Too funny: 2001... I'm sure that one was tongue-in-cheek.

While 300 is by no means accurate, it sure was an entertaining piece of mindless eye candy!

Most of the movies were purely for entertainment (like 300 and The Patriot). I wouldn't go to these movies just for a history lesson.

I actually liked Marie Antoinette, it was kind of slow but overall it was good.

Ha....I love some of these movies...

mel gibson in general makes me cringe.

I didn't think Memoirs of a Geisha was that bad in terms of historical accuracy, to be honest.

I don't think Marie Antoinette was supposed to be completely accurate...I mean they put a pair of Converse in it!

Historically accurate or not, I love all three of the Mel movies. Apocalypto had me on the edge of my seat. Also love Gladiator--one of the best movies ever!

Yea, 10,000 BC should win hands down. One of the worst movies EVER! I actually laughed through most of it, it was so ridiculous.

Haha. Even without this list, I knew a few of them were way off. When I saw the 10000 B.C. trailer with woolly mammoths and the pyramids, I could not stop laughing. I'm studying ancient Egypt in history class right now, and the pyramids were built around 2500 B.C.
And the converse in Marie Antoinette. The actual movie was ok, but I have to admit that I loved the shoe montage!

Well, as for 300, it was based on Frank Miller's graphic novel..... so I guess it'd be better to say that the graphic novel had historical inaccuracies =) MANY of the shots are taken directly from the graphic novel. Aaaaanyways, it's a really great movie... verryyyyy entertaining! It really gets your adrenaline pumping.

this was a fun list (although I love Gladiator too! and I agree with elizabelle that Troy should have been included)

I can't even watch the previews for 10,000 BC! Half of the buildings they show in the previews alone weren't built until thousands of years later.

Its not like these movies are Titanic- the effort it took to make that movie so accurate cost James Cameron his marriage. Now that's research....

yes, those are some good picks...especially Braveheart. My social studies teacher got so mad about that one.

I would like to know if anyone else thinks it is strange that there are no Oliver Stone movies on this list? Just a thought but he has made some of the most historically inaccurate films ever and in at least one interview complained that historical movies are hard because you are hamstrung by the facts. If you've seen his movies you know he wasn't too hamstrung.

There are so many other movies that belong on this list. Let's see, JFK, Troy, Alexander, anything by Michael Moore.

I am in an American History class rite now and my assignment is to watch a movie based on a pre civil war topic and analyze the movie from a historical perspective. I am having a hard time figuring out what movie to do. I was thinking apocolypto but I have not made up my mind. Any sudgestions.