True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
7.3/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Arthur Kennedy, Gene Lockhart, Anthony Quinn,...
Errol Flynn stars as the eccentric yet (in this version) heroic General George Armstrong Custer, beginning with his time at West Point and ending, nat... Read more
They Who Dare (1954)
5.7/10
Director: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Akim Tamiroff, William Russell
Britain's Special Boat Squadron is stationed off the Aegean coast during World War II, only going ashore for hair-raising missions. Six Brits and fou... Read more
Thirteen Days (2000)
7.3/10
Director: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp, Dylan Baker
Traces what really happened in 1962 when the Cuban Missile Crisis nearly led America to engage in nuclear war with Russia. This riveting offering star... Read more
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
7.5/10
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Phyllis Thaxter
This exciting true-life adventure is about the first bombing attack on Tokyo during WW II. It follows Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) and his m... Read more
This Boy's Life (1993)
7.3/10
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio
A harrowing but utterly absorbing story (based on Tobias Wolff's autobiographical book) of a young boy and his footloose mother who wind up living in... Read more
Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage (2008)
6.5/10
Director: Michael Campus
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Marcia Gay Harden, Peter O'Toole, Geoffrey Lewis, Chris Elliott...
Returning home from college one Christmas, young artist Thomas Kinkade (Jared Padalecki) is dismayed to learn that his mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is d... Read more
Three Film By Jia Zhangke (Blu-ray) (2013)
7.1/10
Director: Zhangke Jia
Starring: Zhao Tao, Wang Baoqiang, Wu Jiang, Lanshan Luo, Li Meng
Jia Zhangke has become widely regarded as one of world cinema s most accomplished filmmakers, and a leading figure of the Sixth Generation movement of... Read more
Through My Eyes (2004)
7.7/10
Director: Di Drew
Starring: Miranda Otto, Craig McLachlan, Shaun Micallef, Peter O'Brien
August 1980, in the heart of the Australian outback, a baby vanished into the night. A nation and then the world became fascinated by the mystery, cur... Read more
Tina: What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
3.5/10
Director: Brian Gibson
Starring: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Jenifer Lewis
Vivid true-life story of the stormy careers and personal relationship between Ike and Tina Turner is further boosted by two remarkable central perform... Read more
To Hell And Back (1955)
7.4/10
Director: Jesse Hibbs
Starring: Charles Drake, Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, David Janssen, Denver Pyle
The most decorated American soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy, stars as himself in this gritty, unflinching biography. Follow the exploits of a re... Read more