List of Films Based On Actual Events - 1990s

1990s

  • Awakenings (1990) — Long-comatose patients wake up; adapted from Oliver Sacks's memoir of the same title. Directed by Penny Marshall.
  • Europa Europa (1990) - German film based on the true story of Solomon Perel's life
  • GoodFellas (1990) — Based on the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, the true story of Henry Hill. Directed by Martin Scorsese.
  • The Krays (1990) — Trendy take on the criminally insane East End gangsters the Kray twins, who enjoyed a brief, black-humored celebrity during London's Swinging Sixties.
  • Not Without My Daughter (1990) — Story of Betty Mahmoody. Directed by Brian Gilbert.
  • Vincent & Theo (1990) — The intense relationship between an art dealer and his alienated older brother. Directed by Robert Altman.
  • White Hunter Black Heart (1990) — Based on the location filming of The African Queen in 1951.
  • Bugsy (1991) — Glamorized, sanitized story of the putative father of the Las Vegas Strip. Directed by Barry Levinson.
  • The Boys from St. Petri (1991) - Danish World War 2 film
  • JFK (1991) — Loosely based on New Orleans DA Jim Garrison's late-'60s prosecution of defendant Clay Shaw — plus pieces of a half-dozen other conspiracy theories — in the John F. Kennedy assassination.
  • Mission Of The Shark (1991) - Based on the saga of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
  • A League Of Their Own (1992) - Based on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League
  • Alive (1993) — Based on the Piers Paul Read book that tells the story of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972. Directed by Frank Marshall.
  • And the Band Played On (1993) — Adapted from the book of the same title by Randy Shilts. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode.
  • Fire in the Sky (1993) — A group of men who were clearing bush for the government arrive back in town, claiming that their friend was abducted by aliens. Nobody believes them, and despite a lack of motive and no evidence of foul play, their friends' disappearance is treated as murder.
  • Gettysburg (1993) — Based on the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. Originally made to be TV minseries, it is one of the longest feature films ever released.
  • Heaven & Earth (1993) - Based on the experiences of Le Ly Hayslip during the Vietnam War
  • The Puppetmaster (1993) — It tells the story of Li Tian-lu who becomes a master puppeteer but is faced with demands to turn his skills to propaganda during the Japanese-ruled Taiwan from pre-1896 to the end of World War II in 1945. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize at Istanbul International Film Festival.
  • Rudy (1993) — Based on the story of Notre Dame football walk-on Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. Directed by David Anspaugh.
  • Schindler's List (1993) — Adapted from the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally about Oskar Schindler and his actions to save over 1,000 Jews from the Holocaust. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • Cool Runnings (1993) — Based on the true story of the First Jamacian bobsled team trying to make it to the winter olympics. Directed by Jon Turteltaub.
  • The Amy Fisher Story (1993)- television film dramatizing the events surrounding Amy Fisher's teenage affair with Joey Buttafuoco and her conviction for aggravated assault for shooting Buttafuoco's wife.
  • 8 Seconds (1994) — Based on the story of Lane Frost (Luke Perry), who died by injuries sustained by a bull he was riding in a championship. Stephen Baldwin plays Tuff Hederman.
  • Ed Wood (1994) — Based on the story of Edward D. Wood Jr., the worst film director of all time, starring Johnny Depp as Ed Wood and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, and directed by Tim Burton
  • Heavenly Creatures (1994) — Based on the true story of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, principals in the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder in New Zealand.
  • The Madness of King George (1994) — King George III's madness stemmed from porphyria. Based on the play The Madness of George III.
  • Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) — Film about writer Dorothy Parker and the members of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers, actors and critics who met almost daily from 1919 to 1929 at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel.
  • Quiz Show (1994) — Adapted from a book by Richard N. Goodwin about the real-life American television quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Directed by Robert Redford.
  • Apollo 13 (1995) — Story of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, based on the book Lost Moon by Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. Directed by Ron Howard.
  • Braveheart (1995) — Based on the story of William Wallace of Scotland.
  • Casino (1995) — Second Pileggi/Scorsese collaboration based on the last mafia-run casino in Las Vegas, the fictional Tangiers.
  • Dangerous Minds (1995) — Based on the story of teacher LouAnne Johnson who takes on the challenge of an unruly class and wins them over.
  • The Basketball Diaries (1995) - Based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Jim Carroll
  • Nixon (1995) - The story of President Richard Nixon.
  • Balto (film) (1995) - The story of how Balto, a Siberian Husky made the 1925 serum run to Nome
  • Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) - Based on a true story as depicted by United States Army Major Jim Morris.
  • Ravan Raaj (1995) - Indian Hindi film based on true story
  • Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) — Based on real-life events of child abuse from the semi-autobiographical book of the same title by Dorothy Allison. Directed by Angelica Huston.
  • Fly Away Home (1996) — Adapted from the book by Bill Lishman. Directed by Carroll Ballard.
  • The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) — Based on Tsavo's (Kenya, Africa) two man-eating lions who killed 130 people over a nine-month period.
  • Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) — Based on the 1994 third re-trial of Klansman Byron De La Beckwith. Directed by Rob Reiner.
  • Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996) — James Woods plays the evil 1920s murderer Carl Panzram, who befriended prison guard Henry Lesser. Directed by Tim Metcalfe.
  • Michael Collins (1996) — Based on the life of IRA leader Michael Collins.
  • The Crucible (film) (1996) - based on the salem witch trials
  • Seven Years In Tibet (1997) — True story film based on the book written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer.
  • Amistad (1997) — Based on the true story of a slave mutiny that took place aboard the ship La Amistad in 1839, and the legal battle that followed.
  • Anastasia (1997) — Loosely based on the story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.
  • Boogie Nights (1997) - Loosely based on the life of porn star John Holmes
  • Donnie Brasco (1997) — Loosely based on Joseph D. Pistone, FBI agent who successfully infiltrated the Bonanno crime family in N.Y.C. during the 1970s.
  • Four Days in September (1997) — Adapted from the book by Fernando Gabeira. Directed by Bruno Barreto.
  • Prefontaine (1997) — Based on the life of Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine, a long distance runner who lived in Oregon and died young.
  • Private Parts (1997) — Based on shock jock Howard Stern's 1993 autobiography of the same name.
  • Rosewood (1997) — A dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African American community.
  • Iruvar (1997) — Based on the life of M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi.
  • Kundun (1997) — Based on the life of the Dalai Lama.
  • Selena (1997) — Based on the life of Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla Perez.
  • Titanic (1997) — Based on the events of the Titanic, directed by James Cameron.
  • A Civil Action (1998) — Based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr that tells the true story of environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1980s.
  • Daun di Atas Bantal (1998) — Indonesian award winning film based on true stories in the lives of three street boys in Yogyakarta. Directed by Garin Nugroho.
  • Elizabeth (1998) — A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
  • Gia (1998) - Movie based on the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s.
  • Gods and Monsters (1998) — Last days of British film director James Whale.
  • Patch Adams (1998) — Story of the "medical doctor, clown, performer, social activist" Patch Adams. Directed by Tom Shadyac.
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998) — Story of the Niland Brothers during World War II. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • Angela's Ashes (1999) — Based on the memoir of the same title by Frank McCourt.
  • Anna and the King (1999) — Story of Anna Leonowens. Directed by Andy Tennant.
  • Boys Don't Cry (1999) — Story of hate crime victim Brandon Teena. Directed by Kimberly Peirce.
  • Girl, Interrupted (1999) — Directed by James Mangold.
  • The Hurricane (1999) — Based on the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Directed by Norman Jewison.
  • The Insider (1999) — Adapted from a magazine article by Marie Brenner. Directed by Michael Mann.
  • The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) — Based on the story of Joan of Arc, a young girl who believed she was God's messenger.
  • October Sky (1999) — Adapted from the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. Directed by Joe Johnston.
  • RKO 281 (1999) — Story of the making of Citizen Kane. Directed by Benjamin Ross.
  • The Straight Story (1999) — Based on the story of Alvin Straight's journey across Iowa and Wisconsin on a lawnmower.
  • Topsy-Turvy (1999) — After Gilbert and Sullivan's latest play is critically panned, the frustrated team threatens to disband until they are inspired to do their masterpiece, The Mikado.
  • The Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) — Based on the story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on their rivalry
  • Bombay (film) (1995) - Indian bilingual film circles around 1993 bombay riots
  • Border (1997 film) (1997) - Indian war film based on Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

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