It was not so long ago that we have again learned to acclimatize with this world’s atrocities. Yes, it is unfortunate that it’s the most we can make about the happenings; some of the exceptions will yell at their social media, sharing numerous photos and articles in the hope of a wake-up call.
Only the doomsday is near, if not the present, where the sheer amount of violence that we have witnessed beforehand have made us indifferent for the long term. This is not political pandering; rather, a reminder that reality is stranger is fiction – cinematic personifications are mostly meager in comparison.
A compilation of insane events, historical record, and character traits will again prove that we have become a crazy species, to whom surprise is not something surprising. This list will be in direct contradiction with the bleak introductory notes by introducing several inspirational and awe-inducing stories. Without further ado, here are 10 insane movies based on true stories.
1. 127 Hours
Aron Ralston is an inspiring character on multiple levels. Not only for his famous survival from Bluejohn canyon, but he also left his safe job as an engineer to take on hiking as a full-time profession. Before going on the expedition in southern Utah, he didn’t inform any of his family members and relatives, and as a consequence of this daredevilry, he fell prey to an accident with few chances of survival.
While mountaineering alone, Ralston accidentally trapped his hand with a giant boulder in the canyon wall. Considering the size of the stone, there was a tiny chance of him leaving the canyon with his hands intact; he has to make a brave decision. And Ralston showed bravura, after constantly shouting for help which only resulted in devastating echoes, by cutting off the hand, a victim to the stone.
Only the process was not easy; the knife was blunt and the flesh and bones were not disintegrating. A safe resort would have been sacrificing life, but Ralston was a man of will. After 127 hours of sweat and blood, he got himself free from the nightmare of the experience, which constitutes the title of the film, directed by Danny Boyle. In questions of authenticity, some extra plot points were inserted for the dramatic need of the story, but mostly it was factual.
2. The Great Escape
The numerous occupations of the Führer regime were a violent episode in world history, but it makes an excellent scope for the dramatic manifestation of survival stories. Some heroics from the numerous records are to be cherished for years, and the Allied escape from the war camp Stalag Luft III in Poland is one of the best ones, the subject of the multi-starrer film “The Great Escape.
” It is no ordinary Tom, Dick and Harry story, but a brilliant one and Harry was the hero. A coveted team effort of more than 200 Allied victims, headed by Roger Bushell, Tom, Harry, and Dick was the name of the tunnels created to evacuate the soldiers. It was not easy to make a fool of the German army, but prisoners did the job. The first two tunnels were discovered by the authorities, but the third one, dug under a stove in Hut 104, helped the soldiers making the great escape.
After all the hard-earned freedom, the finale was devastating though with 73 of the 75 escapees being caught after careful examination of the German authorities. John Sturges realized the epic sentiment the film could bring, and true to his intention, it was a big box office success.
3. Bronson
We don’t meet a person like Charles Bronson every day. A man of several qualities and degradations alike, Bronson is a truly colorful person and Britain’s most notorious criminal. He is also a great painter, with several of his produced artworks having gained critical attention and financial profit.
A victim of a tremulous childhood, Bronson showed abnormal and violent behavior from the early days, which resulted in a seven-year term. But because of his increasing violence between the cells, the term got extended as a punishment. It is extremely difficult to label Bronson’s psychological conditions without gasp: he is a competent boxer, a philanthropist, and a great artist who worships Salvador Dali. In prison, he lives like a king, in his terms.
Nicholas Winding Refn made a hyper-stylistic film from the convict’s life in 2008, and it garnered critical acclaim. Bronson likes to abduct the prison guards but never killed anyone; a truly fascinating character.
4. Munich
The Israel-Palestine conflict brought out the corrupting nature of the democratic officials through years, and the real-life events depicted in Spielberg’s “Munich” are further proof of this heaped anger and retribution.
Sure, the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics is a devastating incident, but the coveted retaliation taken by the Israeli government was no less. A cold-blooded, calculated operation, Mossad agent Avner Kaufman took revenge on the Black September group by slowly killing its members one by one, instructed by the Israeli government.
In the process, Kaufman eventually questions his morale, but he didn’t have any other option. Before his appointment as the secret assassin, Kaufman was forced to resign from the Mossad to isolate the government from any grim aftereffects.
The operation spanned several nations and months, which ultimately did cast a harrowing effect on Kaufman and his three team members. It is unbelievable cruelty from a democratic government in its foreign operations, but such is the time we live in.
5. The Exorcist
It is difficult to believe in relics such as exorcism in the 21st century, but history proves otherwise. The same thing happened to the Jewish priest in the film “The Exorcist,” who was struggling with his faith, but at the end embraced the notion with a tragic result. Provided that some machinations were built only for the sake of creating an eerie atmosphere in the film, the real-life story was no less frightening.
The real-life possessed child was a boy named Ronald, not a girl as depicted in the film, who started to show strange behavior after the dismissal of his beloved aunt. When the troubles started becoming objective and physical, with scars developing in the boy’s body, the parents consulted several priests.
Science, specifically psychology and psychiatry, failed in that aspect, and after countless tries, the devil left Ronald’s body in the name of St. Michael. Ronald was relieved of the trance because of the exorcism performed by the priest Bowman as the record books say surprising it may seem.