180: The Last Samurai with Dr. Brian Dirck
In 2003’s The Last Samurai we learn the story of Captain Nathan Algren, an American soldier who travels to Japan to train the early Imperial Japanese Army to fight off a rebellion against the Emperor. How much of it actually happened? That’s what we’ll look at in this episode. Dr. Brian Dirck joins us again to […]
179: The Passion of The Christ with Dr. David Chapman
In Christianity, Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Today we’re going to learn about the depiction of that event on screen as we saw in 2004’s The Passion of The Christ. To help us learn more, we’ll be joined by the Professor of New Testament and Archaeology at Covenant Theological Seminary, Dr. David […]
178: The Highwaymen with John Neal Phillips
On this episode of Based on a True Story, we’ll learn from the research consultant on The Highwaymen about the historical accuracy of the film. John Neal Phillips is a historian and author of Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Fast Yen Years of Ralph Fults and editor of Blanche Barrow’s memoir, My Life with […]
177: The Duellists with Alexander Mikaberidze
We’re going back to 1977 and Ridley Scott’s feature film directorial debut, The Duellists. The movie tells the tale of two soldiers in Napoleon’s army who duel with each other for over a decade. Historian and professor at Louisiana State University, Alexander Mikaberidze, returns to help us separate fact from fiction in the movie. The Battle of […]
176: Greyhound with Gordon Laco
Released in 2020, Greyhound was written by Tom Hanks, who also starred in the lead role. The movie was based on a novel by C.S. Forester called The Good Shepherd. Today, we’ll be joined by the Naval Consultant on the film, Gordon Laco, to discuss its historical accuracy. Gordon’s website Disclaimer: Dan LeFebvre and/or Based […]
175: The Conspirator with Dr. Brian Dirck
2010’s The Conspirator tells the story of Mary Surratt and her alleged involvement in Lincoln’s assassination. Dr. Brian Dirck joins us again to separate fact from fiction in the film. Dr. Dirck is a Professor of History at Anderson University and author of multiple books on President Lincoln, including Lincoln and the Constitution, The Black […]
174: Waterloo with Alexander Mikaberidze
Today we’ll learn about the classic 1970 film Waterloo and its depiction of Napoleon’s final defeat. Joining us to discuss the historical accuracy of Waterloo is historian and professor at Louisiana State University, Alexander Mikaberidze. Alexander has also written numerous books on the Napoleonic era, including his latest which is called The Napoleonic Wars: A Global […]
173: Donnie Brasco with Joe Pistone and Leo Rossi
In the movie Donnie Brasco we see the story of an FBI agent who goes into deep cover infiltrating the New York mafia families. The truth is Donnie Brasco was the under cover name for Joe Pistone. He joins us today along with actor and Joe’s co-host on the Deep Cover Podcast, Leo Rossi. Listen to […]
172: The Alamo with Stephen L. Hardin
How much of 2004’s The Alamo really happened? To help us separate fact from fiction in the movie, we’ll be chatting with professor, historian and author Stephen L. Hardin. Stephen was also a historical consultant on the movie we’ll be chatting about today, so we’ll get some extra insight into the production of the film […]
171: Wake Island with Gregory J. W. Urwin
Wake Island was attacked on the same day as Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 (December 8th on Wake Island across the International Date Line). A few months later, on August 11th, 1942, Paramount Pictures released the war propaganda film Wake Island. To help us separate fact from fiction in the movie, we’ll be chatting […]
170: Lincoln with Dr. Brian Dirck
How historically accurate was 2012’s Lincoln? To help us separate fact from fiction in the movie, we’ll be chatting with Dr. Brian Dirck, who is a Professor of History at Anderson University and author of multiple books on President Lincoln, including Lincoln and the Constitution, The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death and Lincoln the […]