Hollywood likes to stick “Based on a true story” at the beginning of movies, but more often than not that actually means very little. In most cases, in fact, what we watch is nothing more than the germ of something real with a mostly fictional narrative built around it. In most cases – but not all of them. Every so often, a movie comes along that gets it right, really right, even if it’s just for one scene. These are the best scenes based on a TRUE true story.
[post_page_title]Mess Attendant Doris Miller becomes an unexpected hero – ‘Pearl Harbor'[/post_page_title]
Michael Bay isn’t exactly known for realistic movies, but in 2001 he tackled one based on a true event – Pearl Harbor. While the movie definitely did get a lot of stuff wrong, there’s one scene that looks like Hollywood nonsense but is completely factual.
In the scene, cook Doris Miller, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., mans a machine gun without being ordered to – or any training – and takes down several Japanese planes. Not only did that happen, but it actually somewhat underplays Miller’s heroism. He won the Navy Cross, and later had two aircraft carriers named after him.
