"Based on a true story"

[anarky]

Is it just me, or does anyone else get severely turned off by a movie preview when it's something that clearly cannot happen, and says "Based on a true story"?

If all these stupid movies were based on "true stories" and not rantings of people who want attention, the world would be a fucked-up place with all these ghosts and demons and aliens wanting to probe our anuses.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Awww...I've always wanted to make a movie that clearly has no basis in fact, and have the movie trailer guy intone in a deep voice "What you are about to see actually happened"
Just to fuck with stupid people. And to point out those words are used at the beginning of movies. Which are stories BY people who MAKE UP SHIT as their livelihoods.

[anarky]

I remember sitting in the theater years ago (don't recall what I was watching), and there was a preview for Fire in the Sky. Everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing through the whole thing, and I could hear phrases like "That looks awesome!" from the crowd.

Then the words "Based on a true story" appeared on the screen and, no shit, the entire theater erupted into laughter. I seem to recall someone saying "Bull. Shit." very loudly.

[vynsane]

well, technically "fire in the sky" IS "based on a true story" because travis walton claimed it all to be true. it's based on the story he told. whether the story itself is true is still up for debate.

[Jargo]

Made for TV movies that air in the afternoons and usually concern some sort of child abuse or someone dying from an incurable disease 'based on a true story' are just as bad. Mawkish and laced with saccharin sentiment it's like being assaulted with a five pound tin of Werthers originals.
The Supernatural or horror movies 'based on a true story' are laughable and at least you can talk about them over a beer or whatever but these made for TV efforts are just awful. There's no way you can have a convo about them. It's like seeing your Grandma diddling with a dildo. What has been seen can never be unseen but you can never ever speak of it to anyone.