Movies based upon historical events

[devonin]

We've all seen plenty of them, some have gone to great lengths to stay as true to the history as possible, others have forgone complete accuracy for the sake of action, and still others seem to have forgotten partway in that there was even a historical event that the movie was based on.

My question is this:

"Should a filmmaker be obliged to keep a movie 'based on a historical event" as accurate as possible?"

I mean...at any time you are free to make a movie about (to use a current example) an ancient battle wherein a small number of troops held off a much larger number of attackers in a glorious, epic battle for the ages, in which case you can make absolutely anything happen that you like.

However, to me, if you're going to go ahead and make it the Greeks and Persians, and make it the battle of Thermopylae, then you are -obliged- to keep your storyline as true to the actual events as you possibly can.

If you don't find the history appealing enough, don't base it on the history.