Dramas based on real life on Netflix
Last updated December 21, 2024
Jet Li's Fearless
2006 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsJet Li stars as real-life martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, a world-class Chinese fighter who dreams of continuing his father's legacy and restoring pride in his nation. But as Huo's sparring skills grow, so does his ego.
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We Bought a Zoo
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn this adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir about buying and saving a run-down zoo, the locale shifts from Britain to southern California. However, the wacky spirit of the original is retained, complete with escaped tigers and a zoo crew of misfits.
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Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen
2005 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis biopic chronicles how the shrewd Virgin Queen assumed the throne of a nation in turmoil, stabilized the economy, earned her subjects' devotion and manipulated a succession of suitors to political advantage.
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Patton
1970 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsGen. George S. Patton (George C. Scott) earned the nickname "Blood and Guts" for his determination on the battlefield. This epic-scale production follows the commander as he guides his troops across Africa and Europe, illuminating a man whose life was defined by war. Director Franklin J. Schaffner's multiple Oscar winner is a character study masquerading as a World War II film, with astonishing combat scenes and reflection on Patton's inner life.
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United
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsA devastating plane crash in 1958 left the Manchester United football squad with only four surviving team members still able to play, as recounted in this moving drama that finds the team and community struggling to recover from the tragedy.
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Moneyball
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsAn all-star cast brings to life the true story of Billy Beane, a former jock turned general manager who uses unconventional methods to bring the best players to the Oakland A's, a Major League Baseball team struggling against financial hardship.
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Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis vivid drama tells the true story of the 1930s rebellion of the Taiwanese aboriginal Seediq tribe against the Japanese occupation. The warriors set out to reclaim their self-respect as well as their land from the Japanese oppressors.
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Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsNamed for the Japanese phrase that signals the start of an attack, Tora! Tora! Tora! tells both the American and Japanese versions of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into World War II.
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The Hurt Locker
2008 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsKathryn Bigelow directs this gripping drama (winner of the Best Picture Oscar) following one of the U.S. Army's elite EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) teams operating in the ferocious war zone of Iraq. As the squad identifies and dismantles improvised explosive devices and other bombs, they must also contend with the frayed nerves and internal conflicts that arise from living in constant peril. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce star.
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Anna and the King
1999 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn this fact-based 19th-century tale, English widow Anna Leonowens travels to Asia to tutor the king of Siam's 58 children. Brimming with prejudice, Anna at first believes the king is a barbarian, but the two soon develop a mutual respect.
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Confucius
2010 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis sweeping epic revisits China's Spring and Autumn periods through the dramatic biography of Confucius, the legendary Eastern philosopher who, in spite of his mastery of the Six Arts, has difficulty instituting his political philosophies.
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North Face
2008 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn 1936, young German climbers Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser face off against a rival Austrian duo in an attempt to be the first team to scale the infamous north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps.
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Cleopatra
1963 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis epic saga of love, greed and betrayal stars Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian queen who's determined to hold on to the throne and seduces Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general.
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The Social Network
2010 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsDirector David Fincher's biographical drama chronicles the rise of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg from Harvard student to Internet superstar. As the entrepreneur is driven to succeed, his personal relationships suffer and he lands in legal trouble.
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Radio
2003 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsA small-town high school football coach (Ed Harris) befriends a developmentally disabled man (Cuba Gooding Jr.) nicknamed "Radio," who has always been the target of jokes and teasing, in this heartwarming drama based on the real-life experiences of James Robert Kennedy. Although their friendship raises eyebrows at first, Radio's growth under the coach's guidance ultimately inspires the local townsfolk to think differently about being different.
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The Vow
2012 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsRachel McAdams stars in this romantic drama about a newlywed woman who slips into a coma after a car accident and awakens with amnesia. Her devoted husband must help her recover and also win back her love.
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Breaker Morant: Masterworks Edition
1980 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThree Australian soldiers (Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown and Lewis Fitz-Gerald) find themselves court-martialed for murder in 1901, at the end of South Africa's bloody Boer War. With just one day to prepare a defense, attorney major J.F. Thomas (Jack Thompson) must retrace his clients' steps -- and prove they acted under orders. Based on a play by Kenneth Ross, the film won 10 Australian Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
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Finding Neverland
2004 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsPeter Pan and the denizens of Neverland have captured the hearts and minds of J.M. Barrie's readers. But this Oscar-winning film reveals how the imaginative author envisioned a world that was at once so wondrous and perilous.
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9th Company
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAfter barely surviving an intensely grueling boot camp in Uzbekistan, an eclectic group of recently enlisted Soviet soldiers ships off to fight in Afghanistan, where they must endure hellish conditions and extremely dangerous mujahedeen forces.
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An Education
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsJenny's (Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan) Oxford-bound teen life is a bore in 1961 London until she's given a different kind of education after being immersed in the beguiling but hazardous world of much-older David (Peter Sarsgaard). Even Jenny's parents, Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour), are intrigued by him, but her unimpressed teacher (Olivia Williams) works to keep Jenny's entire future from crumbling under David's influence.
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Extraordinary Measures
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAfter their two young children are diagnosed with a rare genetic disease for which conventional medicine has no cure, John and Aileen pin their hopes on the work of unconventional scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill and form a company to develop a drug.
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Flame and Citron
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsThis fact-based drama explores the less-than-heroic side of World War II Danish Resistance fighters Flame and Citron, who, after taking orders from a Resistance leader, systematically assassinated Danish collaborators and Nazi officers.
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Christopher and His Kind
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsThis intimate adaptation of acclaimed novelist Christopher Isherwood's memoir conjures the young explorer's 1931 arrival, with poet W.H. Auden, on Berlin's decadent cabaret scene, along with the hearts he gained and lost in that anything-goes era.
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The Great Raid
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn World War II, a battalion goes on a daring rescue mission to liberate the Americans and Filipinos who've been captured by the Japanese and thrown into brutal POW camps in the city of Cabanatuan.
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Bottle Shock
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsFrance's position as the world's top wine producer went unchallenged until 1976, when the Montelena Winery put California wines on the map -- a story delightfully told in this full-bodied tale about the heady early days of Napa Valley's success.
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