Smithsonian Channel - The Real Story Series 4 (2012) Part 5 Braveheart

Behind Hollywood's biggest blockbusters there is always… The Real Story. Often times the best fiction is based on fact. In The Real Story the startling facts behind the fiction in Hollywoods greatest hits are investigated. Before Hollywood made them famous, history made them legends. Classic mystery and adventure tales of the 20th century comes alive in “The Real Story.” In Season Four, find out true-life inspirations behind classic films Saving Private Ryan, True Grit, Apollo 13, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Braveheart and Master and Commander The Far Side Of The World. These films achieved enormous success, but in bringing them to the screen, the truth was often left on the cutting room floor. Brutal medieval warfare of epic proportion, a failed mission to the moon, an invincible warship, Omaha Beach on D-Day, UFO sightings, the real Wild West. These historic events have all inspired successful Hollywood hits but the facts didn't always make it to the silver screen. The Smithsonian Channel original series, THE REAL STORY in its fourth season separates fact from fiction and real life from reel life.

Part 5 Braveheart

“Braveheart” wasn't based on facts but on a poem written 165 years after William Wallace's death. Discover the real story. Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning box office smash “Braveheart” tells the story of real-life Scottish rebel and freedom fighter William Wallace. The savage battle scenes and cast of thousands created a film of epic proportion, but ever since it was first shown historians have challenged the accuracy of the movie. Did William Wallace really live the life that “Braveheart” depicts? THE REAL STORY draws on medieval accounts and uses forensic evidence and weapons testing to build a picture of the real man and his times.

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