@lessersharks
I will stand by the fact that “Love and Mercy”, the biopic on Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is one of the best biopics I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t just show the greatest hits, it shows things about his life that wasn’t widely known, not to mention the incredible performances from Paul Dano, John Cusack, and Paul Giamatti
@kylefelter9615
The Aviator was so good that for like 15 years it convinced me that I like biopics. I now realize that I just like the Aviator.
@oneAndyHicks
Sacha Baron Cohen was asked to play Freddie Mercury; he wanted to portray him as honestly as possible. Since the band members were producers, they dropped him immediately because they wanted to keep Freddie's "perfect" image.
@chrislacy1990
Many biopics are cinematic Wikipedia pages that cram an entire person’s life into one movie. I hope more movies do what Martin Scorsese did in ‘The Aviator.’ He focused on how obsession affected Howard Hughes’s life and career. Finding a universal human characteristic is key.
@ARandomOven
My favorite biopic will always be "I'm Not There," about Bob Dylan. It tells a non-linear story, portraying him and his life events in 6 different characters, and as a huge Dylan fan, I found it fascinating
@ajtaylor8750
The best biopics tell a story about a subject with sincerity, authenticity, and care, whereas a lot of biopics today seem more focused on being unfocused films full of filler.
@Questionthis1
The Aviator, Raging Bull, and The Wolf of Wallstreet were the most amazing biopics ever made because Scorsese knows how to find the human story and conflict within a famous person’s life story that’s compelling, fascinating or relatable.
@KayButtonJay
Honestly, Orson Wells nailed it with Citizen Kane. He was after the core of a fictional character loosely based on real person (who wasn’t a total POS) in a heavily-stylized but not distracting way. It wasn’t about trying to recreate certain historical milestones. It was a character study showing us things we’re not overly-familiar with.
@meikoblock
Selena is still my favorite biopic, the way her music is incorporated really assists the story instead of turning it into a musical.
@danielfurmage4381
There's one Biography which to me, actually was massive learning experience for me as a teenager and how I thought about the civil rights movement and did largely stick to what actually happened - Malcolm X by Spike Lee. Its an incredible film and if you havent watched it, I'd definitely recommend.
@daredevil6145
Rocketman movie was miles ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody. Like visually, and Taron singing, the music integrated with whats showing on screen - liberty with Fantastical sequences... etc etc
@sebbvell3426
I don't like biopics either but I'm genuinely excited for the Oppenheimer movie.
@pigglypoof
What’s sad is that a lot of documentaries have become just as fictional as the biopics 😑
@bo8fett.
The problem with a lot of biopics is that they're afraid of scrutinising their subjects; which prevents them from understanding their subjects and saying something meaningful about them. A person's life can't be told in terms of cause and effect; life is too long and chaotic to be reduced to this structure. Raging Bull, Mishima: a life in four chapters, and Lawrence of Arabia remain the pinnacle of this genre.
@Liry1
I know this video was made before Oppenheimer came out, but everything you mentioned here was expertly written and adapted in the movie. Cillian Murphy absolutely carried the film and Nolan knew what he was supposed to do. The film makes you really think.
@filmreviewer117
This is why Steve Jobs is my favourite as it does something different with it' story being set in three different product launches and is more a dive in to Steve's ability to care for his daughter and his desire to laugh the mac. It's so much better than the 2013 versions where I was so bored I was wishing it finish.
@brendanfrye123
Favourite biopic has gotta be “Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story”. I like how they didn’t sensationalize how he wrote his hit songs too much, briefly showed how he invented punk music, but i wish they showed more of his 70s era 😢😢😢
@Jake_Piotrowski
I believe Rocketman (2019) manages to avoid most, if not all, of the pitfalls mentioned here. If you haven't seen it, it is a retelling of Elton John's life. What sets Rocketman apart is the unique approach taken with the story. It's actually a fantasy/musical/biopic which uses most of Elton's songs non-chronologically to match his life's story. For example, "I Want Love" which was released in 2001, was used during Elton's childhood struggles for family acceptance, this taking place decades before the song. It also doesn't shy away from Elton's "bad side", showing his anger towards others at moments and drug/sex addicted life in the 70s-80s. Most of the movie covers Elton's personal struggles at the time, something that wasn't known to people then. So the movie feels fresh in that way. It isn't just, "Hey, he's making that song I love!". I highly recommend everyone checks it out, it might surprise you!
@nocareernofear
Thank you for this, have always felt the same about biopics. Film industry's tendency to disregard truth even when telling the story of people's lives is infuriating
@josephvlogsdon