The 15 best biopics of all time
From Mozart to Gandhi to Jake LaMotta, Hollywood's obsession with the true(ish) stories of larger-than-life figures never seems to fade out
Film Features Daniel Day
As we prepare to learn about the story of the man who created the atomic bomb in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biopic Oppenheimer, we started thinking about other great biopics to come out of Hollywood. With the industry becoming more reliant on familiarity and nostalgia to draw in audiences, history and pop-culture have become fertile ground for original projects based on the stories of real people with famous names. Some have been more successful than others, but when everything clicks the results can be magic.
You’ll find some of the greatest films Hollywood has ever produced here. We’ve been selective in our definition of what counts as a biopic; just because a film is based on a true story doesn’t necessarily make it a biopic. For a film to be defined as a true biopic it must dive deep into the subject’s background, mindset, and world view. It should reveal the complex qualities that made this person who they are or were. Whether the story spans decades or only a few months, we should walk away with a complete portrait in our minds. If it also happens to be a great film in its own right, well, that’s a wonderful bonus.
Oh, and when you’re done with our look at the best biopics, be sure to check out the flip side of this list: our countdown of the 15 worst biopics of all time. You’ll find some truly terrible takes on Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, Bobby Darin, and, yes, Genghis Khan.
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The Great Philouza or GTFO
Where is Le Petomane?
He’s busy.
Bohemian Rhapsody? Really?
How did anybody take this movie seriously in a post-Walk Hard world?
Was commenting on that yesterday – there’s even a montage where the marquees of all the theaters they played in the U.S. scroll by. Truly comical.
After Walk Hard (and GOD I love that film) I can’t watch any musical bio pic without laughing. Also the Walk Hard soundtrack is incredible: it so nails the different eras of Dewey’s career but without sounding overly comedic.
I really wanted in Elvis, his dad to say WRONG KID DIED!!!
Now THAT is pathos! The old man saying that about Elvis’s twin who died in the womb would be pretty great.Also they should have went bonkers and based Elvis on the Albert Goldman very entertaining but very libelous (and in parts fake) biography
Worse, Elvis got away with being basically a new version of Walk the Line!
You’re going to put Gandhi on this list and not include the far superior sequel?
“Give me a steak, medium rare”
hey baldie!!!
HEY BALDY!
No more passive resistance!!!
Bohemian Rhapsody? If you include that, you should really make Weird Al’s biopic number one
Hahahaha.
‘Chaplin’ is a great performance by Downey Jr. wasted in a very middling by the numbers film.
It rushes through all of Chaplin’s film achievements and offers no insight whatsoever into the creation of his best bits, devoting long stretches to Chaplin’s personal life and marriages, which no one cares about.
The only good scene about Chaplin’s creative process is the ‘Great Dictator’ scene.
Bohemian Rhapsody? And no Rocketman? Come on, you’re joking.
Can’t really complain about any of these except for the inclusion of Bohemian Rhapsody, which I thought was rather terrible.
It’s funny to see it here after the complaints yesterday that it was missing from the “worst” list.
Heh, yeah. I mean, Rami Malek was good and I understand why he won the Oscar, but literally everything else about it (including on a technical level, with that shit editing) was poor.
The singing double was great. That’s about it though.
Totally.
I apparently like it more than most around here (mostly because of the triumphant Live Aid scene probably, which eats 15 minutes of screen time), but would not have included it on this list. It could have lived in the middle with the other hundreds of by-the-numbers biopics.
I agree. It is so wildly inaccurate to timeline and overly generous to the other members of Queen. Rami is good in it but its practically a fairy tale.
Honestly, none of the musician biopics are particularly good films. And they’re kind of all the same film anyway.
Yeah, I wish Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story had killed off that kind of musician biopic (because it fucking NAILED the formula, in hilarious fashion), but we still keep getting them. But I guess there will always be a market for them, as the “stans” for these musicians will always eat that shit up, no matter how formulaic these things usually are.
Yeah, I had hoped that at the time, too.Those music biopics do an amazing job of taking these very diverse artists and making them all seem exactly the same. And tedious.
Ditto for most artist and scientist biopics. They all have a story of how a troubled person managed to do great work or even imply that the troubles were necessary for the work as opposed to a hurdle to overcome. It would be nice to have one about a artist or scientist who had a happy life.
Read Stewart Copeland’s autobiography, ‘Strange Things Happen: A Life with the Police, Polo, and Pygmies’. Joy.
I have never actually seen Bohemian Rhapsody, but if you are going to have a movie about a real life celebrity who dies of an incurable disease the Pride of the Yankees seems like it would be a good choice.
The wife and I couldn’t even make it through the movie and I am huge fan of Queen. It was not very good
As an English person, Downey gets 10 extra points for not only doing the creditable Cockney London accent of the young Chaplin, but also doing the posher accent that Chaplin started doing as he got older. Take that, Dick Van Dyke, you fucking amazing international treasure and rightly-beloved cinema icon!
Replace the toothless Bohemian Rhapsody with the significantly better Rocketman, and I would agree with this list.
Is this one of the “content summaries or lists that will be produced by A.I.”? https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/7/18/23798164/gizmodo-ai-g-o-bot-stories-jalopnik-av-club-peter-kafka-media-column
Huh. Spanfeller looks exactly how I expected.
Aside from Bohemian Rhapsody’s baffling inclusion there aren’t any significant errors, so probably written by humans.
As much as they stray from an accurate telling, the majority of these can reasonably called biopics. But that explanation for Amadeus makes no sense. It’s pure fiction that just happens to have Mozart as a character. (It’s wonderful! But come on!)
Yeah by those criteria Shakespeare in Love should be on the list.
Or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
back the truck up – that’s not straight history??
I think it’s based on a true story. But then Spielberg rebooted the franchise.
Well, the Mozart parts are more or less accurate to the rough outline of his life.But yes, the Salieri stuff is pure fiction. If anything, Mozart was probably jealous of him, mainly for his job security as court composer.
So, Mozart did drive a Trans-Am?
Porsche. It would have to be a German car.
Historical records from that era are sketchy at best.
There isn’t a movie on this list that doesn’t take massive liberties. “Biopic” doesn’t suggest accuracy, just a focus on a person who was real.
But there have to be limits at some point. People brought up Shakespeare in Love. Yes, biopics aren’t documentaries, and some things can be changed or rearranged for the sake of the story, but the basic facts should be more or less true to be considered a biopic.
I mean, that’s a position one could take, but it’s just you taking a position. It’s not what “biopic” means, or even what “biography” means.No fictionalized film is ever going to tell a literally accurate story, ever. Accepting that, there is absolutely no clear line to draw in terms of what kinds of liberties are acceptable or not. I think even a single person would redraw those lines depending on the subject, tone, etc. And who is to say what counts as a “basic fact?” Different things loom more or less important or essential to different viewers owing to their previous knowledge, biases, etc.I think that the best criterion is probably authorial intent: did the creator set out to tell person X’s story or to tell a story that happens to use person X as a character? That maybe parses most of what are generally considered biopics (but would probably include films you would exclude) from films I think most people would agree aren’t, but even that is an arbitrary distinction that is not actually part of the definition, just a personal sensibility about its meaning.
“There isn’t a movie on this list that doesn’t take massive liberties. “Biopic” doesn’t suggest accuracy, just a focus on a person who was real.”Which makes the omission of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” all the more glaring.
I thought Rocket Man was amazing, far far better than the Freddi Mercury biopic. It combined biography with fantasy into a sparkling musical. The story and pacing were superior.
Surprised to not see Tár on this list. I loved that it was rather brutal in displaying Lydia Tár’s faults and shortcomings. It could have easily veered into hagiography, considering how revered she is in real life.
I grew up living next to Lydia (she was Linda back then).
She was a plus one at my Bar Mitzvah and ruined it by openly mocking the cantor.
Lydia Tar is not a real person.
Huh? Why would they make a biopic about a fictional person? And how do you explain the personal anecdotes in my replies?
No, she certainly is. That’s why I’m still mad it didn’t win best picture.
Um, Patton? If Lincoln is on the list for a small time period so is George.
lol I was confused when Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t on yesterday’s list, now I guess we know why.
Usually I don’t get too worked up about listicles, but the absence of Malcolm X from this list is criminal.
No Malcolm X and no Patton, but yes for Bohemian Rhapsody (and the totally non-biographical, but excellent, Amadeus)?!?
Wait – Malcolm X is not on this list?
My own damn fault for naivete, but I clicked through this list certain that Malcolm X would be at number one.
Bohemian Rhapsody on this list is absolutely unforgivableI don’t think anyone on avclub watches movies anymore with their brains.
I wish people had been this honest when it came out. I experienced a pile-on the few times I criticized it.
There are spots where this feels more like a “Best Movies About Real People” list. Like Lincoln, Lawrence of Arabia and Schindler’s List feel just as much about the people and events around their title characters as they do about those characters themselves.
And yes, Bohemian Rhapsody should be nowhere near this list.
They are centered more on the eponymous characters than any other single character. That’s all it really requires.
Yeah, Schindler’s list doesn’t really feel like a “biography” as much as it is a story about a guy who really existed.
Except that the last pathetic Spielbergian scene in Schindler’s List, the one with the blubbing over the ring, was a complete betrayal of the source material Schindler’s Ark and an anathema to who Oskar Schindler was.
Wow, no love for Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox story, which clearly inspired Walk the Line?
I mean, the guy invented punk rock for God’s sake!
“We’re doing listicles here, Dewey. You don’t want any part of this shit!”
Patton seems like a glaring omission given it gave us one of the all-time iconic film images and great performances from George C. Scott. More recently I’d absolutely include The Social Network, The Aviator and Moneyball. Mining Russell Crowe’s filmography I’m not sure how much of Cinderella Man or The Insider was factual but those are solid as well (especially the latter, which includes one of my all-time favorite film scenes). Go get ‘em, D-Day!
It just hit me that Patton was not on this list. Oh, these young ‘uns…
Patton is certainly more appropriate for this list than Bohemian Rhapsody.
Its greatest inaccuracy is making the world think Patton sounded like George C Scott and not like the Nutty Professor with a southern accent. Otherwise its near perfect.
Walk the Line and Ray? Seriously? Those movies are prime examples of bland, shit biopics – how not to make one. They may feature wonderful performances, but the movies are hollow shells that fabricate events in order to fill a 2 hour narrative. They are the same movie, so much so they directly inspired a movie mocking their checklist-style faults. I’m Not There should be in the top 5. Shout out to The Life & Death of Peter Sellers.You know, AV CLUB turned into a hardcore clickbait site so gradually, I didn’t even notice
I’m Not There is probably the only movie ever made about a rock/pop musician that isn’t a totally predictable snooze.Maybe Last Days, too.
And it’s probably more insightful. Sometimes there’s more truth in our myths than slavishly recreated reality.
Also when we already have reality, a weak facsimile is less valuable than some actual art.
I like Last Days (and Gerry and Elephant from that same period of Van Sant) but it’s more of a fictionalized biopic about a guy who is kinda Kurt Cobain but not exactly.
Sure. But it has more insight to actually offer than a by-the-numbers biopic would have.
It’s more recent, but the Eddie Murphy Dolemite picture absolutely should be on here. He deserved an Oscar for that film.
That just popped into my head and there was your comment. Yeah, it’s an unfortunate oversight.
Genuinely one of the most wholesome films around. An R-Rated film full of titties and swearing, but damn if I can think of a movie with more heart.Also, Wesley Snipes taking huge, greedy bites out of the scenery.
I very much agree. That was a delightful ride…
Mishima!! Where is it!!!
With regards to Coal Miner’s Daughter, props should be given to Loretta Lynn herself, who personally selected Spacek for the role, and worked with her on the accent and singing.
With regards to Coal Miner’s Daughter, props should be given to Loretta Lynn herself, who personally selected Spacek for the role, and worked with her on the accent and singing. And this somehow resulted in a great movie, not a hagiography, with great performances all around. Not just Spacek and Jones – Levon Helm and Beverly D’Angelo* especially deserve credit for what could have been glorified cameos. It’s a terrific movie that holds up really well. I especially liked the decision (Loretta’s) to have Spacek do the singing. Does she sound like Loretta? Not entirely – but she feels like Loretta.*In my alternate universe, Jessica Lange didn’t do Sweet Dreams… Beverly D’Angelo did, and sang, didn’t lip-sync…
The absence of MALCOLM X is unthinkable. I’d also lobby for the brilliant AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE.
Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, and one of the worst examples of a biopic. Absolute trash.
Every time an AVClub writer whines about historical accuracy, you know it’s BS. If anything, AVClub dislikes, it’s honesty about the past. Or about people in general for that matter. Goodfellas in particular is romanticizing of gangsters, not biopic. It’s basically a trash wallow, not a work of art. The only sensible criticism of biopics as a form is that turning a real person’s life into a vicarious fantasy is hackwork. This applies to Goodfellas full force. Most of these movies falsify, which apparently for AVClub is a plus. So much the worse for AVClub.If you can accept the moronic premises of Amadeus for a couple of hours, Mozart’s music makes the movie a great experience. The only real surprise is they had enough sense to include Bohemian Rhapsody despite the dutiful claim it lacked “bite.” John Deacon wasn’t lurid enough so they barely put him in the movie but it lacks “bite?” The notion Rocketman was better is absurd. Elton John got married and the movie dodged that completely, so no, it is not a good biopic in the sense of telling us anything.
Wow, what an extremely typical list. I was hoping you guys would expose some of us to the films that didn’t win Oscars for best pictures or rank highest on the IMDB or AFI top lists.
I once attended a panel discussion on biopics and the general consensus was the 2007 Todd Haynes film I’m Not There was the most original. If you’re valuing boldness and originality, I’d say Ed Wood and Lawrence of Arabia are highest, I’m glad to see Good Night and Good Luck isn’t there. I’d say Chaplin’s a snooze-fest and the Wierd Al biopic is more the kind of originality with the genre I’d have hoped for.
I also think Lust for Life should rank up there
Goodfellas is overrated.There. I said it.
Thank You.
I do wish that before Ray Liotta died, he had made the follow up movie about Henry Hill during his time in the witness protection program where he lived in Texas, changed his name to “Hank” and sold propane and propane accessories.
“I tell you what.”
How in the hell is Capote not on here??? Philip Seymour Hoffman was brilliant in that movie.
WRONG. “Barfly” should be #1.
Bohemian Rhapsody is so fucking terrible it feels like a plant just to see if we’re actually clicking all the way through the fucking slideshow.Well played, Univision.
the fact you chose to decided to exclude Malcolm X from your list but include Bohemian Rhapsody, one of the worst Best Picture nominations in recent years shows the absolute ignorance of the AV Club writing staff. No mention of James Cagney’s Yankee Doodle Dandy either what a sham
Wow! What a fantastic list of biopics! It’s always fascinating to see Hollywood bring to life the true stories of larger-than-life figures on the silver screen. From powerful performances to in-depth portrayals, biopics have a unique way of immersing us in the lives of these iconic individuals.“Cold Miner’s Daughter,” “Raging Bull,” “Gandhi,” and “Schindler’s List” are timeless classics that have left a lasting impact on cinema history. The way these films delve deep into the subjects’ backgrounds and emotions is truly commendable, offering a complete portrait of their lives.As we eagerly await Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” it’s great to see biopics continuing to captivate audiences with their compelling narratives. Hollywood’s dedication to bringing these true(ish) stories to life is a testament to the enduring power of human stories.Thank you for sharing this amazing list! We’re excited to explore more biopics and see how they shed light on the incredible lives of historical figures.The Dubai Blog Team http://www.dubaidazzle.ae
Chadwick Bozeman in “Get On Up” … and the dude had at least 3 biopics in his short career. I liked “Bugsy” – it could have made the list. Or IDK, Bugsy was really well crafted, but Beatty was a little stiff in it. Christ “Reds” was super lived-in – and Beatty was great in it. People think “Reds” is a snooze, I suppose, but it’s really specific about this group of characters, so much so that I think audiences find it hard to relate. The interstitial interviews were fascinating.You can see my train of thought: “Henry and June” had a pretty great trio of performers.
“Downfall” with Bruno Ganz should be here.
I liked Kael’s line about Gandhi: it’s like going to the funeral of someone you didn’t know.If Goodfellas counts as a biopic then there’s around 30 true crime movies that I would put above the likes of Walk the Line and Ray.
The only movie that should be on this list, taking up all 15 spots, is Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
Swap out Rocketman for Boehmian Rhapsody right this instant!
If you have Bohemian Rhapsody on here, you might as well add Elvis as well. While not perfect, still a better and more entreating movie than Rhapsody with probably the best Elvis we will ever get.
I would add My Left Foot. One of Daniel Day Lewis’s best films and what a story.
Good catch! Hadn’t really thought about that film while looking through the list. Great film, brilliant performance.
Just came to say the obvious about that scene from Schindler’s List: I’ve seen it probably a few dozen times since first seeing it in history class. Every single time I have to hold back tears. Even just watching the clip just now as a mid-30’s, jaded adult, cleared up my dry eyes.
For anyone looking for some terrific unconventional biopic choices, check out The Scarlet Empress (Catherine the Great) and The Music Lovers (Tchaikovsky)!
“Lincoln” should rate in the Top 3. How could overlook “Patton”? I liked “Cinderella Man” much more than than “Raging Bull” & that would easily make my Top 10 bio-pics.
I would have chose Rocket Man over Bohemian Rhapsody.
Stopped reading when I saw bohemian rhapsody on the list
You have Bohemian Rhapsody here but not Rocketman?The fuck outta here.
Where is Life of Brian?!?
Wow! Just totally ignored Malcolm X. Embarrassing list
Was it necessary for the movie to be in English and/or pretty recent? Some of the most renowned films of all time are biopics, but none are on this list… Salvatore Giuliano (1964), Andrei Rublev (1965), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927), Aguirre the Wrath of God (1972), etc… Either make it very clear the constraints you are putting on a list like this (only recent English-language movies seem to qualify), or make a better list.
24 Hour Party People is perhaps the finest example of a music biopic. But Social Network is probably the one I would think of first as a gold-star version of the genre.
Raging Bull is one of my all-time favourite films. And yes, it is not a boxing movie and was never going to be one. De Niro finally “sold” the story to Scorsese by saying that it was NOT a boxing movie (which Martin did not want to direct) but a movie about self-destruction. Scorsese was deep into a coke habit at the time and was certain this would be his last film because he expected to die at any moment. He could understand LaMotta.
I’ll add Spike Lee’s Malcolm X.
Gee, one woman out of 15? What about Iris, or What’s Love Got to Do With It? or Erin Brockovich? And if you are only focused on men, what about In Cold Blood or Born on the Fourth of July?