The truth is often stranger than fiction.

The final ski-jump scene is one of fist-pumping bravura.

However,Apollo 13trumps both of those with its death-defying stakes and its brilliant story of camaraderie and courage.

The 10 Most Inspiring Movies Based on True Stories, Ranked

Image by Federico Napoli

Elevated by Will Smiths weighted lead performance, the biographical drama is a soaring story of hope and perseverance.

No movie realizes this with the devastating yet unforgettably moving impact ofSchindlers List.

WhatSteven Spielberg does so wellis he presents the Holocaust in all its inhumanity and horror.

Lion

Image via Transmission Films

NEXT:The Best Biopics of the Last 25 Years, Ranked

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Cast Placeholder Image

Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards about to put on his goggles in Eddie the Eagle

Image via Lionsgate/20th Century Fox

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Private Trip (Denzel Washington) fighting in ‘Glory’

Image via Tri-Star Pictures

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Three astronauts looking ahead with pensive expressions in Apollo 13

Image via Universal Pictures

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Image via Prime Video

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Director Ron Howard tells the tale of the daring rescue mission mounted to save the lives of seveal students and their teacher trapped deep in a Thai cave.

A bruised Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) on the battlefield in ‘Hacksaw Ridge.'

Image via Lionsgate Films

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Will and Jaden Smith riding the bus and smiling in The Pursuit of Happyness.

Image via Sony Pictures

The Pursuit of Happyness Movie Poster Showing Will Smith and Jaden Smith Holding Hands With a Skyline in the Background

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Billy Beane and Peter Brand stand near a baseball diamond in the film Moneyball

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

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Hidden Figures

Image via 20th Century Fox

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Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) holds an object and looks distraught in Schindler’s List (1993).

Image via Universal Pictures

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Movie

Hidden Figures