Historical films have always captivated audiences with their ability to transport us back in time. Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good period drama with gorgeous costumes and epic battle scenes? However, not all of these cinematic journeys stay true to the facts, not even close!

While artistic license is expected in filmmaking, some movies take such extreme liberties with historical events that they essentially create alternate timelines. Historians often watch these films through gritted teeth, seeing their carefully researched subjects transformed into barely recognizable Hollywood fantasies.

Here are ten of the most notoriously inaccurate historical films that have left academics shaking their heads and history buffs rolling their eyes.

10. Pearl Harbor (2001)

Michael Bay‘s big-budget war romance Pearl Harbor promised to deliver a historically accurate portrayal of the infamous 1941 Japanese attack that brought America into World War II. Instead, what we got was a historically muddled...