Tag (2018)

[Leisher]

The story "Dying man and friend who's never been tagged". Those are the main plot points, and they are fake. NOT based on reality.

At some point, one of those guys had never been tagged. They are all technically dying, and will all die eventually.

There, truth achieved.

[TheCatt]

You can stay true without being a documentary.

Yes, there is a wide variety of "Based on a true story," some people take more liberties than other.

[Cakedaddy]

Well, I call shenanigans when they deviate as much as Tag did.

Red Riding hood is based on a true story. There was a girl who had a grandma.

Tag is based on a true story. There were these guys who played Tag.

But really, if it doesn't bother you and this movie fits your criteria for being based on a true story, then be you. I will call that aspect of this movie bullshit though.

It's a fun movie, but they lie about it being true in order to con you into watching it. Blair Witch.

[Leisher]

It's a fun movie, but they lie about it being true in order to con you into watching it. Blair Witch.

For fuck's sake. The Blair Witch people, literally, created a fake legend for marketing purposes.

The Tag people did NOT use "Based on a true story" in their marketing. They just tagged it at the front of the movie so you'd understand the clips at the end.

If you can't see the difference between how the two films treat "truth", you're the problem.

[Cakedaddy]

It's a fun movie, but they lie about it being true in order to con you into watching it. Blair Witch.

For fuck's sake. The Blair Witch people, literally, created a fake legend for marketing purposes.

The Tag people did NOT use "Based on a true story" in their marketing. They just tagged it at the front of the movie so you'd understand the clips at the end.

If you can't see the difference between how the two films treat "truth", you're the problem.

Google "Tag Trailer" Click on the first video in the list. 50 seconds in. The screen is filled with nothing but big bold letters "BASED ON A TRUE STORY". To me, that's using "Based on a true story" in their marketing. A few seconds later, the screen fills with "(WE'RE NOT KIDDING)". Doubling down on the 'true'. Then immediately starts telling a fake story "Our buddy Jerry has never been tagged". To me, that's false advertising. I would be ok with "Based on true events" or "Inspired by a true story". But NOTHING about the two main plot lines are true!!

Blair Witch was another movie that used fake "Based on a true story" stuff to sell the movie. Completely different in the way they did it. Absolutely. Hell, BW wasn't even based on a true story. They created a fake true story, in real life, then based the movie on that. To me, that was part of the fun of the movie because really, anyone that believed any of the 'true' they were marketing was stupid. But, none the less, they used it to sell tickets. Don't put that many words in my mouth! Didn't say they were the same. Only that BW did it.

And don't hate me because I feel differently about this topic than you do. What are you, a liberal?

[Vince]

Heh... I just find it funny that we're only now getting into "based on a true story" analysis. It's been going on for a long time. Like I said, see Pain & Gain for a pretty offensive use of it. It's kind of a catch 22 though. If you use actual events to inspire a film people say you're ripping off a true story. I don't remember them playing up the true story behind The Revenant a lot, but they took a lot of liberties with that. The rescue scene from the book Last of The Mohicans was inspired by Daniel Boone's rescue of his daughter (and some others) from Indians that had kidnapped them. Which is worse? Taking liberties with the actual story or not attributing it at all?

I do think Cake has a point though that in the last couple of decades we went from changes in the story to make it more streamlined (combining characters and events) to making it more of a vanity project for the director.

Edit: Wanted to add I think probably the most egregious example without even saying it was a true story was Pocahontas from Disney. How many kids grew up to have a really skewed understanding of those events thanks to that movie?

[Leisher]

I do think Cake has a point though that in the last couple of decades we went from changes in the story to make it more streamlined (combining characters and events) to making it more of a vanity project for the director.

Until you guys can prove that the real story is interesting aside from the WSJ article, the game being played for decades, and the idea to continue friendships through the game, then you can't say it's a vanity project for the director. Plus, did he write it? Wouldn't it be a vanity project for the writer?

And I stand by my statement about Cake being caught up on semantics. Based upon and inspired by mean the EXACT same thing.

[Cakedaddy]

Then what do we call the movies that ARE based on a true story, like Band of Brothers? The one where the guy got his arm trapped under a rock and had to cut it off would be another. Cause they are getting the shaft being clumped in the same catagory with Tag and all the ones Vince mentioned. There are a few movies that stayed true to the source material. They should get a new description because they really did try to stay as close to the truth as they could.

I stand by my statement that if a movie strays far from the actual story, then they shouldn't be able to say it's based on a true story. They are lying. By your logic, pretty much every movie could say they are based on a true story.

Replacements - They played football and there was a football strike once. Based on a true story. Even though the main story line never happened.
Bad Moms - Moms actually belong to the PTA and have kids.
Office Space - People actually work in cubicles and buildings burn down.
Star Wars - People battled in flying things and fought with swords.

I mean with you, ANYONE could say their movie is based on a true story. I have higher standards.

[Leisher]

Still semantics. You need to take it up with Hollywood.

Based upon and Inspired by are still one and the same.

We can give examples of films based upon and inspired by all day. Doesn't change the fact that they mean the same, and their distinction is out of our hands. Stigmata has the based upon words at the beginning of that film. Ever seen it? If that's a true story, then all non-Catholics are very, very wrong.

You need to go to Hollywood where documentaries are, by their own rules, only to contain 100% factual things, yet Michael Moore's films are full of half truths, Super Size Me was a total twisting of the truth, and so on.

If they can't get documentaries right, what chance do two terms that mean the same thing have?

[Vince]

And I stand by my statement about Cake being caught up on semantics. Based upon and inspired by mean the EXACT same thing.

I disagree. Based upon a true story means they have the same overall plot. Inspired by actual events means they have shared elements, but the overall story can be very different.

If someone said they'd painted a picture based on Van Gough's Starry Night, I'd expect a scene that somewhat resembles the original, but maybe in a different style. If someone said they'd painted a picture inspired by Starry Night, I'd expect a picture with start yellows and blues. Or maybe just stark colors.

And when I was talking about the vanity projects, I meant some of these "based on a true story" movies that go very far afield. In the case of this movie, I completely agree that there didn't seem to be enough "there" there to make a movie script on its own.

[Leisher]

Until you or Cake can show me the Hollywood rules that show "Based Upon" and "Inspired By" mean different things, you cannot be right. Only documentaries are supposed to be 100% factual.

[Cakedaddy]

Hollywood rules? Fuck them. If they are going to lie about being a real story, I'm going to have a problem with that. If you don't, that's fine. You be you. I'll be holding them to a higher standard. If you really don't care if a 'true story' isn't true, I can't help you with that. But I didn't like being lied to.

Hollywood rule. The hollywood rule is "I can do what I want, say what I want, change what I want, and market it the way I want. Because I know what's best and I want to sell tickets." I don't accept that.

[Leisher]

Semantics.

"This is a true story" is not the same thing as "This is based on a true story".

[Vince]

I'm more pissed when they waste my time.