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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchYes—The Revenant is inspired by the real fur trader Hugh Glass and his survival after a grizzly bear mauling in 1823. But the film is not a literal retelling: its son Hawk and its revenge plot against John Fitzgerald are fictionalized, and much of the dramatic detail comes from accounts written after the events.
Who was the real Hugh Glass?
Hugh Glass was a real hunter and fur trader associated with William Ashley’s 1823 Missouri River expedition. The South Dakota State Historical Society preserves a letter sent by Glass in June 1823 to the parents of John S. Gardner, a member of the party who died after an Arikara attack near present-day Mobridge. The letter places Glass and his companions on the Missouri River, although the Society notes that it is uncertain whether Glass wrote the letter in his own hand or someone wrote it for him (South Dakota State Historical Society).
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The Revenant | $9.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Revenant | $19.32 | Buy on Amazon |
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![The Revenant [Blu-ray] [2016]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KXU8EoAhL._SL160_.jpg)
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The Revenant [Blu-ray] [2016] | $17.28 | Buy on Amazon |
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![The Revenant [Blu-ray] [2016]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kjRwxw+VL._SL160_.jpg)
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The Revenant [Blu-ray] [2016] | $24.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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![The Revenant - Der Rückkehrer (+ 4K Ultra HD-Blu-ray) [Alemania] [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rXL8RB5ML._SL160_.jpg)
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The Revenant - Der Rückkehrer (+ 4K Ultra HD-Blu-ray) [Alemania] [Blu-ray] | $31.65 | Buy on Amazon |
The Arikara attack and Glass’s later bear mauling are separate events. The Society dates the attack that killed Gardner to June 2, 1823; it should not be confused with the later episode that became the central survival story in the film.
Did Hugh Glass really survive a grizzly bear attack?
The broad outline is supported: Glass was mauled by a grizzly near the Grand River in what is now South Dakota in 1823 and survived. The detailed sequence familiar from retellings—including the extent of his injuries, the men’s decision to leave him, and the circumstances of his return—does not come from a complete first-person account of the mauling. Historical accounts were published later, and the details vary in how firmly they can be established.
#1 Best Overall
- After a 19th-century fur trapper gets mauled by a grizzly bear, he's robbed and left for dead by his companions. He survives and seeks revenge on them.
A source survey points to a July 7, 1824 letter by Daniel Potts describing a man nearly torn apart by a “White Bear,” left without a gun, who later recovered; Edmund Flagg published another account in 1839. These are evidence for the survival story, but they do not verify every scene in the modern film (The Real Story of Hugh Glass: Primary Sources).
How far did Glass travel?
One historical account estimates that Glass traveled more than 250 miles from the Grand River region to Fort Kiowa, arriving by mid-October 1823. Treat that as a reported historical estimate, not a modern measurement of a precisely known route (The Real Story of Hugh Glass: Grizzly Attack).
Rank #2
- After a 19th-century fur trapper gets mauled by a grizzly bear, he's robbed and left for dead by his companions. He survives and seeks revenge on them.
Which parts of the film are fictionalized?
| Film element | What the historical record supports |
|---|---|
| Hugh Glass as a frontiersman | Glass was a historical person documented by the South Dakota State Historical Society and the National Park Service. |
| The grizzly mauling and survival | The broad event is supported by historical accounts, but the detailed dramatic sequence is less certain. |
| Arikara violence | An Arikara attack on Ashley’s expedition in June 1823 is documented. It was a distinct event, not proof of the film’s constructed sequence. |
| Glass’s son, Hawk | The historical account consulted reports no evidence that Glass had a son with him on the expedition. Hawk and the murder that motivates the film’s revenge story are fictionalized. |
| John Fitzgerald as the target of revenge | Fitzgerald was a real person, but the account says Glass did not kill or fight him and eventually recovered his gun. |
| The film as a direct recreation | That description is inaccurate: the film adapts a historical novel, not a complete, verified record of Glass’s life (The Real Story of Hugh Glass: Revenant – The Movie). |
Did Hugh Glass get revenge on the men who left him?
The film’s revenge resolution is not supported by the historical account. It says Glass did not kill or fight Fitzgerald, and the evidence does not establish the film’s pursuit and confrontation as real events. The invented son and revenge motive turn a survival story into a dramatic personal vendetta; they should not be treated as historical fact.
What happened to Hugh Glass after the survival story?
Glass continued working as a hunter and trapper in the Upper Missouri region after reaching Fort Kiowa. The National Park Service recounts his later career and says he was killed in an Arikara ambush near Fort Cass shortly after the start of 1833, along with Edward Rose and Hilain Menard. The South Dakota State Historical Society also records his death in 1833 on the Yellowstone River (National Park Service: Hugh Glass).
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- The disk has English audio.
What is the film based on?
The Revenant is based on Michael Punke’s 2002 historical novel, which is fiction rather than primary evidence about Glass. The historical person and broad survival episode provide the foundation, while the novel and film shape that material into a fictionalized narrative (The Real Story of Hugh Glass: The Legend).
For a sense of the documentary record, the State Historical Society’s letter is a stronger starting point than a scene in the movie. The letter sent to Gardner’s parents says: “My painful duty it is to tell you of the death of your son…He lived a little while after he was shot and asked me to inform you of his sad fate. We brought him to the ship when he soon died.” The Society cautions that authorship in Glass’s own handwriting is uncertain.
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Best Value
- The disk has English audio and subtitles.
Rank #4
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