Director: Mel Gibson
Writer: Randall Wallace
Producesr: Stephen McEveety, Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey and Alan Ladd Jr.
Studio: 20th Century Fox, Paramount
Major Stars: Mel Gibson, Brian Cox, Patrick McGoohan, Sophie Marceau, Angus Macfayden, James Cosmo, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack
What do you do with a problem like Braveheart? A film of undeniable craftsmanship and stunning scenery and action, it is also completely detached from the history it claims to represent.
Let’s talk about the good stuff first. Braveheart is an expertly-directed and shot film. The characters are well-written and memorable. The battle-scenes are fantastic. Especially the Battle of Stirling Bridge, which is one of the best battles I have ever seen on film.
There is real emotion in the film. The death of Wallace’s first wife is heart-breaking, and the palpable anger it creates in Wallace drives him in all he does. There are also some wonderfully funny lines, mostly courtesy of Mad Stephen (David O’Hara), the self-proclaimed King of Ireland.
And the scenery…wow. Just beautiful vistas of mountain-tops, fields wrapped with low-lying fog…amazing. You can hardly tell the battles were shot in Ireland while much of the rest of Braveheart was shot in Scotland.
And the actors/actresses are wonderful. Partick McGoohan is enjoyably detestable as Edward I, aka Edward Longshanks, King of England. Sophie Marceau does a nice job a Princess Isabelle, wife to Edward’s son and Wallace’s secret lover. And Gibson is charismatic as hell in the role of William Wallace. He dominates the story and the screen as he should.
There is a lot to like about this movie. The problem is that most of what there is to like is set up by using a blatantly false and inaccurate history. Here are just a few problems:
