Review of Braveheart (1995) by Kai82 — 28 Nov 2020

A great heroes tale and celebration of Scottish history that is very loosely based on historical events. It is the story of William Wallace (and with that also Robert the Bruce) in one of the most interesting and celebrated times in Scottish history.

It is a battle for independence from England with schemes and lot of struggles. It is a nice Hollywood version with passion, emotion and glory. It is one of the most immersive movies of its time and deserved its praise by fans and critics.

The real story behind it is not as black and white or glorious. It is from a historical standpoint really incorrect and awful (The list of errors would be longer than a summary of the movie). This does however not influence my rating as entertainment and documentation are separate genres.

For itself it was Mel Gibson grand project as he was director, writer, producer and main actor. You can always feel the passion, heart and soul that was injected into this project. It uses clever techniques to build up the characters and story.

Lets start with the actors. Mel Gibson is a great William Wallace and delivers a remarkable performance. Angus MacFadyen is a strong Robert the Bruce who struggles with his crown. Patrick McGoham as Edward I (Longshanks) is a magnificent bastard and one of the best villains I have seen.

I shorten my praise here and say all actors deliver a good to great performance. Then there are the beautiful sets and locations in the movie. They filmed in Scotland and Ireland and it looks awesome.

On a sidenote there are holiday trips for Scottish movie locations as many movies made them popular. Then there are the battles. They are intense, immersive and you always feel excited. The story and characters together create a great atmosphere.

Also there is some good humor in the movie. While I have no complaints in general I think that the ending can be a bit of a downer. Overall this is an excellent movie that pushes all the right buttons.

It rightfully deserves the Oscars and acclaim. It is a must see except for history buffs or historians.