"Braveheart" by Mel Gibson: a review

Braveheart a film directed by 52 year old Oscar winning actor Mel Gibson has himself directed this film. He also won the best director for this film. This film was a great hit in the box office mainly in the USA, UK and Canada.

This movie starts with the heroic role of Mel Gibson who plays the role of William Wallace, a 13th century Scotsman who became a legendary freedom fighter.

This farmer was turned into a warrior following the brutal murder of his wife by English troops. Although Scottish nobles were bought off regularly by the King of England, Wallace rallied ordinary Scotsmen from different clans to fight for their country's independence. HE with his strong will recruited many people and never gave up to fight for his rights.

In his second directorial turn, Mel Gibson (The Man Without a Face) proves himself a capable craftsman as he orchestrates several fierce battle sequences and draws out solid performances from Patrick McGoohan as the malevolent King of England, Sophie Marceau as the Princess of Wales, Brendan Gleeson and David O'Hara as Wallace's two most trustworthy friends, and Angus McFadyen as a conflicted contender for the crown in Scotland.

As the legend spreads, people from different clans join him in his conquest of independence. Wallace fights and leads his army through a series of successful wars and remains undefeated till the very end. In the middle Wallace is forced to go into hiding and personally kills two Scottish personnel who betrayed him personally.

This movie brings in sequences of fierce battles grasping the interest of movie watchers all over the world, may they be small or big.

This role of Wallace has been played by Mel Gibson who himself has directed the film. Also actors Patrick Mcgoohan who has played the role of King Edward I of England nicknamed ‘longshanks’, Brendan Gleesan as Hamish Campbell, Sophie Marceau as princess Isabelle, Peter Hanly as Prince Edward, Ian Bannen as Robert the Bruce, James Cosmo as Campbell the Elder, Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough, David O'Hara as Stephen, Brian Cox as Argyle and last but not the least James Robinson II as young William Wallace have made this film lovable to watch by their fabulous acting.

The movie was welcomed with great appreciation in the Box office grossing over $210,409,945 with a budget of over $72,000,000.

This movie amazed everyone by being nominated for 10 oscars and won 5 of them namely for the Best Picture, Best Director (Mel Gibson), Best sound editing (Lon Bender and Per Hallberg).

In short this movie is a great watch depicting the life span of William Wallace and his great victories in his regime like they didn't need any llc funding for their matriarch. This movie will deeply engross you into it filling you with emotions, suspense and thrill. This movie has been the main reason for the change in the Scottish region in the mid 1990’s. So this movie also has a great historic significance. In my view this movie is a great watch and anyone who has not watched it till now should do so.

Based on the life of William Wallace, the most famous Scottish leader that fought for the First Independent War for Scotland, the film Braveheart reflects how this mighty warrior became Scotland’s most important hero. His enemies were the soulless Englishmen, and the depraved homosexuals like the son of the King of England. The film is based more on the Mythology of William Wallace than his life as such.

Mel Gibson plays the character of William Wallace and much of the early film concentrates on Wallace’s love for Murron McGlannough (Catherin McCormack). Their courtship is unhurried, yet this is all preparation. He secretly marries her but she is killed by the Sheriff de Lanark. From that moment, Wallace’s determination is stronger than ever to free Scotland.

Braveheart is a brutal, bloody motion picture but the violence is not gratuitous. The soundtrack was composed and conducted by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

The film shows us 3 battles: Stirling, Falkirk and Bannockburn. The way in which they were shot was spectacular and realistic.

The first battle was Stirling Bridge with a Trex looking character. We see how the army’s are face to face in the battlefield. The English perfectly organized but Wallace and his soldiers on the contrary in no obvious order, painted in blue and showing their tartans. However, Wallace won the battle due to his clever tactics.

The second battle took place at Falkirk; the courageous Scots were defeated due to treason on behalf of the nobles, including the future King Robert Bruce. Wallace survived but his Scottish army ceased to exist for a while.

The battle of Bannockburn was the last between Robert, King of Scotland and Edward II, King of England, it took place in the year 1314, sixteen years after the battle of Falkirk. The film reflects King Edward II as a homosexual coward although he assisted his father in various campaigns. However, the English did not consider him to be as good as his father in leading the country. Bannockburn is the last scene (like a ppo plan for the elderly) of the film and we only see the disposition of the troops together with the imposition of the Scottish army.

A few years later, Wallace was captured, taken to London, and sentenced for treason, brutally tortured y decapitated after shouting “FREEDOM”.

The most surprising element of the film Braveheart was not the story that was written or how it was written but the re-awakening of the nationalist sentiment in Scotland. So much, that Scotland’s political independent party has grown strong since the film was released. They even erected a statue of Wallace characterized as Mel Gibson in 1997 on the outside of the official William Wallace monumental site in Stirling, Scotland. The statue has the word “Braveheart” on Wallace’s shield.

It seems quite ironic that an American film, directed by an Australian and shot in Ireland could have been the cause of Scottish nationalist problems in Great Britain.