The Patriot

Rating:
Summary: The Idiot, oops I mean, Patriot
Review: Imagine Jim Anderson, the paternal title character from TV's "Father Knows Best", suddenly revealing his inner Rambo ... and single-handedly inspiring America to win the decisive battle that spells the eventual end of the Revolutionary War. Sound wretched? ludicrous? stupid? Of course! And yet that is the general premise of "The Patriot".

Needless to say, no actor could imbue such a story with enough believability to save it from putrescence. Certainly, Mel Gibson gives it a good try, but he has nothing to work with. His performance hits basically three notes throughout: wise patriarch; witty omnipotent; and bloodthirsty warrior. It wears thin after the first half hour, and is excruciatingly stale by the time the movie limps to its conclusion over two hours later. Along the way, there is some welcome distraction from Heath Ledger as Mel's oldest son; Jason Isaacs as a sadistic redcoat; and Joely Richardson as the widowed Mel's buxom sister-in-law (listen to how much this actress sounds like her real-life mother, Vanessa Redgrave!). There are also some eye-popping costumes, phenomenal set decorations, and gorgeous cinematography to divert attention from the inanities of the script, but eventually, these attributes also wear thin.

Among the other conceits of the script: that a father could romance his children's aunt without the children being in the least uncomfortable ... that racism in America was less insidious a problem during the Revolutionary War than it would be during the following two centuries ... that in the heat of an epic, brutal battle two individuals could find each other and engage in a little "mano a mano" without interruption ... etc, ad nauseum.

The DVD transfer looks and sounds great, and there are some decent extras ... but this is definitely one you should rent before you buy. Or better yet, skip it all together and watch John Ford's 1939 Revolutionary War classic "Drums Along the Mohawk" instead. It's less sophisticated technically, but a lot more satisfying intellectually than "The Patriot".

Rating:
Summary: Gotta see it.
Review: This is possibly the best movie ever created. It has everything a movie needs: action, comedy, drama, romance. The main character, Benjamin Martin (played by Mel Gibson), is loosely based on "The Swamp Fox" of the Revolutionary War, Francis Marian. The bad guy, British Colonel Tavington (played by Jason Isaacs), makes war really personal for Martin, who at first refuses to go to war. Tavington is based upon British Calvary Colonel Tarleton, who showed no mercy toward the Continental Army. All in all, it's the greatest movie ever made about the Revolutionary War, and the best performance by Mel Gibson. :)

Rating:
Summary: BUY IT TODAY
Review: The most amazing movie ever and on DVD it is even better! Buy it today!

Rating:
Summary: Masterful filmmaking
Review: War is horrific. If there is one message that comes across clearly in this film that is it. "The Patriot" is an extraordinarily graphic and compelling depiction of 18th Century warfare. It is difficult to imagine a scene more terrifying than the sight of thousands of men leveling muskets at you from a distance so close you can see the sweat on their faces. Woven into this revolutionary war film was a human drama about a man and his family and the devastating effect the war had on them.

In an effort to make the audience sympathetic to the hero, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan), wrote an overly melodramatic and sentimental script with excessively noble Americans and incredibly evil Brits. Though I didn't have a real problem with this, I can see how many people would be rolling their eyes, especially the ones whose top priority was the war itself. Still, for those who like a good human drama, this film grabs the emotions and makes one scream out in vindication when the bad guys get what they deserve. It is also difficult not to feel a bit patriotic while watching this film. I was put off however, by the preachy, politically correct pabulum regarding the slave soldiers.

Other than that criticism, which is more a matter of personal preference, this film was extraordinary. It was brilliantly directed. With this film, Roland Emmerich (Godzilla, Independence Day) has moved beyond schlocky sensational films and actually assembled a substantial film with a story that wasn't tongue in cheek. If there is one area where Emmerich excels, it is visual effects, and this film is another shining example of that. He created graphic and grisly effects of decapitations and dismemberments that were disturbingly realistic. His choreography of the combat with thousands of extras was magnificent. In some cases, he used computer simulations for panoramic battlefield scenes that were indistinguishable from action created by real humans. The costume design by Deborah Lynn Scott (Wild, Wild West, Titanic) was superlative. She actually went to the Smithsonian Institution to use real revolutionary uniforms as her models for the patterns. The entire period was fantastically rendered. The five-speaker surround sound on the DVD was awesome, especially during the combat, with voices and battle sounds coming from all directions.

The acting was superb. Mel Gibson was completely immersed in his role as the reluctant Colonel, for whom the war was a personal vendetta. He had to handle quite a range of emotions, from the tenderness of a father to the rage and savagery of battle and the seething hatred of the murderous dragoon. He was outstanding in every scene. Heath Ledger (Ten Things I Hate About You) was also excellent as the Martin's idealistic son whose war started as patriotism and became personal in the end. Jason Isaacs was supremely evil as the nefarious dragoon colonel who delighted in the murder of women and children and in burning settlers alive.

This was a masterful filmmaking achievement that went a bit overboard on the sentimental side. It was highly entertaining with a strong and engaging story and characters with whom it was easy to identify. I rated it a 9/10. Be forewarned; it's not for the squeamish.

Rating:
Summary: The Patriot
Review: To those of you who commented about this film not being a great representation of the Revolution...why does that matter? Can't a movie just be exciting, fun and entertaining without have a dozen layers to put viewers to sleep? Sure this was a blatant flag-waver, but that's what was so fun about it. Who cares if the main theme was "revenge"? Don't tell me you weren't just a little charged with the outcome.

If you like Mel, and aren't looking for a documentary on American history, get this flick. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: not quite good as Braveheart but good anyway

Rating:
Summary: top notch
Review: This is a great film about the Revolutionary War, certainly on a level with Private Ryan as war films go. We see free blacks in South Carolina, a slave who wins his freedom by fighting the British (and then stays to fight as a free man), scenes seldom seen in American film these days. If you are a Southerner, it must be nice to see the South portrayed as something other than Satanic.

Rating:
Summary: How much does pointless cost nowadays?
Review: This is the sloppiest excuse for epic filmmaking that I've seen. Truthfully I'm not bothered by the inaccuracies of films like this or U-571. They're 'based' on things, not anything else. I recognize the need for consolidation and composite characters to keep things flowing dramatically. However that's where i thought this movie failed horribly. It didn't keep things moving. It moved from set piece to set piece without once being interesting to me or provocative. Heath Ledger was horribly ineffective, especially after hearing all the buzz on his breakout performance. His romantic scenes were forced and misplaced, only serving to set us up for a tragic event later in the film. Again, I'm all for foreshadowing, but how about a little ambiguity, huh? I just kept wondering how they could have spent a reported ($) million on this shoddy, poorly photographed and horrifically uneffective film. Far and away my least favorite Mel Gibson film since Air America.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible movie
Review: "The Patriot" is an absolute must-see movie. All the actors were wonderful. Mel Gibson gave a great performance, as did Heath Ledger and all the other young actors who played his children. The highlight of the film, for me, was the deliciously evil Col. Tavington, played to perfection by Jason Isaacs. Everyone should see this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not Worth Much
Review: Combine the sacarine of Little House on the Prarie with the bravado of Braveheart and you get the Patriot. Manipulative, lacking character development, it results in a big 'who cares?' Compared to work like Glory or Gettysburg, this is totally forgettable. Gibson's stilted portrail of 'Braveheart meets the British' is astonishingly poor...I don't for a minute believe in his limited romantic interests. John Williams' worst music score in years does not help (he really has no clue how to write for the battle scenes in this film); it should win an award for the ultimate in pretentious, clueless scoring. They could easily have removed an hour of boredom from the film, which remarkably builds up to nothing at the end.