Braveheart

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: One of the Best Movies I've seen-many times!!

Rating:
Summary: The Story Of One Man's Struggle.
Review: Braveheart, the 1995 classic that blew everyone away is probably my favorite movie of all time. The end of this movie nearly brings me to tears everytime I watch it. Braveheart is the story of a man who is tired of being ruled all his life and just wants freedom, nothing more. The movie was directed by Mel Gibson who did an AMAZING JOB and it is hard to top the acting. Unfortunately the film doesnt have many Specail Features. Braveheart is a classic film w/ great acting and you MUST have this movie in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Not historically accurate, but one hell of a ride.
Review: If I were more politically correct, I would be watching the movie Gandhi in regard to British tyranny. Instead, I watch the battle of Stirling over and over again. What would the real William Wallace do on the set? The first thing he would do is jump into the orchestra pit and put the whole London Philharmonic Orchestra to the sword. While there are some good examples of piping in the movie, Scottish musical talent should have been used more. The real battle was fought with the British crossing a narrow bridge to the battlefield. The honorable thing to do was to let them cross and set up for battle. Instead, Sir William charged downhill and fell upon the British in a narrow column, where numbers didn't count. Wallace was a very large man and his Claymore (two handed sword) was as tall as Mel Gibson. All of which is to be forgiven because the movie inspired Scotland to demand and get its own Parliament. What is accurate is that the Scots, like the Irish, were divided, tempermental and fiesty. They still are. That is why it is still so entertaining to drink a Kilt Lifter or Guinness to a movie showing the Brits getting their butts kicked. Alba Go Bragh!

Rating:
Summary: Blood, bravery & idealism in an epic fist punch to your gut.
Review: On a whole number of levels, this movie shouldn't have worked for me. It takes considerable license with historical facts, not only in order to supplement details that are not part of William Wallace's legend but actually, wherever convenient. ("We stuck to history where we could but hyped it up where the legend let us," actor-director Mel Gibson admits on the DVD's commentary track.) It is graphically and unabashedly violent: from throat cuttings to battle scenes that have film blood literally splashing onto the camera, beheadings, a traitor's head smashed with a wrecking ball, and fully 15 minutes of Wallace's "purification by pain," it shows some of the most brutal behavior conceivable. It also engages in some of the most blatant gay profiling in recent film history - not just in the drastic end administered on the lover of King Edward I. "Longshanks"'s son, but equally in the portrayal of both characters and their relationship as such. Last but not least, Mel Gibson plays a man at least 10 years younger than himself, a choice often enough bordering on the ridiculous. (Gibson insists it was the studio's wish that he not only produce and direct but also star in the title role.)

And yet ...

From the first notes of James Horner's hauntingly beautiful soundtrack and the first sweeping camera shots over the Scottish highlands, blending seamlessly into the pictures of the Scottish riders on their way to the alleged truce talks initiated by Longshanks, and the narrator's, Robert the Bruce's (Angus MacFadyen's) introduction - "I shall tell you about William Wallace: Historians from England will call me a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes" - there is no mistaking that this is an epic story, taking up the tradition of the likes of "Spartacus" and "Ben Hur." Like those movies, "Braveheart" is a story of heroism and of having the courage of one's convictions; chronicling the life of its hero from first love to loss, betrayal, battles and final confrontation with his arch-enemy's powers. Like both of them, "Braveheart" won multiple Academy Awards, not least for John Toll's outstanding cinematography. Like "Ben Hur," it also won the coveted awards for "Best Picture" and for "Best Director." And maybe I'm just a sucker for that kind of epos ...

To my surprise, I found Mel Gibson to come across very believable as William Wallace; age difference, Scottish brogue and all. Both his acting and his direction are informed by a clear sense of vision for the movie and its title character. Moreover, although full writing credits went to would-be (?) Wallace descendant Randall W., many little details undeniably show Gibson's hand and mannerisms: to name just a few of the more obvious examples, Wallace's marriage proposal to Murron, his grinning greeting of a group of English soldiers trapped below a cliff, and his response to a doubting Scottish soldier's comment at Sterling that he can't really be Wallace because he's not tall enough.

In addition to John Toll's award winning cinematography, the movie benefits from first-rate production design (Tom Sanders), a score which perfectly captures the mood of every single scene, and a cast of outstanding actors; first and foremost Patrick McGoohan as Longshanks, who portrays the king's utter ruthlessness so convincingly that you completely forget his earlier incarnation as the 1960s' "Danger Man," and who delivers monologues and soliloquies worthy of a Shakespearean king. His musing "but whom shall I send" when plotting to send a messenger to Wallace with another insincere offer of truce, and his chilling announcement of the reinstitution the ius primae noctae because "the trouble with Scotland is that it is full of Scots ... If we can't get them out, we'll breed them out" could have been uttered verbatim by anyone of the Bard's most sinister kings. (Screenwriter Randall Wallace does indeed admit to Shakespeare's direct influence on the script, particularly on Wallace's "Sons of Scotland" speech before the battle of Sterling, which is strongly based on the monologues of King Henry V. at Agincourt).

Equally impressive is Ian Bannen in one of his last roles, starring as Robert the Bruce's leprosy-ridden father and evil spirit, whose first reaction to the tales about Wallace is to deride him ("He has courage; so does a dog"), and who expertly plays on his son's ambivalent feelings, until he finally drives Robert into hating his father for having coaxed him into his own game of scheming and betrayal - whereupon the elder Bruce drily comments: "At last you have learned what it means to hate. Now you are ready to be a king."

Then-newcomer Catherine McCormack stars as Wallace's childhood love Murron, whose scenes with Wallace provide for much-needed tenderness in the first hour of the movie - particularly touching is four year old Murron's gift of a thistle (Scotland's national flower) to orphaned William - and contrast sharply with the bloodshed that follows virtually incessantly from her death onwards. Sophie Marceau matures from teenage party queen ("La Boum") to French Princess Isabelle; Brendan Gleeson stars as Wallace's boyhood friend Hamish, David O'Hara as his heaven-conversing, self-appointed Irish guardian Stephen - one of the movie's most colorful characters - and Brian Cox brings all his extraordinary screen presence to his brief appearance as Wallace's uncle Argyle.

When I left the theater after having witnessed this movie's almost three hours of blood, gore and intense emotions for the first time, I felt as if somebody had given me a fist punch into my stomach. I was so struck that I was almost unable to speak, and dragged my moviegoing companion into the next bar, to revive my spirits with a glass of whiskey. (Scotch, of course). Having seen the film countless times since then, I no longer need that whiskey to overcome its drastic impact - but I still get gooseflesh during many of its key scenes and can't watch it without feeling emotionally drained at the end.

Rating:
Summary: A struggle in life and love.
Review: A movie spanning the life of one man. A man that is intelligent, couragous, and charismatic. A spetacullar movie that doesn't spare the veiwer anything. Every scene is as it may have been in life. This movie will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and think.

Rating:
Summary: Gibson Shows Heart
Review: Braveheart is a brilliant epic based on a revolt by Scots against England in medieval times. Mel Gibson directs and stars as William Wallace, the leader of the revolt. Mr. Gibson is no stranger to action movies, but Braveheart is so much more than just your standard action film. It is grand in scope and despite its considerable length, it never drags. The battle scenes in this film are monumental. Intricately detailed and mesmerizingly real, you feel as if you are transported into a medieval battle. The film is quite gory and bloody, but not gratuitously so. Mr. Gibson strays away from his usual charming character to play Wallace as a man does not seek glory, but leads the revolt because he knows it is his duty to do as such. Patrick McGoohan portrays King Edward I, known as Longshanks, with an icy evil that makes him a compelling villain. The film was a critical and commercial success and it wracked up ten Academy Award nominations in 1995, winning five including two for Mr. Gibson who won for Best Picture (he was one of the producers) and one for Best Director.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie!
Review: This movie is a classic, I would consider the film itself a five star flick, but the extras on the DVD are pretty weak.

Rating:
Summary: One of my Top 10
Review: I didn't watch this movie for a few years after it came out because I feared it would be to Mel Gibson as "Legends of the Fall" was to Brad Pitt. I was wrong, this movie rocks. I bought it on DVD the day after I saw the movie. If you like action and drama you'll love this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Good,but It was Just way too long
Review: After watching Braveheart on DVD,I decided that I was a huge fan of Mel Gibson.The DVD is so incredible that It got my attention when i was watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: ...Mel Gipson was surprisingly a very good actor and a heck of a director in this film. The music is also quite good. Most people just think this is a love story with Mel taken away, and tragedy and war. So for that, it is easy. ...They think men will like this for the war and women will like it for the romance. It is more than that. The truth is that everybody can like it because it shows you war like you've never seen it, but doesn't glorify it. It also lets you feel connected to the characters, and you have a sense of time period. Yes, the ending is brutal, so thank you, Mel. It WAS brutal. Without giving much away, that's how what happened really did happen. I am very happy with mell. It is truly a four-star film. Four star acting, directing, script (Who doesn't like Randal Wallace?), cinemotagraphy, music, and, last but not least, history. It is a tale of freedom of both Braveheart, and the patriots of Scotland, and it is a gem, a true treasure. Great. ...