Rating: 
Summary: The William Wallace of the Revolutionary War.
Review: I loved this movie. Pure and simple. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. Yes, it was kind of similar to BRAVEHEART, but so what? A lot of movies are similar to each other.Mel Gibson plays a man who fought in the French and Indian War and has vowed never to fight again. That is, until his family is threatened. Off we go...he raises the local militia (a lot of whom fought with him in the French and Indian) and goes on a rampage. The realism in this movie was great. I'm referring to the reproduction of how wars were fought back then, not the story itself. We see the two armies taking turns shooting at each other, neither even attempting to hide from the other or surprise the other. It wasn't "honorable" back then. Honor plays a big part in this movie as the main antagonist fights with none. No mercy, killing the injured and helpless of the enemy, killing civilians...until he gets in trouble with his superior. This guy is pure scum and it always adds to the flavor of a movie when you have a bad guy that you can really hate and a good guy that you can't help but root for. This movie has that. Gibson's interactions with his family (seven children) are beautifully emotional. When his youngest daughter begs him not to go, I was choked up. It's the poignant scenes in an action movie that provide the contrast necessary to make the movie an effective drama (pure action movies don't need these, of course). This entire movie was well done. The computer graphics for the warships and town scenes were beautifully done. The costumes were great. The acting was exceptionally good. I highly recommend this movie, even if it is 2 hours and 40 minutes. You will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Grrrreat action, but it gets repetitive...
Review: This film is certainly one of the better fims for the summer of 2000. It is about a father (Mel) who doesn't want war but is compelled to go to war when his son is murdered when trying to protect his brother. It is about the American Revolution. The movie has great, easy-to-follow action scenes whether it be between Mel and his son's murderer or be it between the American army and the English army. But through the movie, events get a tad repetitive: Mel's son dies, he goes killing, another of his loved ones die, he goes on a killing spree, someone else close to him dies... and you get the point. Still, it is good fun and a I reccommend seeing it this summer.
Rating:
Summary: The first movie in along time to make me cry
Review: I saw this movie, appropriatly, on July 3rd. I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. The Patriot is a movie about a man named Ben (Mel Gibson), a hero of the French and Indian War. A man who just wants to raise his seven children in peace. But it's not going to be that way. The Revoluntioary War is starting and his eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger) enlists to fight for his country and his belif that all men are created equal. The war still seems far away until the day when it comes too close to home for Ben's comfort. In a rage, Ben and two of his young sons kill over twenty british officers. Ben's unique and somewhat savage way of fighting is described by a surviver of the battle. "It was like he was a ghost... one moment he was there, the next, he wasn't" This earns him the nickname "The Ghost" and the wrath of the British officers. Sending his young children to live with their Aunt, he joins the war, gathering men to fight with him. Using tequnices that surprise and mock the British, they begin to turn the war around in their favor. The Patriot shows Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger at their best. This movie shows a side to the American Revolution that can not be found in the history books. It is the portrayal of a family, torn by war, and the sacrfices that they made for the freedom that we have today.
Rating:
Summary: A soldiers tale
Review: This time period of American history is a favorite of mine i know a bit about it and how things occured. The Patriot takes place in South Carolina around the time after the french and indian wars and before/during the revolutionary war, its is geared to be of epic proportions with the games of cat and mouse and regimental style combat between the British and the Colonials. Mel Gibson plays a widower with children between the ages of 4 and 17 hise eldest son is a man whp believes in the cause of freedom and is willing to fight and or die for his convictions. Ben Martin (Mel) is a veteran of the french/indian wars and no longer wants to be the warrior, when war comes to his life again there is no choice but to fight. I liked the Patriot alot but i noticed that there are inaccuracies as far as historical content. The Patriot is rather long but worth the time you can sense the emotions those who fought must have felt so long ago. The lesson learned is that tyranny comes in many forms, one must always be on watch of it and resist it. Patriot stirs the patrotic soul in those who know the price of freedom. I would recommend this film to all but the very small.
Rating:
Summary: A Film of Epic Proportions
Review: The Pariot is set amongst the American Revolution. The story was very well played out on screen, and the acting was superb. Some of my favorite parts of the movie were the various battle scenes. I didn't realize how brutal warfare at that time actually was. Standing in a line at point blank range and firing on one another, it just boggles the mind, especially today where guns can fire hundreds of shots in the time in would have taken British and American soldiers to just fire a couple. All that aside, some of the special effects were just terrific, particularly those of the canon balls screaming towards you. Many people will compare this to Braveheart, in the simple fact that Mel Gibson is part of another epic movie, well yes it may have a similar format, it is a much different movie. This movie has a lot more emotion involved. This is what summer blockbusters are all about.
Rating: 
Summary: Have these people ever read a history textbook?
Review: This movie will do for American history what Armageddon did for the physical sciences: distort it, trash it, and ignore it all for the sake of the almighty box office. Patriotism is a fine and noble thing, but cheap jingoism is something else entirely. The politics and nuances of the American Revolution (which, we might remember, started out as a British Civil War) are utterly lost. We're left with the brave Mel Gibson doing his sensitive-guy shtick against the big evil English colonel who kills kids and massacres whole villages for kicks. The mass battle scenes are well-staged and kinda fun, but when Mel himself faces off against the Brits, everyone knows exactly what will happen and how. No surprises at all. Note to director Roland Emmerich: "Epic" does not mean "ponderous", and it does not mean "three hours long just for the sake of being three hours long". Try again.
Rating:
Summary: The Patriot is like Saving Private Ryan: But is it better?
Review: I saw this movie opening day, and who could blame me? The previews were running constantly, promoting the movie that made Braveheart look terrible. From the beginning of the film to the very end, The Patriot was amazing. It wrapped you into it so much that I was afraid to go to the bathroom or leave because I didn't want to miss anything. Although it got a little stretched out at points (but it wasn't as long as Saving Private Ryan), The Patriot still was very entertaining. The battle scenes were magnificent. I wanted to chear when the Americans were taking out the British army. Along with the great action scenes, it actually had some very funny humor, which was mostly Mel Gibson a.k.a. Benjamin Martin, playing tricks on the British soldiers. Now don't get me wrong, the Patriot isn't a comedy movie. Actually, it was very sad. But of course, I didn't cry. If you're a guy, (like me) you might want to avoid this movie because of the sad scenes. DON'T! You may think that it's going to be one of those sad movies...it is sad, but loaded with action and war scenes to over satisfy you when you leave the theater. If you in any way liked Saving Private Ryan, I'm sure you'll like the Patriot just as much. But is it better than Steven Spielberg's masterpiece? Not quite. But coming from a huge Steven Spielberg fan, I have to admit that this is as close to SPR as you can get. So go and see The Patriot, you won't be disappointed. Come on, what's better to see? Gone in Sixty Second! Give me a break!
Rating:
Summary: A Terrible Waste of Time
Review: There's a certain something about big films that you just have to love... The most obvious thing is that big films have the kinds of budgets to afford the things that make big things work. For example big budgets can bring you good actors, special effects and convinving sets. The sad thing though is that sometimes all of these things just don't come together. Some movies are so "guaranteed to do well" that the producers get sloppy. The result is that all of the little flaws end up in one big mess of a movie. I've seen no finer example of this (this summer) than in the Patriot. In my humble opinion, a three-hour movie should provide enough depth to draw me into its environment. Why is it then, that the first half an hour is the most tiresome staging for an epic film? I really don't know. We have Mel and family pretty much being the icons for "good American folk". The poor Mel just wants to be a loving father and set a good example. He wants "FREEDOM!" (pun intended) but doesn't want to shed any blood to do so. You see Mel was not such a good guy a few years back. In fact he and his men managed to upstage Jeffrey Dahmer during the savage butchery of a few indians a few years ago... We never get to see any of this, as the director doesn't want to spoil our compassion for Mel. Instead, the fatherly bond between Mel and kids is rammed down our throat for 30 minutes. Oh yeah, let's not forget that he is a widow, but I can't recall why. His 5 year old daughter hasn't spoken a word to anyone for a long time, and yet again I don't know why? Did something happen to her mother that triggered it? Who knows! And to top it all off the slaves on his plantation are free and speak perfect english. Mel is just a swell guy I tell you! Next we have the big bad British army. Mel doesn't want to fight but oops, one of his kids is shot by the big bad british guy. The number of cliches used to make the british so big and bad are staggering, but of course Mel needs a reason to become brutal again. SO the stage is set - Mel has to avenge his son. One would think that Mel's pacifist character would not war after losing one child, but then again this 180 degree turn is required for our movie. Yes we have battle after battle. Let's make the British look silly, let's make the Americans look witty and let's give our audience reason to see some really great violence. It's a sad thing when violence becomes the justification for a movie, but with so little depth, there really isn't much else to enjoy. I really could go on, but I'll sum it up this way. The sets look fake, there isn't a poorly educated slave in sight and Mel saves the war by running across the battlefield waving the Amercian flag to rally the troups. This movie took parts from braveheart and last of the mohicans, threw in a lot of bull when it came to the treatment of slaves and doused it with ridiculous levels of patriotism. Make no mistake, this film is made for the Amercian that gives little thought to the depth of events, and insults anyone looking for a critically good movie.
Rating:
Summary: "The Patriot" is thrilling but predictable and corny.
Review: The Patriot starring Mel Gibson comes up short of my expectations. Many of the lines in this movie are predictable and corny. The script is also entirely predictable. However, I did enjoy seeing Mel do what Mel's got to do when his family is threatened. The colonial battle scenes are also enough to keep one watching. The gore present is in the right amount and not in bad taste. Careful attention was paid to maintaining authenticity also. Overall, "The Patriot" isn't as good as "Braveheart", "Saving Private Ryan", or "Gladiator" but it still should receive six or seven Academy Award Nominations. However, I feel that "Gladiator" will win the majority of the Academy Awards for 2000.
Rating: 
Summary: Distorted history, bad script, yet still a guilty pleasure!
Review: I have a lot of respect for Mel Gibson & I feel he did the best he could in this flawed war movie. That being said, the dialogue is completely laughable at times & just plain stupid at others. When I first heard about this movie I rejoiced, thinking it'd be a factual (or at least partly) account of the famous "Swamp Fox" of the Rev. War, Francis Marion. His story would make an incredible movie, but the filmmakers decided to create their own version of Marion, who becomes Benjamin Martin. It goes down from there. Have you ever seen anything so unbelievably stupid as one crazed man & two boys wiping out a group of 20 British troops?!? And how about the mandatory bad guy gets killed by the hero at the end! Nothing like a bayonet through the throat to entertain an audience! I guess they were trying to achieve another "Braveheart", but they missed their mark completely. Being a history buff makes it easier to criticize movies like this, but I will say that it's pretty hard to not be entertained by the large-scale battle scenes, which are nicely done. I'll close by saying that as history, this fails drastically, but as pure entertainment it's not all that bad.
| 
