film review

Web Master Robert Gray

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One of the best films of all time in my option is braveheart staring Mel Gibson

Braveheart's strengths lie mostly in the visceral storytelling of its director. Gibson rarely cuts away from the bloodiness of battle, as fluids gush, arms and legs fly, and soldiers are impaled in fashions that will either excite or sicken, depending on one's tolerance for such displays of brutality. While I'm no fan of excessive violence, given the medieval setting and almost lawless environs, the grimness is all part of the culture, as executions are viewed as a form of entertainment for the masses, who actually root for the deaths without any inkling of mercy.

Although it seems like a big movie nowadays, Braveheart wasn't a particularly big hit at the box office at the time of its release, only really making its money back after the Academy Award for Best Picture fueled its interest in home video. It plays like an epic action movie, and was marketed the same, given its late-May release, but the 3-hour length was a daunting proposition and cut into the total showings per day, not to mention being a story largely unfamiliar to the public. Nowadays, it's accepted as a classic war film and minor hit as a romance, even with the goriness.

Braveheart is a very good film with some genuine moments of greatness, and a few missteps as well. Gibson's choice to give Wallace a grandiose mystique makes the story difficult to take as anything but a tall tale, especially as he applies the war paint and storms in and out of castles on horseback. Gibson looks a bit silly with his "hair metal" hair style, and, by his own admission, looks far too old to play Wallace as a young man, but his acting chops are formidable, with a supporting cast fine tuned perfectly to their respective parts. It's hard to imagine a more perfectly sinister Longshanks than McGoohan or as lovely a Princess Isabelle as Marceau

W illiam Wallace was born on 1272 in Ellerslie, Scotland. He was the second of three sons of Sir Malcolm Wallace (a minor laird possessing little political power and nobility) and Margaret de Crauford (the daughter of Sir Reginald de Crauford, the Sheriff of Ayr).

Edward I 'Longshanks' succeeded the English throne on 16 November 1272 at the age of thirty-five while in Palestine and crowned on 19 August 1274 at Westminster Abbey, London, England. King Edward I was later to become William Wallace's deadliest adversary.

During this period Scotland was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom under the rule of King Alexander III.

Initially William Wallace was educated at home by his mother, then given schooling and religious education by the monks of Paisley Abbey. Though William Wallace could read and write he was probably more interested in activities such as horsemanship, hunting and swordsmanship - sparring with his elder brother Sir Malcolm Wallace Jnr. and younger brother John Wallace (later to become one of his trusted comrade-in-arms).

Film review

Braveheart is a 1995 historical action-drama movie produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the title role. The film was written for screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace. Gibson portrays a legendary Scot, William Wallace, who gained recognition when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing Edward I of England (portrayed by Patrick McGoohan) and subsequently abetted by Edward's daughter-in-law Princess Isabelle (played by Sophie Marceau) and a claimant to the Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce (played by Angus Macfadyen).

The film won five Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director, and had been nominated for an additional five. Produced by Icon Productions for Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, the film's success helped revive the historical epic genre, with subsequent films such as Gladiator, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, 300, and Mongol

BRAVEHEART TRAILER

by Mulder07