Braveheart
 

Braveheart is airing on AMC right now, so I thought I'd see what the general consensus is on DVDTalk. This is one of my favorite films, love it. Gibson is iconic as William Wallace, the score is one of the best I've ever heard, the action is awesome. Well directed by Mel too. An emotionally investing film. I rarely show emotion while watching a film, but some of the scenes that really tug at the heartstrings are when Mel's future wife gives young Wallace a flower at his father's funeral, the "freedom" scene, and the end speech by Robert the Bruce (you've bled with Wallace, now bleed with me).
Angus McFayden was really good as Robert the Bruce and Patrick McGoohan was legendary as Longshanks.

What do you all think about it?

Re: Braveheart
 

I voted good not great. It's been awhile since I've seen it but I remember the closeted gay character being absurd. Mel Gibson is decent but his hair is ridiculous. I applaud the film for bringing about the trend for "epic" movies. It doesn't work for me as a smart or moving picture and the action scenes don't work for me either.

Re: Braveheart
 

fantastic movie.

Re: Braveheart
 

Voted I love it, but I don't know that I could ever sit through it again. I watched this so many times on VHS, but don't think I've ever watched the DVD I picked up just because I "love it".

Re: Braveheart
 

Your problems with the movie are Mel Gibson's hair and the gay prince who's in the movie for all of about 2 minutes?

And by the way, it's long been rumored that Edward II was, in fact, gay so the movie didn't necessarily make that up.

Re: Braveheart
 

Except for the fact that it didn't bring about the trend for "epic" movies. :shrug:

Re: Braveheart
 

No those were the biggest flaws off the top of my head. I'm not upset with whether he was gay or not, it was the portrayal of him that was ridiculous.

The movie just hasn't held up for me.

Re: Braveheart
 

"...Yer doin it for Murron! You're doin it cause ya think she sees ya!"

"I don't think she sees me... I know it."

Yeah, guess he was hoping she'd turn a blind eye while he fucked a french broad he knew for mere moments. Good movie but ridiculously overrated. The battle scenes and score are what shine here. Otherwise it's typical mamby-pamby Hollywood fabrication. I wish Ridley Scott never saw this movie.

Re: Braveheart
 

Love it. Haven't sat through the whole thing in a long time but I revisit certain scenes every now and then.

Re: Braveheart
 

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This is pretty funny - need to watch the second part too. All about what William Wallace if things from the movie really were true.

Enjoy the film though, it's very good "brain off" fare.

Re: Braveheart
 

I really was disappointed in Braveheart when i saw it years ago. Maybe i should watch it again, but I think it's flaws (overly simplistic characters and way too historically inaccurate) will still make me dislike the film. Too me, it's a film that really tries to make history and characters simplified and easy to digest for the masses...and I guess it succeeded.

Re: Braveheart
 

It's not a bad film, but take out the violence in the battle scenes and this move wouldn't be as popular as it is.

Re: Braveheart
 

My favorite movie, you can guess which option I voted. :)

The cast is what makes the whole thing shine. There isn't a weak link in the whole movie.

Re: Braveheart
 

This might have been one of the first movies and its historical (in)accuracy that I read about when I got internet connectivity in '96. It certainly opened my eyes to changes large and small in adapting history, novels, etc., to the big screen.I think a big contributor to Braveheart's success lies in James Horner's moving score.

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And let's not forget that Braveheart introduced most of us to Catherine McCormack and Sophie Marceau. ;)

Re: Braveheart
 

While I give the film its due for making Scottish hero William Wallace well-known to the world, I think the movie is a missed opportunity. The overly simplistic dramatizations in it just don't work for me and the historical inaccuracies are irritating when they are done for no good reason (for example, completely leaving the bridge out of the Battle of Stirling Bridge makes no sense whatsoever).

I think Mel Gibson made this as if he was making a film about a fictional character like Robin Hood instead of a real historic person, such as William Wallace, where the real stories are so much better than the stuff Mel Gibson and his screenwriters made up.


(P.S. It's the same view I have of James Cameron's Titanic, where the real stories of the actual people on the ship are so much more interesting than the made-up story of Jack and Rose.)

Re: Braveheart
 

It's heavily overrated. I do enjoy it though. It's no Kingdom of Heaven on the epic front but very nice to look at and listen to though.

like dhmac said: It's overly simplistic. And the inaccuracies are irritating too. Here's an interesting nitpicking thing...the lack of continuity of some things in battles always weirded me out.

Re: Braveheart
 

Well it doesn't seem like such a heroic victory when you learn that the English were basically ambushed on a bridge and were hence unable to fight. Clever perhaps (though thought very badly of at the time) but not really the stuff of heros of the type Gibson was going for with this film. Likewise Wallace's penchant for wearing a swordbelt made from human skin - might have given the film a bit of a Silence of the Lambs kind of feel to it!

Re: Braveheart
 

Just as an aside, Stewart Lee is my favorite living stand up comedian. He's a genius.

On topic, I'll take Rob Roy over Braveheart any day of the week.

Re: Braveheart
 

Never heard of Stewart Lee...dude seems pretty funny.

Re: Braveheart
 

Good but not great. The battle scenes, cinematography, and score hold up well, but it can be kind of boring at times. I also cannot help but think a lot of this movie's strengths had less to do with Mel Gibson's direction and more from having top notch people on all of the said areas, and possibly a good 2nd unit director for the battles. Decent movie, but I prefer Gladiator.

Re: Braveheart
 

Always loved this film, and an excellent score too.

Re: Braveheart
 

Obvious comparison.

Why does Gladiator seem to get shit on so much on this board, while Braveheart doesn't? Almost 80% of the poeple that voted in this poll at least consider Braveheart good. I have a feeling much less than 80% of this site would vote that Gladiator is good. The movies are eerily similar.

I, for one, really like both movies, but probably prefer Gladiator as well. I've never understood the hate it gets on this board.

Re: Braveheart
 

I voted "good but not great" even though I think it's VERY good...I just don't "love" it.

Re: Braveheart
 

I wouldn't call it "ambushed" because the English knew the Scottish army was there, they weren't hiding. The Scots simply attacked before all of the English army had crossed the bridge. That the English thought the Scots would be "gentleman" soldiers and just sit back while the much larger English army entirely crossed the bridge, and only then engaged in battle, is what seems quaint by today's standards. If the Scots did what the English expected them to do, it would've not only been tactically dumb, but the Scottish army most likely would've lost the battle to the much larger English forces.

And I think Wallace wearing a belt made out of his enemy's skin makes him sound like a badass you don't want to mess with.

Re: Braveheart
 

It gets hate because it's an ugly-looking, simplistic epic for kids with a once visionary and influential filmmaker now trying to ape some of his slightly younger peers. The film is also lacking a coherent and credible third act and that Crowe won his Oscar for this role after his work in The Insider, LA Confidential or even Romper Stomper is laughable. The score is really good though. A good score goes a long way.