A good film if you know nothing about Scottish History

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2001)

When I first saw Braveheart , I was really impressed and the battle scenes were stunning and extremely graphic , which I thought was a refreshing change. Simply because the old medieval films Hollywood served were usually the arrow in the chest and sword thrust in the stomach variety.The scenes in the battles certainly put the evil in Medieval. Im not a historical purist (as other comments have shown) so I thought Id let the Battle of Stirling Bridge slide , the reason being obvious , as I didnt see a bridge in the films battle scenes. Anyway , Patrick McGoohan was absolutely brilliant as Edward (Hammer of the Scots)Longshanks. He captured Edward so well , that if any film is made now involving King Edward , any actor would have to follow McGoohans line. Make no mistake , Edward I was every bit as evil and psychopathic as the one in Braveheart. It was Edward I dying wish , that whenever there was a war between Scotland and England , his remains were to be taken to the field of conflict. Now the hero William Wallace , yes a great warrior and leader of resistance and again I'll let historical fact slide. William Wallace was over 6ft...a giant in that day and age ...did Mel really stand out among his men?..but hey. But I was forced to go in the puke bucket when Mel was hitting it off with the Princess of France. I mean , the real Princess arrived in England 13 years after Wallace had been hung drawn and quartered. If Mel Gibson really wanted a love interest after his wife was murdered , he could 've gone for a 13 year old Glaswegian whore , and still keep the story based on fact...if Nigel Tranter the foremost authority on Scottish History is to be believed.But again dont let the facts get in the way of a good story , quite right...too a point though. Braveheart is a good film in many ways , but if there were Scottish historians and English viewers seeing the film , they would most probably have got the sick-bucket out